When you travel to a specific place, do you ever get off of the standard route just a little bit, just for the hell of it? I live in Cincinnati and once a year, I drive to Myrtle Beach, SC, where my mom lives. Frequent off-route drives I take along the way include I-275 to I-40 in Downtown Knoxville, I-240/I-40 in Asheville, NC, I-385/I-85 in Greenville, SC, I-85/I-85 Bus in Sparanburg, and either I-26/I-77 around Columbia, or I-126/SC 177 through Downtown Columbia. If my mom ever drives with me she goes nuts when I take any of these.
Does this count following an old alignment of a route?
Quote from: Mike_OH on January 21, 2014, 04:55:02 PM
When you travel to a specific place, do you ever get off of the standard route just a little bit, just for the hell of it? I live in Cincinnati and once a year, I drive to Myrtle Beach, SC, where my mom lives. Frequent off-route drives I take along the way include I-275 to I-40 in Downtown Knoxville, I-240/I-40 in Asheville, NC, I-385/I-85 in Greenville, SC, I-85/I-85 Bus in Sparanburg, and either I-26/I-77 around Columbia, or I-126/SC 177 through Downtown Columbia. If my mom ever drives with me she goes nuts when I take any of these.
Often. I've been to Pennsacola, FL 3 times: once via US 90, once via US 98, once via I-10... not counting all the creative detours ;)
I go to Hattiesburg, MS every Spring...rarely the same way twice, though after about 7 years, I have to get really creative ;)
When I go to Hampton Roads and back I rarely take the same route unless I'm not driving. When I went there last month I took US 460 down (the most direct way) but I went out of the way to Williamsburg via VA 143 on the way back.
I find this thread insulting. I don't travel unless there's an off-route.
I do my very best to unless I'm in a huge time crunch. Often, I'll time the trip so that I either leave before sunrise and hit a new route as the sun is coming up or extend the trip into the night so I hit familiar territory as the sun goes down. New territory always gets daylight.
Out here though where there are mountains and roads are scarce...it's tough sometimes. There's no reasonable way to get from here to my parents house in McCall, Idaho without using the same route.
I think there are about three or four different ways to get from here to western North Dakota in just about the same amount of time, so I usually try to just pick one of 'em at random whenever I head that direction.
On my way to Canada, I ended up in Mexico. :-D
Traveling back from Mobile to Terre Haute I ended up taking US 45 though Mississippi and Tennessee, rather than taking I-65 through Alabama.
I also took US 41 south of Macon, GA to Tifton, GA; instead of using I-75.
In Chattanooga I went on US 41, because I wanted to go through the Bachman Tubes.
Quote from: Mike_OH on January 21, 2014, 04:55:02 PM
When you travel to a specific place, do you ever get off of the standard route just a little bit, just for the hell of it? I live in Cincinnati and once a year, I drive to Myrtle Beach, SC, where my mom lives. Frequent off-route drives I take along the way include I-275 to I-40 in Downtown Knoxville, I-240/I-40 in Asheville, NC, I-385/I-85 in Greenville, SC, I-85/I-85 Bus in Sparanburg, and either I-26/I-77 around Columbia, or I-126/SC 177 through Downtown Columbia. If my mom ever drives with me she goes nuts when I take any of these.
Of course, as long as it's not insanely far out of the way (up to 100 miles, no big deal, but much more than that is too far). I keep trying to find new routes south to Florida but the stretch through Georgia has me stymied so far. I think this summer I may just say "screw it" and head west towards Augusta and Macon.
If I were going from Cincinnati to Myrtle Beach I'd find a way to make the time to go via Breaks Interstate Park.
Quote from: Mike_OH on January 21, 2014, 04:55:02 PM
When you travel to a specific place, do you ever get off of the standard route just a little bit, just for the hell of it?
Of course.
Quote from: Mike_OH on January 21, 2014, 04:55:02 PM
When you travel to a specific place, do you ever get off of the standard route just a little bit, just for the hell of it?
If I'm collecting counties, then "off-route" means I skipped one or two for the sake of arriving on time. :-/
But for a trip between home and a destination I've traveled to multiple times? Oh yes, I make every excuse to try a new road, even if it loops back to the one I don't really want to take.
