Your favorite/least favorite "home stretches"

[Flint1979]

NC 105 northbound when I'm coming back to Boone from Johnson City. Nowhere to pass except just before you get into town and people love to ride their brakes down the hill getting out of Avery County. That or you'll get stuck behind a truck. Either way you'll be going 10-15 under the limit. The stupid 35/40 limits through Foscoe and Seven Devils are also annoying.

What route do you take? Any reason you don't use US 321 the entire way?

I'm just guessing that it involves 362 to 19E to 194 to 105 which looks like a smoother ride than US-321.

[index]

NC 105 northbound when I'm coming back to Boone from Johnson City. Nowhere to pass except just before you get into town and people love to ride their brakes down the hill getting out of Avery County. That or you'll get stuck behind a truck. Either way you'll be going 10-15 under the limit. The stupid 35/40 limits through Foscoe and Seven Devils are also annoying.

What route do you take? Any reason you don't use US 321 the entire way?

I didn't see this until now but I actually just detailed this in another thread if you're curious, Flint1979 was right:

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=31416.msg2732002#msg2732002

[doorknob60]

For my home in Boise, ID, I'll rank "home stretches" from least favorite to favorite:

• I-84 from the East. The section between Mountain Home and Boise is so damn boring, and is the least interesting part of the entire drive coming from a place like Salt Lake City. Only redeeming factor is the 80 MPH speed limit.
• ID-55 from the south/west. Marsing to Nampa/I-84 is a slog, especially most of it being 2 lanes. At least that doesn't last too long, and US-95 south of Marsing is nice for what it is.
• I-84 from the West. This is my most common home stretch on road trips, as a lot of my road trips are to Oregon. I don't mind this too much, I consider the home stretch starting from Ontario. Ontario to Caldwell is nice if there's no construction (when  they repave it and drop down to 1 lane each way, it's awful). Caldwell to Boise is fine as long as there's not construction/traffic, which sometimes there is. You could also throw US-20/26 from the west in here, usually connecting to I-84 via OR-201 in Ontario. Starting in Vale feels like the home stretch, but the stretch from Vale to Ontario sucks IMO.
• ID-55 from the North. This one's weird. The last 20 minutes of this one is suburban arterials from Eagle into Boise which is not great, but I usually don't mind it as a stark change of pace from the mountain driving, and it's not the worst of the arterials in town. That also gives decent opportunities to grab gas/fast food/groceries on the way back if desired. The real home stretch feels more like from Horseshoe Bend or Cascade, and from there down to Eagle it's great, unless traffic is thick.
• ID-21. This one has to be the winner. Excellent scenery, low traffic in the rural parts, basically no suburban slog before hitting I-84, and it pops into Boise right near where I live. And you get about 2 miles of 80 MPH speed limit right at the end on I-84. Unfortunately, this is not a very useful route from a road trip perspective.

When I lived in Bend, OR, my least favorite was definitely Sisters to Bend on US-20. Fairly slow moving traffic, not great passing opportunities, plus the city of Sisters itself can be really slow going. Arriving into Bend there is no direct connection onto US-97/Bend Parkway so you have a few lights to contend with too if you're heading south. Madras to Redmond on US-97 also sucks, but Redmond to Bend is fine so you kind of forget about it.

[I-55]

Least favorite:
Driving back from WV or TN from Troy, OH to Fort Wayne always made me want to sleep. Probably because it's usually on a Sunday when we'd come back and listening to Reds games on the radio doesn't add much energy to the trip (especially with this year's team).

Favorite:
Merging onto I-69 at exit 296 (coming back from West Lafayette) and getting to finish off the trip with a speed limit 10 mph higher than the rest of the trip.

[MikieTimT]

My favorite home stretch is cresting the hill coming into view of the spires of Old Main on the U of A campus in Fayetteville northbound on I-49.  It's especially inspiring at night when the town is lit up when cresting the hill.

https://goo.gl/maps/5nN78Pr18FoVcByr7

Since I'm in the phase of life with young kids and 2 businesses, I spend most of my travel going to and from out of town jobs, so home is where I'd prefer to be.  Maybe once the kids get launched and maybe take over one or both of the businesses, there might be a travel trailer or small plane in the future to enable more recreational travel.  Have to wrap up the private pilot license finally, though, and an instrument rating for insurance before the latter would be a good idea.

[fillup420]

My former least favorite home stretch has become my favorite recently.

I-40/85 heading towards Raleigh from Greensboro is hectic enough, and then once you get to the eastern split, it feels like Raleigh is just around the corner, but its actually another 35 miles on I-40 to to get to the western reaches of Raleigh. Most traffic takes I-40 at the eastern split with I-85, so that causes frequent slowdowns since 85 is the default route. I used to hate that split due to the feeling that I was close to home, but in reality being ~40 mins away still. Now since I moved to Hillsborough, that same split is actually close to home, and I now use 85 at the split, and go just 2 miles to my exit, and another half mile to my neighborhood.

[Nacho]

I hated the "home stretch" when I lived in Chicagoland.  When the "home stretch" involves the speed limit going down, traffic becoming thick, and the number of idiot drivers increasing exponentially, it doesn't really promote that happy feeling.

When I get back into Wichita from Mexico, though, getting off the Turnpike and onto the Canal Route feels awesome, even if it is 15 mph slower.  Wichita traffic ain't Chicago traffic, though...

Yeah, there's really not a route coming into Chicago that I find enjoyable to drive.

To come up with a favorite I'd have to look to my past home of Bloomington, Indiana and the stretch of SR 37 (now I-69) heading into town from the north. Since most of my childhood trips involved taking that route, I have so many memories associated with it.

