Google recently announced a couple of changes to their maps. There’s now a “Via” function that allows you to set your route by creating a series of way points.

While this does work for local routes, it also works if you’re going cross-country. So you want to go from, say, Durham to Beverly Hills, you can go via Detroit, Houston, Montana, and Portland.

If you haven’t used Google Maps in a while, you might want to also consider the checkbox that allows you to avoid highways, and the reverse directions feature. Of course, if you want directions to get somewhere by foot, and not by car, I think Ask Maps is your best bet…