Quote from: 1 on January 21, 2014, 05:02:31 PM
Does this count following an old alignment of a route?
I do that a LOT!
As a general rule, unless there's a time crunch or a strong desire to get to my destination via the fastest means possible, I'll go "off-route". For my Vermont trips, usually not on the way up, but usually yes on the way back, especially now that I've altered my trips to have more than one day on the return trip (12.5 hours straight-shot one-way without traffic was getting tiring).
I almost always go off-route as well, unless I am really pressed for time. I like driving old roads that parallel new freeways, unless of course the old road is encumbered by traffic signals.
Quote from: Steve on January 21, 2014, 07:19:07 PM
I find this thread insulting. I don't travel unless there's an off-route.
Truth
Many a time I will take the car out for a spin. Destinations are optional. If there is one - I do make sure the route there has as much untraveled route as I can find out of it. Even when time - or money (depending on who pays for the trip as well) are tight - there is some lee-way. I took I-70/I-15 to California from my home and I-40 and I-35 back last year. About the same time frame. The last few times I've been to Chicago have been via back roads - Milwaukee too.
Like most people here, I tend to favor roads I haven't taken before over roads I've already taken as much as time and practicality allow.
I do, however, have an uncanny habit of limiting myself to roads that are mapped on CHM... since I can't take "official" credit for clinching the road if it's not. I'm perfectly willing to venture onto county or local roads, though if A) it's necessary for optimal clinching of state highways, B) I've already clinched the parallel state highways in the area, or C) there's something specific on the side road that I know I want to see.
Quote from: Duke87 on January 23, 2014, 09:17:24 PM
I do, however, have an uncanny habit of limiting myself to roads that are mapped on CHM... since I can't take "official" credit for clinching the road if it's not.
What about Vermont state highways?
Quote from: Duke87 on January 23, 2014, 09:17:24 PM
Like most people here, I tend to favor roads I haven't taken before over roads I've already taken as much as time and practicality allow.
I do, however, have an uncanny habit of limiting myself to roads that are mapped on CHM... since I can't take "official" credit for clinching the road if it's not. I'm perfectly willing to venture onto county or local roads, though if A) it's necessary for optimal clinching of state highways, B) I've already clinched the parallel state highways in the area, or C) there's something specific on the side road that I know I want to see.
Ditto. Sometimes I'll develop a desire to see a local road, but not usually, but only if there's something remarkable about it or it's close to home anyways.
Quote from: 1 on January 23, 2014, 09:19:42 PM
What about Vermont state highways?
Personally I treat all primary state highways as if they were on CHM since presumably they will be added eventually.
QuotePersonally I treat all primary state highways as if they were on CHM since presumably they will be added eventually.
This is the eventual plan, yes...
This is kind of an aside,
but for the first time ever, on my last CHM update, I have now driven more miles of interstate highway than I have driven King's Highway's in Ontario (and I have yet to update a whole bunch of miles in Ohio that I have driven). As a Canadian, this seems a little uncomfortable to me :)
Quote from: froggie on January 24, 2014, 10:19:46 AM
QuotePersonally I treat all primary state highways as if they were on CHM since presumably they will be added eventually.
This is the eventual plan, yes...
And accordingly when I travel state/provincial routes not yet in CHM, I'll log them in a draft entries file, using my best guess on what the waypoint labels will be, so when a new system is ready to go I can double-check my draft entries then add them to my main list file. But I haven't gone back to log (or guess) my past travels for all states. The state routes in California, for example, will be a real mess for me since I grew up there and did a lot more traveling than record-keeping when I lived there.
CHM has several new state route systems in various stages of active development. It's too soon to predict which will be first to go live, or when.
Quote from: oscar on January 24, 2014, 08:41:00 PM
And accordingly when I travel state/provincial routes not yet in CHM, I'll log them in a draft entries file, using my best guess on what the waypoint labels will be, so when a new system is ready to go I can double-check my draft entries then add them to my main list file.
This is basically what I do, except it's all in one file, so every segment on a system not yet live is a line in my error log. Because of this I actually try to avoid clinching too many state highways for states that are not yet online, lest the error log grow too behemoth-ly.
