The AARoads Blog

We continue on the Fourth of July trip … across Beartooth Pass we go, on US-212. One of the most scenic drives to be found anywhere.

Squeezing in the last of morning light.

This sign might very well date back to when US-12 in Wyoming was renumbered to US-212 in 1963! There are very few US-212 shields in Wyoming.

About 9500 feet up the pass. This view is in infrared, which causes ice to show up bright blue.

A marmot appears.

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The Fourth of July trip. Undertaken by Daniel Brim and me. Our usual arrangement holds – we take approximately identical photos, and try not to hit any raccoons and/or rabbits.

Our destination is sunny Union County, New Mexico – by way of Beartooth Pass, Sioux City, and various other places that call into question our ability to drive in a straight line.

We fly into Salt Lake City airport, and then make a beeline to Grand Teton National Park for sunrise.

The Grand Tetons at sunrise.

Similar view, different road.

Late dawn, with foreground lighting.

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the third day of the Gila River trip, in which I return from New Mexico back home to San Diego.

Campfire from the night before. I don’t remember why we decided that Frosty the Candle Snowman had to go, but we certainly sent him off to Valhalla in style.

An old alignment of New Mexico state route 32 yields this tilted, decrepit junction assembly. It dates to the late 1960s or so.

This grassland – just east of Springerville, AZ – burned in the Wallow Fire just a few weeks after I took these photos. But, it will grow back, as that is how these things tend to go.

Sunset through Telegraph Pass, just east of Yuma on I-8.

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the second day of the Gila River trip – now with special guests! Dale, Beverley, and Shelly live in a completely different section of New Mexico, but when I discovered that they were camping on the western side of the state (only a 630 mile drive from San Diego!) I knew I had to drive out there for the weekend.

I find them at Lake Roberts, and we head up to the end of New Mexico 15 to the Gila Cliff Dwellings, find some hot springs, and generally have a quality time of things.

I took over 1000 pictures on this day – quite a lot of things to be seen!

Shelly, Dale, and Beverley at the entrance to the cliff dwellings. The ladder is a modern touch for modern folks. The original inhabitants, of course, flew from door to door on the power of their awesomeness.

Today’s theme ingredient is: forest fire.

I believe this is a desert spiny lizard (Sceloporus magister). Dale spotted the little critter first and it took me a good several seconds to note what he was pointing at. The camouflage is dang near perfect!

The Gila Cliff Dwellings. They were built around 1280 by the Mogollon people, and were abandoned sometime in the 1300s. Due to the desert climate, they remain very well-preserved; almost exactly how they looked over 700 years ago.

Dale. No further explanation needed.

A lazy evening spent at a hot spring. I took this photo while sitting in the pool. Probably not the smartest idea ever, but hey, the photo came out!

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A trip to New Mexico, essentially following the Gila River all the way. Part features the first day, and the morning of the second – driving from San Diego to Lake Roberts, NM.

Adventures in terrible light-post placement. There are only two known 1957-spec interstate shields in Arizona. (The other one is on this exact gantry, facing the other direction.)

Extremely pointy flower in morning light. Highway 90 between Lordsburg and Silver City, New Mexico.

Heading north from Silver City on state highway 15.

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the second batch of photos from the trip ScottB and I took to Mariposa, in the western Sierra foothills. On this day, we leave the town and head southwards, on 49 and then various county roads, before spurring off on 168 into the mountains a while.

Just a little stream, filled with floating vegetation, by the side of a county road just a mile or two from highway 41.

An oddly shaped tree. We find it at Shaver Lake, on highway 168.

It is definitely waterfall season. This one is beside old highway 168, which leads to Big Creek.

This pair of signs dates to 1953. Some of the last white porcelain guide signs left in the state! I actually found these about a year ago on a trip with Andy, but when we got there it was night, so I had to come back for a daytime shot.

This river feeds from the waterfalls into Huntington Lake.

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The new stack at the Dallas North Tollway and the Sam Rayburn Tollway in suburban Dallas is a little more than halfway finished. Construction began in February 2010, and the junction is expected to open in March, 2012. This photo was taken yesterday, looking north.

The first segment of the first phase of the Mid-Bay Bridge connector (Toll Florida 293) opened to traffic on May 12 from the existing toll plaza at the north end of the bridge across Choctawhatchee Bay to Florida 20. The second portion of Phase I will open later this summer and will dump local traffic onto Range Road east of Niceville. The following photos were taken May 13 by ABRoads.

Toll Florida 293 north (from U.S. 98 to Florida 20):

Florida 293 begins its ascent northward from U.S. 98 in the eastern portion of Destin. It begins as a six-lane arterial, but quickly loses lanes to become a two lane corridor by the time it reaches the Mid-Bay bridge over Choctawhatchee Bay. This reassurance marker is the only one in the entire northwest region that displays the orange outline of Florida, often seen on other toll facilities in other parts of the state.

Currently, motorists pay a $3.00 toll for the Mid-Bay bridge crossing. The toll plaza is just over 5-miles away along the north shore of Choctawhatchee Bay. The traffic signal in the background allows access to the commercial centers that align either side of Florida 293.

A quick progress report on two local projects, the Florida 85/Florida 123 interchange improvements and the Mid-Bay Bridge connector, part of the Toll Florida 293 bypass around Niceville. The Florida 85/Florida 123 project is slated to be done by summer of 2012 while the Mid-Bay Bridge connector will be completed in stages over the next three years, with a portion of the first phase opening this Thursday, as posted in today’s edition of the Northwest Florida Daily News…

Map of Niceville showing the under construction and proposed alignment of the extension of Toll Florida 293 around the eastern and northern portions of the city. The toll route will eventually end at a trumpet interchange with Florida 85 about a mile north of College Drive.

Future Florida 85/Florida 123 Interchange improvements:

A guide sign with an older style Florida 123 shield lets motorists know of the impending departure. Since a lot of traffic (regular and military) uses Florida 123 as a short-cut to get to Florida 85 northwest of Niceville, a well extended three-quarters of a mile left-turn lane exists to allow motorists the necessary room to queue for the turn. During peak hours in the afternoon this extended turn lane often fills quickly, and at times past capacity.

Northbound traffic along Florida 85 continues through a static green signal while traffic departing for Florida 123 north must wait for their phase of movement. The wait here can often get long during the afternoon peak as commuters leave from the Fort Walton Beach and Eglin areas heading toward Crestview and beyond. The abutments and pier of future Florida 123 north are in place awaiting the installation of the beams.

Photos from last weekend! I took a trip with ScottB to the town of Mariposa, on highway 49, in the western Sierra foothills. We explored old bridges and wildflowers and green hills and what have you, and a grand old time was had by all.

here is the first day.

By the side of a road called simply “Old Highway”. It is to the southwest of Mariposa, and branches off 140. Whether it is an old 140 alignment or not, no one knows (it isn’t 140 on my 1942 map). In any case, it is well worth driving.

“mariposa” is Spanish for “butterfly” – and here we find an example of one downtown!

A standard representative example of California’s official state flower.

Old sign find of the day. This FAS (Federal Aid Secondary) gantry dates to 1947. The Federal Aid program was used to build infrastructure like roadways and bridges, and the signs date to as far back as 1929, and as recently as the 1960s.

The suspension bridge across the Merced River. Just outside of Yosemite. While this is next to highway 140, it is not an old 140 alignment or anything – it’s just a bridge that leads to a campground.

Highway 49 north of Mariposa crosses the Merced River, after descending sharply down from the mountains.

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