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Driving

Started by Max Rockatansky, June 11, 2019, 01:30:47 PM

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MNHighwayMan

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on June 14, 2019, 10:14:24 PM
Quote from: MNHighwayMan on June 14, 2019, 10:08:22 PM
Quote from: In_Correct on June 14, 2019, 08:44:12 PM
Forests are not boring, but I do not like to drive near them at night.
Gotta watch out for sasquatch.
More like deer and coyote, lots of road meat comes out at night in the woods.  The desert is also surprisingly animal filled at night.

I'm sure there are also some similar desert creatures (desert sasquatch?) to watch out for at night, too.


Max Rockatansky

Quote from: MNHighwayMan on June 14, 2019, 10:37:09 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on June 14, 2019, 10:14:24 PM
Quote from: MNHighwayMan on June 14, 2019, 10:08:22 PM
Quote from: In_Correct on June 14, 2019, 08:44:12 PM
Forests are not boring, but I do not like to drive near them at night.
Gotta watch out for sasquatch.
More like deer and coyote, lots of road meat comes out at night in the woods.  The desert is also surprisingly animal filled at night.

I'm sure there are also some similar desert creatures (desert sasquatch?) to watch out for at night, too.

Yes, Javelina to be exact...the most awful mammal to every walk the face of the planet. 

csw

Having lived my whole life in Indiana, I have no issue with driving through flat farmland. There's actually quite a bit to look at when driving through places like Indiana - one of the things I do is count how many hawks I see sitting on fenceposts or light poles.

I enjoy driving when there's little to no traffic and I have a destination. I used to take trips just for county clinching but I don't have the patience for that any more. I usually pick a place to go hiking or a city I want to explore and then take the scenic route there and the fast route back. (Also I usually go west in the morning and east in the afternoon for photo lighting purposes  :cool: ) Finding an old route marker or crossing over a cool bridge are things that make any trip more exciting for me.

As for type of roads, my favorite to drive on are divided highways that aren't interstates because I can go fast with (usually) less traffic, especially truck traffic. But any road will do as long as there's not a lot of traffic. I enjoy curvy mountain roads when they're not so crazy that my car can't handle it. That's both a pro and con of having moved to the DC area - there's a stupid amount of traffic here but there are also nice mountain roads an hour west.

allniter89

#28
I really enjoy driving & always have since August 1969 when I got my 1st dl. The majority of my jobs have involved driving including a taxi cab, 3 axle produce truck, newspaper delivery & 20 yrs of driving an 18 wheeler all over this beautiful country.

If I'm out for a "ride" with nowhere to go I won't use an interstate or federal hwy. Sometimes I'll see how far I can go in one direction (n,s,e,w) or I play a game ie take our neighborhood road out to US 90, at the stop sign at 90 what ever direction the last car I see I follow, if they turn onto a numbered hwy I follow until they turn onto a non numbered hwy then I follow til the next car pulls in front of me &  so on & so on & scoobey scooby do ;-) Oh sha sha we got to live together RIP Sly. Delaware is very small but I can go from the PA line to the MD line south using only county roads yea I know big whoop ;-). it is what it is.
If I see thunderstorm clouds in the distant sky I'll head for that also
BUY AMERICAN MADE.
SPEED SAFELY.

Rothman

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on June 14, 2019, 10:39:06 PM
Quote from: MNHighwayMan on June 14, 2019, 10:37:09 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on June 14, 2019, 10:14:24 PM
Quote from: MNHighwayMan on June 14, 2019, 10:08:22 PM
Quote from: In_Correct on June 14, 2019, 08:44:12 PM
Forests are not boring, but I do not like to drive near them at night.
Gotta watch out for sasquatch.
More like deer and coyote, lots of road meat comes out at night in the woods.  The desert is also surprisingly animal filled at night.

I'm sure there are also some similar desert creatures (desert sasquatch?) to watch out for at night, too.

Yes, Javelina to be exact...the most awful mammal to every walk the face of the planet. 


The volunteers at Big Bend National Park first try to avoid the jackrabbits, but a significant percentage of the volunteers end up pretty jaded after a while (e.g., "they seem determined to die...").
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

CtrlAltDel

I like driving when I feel a sense of freedom. So, what I usually enjoy most is a fairly open road and a simple routing.

