2018 road trips

Started by Roadgeekteen, October 05, 2017, 10:54:05 AM

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oscar

#75
As I mentioned in connection with last month's Shreveport meet, I used my "round 2" mob-rule.com account to show how I got to and from the meet:

http://www.mob-rule.com/user-gifs/USA/oscar-rd2.gif

The ultimate plan is to add to the U.S. map the counties I re-visited since I completed the U.S. counties in July 2010. However, that will take awhile, since I would need to reconstruct my 2010-2017 U.S. travels including multiple cross-country trips, plus add my other 2018 travels (both several day and overnight trips in VA, DC, MD, DE, and PA, and also forthcoming longer-distance trips).

The "round 2" Canada map is complete, but it only covers Canadian travels since my completion of its counties in July 2016, so that was less work.
my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
http://www.alaskaroads.com/home.html


Nanis

until today I had a road trip plan for a whole week. It was for waffle house but we ended up exploring southern Bethlehem and stopping in Plumsteadville, PA
Springtown Hill road is extremely scenic.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=15pzSGUsCjf8z5h3pjn_H1Fau5R4dEY2r&usp=sharing the entire trip along with an older trip from April 1st is on here
Map of state roads I have taken pictures for the signs for can be seen here (although four routes ave not been added yet because of their lengths.):
https://www.scribblemaps.com/maps/view/us_route_map/s7vYO7rC80

Eth

Quote from: Eth on January 01, 2018, 09:57:25 AM
Only thing I have planned right now is a trip up to the Raleigh area in April. If I'm not mistaken, that'll be my first time in North Carolina since I moved back to Georgia in 2011. I already have all of I-85 north of Auburn, AL clinched, so I may look for an alternate way to go. Depending on my exact itinerary (may be visiting family in the area) I might have an opportunity to see how I-42 is progressing.

I got back from this trip yesterday. While I did drive my own car there and back, it was as part of a convoy (this was a group trip), so I stuck with the direct route of I-85 and I-40, though I did divert onto Business 85 through Spartanburg (not previously covered) to avoid construction. As a passenger at the destination, I picked up a few more pieces of I-40, I-440, I-540, US 15/501, US 70, and US 401.

adwerkema

Planning on a family vacation to Hilton Head Island, SC this summer. 2 days to travel down, 5 days in SC, and then 2 days to travel back. Deciding if we should take the clockwise route or the counterclockwise route. Anyone know if US 33, I-77, I-40, or I-75 offers better views coming from one direction or another? Particularly thinking of the mountain views. Open to other fun detours as well.


hbelkins

There are two great southbound views on your trip. Unfortunately, you'll have to choose one of them.

I-77 south at Fancy Gap (VA/NC border) is great. So, too, is I-26 eastbound heading from NC toward SC.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

MNHighwayMan

Quote from: adwerkema on April 23, 2018, 06:10:54 PM
Planning on a family vacation to Hilton Head Island, SC this summer. 2 days to travel down, 5 days in SC, and then 2 days to travel back. Deciding if we should take the clockwise route or the counterclockwise route. Anyone know if US 33, I-77, I-40, or I-75 offers better views coming from one direction or another? Particularly thinking of the mountain views. Open to other fun detours as well.

Why not take one route on the way there, and the other on the way back?

adwerkema

Quote from: MNHighwayMan on April 24, 2018, 09:28:03 PM
Why not take one route on the way there, and the other on the way back?

Great minds think alike  :D I'm planning on doing that - just don't know which one to take there and which to take back.

Quote from: hbelkins on April 24, 2018, 10:30:19 AM
There are two great southbound views on your trip. Unfortunately, you'll have to choose one of them.

I-77 south at Fancy Gap (VA/NC border) is great. So, too, is I-26 eastbound heading from NC toward SC.

Thanks for the advice! Sounds like a win-win either way.

