Northeast Alabama Road Meet Interest?

Started by codyg1985, May 28, 2014, 07:27:04 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

Which date(s) work for you for a NE Alabama Road Meet

Saturday, October 25th
6 (75%)
Saturday, November 1st
5 (62.5%)
Saturday, November 8th
6 (75%)
Other
3 (37.5%)

Total Members Voted: 8

hbelkins

Quote from: codyg1985 on October 22, 2014, 02:18:58 PM
I didn't realize Murfreesboro had a Cookout. Knew they had a Culver's though.

They have two Culver's. Cook Out and one of the Culver's locations are out on the southeast side of town on US 70S. The other Culver's is out near I-24 just off TN 96.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.


hbelkins



Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

Duke87

I see the Send Help sign got dragged out of retirement. :-|
If you always take the same road, you will never see anything new.

hbelkins

Yes, it's still alive and well in the southeast!


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

brianreynolds

My thanks to Cody for putting this meet together.  By every measure, this was a successful gathering of like-minded individuals with a common peculiar interest. 

I have never hosted a road meet, but I want to take a moment to express my appreciation for those who do.  It takes weeks of planning, preparation, scouting and fine-tuning.  When it is done right, the meal and the tour look easy and effortless. 

It takes a lot of effort to make it look effortless.  Again, thanks Cody.  I hope you enjoyed the day as much as I did.

codyg1985

Thanks a bunch, Brian! I really enjoyed having everyone down for the meet. I feel like it was successful, and it had the right number of people, too. It wouldn't be what it is without everyone getting to come and experience it!
Cody Goodman
Huntsville, AL, United States

jdb1234

I'm glad to hear that everything went well.  I would have been at the meet, but couldn't because of work commitments (not the first time this has happened).

SSOWorld

Quote from: jdb1234 on October 30, 2014, 08:11:46 AM
I'm glad to hear that everything went well.  I would have been at the meet, but couldn't because of work commitments (not the first time this has happened).
Nor would it be the last 8-)
Scott O.

Not all who wander are lost...
Ah, the open skies, wind at my back, warm sun on my... wait, where the hell am I?!
As a matter of fact, I do own the road.
Raise your what?

Wisconsin - out-multiplexing your state since 1918.

jdb1234

Quote from: SSOWorld on October 30, 2014, 12:12:19 PM
Quote from: jdb1234 on October 30, 2014, 08:11:46 AM
I'm glad to hear that everything went well.  I would have been at the meet, but couldn't because of work commitments (not the first time this has happened).
Nor would it be the last 8-)
Which is why I am looking for another job (that and I am tired of working nights).

codyg1985

Quote from: jdb1234 on October 30, 2014, 09:26:10 PM
Quote from: SSOWorld on October 30, 2014, 12:12:19 PM
Quote from: jdb1234 on October 30, 2014, 08:11:46 AM
I'm glad to hear that everything went well.  I would have been at the meet, but couldn't because of work commitments (not the first time this has happened).
Nor would it be the last 8-)
Which is why I am looking for another job (that and I am tired of working nights).

I am still eyeing doing a second Birmingham meet probably in Spring 2016 after (hopefully) the I-22/65 interchange is completed. I hope you are able to make that.
Cody Goodman
Huntsville, AL, United States

A.J. Bertin

I just want to chime in as well and say how much I really enjoyed this meet. Cody did a great job of putting it together. It was a lot of fun and was great seeing everyone! I'm so glad I made it.

I echo Brian Reynolds' comments. I've never hosted a meet before and probably never will, but I can imagine that it takes a lot of work to pull something like this off. Thanks to Cody and to everyone else who hosts road meets. They have been a significant (and fun!) part of my life over the past ten years or so.
-A.J. from Michigan

hbelkins

#61
Had a great day for a meet and good weather for the drive there and back.

I left Lexington at 3 p.m. with my destination being Lebanon, Tenn. Took the Bluegrass Parkway to KY 555, then south on KY 55 and around the Lebanon bypass, then US 68 through Campbellsville to Greensburg. Just south of Lebanon I noticed a wide sign where I didn't think one belonged, so I turned around and shot a photo of a 24x36 US 68 sign.