I get very upset, more upset than I should, on two-lane roads when there is someone ahead or behind more for more than about a minute or two at a time. This means that I tend to prefer the interstates, since I can pass more or less at will, but when I am on an empty two-lane road, it's one of the nicest experiences I've ever had. I can go as fast or as slow as I want and I can look at what's around me without having to divide my attention too much. One of my favorite moments was driving US-385 in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Due to traffic stoppages for road construction, I had no one ahead of me, and only slow RVs behind me, and I most happily made the most out of that.

Simple routings also give me that same feeling. Taking I-40 for a thousand miles, say, and then I-25 for five hundred would be perfect for me. It's okay to have complicated bits here and there, such as going through a large city, but when the whole route is five miles this way, and then four miles that way, and then eight miles this way, it takes away from the experience.

Uncommonly, I've found, I enjoy pretty much all scenery. Wide stretching plains appeal to me as much as curvy mountain passes. I-70 in Colorado, for example, is just as amazing to me as I-70 in Kansas.

What I don't care about too much is the car itself, or at least its capabilities, styling, or technical specifications. Some people care very much about having the right car for the road, but I do not. I have a rather run-of-the-mill Honda Civic that I prize precisely because I've taken it through all forty-eight of the contiguous states. The transmission though seems to be have gotten a bit clunkier lately, and I'm beside myself in deliberating between fixing it or getting a newer vehicle.
Interstates clinched: 4, 57, 275 (IN-KY-OH), 465 (IN), 640 (TN), 985
State Interstates clinched: I-26 (TN), I-75 (GA), I-75 (KY), I-75 (TN), I-81 (WV), I-95 (NH)

In_Correct

Drive Safely. :sombrero: Ride Safely. And Build More Roads, Rails, And Bridges. :coffee: ... Boulevards Wear Faster Than Interstates.

Max Rockatansky

#32
Something that I've really found I don't care for since being married is being the passenger.  On a flat road things are fine but it's when it comes to mountain grades that I kind of get a small sense of vertigo.  I'd almost compare it to the same sensation I get on a roller coaster or even an airplane.  I've never once experienced anything akin to it on any time I've been the driver, no matter how haggard. 

Flint1979

Quote from: kphoger on June 14, 2019, 03:18:58 PM
Quote from: Flint1979 on June 13, 2019, 08:30:49 PM
I like the forests though but the drives through farm land become very boring very quick.

I find forests more boring than farmland.  Tree after tree after tree after tree...  At least with farmland, I can see different crops and barns and livestock and stuff.
It's better than around here. I can see a mile across a farm field with nothing to look at. At least in the forest there are trees it's not boring to me. But I live in an area with several farm fields and forests about an hour away.

Flint1979

When I was driving through the forest in the U P of Michigan I was more worried about black bear and coyotes more than anything.

AsphaltPlanet

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on June 17, 2019, 01:44:44 PM
Something that I've really found I don't care for since being married is being the passenger.  On a flat road things are fine but it's when it comes to mountain grades that I kind of get a small sense of vertigo.  I'd almost compare it to the same sensation I get on a roller coaster or even an airplane.  I've never once experienced anything akin to it on any time I've been the driver, no matter how haggard. 

I remember watching an Infinity G37 just fly down the Priest Grade on Hwy 120 in California a few years ago.  The driver was obviously having a great time testing out the handling capabilities of his car.  His female passenger seemed less impressed when he pulled off the highway in a pull-out and she proceeded to get out of the car and stagger to the mountainside in order to throw up over the guardrail.
AsphaltPlanet.ca  Youtube -- Opinions expressed reflect the viewpoints of others.

AsphaltPlanet

Quote from: csw on June 14, 2019, 10:43:52 PM
Having lived my whole life in Indiana, I have no issue with driving through flat farmland. There's actually quite a bit to look at when driving through places like Indiana - one of the things I do is count how many hawks I see sitting on fenceposts or light poles.

I enjoy driving when there's little to no traffic and I have a destination. I used to take trips just for county clinching but I don't have the patience for that any more. I usually pick a place to go hiking or a city I want to explore and then take the scenic route there and the fast route back. (Also I usually go west in the morning and east in the afternoon for photo lighting purposes  :cool: ) Finding an old route marker or crossing over a cool bridge are things that make any trip more exciting for me.