J N Winkler

My suggestion would be to preview StreetView through the areas of interest and then use that, possibly in combination with Google Earth's sun shadow function and a rough outline of each driving day, to form a judgment as to which sequence of the two routes (clockwise or counterclockwise) yields more opportunities to take scenic photos looking north.  Southbound views can be enjoyed without a camera, but northbound views are infinitely easier to document.
"It is necessary to spend a hundred lire now to save a thousand lire later."--Piero Puricelli, explaining the need for a first-class road system to Benito Mussolini

adwerkema

Quote from: J N Winkler on April 25, 2018, 01:01:54 AM
My suggestion would be to preview StreetView through the areas of interest and then use that, possibly in combination with Google Earth's sun shadow function and a rough outline of each driving day, to form a judgment as to which sequence of the two routes (clockwise or counterclockwise) yields more opportunities to take scenic photos looking north.  Southbound views can be enjoyed without a camera, but northbound views are infinitely easier to document.

Even photo advice - nice! Thanks for the suggestions. I'll have to try out that sun shadow feature.

webny99

I did approximately this this morning, does that count as a road trip?  :D

Google says it should take 1hr26min... and I pulled it off in exactly 1hr10min. I'm mildly impressed, considering morning traffic (lol), and the time I wasted in the line at Dunkin. That yields an average of 69.8 mph.

CNGL-Leudimin

Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on March 28, 2018, 08:12:00 AMNorthwest Navarre is happening again in May, but I don't think I'll take any new roads.

This was originally planned as a day trip, but ended up being expanded to a week-end trip which also went into Guipuscoa, and as such I had the opportunity to clinch new roads. It included a unpaved goat track on the way back, and I was unlucky to get caught by a hailstorm in that section and I got stuck all afternoon.
Supporter of the construction of several running gags, including I-366 with a speed limit of 85 mph (137 km/h) and the Hypotenuse.

Please note that I may mention "invalid" FM channels, i.e. ending in an even number or down to 87.5. These are valid in Europe.

Thing 342

Just booked a solo trip to Chicago for late July. Instead of driving, I'm taking AMTRAK, following the Northeast Regional to DC then the Capitol Limited overnight to Chicago. I most likely won't have a car, but I may try and rent one for a day to clinch a few roads.

On a related note: does anyone have any advice for a first-time AMTRAK traveler?

MikeTheActuary

In a week, the wife and I will set out on a bit of a road trip -- Hartford CT - Champlain NY (for the wife's NEXUS card interview) - La Malbaie, QC (conference for work) - Hartford CT

The scenery beyond Quebec City looks to be very pretty.  And, I'm hoping that the wife will be up for a stop to check out the Haskell Library and Opera House in Derby Line.

MNHighwayMan

#88
Next month, my family's going on a camping trip to the US Army Corps campground at Federal Dam, MN for a week. I plan on spending most of my week driving around and getting pictures of all the nearby state highway termini (both ends of 84, east ends of 87 and 34, end of 371 in Cass Lake, the still weird MN-197 in Bemidji, the south ends of 89, 46, and 38 (probably will drive out to the north end of 38, too, and snag the short 286 along the way). My highest priority targets, even though they're the furthest out, are MN-222 and 223. They're on MnDOT's short list of whack-a-mole turnback desires, and I dunno if/when I'll ever manage to get out to that part of the state again, soon.

paulthemapguy

In an otherwise quiet year for me, my girl and I are going on the most ambitious road trip we've ever accomplished:  Driving all the way to the Pacific Coast.  I've never done it.  We're trying to expand our capabilities, because one day I hope to drive the Alaska Highway.  On this 15 day trip, we will see Theodore Roosevelt NP, Glacier NP, Columbia River Gorge, Astoria, and Yellowstone.  We travel west by way of Fargo, ND; Dickinson, ND; Glasgow, MT; Columbia Falls, MT; Spokane, WA; Portland, OR; and Astoria, OR to Seaside, OR.  Then we return home via Boise, ID; Pocatello, ID; Cody, WY; and Mitchell, SD.
Avatar is the last interesting highway I clinched.
My website! http://www.paulacrossamerica.com Now featuring all of Ohio!
My USA Shield Gallery https://flic.kr/s/aHsmHwJRZk
TM Clinches https://bit.ly/2UwRs4O

National collection status: 361/425. Only 64 route markers remain

Brandon

Now that's pretty darn funny as I was planning a similar trip this August.

