Off the Grid: Sally breaks down Road Trip

There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today’s puzzle before reading further! Road Trip
Constructor: Sean Ziebarth
Editor: Jared Goudsmit
Sean: Hello USA Today puzzlers! I’m thrilled to make my USA Today debut and I loved collaborating with Amanda and Jared as they pushed me to make this puzzle as fun as possible. This puzzle’s theme goes back two years when I was brainstorming with my family on, wait for it…. , a road trip and I’ve been fiddling with it ever since. I tried hiding synonyms for road in phrases, like HURL AN EPITHET, then I used the names of different roads in phrases, like SMOOTH AS SILK, but I finally figured the simplest idea was the best. I hope this was a short and sweet road trip for you! I need to thank my wife and son in advance as we’re about to embark on another road trip and they’re going to have to listen to my crossword rantings for hours!
ROAD TRIP: Each theme answer contains a synonym of the word ROAD: WAY, PLACE, and PASS. The “ROAD” is going on a TRIP of sorts, appearing at the beginning of the first theme answer, inside the second theme answer, and at the end of the third theme answer.
This theme is more subtle than some of the themes we see in the USA Today crosswords. In fact, it took me a few moments after solving to figure out the theme. I don’t mind that – it was a good mental workout. Congratulations to Sean Ziebarth making a USA Today debut! Thank you, Sean, for this enjoyable puzzle.