You Know You're A Roadgeek If...

[Max Rockatansky]

I've seen enough M-22 decals to conclude this isn't necessarily a roadgeek thing

What is up with the M-22 decals that I see everywhere?

A lot of people in Michigan and the midwest in general spend their summer vacations on the Leelanau Peninsula which M22 loops around.   The big attraction most people would know it for is the Sleeping Bear Dunes, the locals have made a little cottage industry off of M22 trinkets which include said decals.  My sister and brother-in-law actually have a cabin up there and did them one better since I bought them a real M22 highway sign last year for Christmas.

I should have known, having been to that beautiful area a few times.

It's pretty nice, I'll be visiting again myself in August.  The drive on M22 is actually one of the few in the state that can actually be kind of challenging and require good handling skills.  It certainly doesn't hurt that I'll have access to said cabin myself. 

[kkt]

You know you're a roadgeek if:

- You have toll transponders in your car even if your state has no toll booths.

- You have a dashcam on the front and back of your window.

- You call shotgun seat all the time.

- You stay up for the entire trip even though it may take over a couple days.

- You have highway shield stickers on your back windows (or it may just be me).

- You have shields/signs hung on your wall.

- You collect license plates.

-

You don't finish your lists?

[Max Rockatansky]

You know you're a roadgeek if:

- You have toll transponders in your car even if your state has no toll booths.

- You have a dashcam on the front and back of your window.

- You call shotgun seat all the time.

- You stay up for the entire trip even though it may take over a couple days.

- You have highway shield stickers on your back windows (or it may just be me).

- You have shields/signs hung on your wall.

- You collect license plates.

-

You don't finish your lists?

At least it doesn't say "input coming, please wait."

[The Nature Boy]

You know you're a roadgeek if:

- You have toll transponders in your car even if your state has no toll booths.

- You have a dashcam on the front and back of your window.

- You call shotgun seat all the time.

- You stay up for the entire trip even though it may take over a couple days.

- You have highway shield stickers on your back windows (or it may just be me).

- You have shields/signs hung on your wall.

- You collect license plates.

-

You don't finish your lists?

With the number of unfinished highway plans out there, not finishing things would be the ultimate sign of road geekery.

[MNHighwayMan]

Even with those projects that are "completed," roads are still a never-ending task of maintenance and up-keep. Unless you can figure out how to reverse the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

[kphoger]

how to get from the town we were in (Carbondale, IL) to Joliet, IL.

City of New Orleans from Carbondale to Union Station
Walk from Union Station to LaSalle Street Station
Rock Island Line Metra from LaSalle Street to Joliet

I've actually gone from DuQuoin to Saint Louis by way of Joliet once, but I stayed the night in Wheaton in between and was dropped off at the Joliet station the next morning.

By car, my preferred route was always I-57–I-74–IL-47–I-55.

[inkyatari]

We did this in class at one point. Teacher was trying to get us to figure out how to get from the town we were in (Carbondale, IL) to Joliet, IL. I gave all the appropriate directions. Teacher's jaw was sagging more than a burnt girder bridge.

My son loves maps almost more than I do, and he can tell you how to get almost anywhere in the Chicago area with amazing accuracy.

Growing up, my dad gave me the nickname Rand McNally.

Been thinking about calling my son "Checkchart."

[Max Rockatansky]

Friends and family almost only call you to find out what is the scenic way way to get home.

[tckma]

In high school, when your school's band is going to march in DisneyWorld's Main Street Parade, and they decide to take charter buses on a 24-hour bus ride to get there... and every 5-10 minutes, even while you are asleep, someone comes and bothers you to ask "What state are we in?"

Same f&*#ing state we were in when you JUST asked me ten minutes ago.  Now let me return to a state of repose.

This was over 20 years ago, before everyone had cell phones with Google Maps.  I think I wouldn't have had this problem today.

After a while I found myself explaining what mileposts were and how they counted down to zero when going south towards a state line, at which point you'd see "Welcome to New State."  Now stop bothering me.  Unfortunately, that didn't work.  Neither did explaining how interstate shields had the state you were in printed in white above the number (I don't know if that's true anymore), or how each state had a different shape for their state route shields and the diamond shape means we're in North Carolina, the straight line with curved bottom means Virginia, or whatever was appropriate.  That one seemed to confuse people the most, whereas it was something I first noticed at age 9 when my family drove out of state to visit family in Ohio.  Oh hey, that's a circle now that we're in New Jersey.  Oh hey, that's a keystone shape now that we're in Pennsylvania.  OH COOL SHAPE OF THE STATE FOR OHIO!

[hotdogPi]

After a while I found myself explaining what mileposts were and how they counted down to zero when going south towards a state line, at which point you'd see "Welcome to New State."

That doesn't work going the other direction, where they start at 0 instead of ending at 0.

[tckma]

After a while I found myself explaining what mileposts were and how they counted down to zero when going south towards a state line, at which point you'd see "Welcome to New State."

That doesn't work going the other direction, where they start at 0 instead of ending at 0.

Yes, but it was an easier explanation when we were traveling southbound from New York to Florida.  Going home, people didn't bother me as much, but that could be because people weren't excited to get home.