[Rothman]

Last fall, I actually liked the drive into Chicago just on I-90 from Rockford.  It was late at night and not a lot of traffic was on it.

[RG407]

From the northwest, I used to enjoy the home stretch on Florida's Turnpike from Wildwood into my home in Orlando.  There was something momentous about making the split from I-75 and starting a new highway, and traffic was lighter than it was on I-75, but the last few years there's so much more traffic that there's usually a slowdown strictly due to volume.  I would say traffic counts warrant six-laning all the way from Wildwood into metro Orlando, but I'm sure that's many years away.

[thspfc]

Last fall, I actually liked the drive into Chicago just on I-90 from Rockford.  It was late at night and not a lot of traffic was on it.

I don't mind that road either.

[Kniwt]

For those returning to Southern Utah from Las Vegas or L.A., the northbound I-15 drive through the Virgin River Gorge is a stunning end to any drive. When I finish a long roadtrip and come that way, I often wonder why I just drove hundreds/thousands of miles when all this is less than a half-hour away!

(On the downside, however, there's an epidemic of dangerous driving in the gorge, with predictably tragic results. And it's in a near-perpetual state of (re)construction.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHkHfqi6DUk

[SEWIGuy]

Favorite:  Heading into the east side Green Bay from the north and going over the Leo Frigo Bridge on I-43.

Least:  I-41 from Appleton.

[US 89]

Home stretches returning to Salt Lake City, ranked from best to worst: I-80 east > I-15 south > I-80 west > I-15 north.

Coming into Salt Lake on eastbound I-80 is great. Comparatively very little traffic and it's cool to watch the mountains and downtown skyline get bigger and bigger as you approach. Westbound I-80 has nice scenery in Parleys Canyon, but there is enough traffic in there (much of which seems to be trucks or tourists that either like to plod along at 50 mph or zoom by at 80+) that the drive is less enjoyable especially if you're familiar with it. I simply hate driving north on I-15 through 50 miles of Utah County and suburban sprawl to get to SLC.

I have come to the conclusion that all six interstate approaches into Atlanta are equally terrible.

[Declan127]

two words: jersey turnpike. Its long and feels like its never going to end.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Coming into MSP on any route from any direction is boring.

[Rothman]

Coming into MSP on any route from any direction is boring.

What?  The entrance to Minneapolis from 35W northbound is fantastic.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Coming into MSP on any route from any direction is boring.

What?  The entrance to Minneapolis from 35W northbound is fantastic.

Well sure, but I wasn't sure if that's what "home stretch" meant, or just coming into the metro area itself.

[kphoger]

Coming into MSP on any route from any direction is boring.

We used drive from Wichita up to Waverly, MN.  Coming into the metro area and then heading west on US-12 was one big "least favorite home stretch" for me.  Get to I-494 just in time for afternoon rush hour, then deal with heavy traffic on a two-lane road with rough pavement and no opportunities to pass.  Blech!

Eventually, I started getting off I-35 at Lonsdale (MN-19) and using a 73-mile combination of rural state and county highways instead.

[kkt]

As you head north on I-5 approaching downtown Seattle there's a pretty nice view of the skyline at about mile 162:

https://www.google.com/maps/@48.4022918,-122.4768646,15.06z


https://goo.gl/maps/58xarxqPDdBPv91A6
(edit: fixed bad link)

[hotdogPi]

As you head north on I-5 approaching downtown Seattle there's a pretty nice view of the skyline at about mile 162:

https://www.google.com/maps/@48.4022918,-122.4768646,15.06z

Bad link.

[CtrlAltDel]

I hated the "home stretch" when I lived in Chicagoland.  When the "home stretch" involves the speed limit going down, traffic becoming thick, and the number of idiot drivers increasing exponentially, it doesn't really promote that happy feeling.

Yeah, there's really not a route coming into Chicago that I find enjoyable to drive.

I have to say that I disagree. The traffic slowly thickening, the lanes slowly multiplying, the environment slowly urbanizing, all that for me is a sign of returning home, and kind of like a ceremonial or celebratory run in a sense, somewhat like the beginning of the Iditarod Dog Sled Race or the end of the Tour de France. That said, I do make it a point to avoid coming home from a road trip during rush hour, but it's usually not too hard to do so.

When I lived in Tennessee, I had nothing like that. The exit off I-26 was less than a mile from where I lived, and took about two minutes to drive, and so I was usually home before I really aware of it, which I found vaguely disappointing. 

[hbelkins]

I think the term "home stretch" might be relative, and mean different things to different people.

Years ago, when I had been west of Kentucky, I thought I was in the "home stretch" the minute I crossed the Ohio River at Cairo, Flat State. And I still had at least five hours left to drive to get home.

In past trips to the northeast, I've had that "home stretch" vibe when I entered I-79, either at Weston or Morgantown. And that's a five-hour haul as well.

[kphoger]

Yeah, I've never had a "home stretch" feeling with a five-hour drive ahead of me.

Hmmmmmmm...  Actually, scratch that.  The only time I've driven to Wichita from Colorado, I guess you could say I had a "home stretch" feeling when crossing into Kansas on I-70.

[sprjus4]

Home stretch feeling for me usually starts east of I-95. Either the split onto US-58 or I-64 from I-295 depending coming from the south or north.

[thspfc]

Yeah, I've never had a "home stretch" feeling with a five-hour drive ahead of me.

Hmmmmmmm...  Actually, scratch that.  The only time I've driven to Wichita from Colorado, I guess you could say I had a "home stretch" feeling when crossing into Kansas on I-70.

I think crossing back into your home region makes it feel a little bit like you're almost home. Whenever I cross into Iowa from Nebraska on I-80 EB, it does feel a little like the home stretch. But the true home stretch doesn't begin until at least the WI border on US-151.