Only a 10 day trip, but no less ambitious to go west to Seattle, the Olympic Mountains, Mt. St. Helens, the Oregon Coast, Crater Lake, & Portland.

Route
- I-355, I-290, I-90 to Eau Claire, WI.  then north on US-53 to Duluth, MN.  West on US-2, stopping by the Mississippi River headwaters on the way to Grand Forks, ND.
- I-29 south to I-94 at Fargo, ND, then west to I-90 at Billings, MT.  A stop at Theodore Roosevelt NP along the way.  Then along I-90 to Missoula, MT.
- I-90 west via Spokane to it's beginning in Seattle, WA.  Across Puget Sound on a ferry to Bremerton, WA, then back to DuPont, WA via Olympia, WA.
- Across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and around the Olympic Peninsula with stops in Olympic NP.  Then back down to Mt. St. Helens (Johnston Ridge Observatory) to Kelso, WA.
- From there, along the Columbia River (across a bridge and ferry for the sake of county counting) to Astoria, OR.  Then south on US-101 to Bandon, OR with may stops on the way.
- South along US-101 to Crescent City, CA to the redwoods along US-199.  US-199 up to Grants Pass, OR, then over to Crater Lake NP.  North from there to Bend, OR.
- Across the Cascades to Corvallis, OR, then north to Salem, OR (more counties).  And north to Portland, OR with a stop in Vancouver, WA.
- East along I-84 through the Columbia River Gorge to Ogden, UT.  Stops include Shoshone Falls and possibly Antelope Island SP.
- East out of Ogden via Logan, UT through Wyoming on US-89, WY-28, and east to Casper, WY along the route of the Oregon Trail.  No, I do not plan on dying of dysentery.  Then east to Chadron, NE.
- East from Chadron, NE via US-20 and NE-12, then across the border through South Dakota to I-29.  I-29 to US-77, across the river to I-129 (and complete all of Nebraska's interstates).  Then east on US-20 to I-380, I-80 to home.
"If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." - Ramsay Bolton

"Symbolic of his struggle against reality." - Reg

Mapmikey

Quote from: Thing 342 on June 10, 2018, 09:21:14 PM
Just booked a solo trip to Chicago for late July. Instead of driving, I'm taking AMTRAK, following the Northeast Regional to DC then the Capitol Limited overnight to Chicago. I most likely won't have a car, but I may try and rent one for a day to clinch a few roads.

On a related note: does anyone have any advice for a first-time AMTRAK traveler?

The only time I traveled AMTRAK was in 2000, following your route plus then out to Montana.  If you are not getting a cabin (I had not), what took some getting used to when sleeping next to the window is another train coming by in the other direction...kept waking me up.

I assume that for whatever reason you couldn't work it out doing directly to Chicago from Charlottesville?  The layover in DC can be long.

froggie

Quote from: MikeTheActuary on June 10, 2018, 10:38:19 PM
In a week, the wife and I will set out on a bit of a road trip -- Hartford CT - Champlain NY (for the wife's NEXUS card interview) - La Malbaie, QC (conference for work) - Hartford CT

The scenery beyond Quebec City looks to be very pretty.  And, I'm hoping that the wife will be up for a stop to check out the Haskell Library and Opera House in Derby Line.

Holler when you're in the neighborhood.  My lunch schedule can be pretty flexible...unless you'll be taking a route other than I-91 south from Derby.

D-Dey65

#93
Did I mention that my proposed summer trip to Metro NYC has been delayed again? Because this time it's looking more towards Mid-September 2018.


Thing 342

Quote from: Mapmikey on June 13, 2018, 10:15:13 AM
I assume that for whatever reason you couldn't work it out doing directly to Chicago from Charlottesville?  The layover in DC can be long.
Not long enough, it turns out. My returning train from Chicago to DC was so late that I missed my NE Regional transfer despite having a nearly 5-hour layover. :banghead: (I would have missed the rebooked trip as well, as my checked bags took nearly 45 minutes to come out of the carousel. I eventually got a ride home from some friends.)

