What is your roadgeek "guilty pleasure(s)"?

[hbelkins]

The excitement of driving into another state -- moreso to see their state shields, signage, and their standards for lighting, traffic signals, bridge supports, etc...

Many people like that. I wouldn't call that a guilty pleasure.

The Internet has taken a lot of the dew off that rose. One of the things I really enjoyed about visiting a new state was to see what kind of state route marker they used. I know that during my western trip with my dad and brother back in 1991, I was disappointed because although we entered Nebraska, we didn't see any state route signs.

One of the biggest thrills I ever got during the Internet's infancy was finding Jim Lin's page with the graphic showing all the state route markers.  That was a Really Big Deal to me.

I've never been to North Dakota, but when I get there, now I know that I'm either going to see an Indian head (old design) or state outline (new design). I saw both the Oklahoma meat cleaver and South Carolina's new marker online long before seeing them in person.

[MNHighwayMan]

The excitement of driving into another state -- moreso to see their state shields, signage, and their standards for lighting, traffic signals, bridge supports, etc...

Many people like that. I wouldn't call that a guilty pleasure.

The Internet has taken a lot of the dew off that rose. One of the things I really enjoyed about visiting a new state was to see what kind of state route marker they used. I know that during my western trip with my dad and brother back in 1991, I was disappointed because although we entered Nebraska, we didn't see any state route signs.

One of the biggest thrills I ever got during the Internet's infancy was finding Jim Lin's page with the graphic showing all the state route markers.  That was a Really Big Deal to me.

I've never been to North Dakota, but when I get there, now I know that I'm either going to see an Indian head (old design) or state outline (new design). I saw both the Oklahoma meat cleaver and South Carolina's new marker online long before seeing them in person.

That's adorable. I remember still having that sort of passion when I went on family road trips as a kid, even though I had seen the markers on the Internet–probably that same website, actually! I have a vague memory of browsing it. But it was definitely more satisfying to see them in person than it was as illustrations on a computer screen.

[J N Winkler]

The Internet has taken a lot of the dew off that rose.

To this sentiment I would say "Yes and no."  Not everything is on the Internet.  For example, only a minority of states have as-built repositories online where they are accessible to external customers (the ones I am aware of are AZ, VT, MN, GA, KY, and SC; KY's and VT's are full of holes and updating seems sporadic at best; SC requires a $60/year subscription).  And one thing I have learned from as-builts of varying age is that even the best aren't really a substitute for seeing the real thing in person in all three dimensions.

One of the things I really enjoyed about visiting a new state was to see what kind of state route marker they used. I know that during my western trip with my dad and brother back in 1991, I was disappointed because although we entered Nebraska, we didn't see any state route signs.

One of the biggest thrills I ever got during the Internet's infancy was finding Jim Lin's page with the graphic showing all the state route markers.  That was a Really Big Deal to me.

Lin's site was and still is a valuable resource.  So are state-level SHS equivalents, which became increasingly common after 2004.  But travel to see new state route markers is still rewarding because not all state route markers have drawings online, sizes are often used that are not exactly scaled up or down from the art available on the Internet (California is notorious for this, but this is also true of the Minnesota state route marker, for example), and often field installs fail to match any known drawing or specification (Oklahoma meat cleaver is the best-known example).

Before the Internet, there was also the 1972 FHWA leaflet showing the state route markers (source for some of the illustrations on the original version of Lin's site).

[MNHighwayMan]

Lin's site was and still is a valuable resource.  So are state-level SHS equivalents, which became increasingly common after 2004.  But travel to see new state route markers is still rewarding because not all state route markers have drawings online, sizes are often used that are not exactly scaled up or down from the art available on the Internet (California is notorious for this, but this is also true of the Minnesota state route marker, for example), and often field installs fail to match any known drawing or specification (Oklahoma meat cleaver is the best-known example).

Short of emailing MnDOT itself (and even then, that might be of dubious result), I've never been able to find an exact specification of the Minnesota route marker, specifically regarding the state outline shape. Its size is specified in their version of the Standard Signs Manual, but I've yet to find a standard for how it should be drawn. In practice, there tends to be quite a bit of variation, from good to awful.

[kenarmy]

i'm sorry I have to bump this thread because I have so many and the last time I tried to create a new topic it failed.

