Yep.... take the "Buddhist Approach"---"The Journey IS the Goal". Check your route and identify possible side trips beforehand. Go around the cities but see how many two-lanes you can find. For added fun, hit the library and see if you can locate maps of your route BEFORE there were Inter-states. Lay-out a route using only those highways that were in existence, say, 75 years ago. This is an approach a lot of folks who travel the old Route 66 from Chicago to LA take, working to use as much of the OLD route as they can find rather than the newer Interstate. Just some thoughts.
Best Wishes,
Bruce