I had to stop several times between Lebanon and Greensburg to read and answer several text messages and make some phone calls, which delayed me a bit. Out of Greensburg, I took KY 88, KY 436 and KY 218 to US 31E, which I followed to Scottsville where US 231 joined, and followed that route on to Lebanon. It was a pleasant rural drive and I was thrilled to find gas prices in the $2.579 range in Lebanon.

The next morning, I got up and followed US 231 through Tennessee, clinching it in that state. Tennessee's signage practices are such that sometimes you're not sure if you're following the regular route or a truck route, such as in Fayetteville, where signage indicates that "Truck Route US 231" turns left when in reality it's actually US 231. Also, US 231 is signed as taking a bypass of downtown Shelbyville, but official Tennessee maps don't reflect this yet.

There's a grade-separated interchange with TN 437 north of town; I don't see the need for that interchange or that road.

US 231 is a pleasant drive into Alabama, and I was reminded of Texas in driving through Huntsville with the system of frontage roads.

After making a couple of stops in Huntsville, I used US 431 to get to the meet location and arrived right at the appointed time.

As for the meet itself, I peeled off at Scottsboro rather than go back to Guntersville and then have to head back toward Chattanooga. I drove US 72 in order to clinch it. The bridge crossing Nickajack Lake is not yet open to traffic, but it looks like it should be ready to go. The pavement approaching the bridge was new and had been striped. I drove all the way up to the closure point and used I-24 to cross the lake, then got back on US 72 and drove into downtown Chattanooga, so I consider it clinched in Tennessee.

That bridge on TN 156 at New Hope looks really impressive and can be seen from a great distance.

Sunday morning, I took US 11/US 64 to Cleveland, then US 74 east to Ducktown to clinch US 74 in Tennessee. From there, I used TN 68 back to Madisonville to pick up US 411 to get a clinch of it. Some of the signs are missing in Maryville, making it a bit difficult to follow the route. The quality of the road northeast of Maryville is much worse than southwest; only the concurrent section of US 441 and a few miles east of Sevierville are improved. However, it looks as if the final three miles of US 411 approaching Newport are being relocated.

My original plan was to head north toward home after reaching Newport and clinching US 411, but I was doing well on time so I opted to gain some new mileage on US 321. There is a segment between Newport and Greeneville that has been four-laned, but segments on either end are still two-lanes.

Tennessee's poor signage practices are in full effect in Greeneville. It's confusing whether US 321 follows the truck route around the west side of town, or goes straight through downtown. I drove both routes to make sure.

From there, I took US 11E south to I-81, then I-81 to TN 160 to US 25E at Morristown. They have been working on a grade-separated interchange at the shopping mall there for several years and the project still isn't finished.

From Morristown, it was US 25E north into Kentucky (with the requisite detour through Cumberland Gap, Tenn. to check on the old "TENN-US 25E" sign) to Barbourville, then KY 11 north. Took a backroads alternate route north of Manchester using US 421, KY 1350 and KY 846 back to KY 11, which is somewhat of a shortcut.

It was an enjoyable weekend. I clinched US 231, US 72, US 74 and US 411 in Tennessee and got new mileage on US 11, US 64 and US 321. One new county (Marshall, Ala., where the meet was hosted).

Don't know when I will next be able to attend a meet, but if this one is my last one for awhile, I'll have some good memories of the trip. Thanks to Cody for putting it together.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

codyg1985

The TN 437 interchange is to a bypass that goes to US 41A southeast of Shelbyville. I think there may be long-term plans to extend it back to either US 231 south or US 41A northwest of Shelbyville.
Cody Goodman
Huntsville, AL, United States

hbelkins



Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

clong

Good pics to see. I spent the first 18 years of my life in this area and my parents still live there.

When I learned to drive, the big test was being able to drive across the BB Comer and keep it in one lane.

Also remember my Dad taking me to the "new" bridge (that's now about 25 years old) and we walked across it the day before it opened to vehicle traffic. Prior to that the BB Comer was the only crossing and traffic was 1 lane in each direction. It was definitely a tight fit at times.

A.J. Bertin

Quote from: hbelkins on January 27, 2015, 07:39:39 PM
Finally got my photos from my trip to the Alabama meet in October up on my Flickr site:

Those pictures are great, H.B.  Thank you for sharing them!
-A.J. from Michigan



Opinions expressed here on belong solely to the poster and do not represent or reflect the opinions or beliefs of AARoads, its creators and/or associates.