As for type of roads, my favorite to drive on are divided highways that aren't interstates because I can go fast with (usually) less traffic, especially truck traffic. But any road will do as long as there's not a lot of traffic. I enjoy curvy mountain roads when they're not so crazy that my car can't handle it. That's both a pro and con of having moved to the DC area - there's a stupid amount of traffic here but there are also nice mountain roads an hour west.

As a southern Ontarian, I second the love of driving through rural farm fields.  I'd much rather drive through bucolic farm-fields of southern Ontario than hour after hour of jack pines and rock outcrops up north.
AsphaltPlanet.ca  Youtube -- Opinions expressed reflect the viewpoints of others.

kphoger

Quote from: Flint1979 on June 17, 2019, 01:45:31 PM
I can see a mile across a farm field with nothing to look at. At least in the forest there are trees it's not boring to me.

But then, a mile later, it might be a different type of farm.  Maybe growing soybeans instead of wheat, or horses grazing, or maybe even just that the corn is significantly shorter than the last field and you wonder what made the difference.  I'll take that any day over driving through a forest, where I can't even see a quarter-mile because there's nothing to look at after the first row of trees.

Quote from: AsphaltPlanet on June 17, 2019, 01:51:30 PM
As a southern Ontarian, I second the love of driving through rural farm fields.  I'd much rather drive through bucolic farm-fields of southern Ontario than hour after hour of jack pines and rock outcrops up north.

I specifically recall enjoying the farmland of southern Ontario.  I got to see such crops as lettuce and stuff that I hadn't really ever seen growing on a commercial scale before.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

1995hoo

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on June 17, 2019, 01:44:44 PM
Something that I've really found I don't care for since being married is being the passenger.  On a flat road things are fine but it's when it comes to mountain grades that I kind of get a small sense of vertigo.  I'd almost compare it to the same sensation I get on a roller coaster or even an airplane.  I've never once experienced anything akin to it on any time I've been the driver, no matter how haggard. 

Ms1995hoo was Very Unhappy, to say the least, to be in the front passenger seat going down the Moki Dugway. I probably should have told her to ride behind me until I got to the bottom.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

Flint1979

And this is why I consider the thumb area of Michigan to be one of the most boring places ever. I love the drive on M-37 through the Manistee National Forest.

Max Rockatansky

Considering I'm in a giant valley in Central California surrounded by farms I tend to find them kind of dull.  The worst part is the farmers love to scrape up any interesting ruins of rail sidings that might be out there.  Occasionally I find a gem line a derelict bridge or a weird road along a river but those are pretty rare. 

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: 1995hoo on June 17, 2019, 01:53:54 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on June 17, 2019, 01:44:44 PM
Something that I've really found I don't care for since being married is being the passenger.  On a flat road things are fine but it's when it comes to mountain grades that I kind of get a small sense of vertigo.  I'd almost compare it to the same sensation I get on a roller coaster or even an airplane.  I've never once experienced anything akin to it on any time I've been the driver, no matter how haggard. 

Ms1995hoo was Very Unhappy, to say the least, to be in the front passenger seat going down the Moki Dugway. I probably should have told her to ride behind me until I got to the bottom.

Having driven the Dugway a couple times I would consider it not all that big of deal if you ride in low gear.  That said I wouldn't want to be the passenger in a car driven by my wife or anyone not familiar with dirt roads or knows that riding the brakes isn't a good idea.  The one that gets me with her is the Sierra Foothills on CA 168.  I love that road when I drive but always feel like I'm going to get tossed at the window as the passenger. 

vdeane

Quote from: AsphaltPlanet on June 17, 2019, 01:51:30 PM
As a southern Ontarian, I second the love of driving through rural farm fields.  I'd much rather drive through bucolic farm-fields of southern Ontario than hour after hour of jack pines and rock outcrops up north.
I actually like Canadian Shield/Adirondacks/1000 Islands style scenery.  There's something about the rocks (I'm pretty sure all three have metamorphic rocks in common, actually) that does it for me, especially if it's rocks + water.  After that, farms (though I can understand why the corn belt would be boring; haven't gotten out there yet myself), and lastly, normal forests.  I have a hard time finding this or this interesting (the irony is, the latter example is actually in farm country; the interstate is just lined with trees for some reason).
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

1995hoo

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on June 17, 2019, 08:54:42 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on June 17, 2019, 01:53:54 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on June 17, 2019, 01:44:44 PM
Something that I've really found I don't care for since being married is being the passenger.  On a flat road things are fine but it's when it comes to mountain grades that I kind of get a small sense of vertigo.  I'd almost compare it to the same sensation I get on a roller coaster or even an airplane.  I've never once experienced anything akin to it on any time I've been the driver, no matter how haggard. 