Currently, the vast majority of my error log (http://cmap.m-plex.com/trav/duke87.log.txt) lines come from Quebec, Vermont, and Florida.
Now you mention the CHM, I haven't updated my logs since... last year? (BTW, that's why I'm here with a combined username instead of a "single" one)
I also like to go somewhere via one route and return via another route.
On my road trip last year, my route was I-5 from Sacramento, CA to Port Angeles, WA, then US-101/CA-1 back along the coast. The I-5 route was for speed, the US-101 route was scenic. It was an enjoyable trip down the coast.
I intensely dislike taking the same route and look for any variety that I can reasonably introduce into the itinerary. I haven't yet gone from Houston to Dallas by way of El Paso (or Boston or Seattle) but have fun imagining such a trip. Driving known or suspected old alignments is a bonus.
It depends. I don't like driving through towns with speed limits, lights, and Barney so I usually stick to freeways. Sometimes I'll take a new way but I usually stick to the fast way especially at night.
Quote from: bugo on January 25, 2014, 02:08:17 PM
I don't like driving through towns with speed limits, lights, and Barney
All towns have speed limits. Do you mean "reduced speed limits put in place by the town"?
I assume "lights" means traffic lights, not street lights.
And if you don't like driving through towns with Barney, that means no Bennington VT. It has a Barney Rd.
If possible/practical I usually try to go back a different way than I came.
Following on a comment froggie made earlier about how sometimes you just want to get somewhere, my inclination to go off-course will vary depending on the type of trip I'm taking. If I'm going to one place for the whole trip–say if we're heading to Viera to visit my sister-in-law for the week at Thanksgiving or Christmas–I'll consider all sorts of different routes because I'll be driving less when I'm there and I won't have as much opportunity to explore new roads and places. I'll use non-Interstates and two-lane roads (within reason!) on the trip to or from Florida just to find something new.
But if we're going to a series of places, like in July 2008 when we drove all over Nova Scotia stopping for one to three nights in all sorts of different places (e.g., three nights at the Keltic Lodge, a night at the Glenora Distillery, two nights at the Digby Pines, etc.), I'm more likely to stick to the Interstate or comparable-grade roads on my way to and from the general destination and to take a relatively direct route unless there's a backup or a wreck. Then when we get there I'll usually stay off the main highways (such as there are) in favor of more scenic routes when it's feasible to do so. In this case driving around the destination is a major part of the trip and I'd rather just get there sooner. Of course, I may still use an alternate route if feasible–next time we go to Quebec I may try to use I-89 since I've never been that way (been up I-81, I-87, and I-91, but never I-89). I might try to use I-88 as well for the same reason.
At some point, of course, you encounter situations where it's just hard to find a new route through familiar territory (example might be going from Fort Myers to Miami–there just aren't too many alternatives that don't require going way too far out of the way).
I have been on I-79 and I-68 so many times that these very scenic routes are getting old. Unfortunately, there are really no other routes to use to reach the destinations to which those routes lead. One option is I-77 to US 50 and then rejoin I-79, but it's longer. If there was a good alternate route to get to the Northeast, I'd take it
Quote from: hbelkins on January 25, 2014, 08:21:16 PM
I have been on I-79 and I-68 so many times that these very scenic routes are getting old. Unfortunately, there are really no other routes to use to reach the destinations to which those routes lead. One option is I-77 to US 50 and then rejoin I-79, but it's longer. If there was a good alternate route to get to the Northeast, I'd take it
Would I-80 work?
Quote from: 1 on January 25, 2014, 08:37:30 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on January 25, 2014, 08:21:16 PM
I have been on I-79 and I-68 so many times that these very scenic routes are getting old. Unfortunately, there are really no other routes to use to reach the destinations to which those routes lead. One option is I-77 to US 50 and then rejoin I-79, but it's longer. If there was a good alternate route to get to the Northeast, I'd take it
Would I-80 work?
No.
Quote from: 1 on January 25, 2014, 03:17:07 PM
Quote from: bugo on January 25, 2014, 02:08:17 PM
I don't like driving through towns with speed limits, lights, and Barney
All towns have speed limits. Do you mean "reduced speed limits put in place by the town"?
