Road Trip

A typical strategy for cracking the windows on the inherent staleness of buddy road-trip movies is to pair actors on a roll — Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis, say, or Jonah Hill and Russell Brand. With “Bunny and the Bull,’’ filmmaker Paul King tries something in keeping with his work on the British sitcom-for-stoners “The Mighty Boosh’’: a road trip recounted entirely in whimsical-looking flashbacks by a mopey young Londoner who never leaves his house. Edward Hogg plays Stephen Turnbull, a fluttery-voiced sensitive guy who’s fallen into an obsessive-compulsive, agoraphobic funk that abates...

The Boston Red Sox are headed home after a successful road trip, and manager Bobby Valentine feels the team is headed in the right direction after rocky start. Josh Beckett pitched into the seventh inning after a rough start, but the Red Sox lost 4-1 to Gavin Floyd and the Chicago White Sox on Sunday. Boston still managed to put together a 6-1 trip, averaging more than six runs despite scoring twice in the final two games in Chicago. It was a welcome result for a team was 4-10 a week ago and had just given up 15 unanswered runs during an embarrassing 15-9 loss to the New York Yankees.

It was an odd invitation from the wife: "Hey, you want to drive to Florida with me and the dogs for vacation?" That sounded more like punishment for a felony than a way to spend a well-earned getaway. But there was something irresistible about the road trip. To drive from Massachusetts to Florida to sponge a vacation off the in-laws is old school. And, if you're not for the old school, well, chances are you don't stand for much of anything. It should be said right here that, of all the living, breathing creatures on the trip, the three Labrador retrievers -- Rebecca de Winter, Sabrina Fairchild, and...

RED LODGE, Mont. — Packing only essentials — a swimsuit and bathrobe each, comfy clothing to wear between soaks, a few books, a comb, and our toothbrushes — my daughter, Sylvie, 8, and I left home in Red Lodge to embark on a grand Montana tradition: a hot springs road trip. Our route would allow us to ‘‘take the waters" in four of the more than two dozen hot springs across the state that have been transformed into pools and resorts. Our first stop, Chico Hot Springs, just 160 miles away, is a place we visit often.

MOENKOPI, Ariz. -- Morris Chee Jr., Navajo tribesman and amateur paleontologist, poured water from his plastic bottle onto the petrified red clay. As if by magic, the giant triton of a dinosaur footprint appeared to the hushed "Wows!" of our children, Alex, 9, and Fyodor, 8. "This here's a female one," Chee drawled, pouring water over another print to highlight its contours as the boys watched, transfixed by the Jurassic-era tracks. The site on the Navajo Nation Indian Reservation was one of the gems of our impromptu road trip across the Southwest: a treasure trove of the tracks and fossilized remains of...

COOPERSTOWN -- My father and I never visited the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum together, notwithstanding our mutual love for the game and my having grown up 30 miles north of Yankee Stadium, along the base path from the Bronx to Cooperstown. Why we never did, I'm not sure. My dad took me to many ballgames and once got me into the Yankees dugout, where I sat on Casey Stengel's lap and shook Yogi Berra's hand. On a family road trip in 1960, he took me to a Los Angeles Dodgers-San Francisco Giants game where I saw my all-time hero, Willie Mays , the "Say Hey Kid, " crack one of his...

L.L. Bean is taking its four-wheeled hunting shoe on a road trip to the big city. Bean's president and CEO, Chris McCormick, and senior manager for manufacturing, Jack Samson, unveiled the L.L. Bean Bootmobile on Tuesday to workers at the Maine plant where the real boots are made. Later, the Bootmobile made a brief stop in Freeport before heading south toward New York City. The Bootmobile, which is more than 20 feet long, was built to help the Maine-based retailer celebrate 100 years of being in business.

Taking off from Gaithersburg, Md., to Tennessee in Kristy Staley's 1998 Honda Civic was "a deja vu experience," said travel mate Beth Marchello, who hadn't traveled in Staley's car since the women's first road trip together five years ago. That cross-country adventure spawned the idea for the self-appointed "Roadchix. " Stayley, 28, who lives outside of Washington, D.C., and Marchello, 27, of Winchester, friends who met at Boston University, travel together at least once a year. Their excursions have taken them as close as Vermont and as far as Alaska and Ireland, with several stops in between, including a...

NEW YORK — Experts can argue about formulas for comedy, but two funny guys talking in a car is a pretty good start. That’s especially true when the guys are Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, who star in Michael Winterbottom’s new buddy road movie, “The Trip,’’ opening Friday. Though these British actors do get out of their vehicle occasionally to stay at quaint inns, bed pretty women (at least, Coogan does), and eat gourmet meals, the heart of their new comedy is time spent in transit and the conversation it inspires.