- US 49 E and 49 W, a.k.a. the best split routes to exist.
- US 85. Idc if it is overlapped with interstates for hundreds of miles, I love that route and I will cry if they severely truncate it.
- Knowing that US 6 is longer than any interstate.
- I-69's split routes *ducks*
- US 40 and US 89 getting truncated *ducks again*
- US 57
- That dramatic bump sound when a vehicle goes on a bridge
- The sound when gas stops pumping
- Pressing "reset trip" in vehicles.
- The sound when you go into a median.

[Scott5114]

I cleared a many years abandoned and overgrown farm road behind the house.  It is roughly 1000' long (the part I cleared) and I ride my ATV on it.  I keep it just barely passable intentionally.

Love riding on it and taking friends and visitors to the farm for rides on it.

I found an over 80 year old aerial picture that shows the road, so it's really old.  It had been abandoned since roughly the mid 60s and had quite a few smaller trees and a tremendous amount of brush growing on it.  Surprisingly for being just a dirt road, it hadn't eroded too badly and some shovel work fixed the worst spots.

Not quite 'my' road, but I restored it and it's really a blast to ride on.

That's so cool. I would be tempted to get some replica '60s signs to install on it.

[interstatefan990]

Since this got bumped, here are a few of my guilty pleasures:

-Ramp meters. I love getting to have my turn getting up to speed and also how they can help with congestion.
-Observing the yellow time of traffic lights
-Temporary traffic control devices, especially portable traffic signals and arrowboards
-Exits with both an option lane and exit-only lane, I sometimes take the option lane just cause I can
-The fatigue warning signs on I-80 in Utah
-Sections of roadway that change sounds frequently as you drive over them because of differences in the paving
-Having an eagle eye for Highway Gothic used outside of road signage
-Super-2s
-Interstates and state routes numbered 600 and above
-Warning signs mounted on overhead gantries
-US 1
-And lastly, the way the top of the 6 in FHWA Series E and F is just sliiiightly long

[US 89]

-The fatigue warning signs on I-80 in Utah

They're on more than just 80... here's another set of them on I-15/84 in Box Elder County. Pretty sure there are more somewhere on 15 in central/southern Utah too.

[thenetwork]

-The fatigue warning signs on I-80 in Utah

They're on more than just 80... here's another set of them on I-15/84 in Box Elder County. Pretty sure there are more somewhere on 15 in central/southern Utah too.

As well as on I-70 through the 100+ mile NO SERVICES stretch between Green River and Salina.

[epzik8]

Maryland's "next signal" signs, our fancy signs detailing points of interest along corridors, and that concrete sound. And of course Clearview.

[TravelingBethelite]

Funny I always interpreted that sound as clippity-clop, like a racehorse galloping on the road.

I didn't think of it that way, but I can see that.

Now for my own guilty pleasures;
Basically any unusual road signs, sign configurations and traffic signals. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for MUTCD (even state versions), but when something outside of the standard comes along it's intriguing to me. I suppose that was part of the appeal of the various parkways of Upstate New York. The same thing goes for things like the "Wait/Walk" pedestrian signals that look like ordinary two-light traffic signals.

Thruway and Turnpike-specific signage. I miss the big blue signs of the New York State Thruway, and the trapezoid gore signs of the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway, and other things like that.

Additional oversized gas station and restaurant signs along the road that tower over the trees along the interstate highways south of the Mason-Dixon Line. The closest thing you had to that on Long Island years ago, was a slightly taller block vertical "Shell" sign at the former Shell gas station on the southeast corner of Exit 54 (Hospital Road) on NY 27 in East Patchogue. This closed down in the mid-1970's and became a 7-11 around the end of the decade, which it still is today.

I myself love those huge, tall chain business signs along the roads, especially on exits on interstates. This includes those awesome truck stop signs that tower over absolutely everything. 

When I used to draw roads in notebooks all the times as a kid, I would draw these large signs as well as all the road-related stuff whenever I would enter an "exit" or an "urban area."

Also, when I was 2 or 3 years old, some of the first things I drew on my magnadoodle were roads and McDonald's and gas station chain signs. Way back then when I would draw gas station signs, I would always do $1.39, $1.49, & $1.59 for the prices (due to what I picked up on the road in the real world at such a young age), and drawing that became such a habit and a tradition that even to this day, every once in a while, when I draw roads and stuff in notebooks, I will still list those same prices whenever I draw gas station signs. 

Wow, have the gas prices changed since then (about 15 years later). 