Ms1995hoo was Very Unhappy, to say the least, to be in the front passenger seat going down the Moki Dugway. I probably should have told her to ride behind me until I got to the bottom.

Having driven the Dugway a couple times I would consider it not all that big of deal if you ride in low gear.  That said I wouldn't want to be the passenger in a car driven by my wife or anyone not familiar with dirt roads or knows that riding the brakes isn't a good idea.  The one that gets me with her is the Sierra Foothills on CA 168.  I love that road when I drive but always feel like I'm going to get tossed at the window as the passenger. 

It was the sheer dropoff she didn't like, as I did not drive in the middle the way some people do–I kept to the right–so she felt like she was hanging off the edge of the cliff. (Regarding gearing, I both put it in low gear and engaged low-range 4WD for the descent.)
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

kphoger

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on June 17, 2019, 01:44:44 PM
Something that I’ve really found I don’t care for since being married is being the passenger.  On a flat road things are fine but it’s when it comes to mountain grades that I kind of get a small sense of vertigo.  I’d almost compare it to the same sensation I get on a roller coaster or even an airplane.  I’ve never once experienced anything akin to it on any time I’ve been the driver, no matter how haggard. 

I have to take steep descents and curves somewhat cautiously because my wife can get car-sick as the passenger.  If she's the driver, on the other hand, she can take them as fast as she pleases without a hint of car-sickness.  So, when I'm the passenger, it can actually be more fun because she ends up driving the hills and curves faster than I would.

We found out in Colorado a couple of years ago, though, that our youngest son can get car-sick...
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

Max Rockatansky

^^^

We're noticing almost everyone of my Wife's nieces get car sick easy.  It's a shame too because we want to take them places up in the mountains camping or hiking.  The oldest one has mostly grown out of it thankfully.  Surprisingly my wife doesn't get car sick and usually falls asleep even on some really treacherous one-lane or dirt roads.  The only thing she gets upset about is hard braking.   She doesn't have a good sense for dirt roads yet...recently she tried to convince me to drive through 18 inches of water in a ford when I was in my Impreza. 

Quote from: 1995hoo on June 17, 2019, 09:07:49 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on June 17, 2019, 08:54:42 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on June 17, 2019, 01:53:54 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on June 17, 2019, 01:44:44 PM
Something that I've really found I don't care for since being married is being the passenger.  On a flat road things are fine but it's when it comes to mountain grades that I kind of get a small sense of vertigo.  I'd almost compare it to the same sensation I get on a roller coaster or even an airplane.  I've never once experienced anything akin to it on any time I've been the driver, no matter how haggard. 

Ms1995hoo was Very Unhappy, to say the least, to be in the front passenger seat going down the Moki Dugway. I probably should have told her to ride behind me until I got to the bottom.

Having driven the Dugway a couple times I would consider it not all that big of deal if you ride in low gear.  That said I wouldn't want to be the passenger in a car driven by my wife or anyone not familiar with dirt roads or knows that riding the brakes isn't a good idea.  The one that gets me with her is the Sierra Foothills on CA 168.  I love that road when I drive but always feel like I'm going to get tossed at the window as the passenger. 

It was the sheer dropoff she didn't like, as I did not drive in the middle the way some people do–I kept to the right–so she felt like she was hanging off the edge of the cliff. (Regarding gearing, I both put it in low gear and engaged low-range 4WD for the descent.)

The last time I drove it was in a Chevy Sonic.   For the most part I found myself in 2nd gear floating somewhat around probably an average of 20 MPH.  Personally I think the Dugway (aside from the sight of the cliff) is fairly tame and well Graded by dirt standards.  It certainly is leagues better than the horrid wash boarding AZ 88 has east of Tortilla Flat. 

kphoger

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on June 17, 2019, 10:05:33 PM
The only thing she gets upset about is hard braking.   

