Biggest Roadgeek/Trip Regrets

[Rothman]

My dad, brothers and I regret passing up on a chance to go through Preston, Idaho, the main setting of Napoleon Dynamite, on a leg of a western RV trip in 2009 going from Yellowstone to Salt Lake.

You didn't miss much.

*was in Preston before it was cool*

[Max Rockatansky]

My wife loves that movie.  I saw it in the theater when it was new but I was kind "meh" on it.  I've watched again twice in an attempt to figure out what I'm missing.

[Rothman]

My wife loves that movie.  I saw it in the theater when it was new but I was kind "meh" on it.  I've watched again twice in an attempt to figure out what I'm missing.

Heh.  My parents didn't get it at all, but then their friends thought it was hilarious ("He tries to feed a llama casserole!"), so my parents had to give it another shot and see if they could wrap their heads around the humor.  They improved.

[vdeane]

Maybe not biggest of all time, but I'm kinda wishing I had my camera with me this weekend.  I left for Rochester a good 2 hours earlier than usual due to having a bridal shower to go to Friday evening, and as a result ended up getting off the Thruway in Syracuse to get lunch at DestiNY USA, since the service areas don't really have decent food options heading that way between Pattersonville (when it reopens) and Junius Ponds (I'm not obsessed with fried chicken like many people seem to be these days), reconnecting via I-690.  Turns out there are quite a bit of new signs around Syracuse.  And then, I decided that a trip that I already mucked about with and that's sandwiched between two others was the perfect opportunity to finally use Thruway exits 38, 37, 34, and 32, and clinched Old Liverpool Road in the process, looping back via Onondaga Lake Parkway.  Turns out NY 370 has a lot of stuff to shoot or reshoot too.  Had I known, I would have brought the camera, but the details of this trip were a lot more spur of the moment than usual, especially since how I handled lunch Friday was highly dependent on when I managed to leave, when I felt like eating (specifically, whether I felt like trying to stretch it to Junius Ponds), and the weather.  I don't think my route for Sunday was even conceived up 24 hours in advance.

[Mr. Matté]

Not going to the Central Jersey Roadmeet of 2011, whose starting point was right in my backyard. Probably would have been more involved with the community earlier on in my life instead of really ramping up with the community about 10 years later. There's a chance I may have known the people driving the famous ice cream truck too since at the time former high school classmates of mine did have a business driving one that made the local newspaper.

[NWI_Irish96]

Before I was into road clinching, there were some routes I took that I'd love to be able to do over:

Utah: I took US 50 as a shortcut on my way from Moab to SLC and will likely never clinch I-70 as a result.

Minnesota: Used US 12/MN 15 to visit Darwin on the way from Minneapolis to St Cloud and missed a segment of I-94 that is now my only missing segment.

DC/MD/VA: Only lived there for a year, left somewhat suddenly, and never managed day trips to Richmond or Annapolis.

[elsmere241]

Buying an RV trailer.  I'll just leave it at that.

[D-Dey65]

I started a thread back in 2017 about missed road sign photo opportunities, and those remain my biggest regrets.

I've got plenty of those, sadly.

I also regret not taking my June 2010 road trip to New York City earlier in 2010, so I could find out why the northbound Interstate 95 Pee Dee Rest Area has been so intriguing to me, before the SCDOT shut it down.

[Rothman]

Come to think of it, my regret is just not keeping track of my travels over the years as well as I do now.  Still, all it's meant is even more travel for me, even if it is to places I've sort been before.  No biggie.

[TheStranger]

A subtle one that just occurred to me:

When I was younger (1998), my family and I did a roadtrip from NYC (Staten Island) to Buffalo where I had us take NY 17/future I-86, then from Buffalo to Boston.

We did use the elevated Central Artery portion I-93 as well as taking the original interchange to US 1 north, of which I don't think we got any photos of it at the time as far as I recall.  Would've been cool to have that in photographic form.

[paulthemapguy]

In January 2019, I got shafted out of a clinch of I-59 as the viaduct through Birmingham was closed. If only I had taken that trip a couple weeks earlier... I got a clinch of I-459 instead, which is alright, I guess.