[pianocello]

In high school, when your school's band is going to march in DisneyWorld's Main Street Parade, and they decide to take charter buses on a 24-hour bus ride to get there... and every 5-10 minutes, even while you are asleep, someone comes and bothers you to ask "What state are we in?"

Same f&*#ing state we were in when you JUST asked me ten minutes ago.  Now let me return to a state of repose.

This was over 20 years ago, before everyone had cell phones with Google Maps.  I think I wouldn't have had this problem today.

You'd be surprised. I had the same thing happen in my high school trip 5 years ago.

I'd still rather have people bother me by asking me about geography than by voicing their (often incorrect) thoughts. My favorite was on a trip from Davenport to Fort Atkinson, WI: "Why are we going through Illinois? Iowa and Wisconsin border each other!"

[freebrickproductions]

...you register for the AARoads Forum.

[SD Mapman]

You stop next to some trumpeter swans in Alaska and take a picture of the highway sign instead.

You correctly navigate a van full of people in a state you've never been in before 152 miles at night.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

...you register for the AARoads Forum.

... even if you never have been to the USA!

[Henry]

You know you're a roadgeek if:

- You have toll transponders in your car even if your state has no toll booths.

- You have a dashcam on the front and back of your window.

- You call shotgun seat all the time.

- You stay up for the entire trip even though it may take over a couple days.

- You have highway shield stickers on your back windows (or it may just be me).

- You have shields/signs hung on your wall.

- You collect license plates.

-

You don't finish your lists?

With the number of unfinished highway plans out there, not finishing things would be the ultimate sign of road geekery.

That is, until you die.

[roadgeek01]

So, yesterday, I woke up at 7:43 am and I thought, "Hey, PA 743!" 

[Roadgeekteen]

So, yesterday, I woke up at 7:43 am and I thought, "Hey, PA 743!" 

That is some hardcore roadgeekyness. I have never thought that.

[noelbotevera]

-You take pieces of pavement from the road (includes reflectors and Botts dots)

-You own copious amounts of Hot Wheels as a kid (or whatever popular car toys existed in your time)

-You bang on signs, HOPING that the bolts shear off (have tried this, no luck) for your collection

-Your favorite video game is American Truck Simulator

-crAIg COuNtY

[yakra]

-crAIg COuNtY

I do believe you win the thread, good sir!

[Roadgeekteen]

You want the new rand McNally every year.
You throw a fit as a little kid when you fall asleep and miss the road sign.
You are more excited to go someplace to see the roads than to do the thing you went there to do.
You pay attention to speed limit signs.

[Sctvhound]

You drive 15 miles out of your way to clinch a new bridge.

[Desert Man]

An interest in useless, but historic maps of what your town or city looked like in the past.

US route 99 in Indio-Coachella and Palm Springs in 1930 - when Indio was incorporated to a city. 

http://www.lamag.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2015/04/coachella21.jpg

Another historic map of Indio CA (and surroundings) around 1900.

http://www.muststayawake.com/SDAG/JPG/Indio1904.JPG

[US 89]

-You take random exits off the interstate just to say you've been on a certain route.
-You walk a long way just to say you've been on a numbered route (I did this in Atlanta--walked all the way around the Georgia Dome and put my foot onto Northside Dr, so I have been on US 19, 29, and 41)
-You drive all over town so that you can clinch a (short) state route.
-You hate falling asleep in the car.
-You actually care about US Highway concurrencies. (I can't count the number of times I've heard "who cares if we're on US 30, we're on I-80!" or something similar.)
-You develop fantasies of an ideal world where US highways are extended, created, etc.
-You draw highway shields around page numbers in books.

In high school, when your school's band is going to march in DisneyWorld's Main Street Parade, and they decide to take charter buses on a 24-hour bus ride to get there... and every 5-10 minutes, even while you are asleep, someone comes and bothers you to ask "What state are we in?"

Same f&*#ing state we were in when you JUST asked me ten minutes ago.  Now let me return to a state of repose.

This was over 20 years ago, before everyone had cell phones with Google Maps.  I think I wouldn't have had this problem today.

Often that still doesn't work in the middle of the western deserts, where there is no cell phone service.

[Roadgeekteen]

-You take random exits off the interstate just to say you've been on a certain route.
-You walk a long way just to say you've been on a numbered route (I did this in Atlanta--walked all the way around the Georgia Dome and put my foot onto Northside Dr, so I have been on US 19, 29, and 41)
-You drive all over town so that you can clinch a (short) state route.
-You hate falling asleep in the car.
-You actually care about US Highway concurrencies. (I can't count the number of times I've heard "who cares if we're on US 30, we're on I-80!" or something similar.)
-You develop fantasies of an ideal world where US highways are extended, created, etc.
-You draw highway shields around page numbers in books.

In high school, when your school's band is going to march in DisneyWorld's Main Street Parade, and they decide to take charter buses on a 24-hour bus ride to get there... and every 5-10 minutes, even while you are asleep, someone comes and bothers you to ask "What state are we in?"

Same f&*#ing state we were in when you JUST asked me ten minutes ago.  Now let me return to a state of repose.

This was over 20 years ago, before everyone had cell phones with Google Maps.  I think I wouldn't have had this problem today.

Often that still doesn't work in the middle of the western deserts, where there is no cell phone service.

I fall asleep in the car on roads I had already been on.