I assume "lights" means traffic lights, not street lights.
And if you don't like driving through towns with Barney, that means no Bennington VT. It has a Barney Rd.
He means Barney Fifes. It's a slang term used for overzealous small town cops. See The Andy Griffith Show for more.
Leaning off-topic here, but I don't think I'd call Barney overzealous. Overeager perhaps, but not overzealous.
Back on topic, I did a daytrip down to Raleigh yesterday. Normally takes 3-3.5 hours to get to Raleigh. I took 9.
I generally like to go off route when I travel. However, my father is the exact opposite. We would generally go to Columbia, SC about five times per year, and we would ALWAYS take I-95/I-20, no matter what. That's how I memorized every single billboard on I-95 between Emporia, VA and Florence, SC. Nowadays, I generally like to take 64->I-85->I-77, or US-13 -> US-64 -> US-1 -> I-20
Quote from: Steve on January 26, 2014, 12:41:43 AM
Quote from: 1 on January 25, 2014, 08:37:30 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on January 25, 2014, 08:21:16 PM
I have been on I-79 and I-68 so many times that these very scenic routes are getting old. Unfortunately, there are really no other routes to use to reach the destinations to which those routes lead. One option is I-77 to US 50 and then rejoin I-79, but it's longer. If there was a good alternate route to get to the Northeast, I'd take it
Would I-80 work?
No.
Right, because you have to get to I-80 somehow. :bigass:
Quote from: Brandon on January 26, 2014, 07:49:19 AM
Quote from: 1 on January 25, 2014, 03:17:07 PM
Quote from: bugo on January 25, 2014, 02:08:17 PM
I don't like driving through towns with speed limits, lights, and Barney
All towns have speed limits. Do you mean "reduced speed limits put in place by the town"?
I assume "lights" means traffic lights, not street lights.
And if you don't like driving through towns with Barney, that means no Bennington VT. It has a Barney Rd.
He means Barney Fifes. It's a slang term used for overzealous small town cops. See The Andy Griffith Show for more.
I thought he meant the purple dinosaur...
Quote from: 1995hoo on January 25, 2014, 05:28:34 PM
Following on a comment froggie made earlier about how sometimes you just want to get somewhere, my inclination to go off-course will vary depending on the type of trip I'm taking. If I'm going to one place for the whole trip—say if we're heading to Viera to visit my sister-in-law for the week at Thanksgiving or Christmas—I'll consider all sorts of different routes because I'll be driving less when I'm there and I won't have as much opportunity to explore new roads and places. I'll use non-Interstates and two-lane roads (within reason!) on the trip to or from Florida just to find something new.
Funny- that's the exact opposite of what I do. If I have a specific destination, I'm a lot less likely to veer off because I typically want to get to that destination. I guess most of my other vacations are roadtrips for the sake of roadtrips, and in that instance I'll typically drive over new road until I can reasonably not do that, and then I'll switch it up. In that case though, the off-route travel IS the destination, so I guess that's different.
That said, to get from here to, say, Nebraska, I'm running out of reasonable routes. I've driven the entire Wyoming highway system and US 212 is really the only reasonable way to head southeast from Montana without really entering Wyoming, so I'm kind of boxed in- if I'm headed southeast I have eight hours of driving on familiar road before I get to anything new.
Nope. I always have a purpose when I go off-route. More often than not, it's either because there's something I want to see and take pictures of, or it's because I want to avoid traffic jams.
Quote from: vdeane on January 26, 2014, 03:21:17 PM
Quote from: Brandon on January 26, 2014, 07:49:19 AM
Quote from: 1 on January 25, 2014, 03:17:07 PM
Quote from: bugo on January 25, 2014, 02:08:17 PM
I don't like driving through towns with speed limits, lights, and Barney
And if you don't like driving through towns with Barney, that means no Bennington VT. It has a Barney Rd.
He means Barney Fifes. It's a slang term used for overzealous small town cops. See The Andy Griffith Show for more.
I thought he meant the purple dinosaur...
