gatt writes:

My father-in-law (ANG helicopter crewman) takes "IFR" to mean "I Follow
Roads " (or rivers)

There is a sobering story right along those lines at

http://www.aopa.org/pilot/never_again/2008/na0801.html

I find it interesting that the author says this VFR flight scared him more
than any of his combat missions in Vietnam.

Sure. For example, Interstate 5 runs from Canada to Mexico, and the stretch
through most of Oregon looks like somebody drew a straight line with a
pencil across the landscape. If you were flying from Portland (possible
Seattle) to Eugene, Medford, Sacramento, etc, day or note you could follow
the freeway the entire route.

You'd still use your VFR navigation aids and checkpoints to make sure know
how far you are enroute, and also to avoid controlled airspace, etc, but
having that road, railroad, river makes for a more-enjoyable flight.

Good. I wanted to make sure I'm not missing some risk or danger to following
highways. From the article above I learned that things like wires and cables
are a real risk if you're very close to the highway, but only a helicopter
would be that low.