When I took my 4 year sabbatical from working, I did a lot of driving (350,000 miles in a few cars combined). Took the back roads at every opportunity, including crossing the US from Atlanta to Seattle while only driving 50 miles on an Interstate I was forced on to heading into Utah. That included taking dirt roads as well in my SUV, though I mostly avoided that in my Corvette or Camaro.
This is one example of a recent trip back from an In n' Out Burger run down to Medford. Surely beats taking I5.