When Americans hit the road it's usually for "sun and fun" or "bright lights, big city." But in the years after 9/11, Americans have also hungered for a slice of security and normalcy. A chance to get off the beaten path, away from it all to someplace quieter, older, less hectic.

Six years ago, I wrote about "the call of the small," the allure of towns that I had run across in my travels. Since then I've collected more gems as I've traveled. The towns are rarely destinations themselves, just a beautiful spot on the way from someplace to someplace else. I'm able to linger in a few. Others are just a stop for lunch and a promise to come back another day.

Here's my second helping of small towns I am fond of. If you'll take the time, you might fall in love with them, too.

Waimea, Kauai: Hanalei is prettier. Poipu has better beaches. But both of those Kauai towns are full of vacationers and transplants. Waimea, on the southwestern edge of the Garden Island of Hawaii, is a real town. It has just enough tourist attractions (the 3,500-foot deep Waimea Canyon, rugged Polihale Beach - the longest in the state) to make it worth the trip.

Mostly what you get is solitude and a laid-back atmosphere without anyone trying to give you a time-share pitch. www.gohawaii.com/kauai or 800-464-2924.

Shelter Cove, Calif.: I came to this Redwood Coast gem while tracing the path of the San Andreas fault. The fault touches the surface here for the final time on California's "Lost Coast" before cutting north into the Pacific Ocean floor. A winding road down from Highway 101 reveals a pretty town with a nice little fishing port and the transplanted historic Cape Mendocino lighthouse. Some residents take the easy way in - landing at a small airstrip in the center of town. www.sheltercove-lostcoast.com.

Leadville, Colo.: Many Colorado Rockies towns have that rubber-stamp ski-resort-condos-and-chain-stores look. But Leadville, the highest incorporated city in the United States (elevation 10,152 feet), retains its somewhat scruffy mining-day roots. There's an old newspaper office on the main street and a diner painted a bright yellow that sets it off against the gray sky. The number of days when Leadville isn't buried in snow are few. Get there while you can. www.leadvilleusa.com or 888-532-3845.

Pine Bluffs, Wyo.: This isn't the mountains-and-waterfalls part of Wyoming around Yellowstone. Pine Bluffs is on the far southeastern edge, a few miles from the Nebraska border. What set it apart is the local rodeo held most Friday nights at 7 p.m. from Memorial Day to Labor Day. You'll see teenagers roping their first calves and great-grandmothers who've been riding ponies between the cones since World War II. There's nothing slick about this true slice of Western prairie life. www.pinebluffs.org or call 307-245-3695.

Lawrence, Kan.: With more than 80,000 residents, Lawrence is the biggest place on my list of small towns. But when you drive into downtown in the late afternoon, with the sunlight making the old brick buildings glow, it feels cozy and small. I found myself thinking "I could live here." A college town with good bookstores and a microbrewery, Lawrence is also steeped in the history of "Bloody Kansas," the battles that raged over slavery just before the Civil War. www.visitlawrence.com or 785-865-4499.

Chippewa Falls, Wis.: Take a historic downtown that has been praised by the National Trust for Historic Preservation; add in Olson's, an old-fashioned ice cream parlor at the top of the main street; and mix in a historic brick brewery by a rushing stream and you have a small town out of 1950s central casting. All you have to do is go over the hill on the other side of the river to find the strip malls and fast-food joints. But from the center of town, it's dreamy. www.chippewachamber.org or 866-723-0340.

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