Here’s an awesome Americana-inspired opportunity to think about as we head into the 4th of July weekend …

In a project called Exploring My America, Sears Auto Center is sponsoring 21 road trips along nine of America’s iconic highways. Sears seeks “engaging, adventurous people to hit the road for a week and tell their story and the stories of the people they meet.”

Here are the nine routes:

• Pacific Coast (pictured; this is the one I’d most like to do)
• Route 66
• Coast to Coast
• Atlantic Coast
• Road to Nowhere
• Appalachian Trail
• Loneliest Road
• Great River Road
• Dixie Overland Highway

And here are details. Deadline to enter is Aug. 8:

The program will run from July 11 through August 28, 2010. Over the course of the program, we’ll launch three road trip teams on different routes each week. Each team’s mission is to interact with people along their assigned route, capture interesting stories of unique personalities and places throughout their journey, and upload their stories to the program website.

As each team files content from the road (written stories, photos, videos, etc.), web visitors track their daily progress, comment and vote for their favorites. Each team competes against one another to create the most compelling stories and win cash prizes. The team with the highest number of votes for that week will be awarded the weekly prize of a $500 Amex Gift Card.

In addition, each week, the team with the most compelling overall content (as determined by judges) will receive a $200 Sears Auto Center Gift Card. Select teams may also participate in additional segments of the road trip beyond their designated segment for an opportunity to win more prizes. Web visitors will also have the chance to win daily for their participation.

Each team will receive:

$1,500 for travel expenses

21-point inspection by the Sears Auto Centers Blue Crew

$500 Sears Auto Center store credit

1 HD video camcorder (yours to keep)

1 Wi-Fi card to upload content

Roadside assistance (if necessary)

Temporary Sears Auto Center car signage to be displayed during the road trip