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm3.staticflickr.com%2F2404%2F5816193955_286d249494_b.jpg&hash=6a4ca0d3f8e7fda2bc383373a91fb8e3e05a3a3f)
Close enough? (http://www.flickr.com/photos/muskrat5489/5816193955/)
Quote from: corco on January 26, 2014, 03:49:35 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on January 25, 2014, 05:28:34 PM
Following on a comment froggie made earlier about how sometimes you just want to get somewhere, my inclination to go off-course will vary depending on the type of trip I'm taking. If I'm going to one place for the whole trip–say if we're heading to Viera to visit my sister-in-law for the week at Thanksgiving or Christmas–I'll consider all sorts of different routes because I'll be driving less when I'm there and I won't have as much opportunity to explore new roads and places. I'll use non-Interstates and two-lane roads (within reason!) on the trip to or from Florida just to find something new.
Funny- that's the exact opposite of what I do. If I have a specific destination, I'm a lot less likely to veer off because I typically want to get to that destination. I guess most of my other vacations are roadtrips for the sake of roadtrips, and in that instance I'll typically drive over new road until I can reasonably not do that, and then I'll switch it up. In that case though, the off-route travel IS the destination, so I guess that's different.
That said, to get from here to, say, Nebraska, I'm running out of reasonable routes. I've driven the entire Wyoming highway system and US 212 is really the only reasonable way to head southeast from Montana without really entering Wyoming, so I'm kind of boxed in- if I'm headed southeast I have eight hours of driving on familiar road before I get to anything new.
Yeah, I know exactly what you mean because there are times when I'd like to find another route due to boredom with the same old, but my wife wants to get somewhere sooner. I can't really blame her. Our relatives in Fort Myers have three kids, all younger than 10 years old, and our relatives in the Miami area have two kids I think are 10 and 7. We don't get to see them often, twice a year at most, and so when we're going to visit my wife usually wants me just to get us there promptly so we can spend as much time as we can seeing the kids. I understand that.
I can usually justify alternate routes for at least the northern part of the trip between Virginia and Florida due to I-95 traffic and road construction. Even if the distance is longer, skipping the segment between DC and Richmond is always fine with her as long as I don't overdo it. An example of what would probably be overdoing it would be taking the route I'd like to try–going down to Tennessee and then taking I-26 south. It's just a long way out of the way, we both hate I-81 in Virginia, and most importantly it's around 380 miles from our house to Bristol and I think she'd be quite vexed if we were still in Virginia after 5+ hours when we can be out of the state in under three hours if I use a more direct route!
I guess to some degree it's similar to what you note. There are some options for the southbound trip, but regardless of which one I use, we will seldom get to use one we haven't used before.
Northbound is similar in terms of not having any new routes unless I take the Northeast Extension, but I have an easier time justifying alternate routes on the trip north due to New York/New Jersey traffic.
Quote from: NE2 on January 26, 2014, 04:17:12 PM
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm3.staticflickr.com%2F2404%2F5816193955_286d249494_b.jpg&hash=6a4ca0d3f8e7fda2bc383373a91fb8e3e05a3a3f)
Close enough? (http://www.flickr.com/photos/muskrat5489/5816193955/)
I've seen that plenty of times. It's on a farm along Hernando County Road 476 east of US 41.
A good point guys
I ran out of routes between where I'm at and Milwaukee; Rhinelander (WI), most of those to Chicago, and anywhere within 150 miles of my frequent spots.
I'm even running out of counties to clinch toward St Louis ;)
When I go east to NYC I have no intent to county hunt in IN or OH for time's sake, but I will be doing so in PA but not to great extent. I intend on grabbing a bunch around Jersey, Delaware and on Long Island. I'm not going after any single-year records anymore now that I have put that way the hell out of reach last year.
Routes? Yeah there are plenty - past Pittsburgh :bigass:
On the CHM topic - I've been hoping for CA to be activated - but I realized how annoying it may be for the developer of the route package it may be with the state's segmenting of the system (for instance the sections of SR 2 - and SR 1 - in Santa Monica.)
absolutely and often. I have no trouble turning a 200 mile trip into a 400 mile trip.
Even with a snowstorm, I found it impossible to take the straight/direct route back this morning.
Really, would we be on this board if we willingly took the reasonable route anyplace?