In October 2017, my wife (gf at the time) and I took a last-minute trip to far northern CA and southern OR.  The area was riddled with wildfires, and Crater Lake was a bowl of smoke. We couldn't even really see the water.  Nothing to really regret in terms of decision making--but it was a letdown in its own way.

[clong]

Realized after a trip to DC in 2016 that I'd missed the last half mile or so of I-66 where it turns North to head up to K Street. On my next trip to DC, convinced my family to detour, not hugely but some, to finish it off. Crossed the Potomac on the Arlington Bridge and missed the cloverleaf at the Lincoln to get on I-66. I've been back to DC a couple of times since then, but haven't been driving, so I'm not sure when that might happen.

[hbelkins]

Realized after a trip to DC in 2016 that I'd missed the last half mile or so of I-66 where it turns North to head up to K Street. On my next trip to DC, convinced my family to detour, not hugely but some, to finish it off. Crossed the Potomac on the Arlington Bridge and missed the cloverleaf at the Lincoln to get on I-66. I've been back to DC a couple of times since then, but haven't been driving, so I'm not sure when that might happen.

When I clinched I-66, I came down Constitution Avenue and hit the interstate, crossed the Potomac, then crossed back on the Key Bridge, which put me in position to clinch that odd portion.

[D-Dey65]

New regret; I regret that when I took my Madison County, FL-Folkston, GA day trip yesterday, I didn't take one of the 400 Mile Marker on Interstate 75.

There are a few other things I missed the chance to do, but that doesn't necessarily mean I can't do them another time.

[thspfc]

Not driving the extra few miles from West Yellowstone to enter Idaho. Still have never been to Idaho, no idea when I would ever go.

[74/171FAN]

Well I could have seen the completed US 209/PA 115 roundabout in Brodheadsville twice recently before actually doing it today since I have been on PA 33 twice on recent trips (including the one last weekend).

[ModernDayWarrior]

Mostly beyond my control, but I wish I would have had one more day to explore West Virginia on my Appalachian road trip this past May.

I attended an event in Atlanta over Memorial Day weekend--said event ran from early evening Friday 5/24 through late evening Sunday 5/26. Happened to find a great deal on a rental car (one week, Tuesday 5/21 to 5/28, unlimited mileage) so I decided to use the opportunity to take a road trip through the Appalachians that I've been wanting to do for years. For various reasons I didn't get an early enough start on that first day, and was only able to make it to Bowling Green, Kentucky (and even that took me until just past midnight). Spent Wednesday seeing various sights through eastern Kentucky, stopping that night in Prestonsburg, which meant I only had all of Thursday for WV as Friday would have to be spent getting into Atlanta on time. I really loved what I did get to see (Marshall University plane crash memorial, state capitol complex, Hawks Nest State Park, New River Gorge Bridge, not to mention some of the most beautiful scenic drives I've ever experienced) but sadly I had to scratch Corridor H off the itinerary. I've been fascinated with that road for years, tried to make the road meet there a few years ago but ended up having to cancel, and couldn't make it work this time around either. I have no idea when I'll ever be able to make it back out that way.

I didn't take a ton of pictures, but the few that I did snap I'll upload and post separately.

[pderocco]

Not a huge regret, but in late November I took a little trip into NE Arizona and SE Utah--Monument Valley etc.--intending to include AZ-67 to the Grand Canyon North Rim. On 11/30 I was exploring Utah and taking Halls Ferry over Lake Powell. That evening I went online to check up on the North Rim and found it had been closed for the season at 5pm. Had I gone there first...

But it's within range of a weekend trip, so I'll see it next spring.

[wanderer2575]

Being too lazy to get out of the car and ending up with an inferior sign photo:  Weird tint from being taken through the windshield, or less-than-ideal angle from where I was able to stop the car.

[pderocco]

Not a huge regret, but in late November I took a little trip into NE Arizona and SE Utah--Monument Valley etc.--intending to include AZ-67 to the Grand Canyon North Rim. On 11/31 I was exploring Utah and taking Halls Ferry over Lake Powell. That evening I went online to check up on the North Rim and found it had been closed for the season at 5pm. Had I gone there first...

But it's within range of a weekend trip, so I'll see it next spring.

Fixed.


11/31??