My wife is very sensitive to waking up at the slightest braking or turning.  There are a couple of reasons for that.  First and foremost is that, when she was a child, she was sleeping in the car when a trucker ran her grandparents off the road and their car rolled.  She came out of a nap with the car upside down in the ditch along I-35.  Ever since then, she's been a light sleeper in the car.  Secondly, I was pulled over for speeding a couple of times several years ago while she was sleeping.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: kphoger on June 18, 2019, 02:11:51 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on June 17, 2019, 10:05:33 PM
The only thing she gets upset about is hard braking.   

My wife is very sensitive to waking up at the slightest braking or turning.  There are a couple of reasons for that.  First and foremost is that, when she was a child, she was sleeping in the car when a trucker ran her grandparents off the road and their car rolled.  She came out of a nap with the car upside down in the ditch along I-35.  Ever since then, she's been a light sleeper in the car.  Secondly, I was pulled over for speeding a couple of times several years ago while she was sleeping.

Similar circumstance, she was in a pretty bad accident as a kid that involved a roll over along with a broken leg.  The problem was much more pronounced when I would drive my old Sonic the her Forester.  I was having issues maintaining a good pedal feel in the Sonic which would require hitting the brakes hard at times before I fixed it.  Her Forester is four wheel disc which meant that there was some accidental fast stops on my part until got adjusted to the feel. 

tolbs17

When I was driving a car, I driven a Mercedes ML350, a Honda Accord, Acura TSX, and Toyota Camry. I'm 17 and i'm having fun driving!

Richard3

I drive (legally) since I'm 18 years old; that was a long, long time ago!

For the roadgeek part, it's probably because the A-40 work site (in Maskinonge, QC), in the mid-1970s, was my playground as a 10 years old kid.  Every day of my school summer vacations, I went there at 7 AM, "working" with the guys; sometimes in a 10-wheel dump truck, sometimes with a foreman,... the good ol' days.  Things are not the same today.

Back to the subject, I love to drive. Along my life, I drove personal cars and trucks, even a motorcycle, and professionnally since about 20 years. I even return to school at age 51 to learn to drive semis, and I now do it as a full-time job, in Canada as well as in USA.  As other said, driving gives me a sense of freedom, even when I drive as a job.  Every trip is a new adventure, as you never know what will happen along the way.

Some journeys bring me their load of surprises, and the most turned out to be funny.

One time, I was coming back from Florida, on my way to Canada, and I decide to follow the GPS, somewhere in Virginia.  I quit the I-64 West to take US-15 North, around Zion Crossroads, but I realised, once around Culpeper, that I wasn't gaining any time.  After a while on US-522 North, I decided to take the first US highway heading west, in order to reach the I-81. Once at Sperryville, I saw the US-211 West, going towards New Market, and I took it.

The brand new Peterbilt I was driving had an integrated GPS in the sound system, but I prefer use the GPS included in the tablet that also hold the e-log, because the one with the sound system pings about anything. I mean, if there's a low bridge in the county, it will ping.  But this time, it was not pinging for a low bridge, but to tell me my semi (highway tractor with sleeper, plus a 53-feet reefer trailer) was... too long for the road!  I said to myself that device was just crazy, and I went ahead.  But that part of the US-211 goes across some huge mountain passes, with sharp curves.  Even with its three lanes (2 lanes when climbing hills, 1 lane going downhill), sometimes it was very close when I crossed some other vehicles. But everything was OK, and I reached New Market, then the I-81, without any problem.

That's the kind of run I say any semi driver must take at least once in his career.

It's sure that truck driving brings its lot of challenges, and some of them are not so funny.  But all in all, I don't see myself doing any other job, now.

I also had a period in which I visited many work sites, as I put lots of pictures on a blog I still hold, but I didn't put pictures on it since many years. My job takes too much of my time, so I try to rest on my days off.

So, that's it!
- How many people are working in here?
- About 20%.

- What Quebec highways and Montreal Canadiens have in common?
- Rebuilding.

States/provinces/territories I didn't went in: AB, AK, AL, BC, HI, KS, LA, MB, MN, MS, MT, ND, NL, NT, NU, RI, SD, SK, WA, WI, YT.  Well, I still have some job to do!



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