Yes, yes, yes! I have a strange affinity for all that. I also love all the billboards they put up advertising services for exits and towns ahead, the farther away from the actual establishment the better.

I also love non-maintained service signs and billboards showing old logos. I am a fan of all the old or neglected road paraphernalia - old route signs, bridges, alignments, etc. Button copy forever! I love Series B in interstate signage and 3-digit routes on 2-digit blanks.

[JayhawkCO]

• Unpaved state routes
• Lowest AADT segments (i.e. most remote possible)
• Shortest highways in each state
• Learning all about Alaska, Yukon, and Northwest Territories highways even though I haven't been there yet

Chris

[CoreySamson]

-Clearview
-The sound of going over an expansion joint
-Overhead BGS's with two or three control cities (and distance signs with three or more)
-Signs that light up

[SoDakInterstateEnthusiast]

Listening to EDM music on road trips

and my own at that

I don't know but when I get home from that trip I'll listen to whatever song I was obsessed with while on the trip and I'll have clear memories of that trip even years after actually having been on it. And I'm not sure why I like EDM but I do so just yeah.

[kphoger]

I like Clearview.

[US 89]

I don't know but when I get home from that trip I'll listen to whatever song I was obsessed with while on the trip and I'll have clear memories of that trip even years after actually having been on it.

I would bet this is something most members of this forum have experienced at least once. As an example, every time I hear Coldplay's "Paradise" now, I think of I-15 heading south through central Utah...because I listened to it a bunch one of the times I went down that way. That was probably over 5 years ago at this point but the association is still there.

[webny99]

I don't know but when I get home from that trip I'll listen to whatever song I was obsessed with while on the trip and I'll have clear memories of that trip even years after actually having been on it.

I would bet this is something most members of this forum have experienced at least once. As an example, every time I hear Coldplay's "Paradise" now, I think of I-15 heading south through central Utah...because I listened to it a bunch one of the times I went down that way. That was probably over 5 years ago at this point but the association is still there.

Yes! I guess you could call this nostalgia. I have the same type of association with "Opportunity" by Pete Murray with I-64 in West Virginia (it was a cover, but a good one). And there's probably a dozen or so songs I associate with the NY Thruway, more than I could list off the top of my head right now.

Since you mention a Coldplay song, I might mention that their songs seem to stick around in one's memory. Take "Clocks" as an example: I heard it many years ago (don't even remember in what context), and then stumbled across it on YouTube a few months ago. Within seconds, I was hit with a wave of nostalgia...

[JayhawkCO]

I don't know but when I get home from that trip I'll listen to whatever song I was obsessed with while on the trip and I'll have clear memories of that trip even years after actually having been on it.

I would bet this is something most members of this forum have experienced at least once. As an example, every time I hear Coldplay's "Paradise" now, I think of I-15 heading south through central Utah...because I listened to it a bunch one of the times I went down that way. That was probably over 5 years ago at this point but the association is still there.

When a buddy and I went on a huge college road trip back in 2003, I had one of those CD decks were you could load 300 mp3s on one CD.  Despite only having three Bob Seger songs on the whole CD (Night Moves, Turn the Page, and Like a Rock), putting the CD on shuffle, a Bob Seger song would inevitably come on every four songs at most.  I had my first visits to Ontario, Quebec, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Delaware serenaded by Mr. Seger about every 15-20 minutes.

Chris

[thenetwork]

One of my pre-marriage guilty pleasures was taking the old US highways across the country or region instead of the interstate when time (or passengers) permitted.

Doesn't happen as much once I got married and moved to Colorado.

[ran4sh]

When US routes are designated to be concurrent with a nearby Interstate instead of remaining on an old non-limited access road.

Numbered routes are supposed to be the best available route from one place to another along the route. Non-limited, often arterial, roads that are parallel to freeways are not the best available route.

Also, compared to most of y'all on the forum, actually attempting to comply with the MUTCD's message loading standards and guidelines. There is almost never an actual need to have both a primary and secondary control city for the same direction of the same route.

[US71]

One of my pre-marriage guilty pleasures was taking the old US highways across the country or region instead of the interstate when time (or passengers) permitted.

Doesn't happen as much once I got married and moved to Colorado.

I still do that when time permits. Every March, I used to have a Ren Faire in Mississippi, so I'd leave 1-2 days early taking the old 2-Lane. One year, it was US 80 from Shreveport, another was US 51 from Memphis.