By Peter Abraham, Globe Staff BALTIMORE —Forget the American League Manager of the Year award. Bobby Valentine should be honored by the International Brotherhood of Magicians. The Red Sox beat the Orioles, 6-5, Wednesday with a lineup that included a bottom three of Daniel Nava, Scott Podsednik, and Kelly Shoppach. Nava and Podsednik were not in the majors last season and Shoppach hit .176 for the Rays. They were 6 for 9 with four runs and four RBIs. Each hit a home run. The Red Sox haven't had the last three hitters...

By Jason Mastrodonato, Globe Correspondent Tuukka Rask , who left Saturday's game in the second period with an undisclosed injury, will not be making the road trip to New York and Toronto, but no more information was provided by coach Claude Julien . Rask, making his first start since Feb. 24, had allowed one goal in 29:01 against the Islanders before exiting when Matt Martin ripped a quick shot upon entering the zone. Rask appeared to get a late read on the puck and made a sudden movement to his left before falling to the ice in apparent pain.

Playing 24 of their final 38 games on the road - beginning tomorrow in Chicago with a five-game road trip that carries through the All-Star break - the Celtics are preparing themselves for a stretch that will likely define their season. After tonight's game at TD Garden against the Pistons, the Celtics won't return home for two weeks. Fourteen of the next 19 are on the road, including a treacherous eight-game trip in March that carries through four time zones. They were eased into this lockout schedule with a lot of home games, but coach...

Nathan Horton will not travel with the Bruins to Montreal to start their six-game road trip. Horton continues to recover from a concussion suffered on Jan. 22. Horton will miss his eighth straight game tonight. @GlobeFluto

Kevin Durant had 37 points and 14 rebounds, Russell Westbrook dazzled with 28 points and 11 assists and the NBA-leading Oklahoma City Thunder started a critical road stretch with a 120-109 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Friday night. James Harden scored 19 points off the bench and Westbrook added six rebounds in the Thunder's fourth straight win. Oklahoma City pulled away with a 14-3 run late in the fourth quarter to begin a string of nine of 11 away from home. Dorell Wright scored 23 and David Lee had 19 points and seven rebounds for the...

L.L. Bean is taking its four-wheeled hunting shoe on a road trip to the big city. Bean's president and CEO, Chris McCormick, and senior manager for manufacturing, Jack Samson, unveiled the L.L. Bean Bootmobile on Tuesday to workers at the Maine plant where the real boots are made. Later, the Bootmobile made a brief stop in Freeport before heading south toward New York City. The Bootmobile, which is more than 20 feet long, was built to help the Maine-based retailer celebrate 100 years of being in business.

No team in the NFL had a better home record than the Baltimore Ravens, who are headed to the AFC championship game on the strength of their 9-0 mark at M&T Bank Stadium. Unfortunately, their path to the Super Bowl calls for a road trip to New England. Baltimore (13-4) would have had home-field advantage throughout the playoffs if not for its mediocre 4-4 record on the road. The Ravens' last loss, a 34-14 rout in San Diego on Dec. 18, cost them the top seed in the AFC. Playing as the No. 2 seed, Baltimore returned from a bye to beat the Houston Texans 20-13 at home on...

For reasons having nothing to do with the players' athletic abilities, the Harvard baseball team was on NBC's "Today" show Thursday. So why was a ball club that finished the season with a lackluster 7-8 record invited to hang with Al Roker ? Because they're a YouTube sensation. A few weeks ago, the guys shot a silly video of themselves lip-synching to the Carly Rae Jepsen hit "Call Me Maybe," and the vid's gone viral. Since being posted May 6, the cleverly choreographed clip has been viewed over 7 million times.

Here's one more reason to love technology: It makes it so much easier to keep the kids quiet during Memorial Day car trips. Just toss a tablet or smartphone stuffed with apps onto the back seat. But which apps? Luckily, there are plenty of good ones. Some, like Apple Inc.'s iMovie, are mainstream apps that are ideal creative tools for children. Others, like Children TV and Famigo Sandbox, are clever little programs that lock out inappropriate content to instantly child-proof your mobile device.

McNeese State coach Dave Simmons saw plenty of progress in his team against No. 24 California on Monday night. Granted, the Cowboys lost by 16 points and flew back home with a .500 record. Simmons, though, had several reasons to smile. McNeese State controlled the tempo and had the lead against the Golden Bears for most of the first half, then cut an 18-point lead in the second half to eight late in the game before Cal pulled away?. Call it baby steps forward for the young Cowboys.

Another road trip, another defeat for Colorado. The mistake-prone Buffaloes got in a first-half hole and never were able to climb out of it in a 37-17 loss at Ohio State on Saturday, extending their road losing skid to a school-record 19 in a row. "We have a long way to go as a program," first-year coach Jon Embree said. "We have a long way to go from the standpoint of getting to where we are competing and not hoping to upset an Ohio State. " Colorado (1-3) has not won a road game since Oct. 27, 2007, at Texas Tech.