News:

Thanks to everyone for the feedback on what errors you encountered from the forum database changes made in Fall 2023. Let us know if you discover anymore.

Main Menu

This Saturday, I am going to do something I don't normally do.......

Started by ce929wax, July 02, 2019, 05:38:23 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

ce929wax

and get up at 6 a.m.  Why?  Because I have decided to take an impromptu day trip.  I am going to go on a county collecting mission.  I am going to go on a Kalamazoo-Stanton-Lapeer-Alpena-Traverse City-Kalamazoo square.  Google says it is about a 13 hour trip.  I'm going to leave around 7 a.m. and I expect to be back around the 9 p.m.  to 11 p.m. range.

The route will be M-96 to M-66 to Stanton, from there who knows.  I will pick a destination and put in my phone GPS and see where it takes me.



Rothman

Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

epzik8

I've done a couple of county-collecting and route-clinching trips myself.
From the land of red, white, yellow and black.
____________________________

My clinched highways: http://tm.teresco.org/user/?u=epzik8
My clinched counties: http://mob-rule.com/user-gifs/USA/epzik8.gif

ce929wax

Trip Summary:  Started at 6:45 a.m. in a 2015 Hyundai Accent with the odometer at 23456 (I think) and ended at 11 p.m. with the odometer at 24309.  Total trip: 853 miles in 16 hours and 15 minutes with an average speed of 52.49 mph.

Trip Statistics: I saw 14 cops, 7 deer (3 of which were dead), hit 3 piles of road kill that I could avoid (probably saw 10-15 other piles that were either on the side of the road or that I could avoid).  I saw five different Clark Roads (one of which I traveled on), four different Everett Roads, three different Garfield Roads (one of which I traveled on).  I crossed the Rifle River twice, the Au Gres River twice, and the Muskegon River three times.  I had two Maalox Moments when I couldn't feel my wallet in my pocket about an hour into the third leg of the trip (luckily it had just slid out of my pocket) and when a motorcycle started to veer over into my lane on US 127.  At the risk of being rude and chauvinistic I did see one lady who filled out her yoga pants nicely (I don't normally comment on these things, but it was too good to pass up).  There were also five times I made Siri lose her mind when I didn't follow her instructions.

Meals: One sausage biscuit at McDonalds on the corner Sprinkle and Gull Rd ($1.06), One fountain drink at a gas station in Stanton, MI ($1.49), One chocolate milk at Speedway ($1.99), lunch at Taco Bell in Lapeer ($8.03), dinner at a KFC buffet in Houghton Lake ($9.35), and a pick me up of a donut and chocolate milk at Sweetwater's Donut Mill in Plainwell ($3.73).  Grand total: $25.65

Fuel Stops: Topped off at Speedway at Nazareth and Gull Road ($5, 1.73 gallons at $2.89), Speedway in Auburn, MI ($20, 6.9 gallons at $2.90), and B&B Gas Station in Houghton Lake ($20, 6.9 gallons at $2.90).  I saw gas prices from 2.79 to 2.90 along the way.  Total Gas: $45, 15.53 gallons.  Estimated MPG: 39.62 at 853 miles and 21.53 gallons used (estimate).

Miscellaneous Expenses: $2.00 donation to a veterans booth at the rest area (~mile 138) on I-75 SB.

Total expenses: $72.65

Traffic:  No major traffic, except on I-75 around Exit 162 which caused me to take US 10 West.

Weather: Clouds and sun, some sprinkles near Alpena and a heavier shower in Grand Rapids.  Temp started at 72 in Kzoo when I left, got up to 84 in Lapeer and then cooled off considerably once I got north of Bay City.  The closer I got to Lake Huron, it struggled to maintain 70 degrees.

Leg One: Kalamazoo-Stanton (new county: Montcalm)
Route was pretty much Gull Rd to G Ave to M-96 to Battle Creek.  From Battle Creek I took some local roads to M-66 and then was detoured onto Clark Rd in Barry County.  From there I took a couple of local roads and ended up on M-50 and went through Lake Odessa.  I took Jourdan Lake Road to I-96 and then got back on M-66 and headed into Stanton.  I got to Stanton around 8:45 a.m. and stopped at an AGO Station and got a pop.

Leg Two:  Stanton-Lapeer (New counties: Gratiot, Isabella, Midland, Lapeer)
I took Stanton Rd east out of Stanton, which turned into Washington Rd in Gratiot County.  I took 127 north to the Blanchard Rd exit and took local roads to Saginaw.  In Saginaw I took I-675 south to I-75 and took that to Flint.  From there I took I-69 to M-24 and stopped at ate lunch in Lapeer around 11:30 a.m.

Leg Three: Lapeer-Alpena (New counties: Arenac, Gladwin, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Alpena)
I took M-24 north to Columbiaville Rd and from there I took local roads until I got to M-15 in Otisville.  I took M-15 to M-54 and then took some local roads and ended back on M-54/M-83 in Burch Run.  I got on I-75 and took that until I ran into traffic around mile 160 and took exit 162B to Garfield Rd in Auburn where I got gas.  I took that to Beaver Rd and then took some other roads to I-75 and got off on US 23.  I decided to take M-61 West in Standish and took that to Three Rivers Road, where I took some local roads until I got to M-65.  I went through Hale and Glennie and took F-30 in Glennie over to US 23 where I took that into Alpena.

Leg Four: Alpena-Kalamazoo (New counties: Montmorency, Oscoda, Crawford, Roscommon, Clare, Osceola, Lake, Newaygo, Mecosta)

I didn't get to Alpena until around 4:30 because of some meandering I took that took longer than I had planned (I had planned to in Alpena between 2:30 and 3), so I cancelled the Traverse City leg of the trip.  I took M-32 out of Alpena to M-33.  It was once I got on M-33 that I lost my Pandora signal (I'm shocked it didn't happen sooner).  I took M-33 to M-61 and ended up on some county roads until I got to M-72 and took that into Grayling.  In Grayling I got on I-75 briefly until the US 127 Exit (249) and then took US 127 South.  I got off at Exit 194 and got gas and had dinner and then took US 127 to US 10 and headed west to M-37 in Baldwin.  From there I took M-37 to 14 Mile Rd in Newaygo County (B-96) and that took me to US 131.  From there I took US 131 to M-89 into Plainwell and then took my usual route home.

Observations:  Montcalm County has some fugly sign blades for their roads (I grabbed a picture of one).  There were some gorgeous houses up north, but I wonder what people do for a living up there.  There aren't very many towns north of Bay City and I didn't encounter a Wal-Mart until Alpena and a Meijer until Grayling (I'm sure Alpena has a Meijer, but I didn't see it, or remember it if I did see it).  At the risk of being somewhat controversial, I did see two Confederate Flags in Northern Michigan, which I don't get.  I did see an old 76 Station in Alpena.  I took pictures when it was safe and legal to do so, but I only got a few.  I will post those to my Instagram tonight, which is @cewfa85.  I will post those to my Flickr tomorrow, which I will bump the thread to give the link to.

I am tired, so I bid everyone a good night.

dfilpus




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.