Originally Posted By: dougwalkabout
...most importantly, the willingness to swallow my pride and turn back when my BS-o-meter starts tingling.
Exactly. There comes a point when it doesn't matter what the GPS indicates, the road under your tires is just wrong. If the road goes single lane and seems to not be maintained, you've gone too far and your BS-o-meter needs to be checked. .

On Pt A to Pt B road-trips when I'm not sight-seeing, I stick to interstates. FWIW