I planned a somewhat short-notice trip to San Antonio for a weekend late September to cash in on a random special by Delta. Will likely be spending a day in and around San Antonio, then will make the drive up to Austin for the next day.

Takumi

I took a trip to Virginia Beach yesterday. My brother went with me, so we started off from his place in Midlothian. The route down was US 60 - VA 76 - VA 146 - VA 195 - I-95 - I-64 - I-664 - VA 164 - US 58 - VA 337 - Princess Anne Road (unnumbered) - VA 404 (clinch) - VA 166 - US 58. At the time we were heading down there was a major delay at the HRBR, and only a minor one at the MMMBT, so I opted for the latter, thinking I'd take 664 to 164 (which would have been a re-clinch) to 264. When I got to 164, however, the VMS said there was a disabled vehicle inside the tunnel on 264, so I instead took the Midtown tunnel over the Downtown. I then missed where 58 turns onto itself so I headed to Princess Anne Road through Ghent, and continued through its VA 404 portion until I got to VA 166, which only had a short distance separating Princess Anne from US 58 at that point. We continued down 58 (not 264, because we had to make a stop) until the oceanfront. The route home was simpler: 264 to 64 to Richmond, since there was much less traffic. Some notes:
-64 has two construction zones between Richmond and Hampton: one just east of I-295 and the other east of Williamsburg into western Newport News. I assume these are both part of the much-needed long-term widening project. Where 64 has been widened is so much better than before!
-The erroneous West banner on a reassurance shield on southbound VA 76 on its bridge over the James River has been removed; it's now just a bannerless shield.
-My 2012 TL's GPS still shows VA 167 and the 4xx routes in Virginia Beach as current routes. All were decommissioned long before the car was built. I just found this amusing.
-There are, of course, no US 58 postings at either Atlantic or Pacific. The easternmost one is, I believe, on one of the side streets at the roundabout a couple blocks west.
-In addition to the VMS's that show travel times eastbound on 64, there are corresponding ones for Richmond. One is on 264 (showing which of the 64 or 664 tunnels would be faster) and the other is west of Williamsburg and shows whether I-64 or VA 30/US 60 would be faster to I-295 (I assume 30/60 would only be faster during severe construction delays).
Quote from: Rothman on July 15, 2021, 07:52:59 AM
Olive Garden must be stopped.  I must stop them.

Don't @ me. Seriously.

US 41

Never posted anything about it yet, but I drove to Maine in June. While I was out there I drove to Charlottetown, PEI and to Halifax, NS. Got my state count up to 41 and got my province count up to 5.

https://goo.gl/maps/KtsyxE7m7Ty
Visited States and Provinces:
USA (48)= All of Lower 48
Canada (5)= NB, NS, ON, PEI, QC
Mexico (9)= BCN, BCS, CHIH, COAH, DGO, NL, SON, SIN, TAM

froggie

Quote from: Takumi-64 has two construction zones between Richmond and Hampton: one just east of I-295 and the other east of Williamsburg into western Newport News. I assume these are both part of the much-needed long-term widening project. Where 64 has been widened is so much better than before!

Yes, both are 6-lane expansion zones...the one "just east of 295" goes from 295 to the Bottoms Bridge exit.

Quote-There are, of course, no US 58 postings at either Atlantic or Pacific. The easternmost one is, I believe, on one of the side streets at the roundabout a couple blocks west.

Did you check along 30th and 32nd Streets?  Reason being is because the city, about 5 years ago, built that roundabout in part to encourage to use 30th and 32nd to get to Pacific proper instead of staying on Laskin the entire way.

------------------

Meanwhile, I'm about to begin my own big roadtrip of the year.  Heading out to Minnesota starting this weekend.  If I can time it right, most of the trip will involve new route mileage.  Returning shortly after Labor Day.

jon daly

I have a twisted sense of humor so I got a couple of laughs when reading about human roadkill.

This year, my wife and I drove out to Gettysburg and Okemo in Vermont. Those are the overnight trips and I think that going through the Lehigh Valley and seeing all of the distribution centers triggered me to stop by here after a long inactive period.

If weekend jaunts qualify, we've been driving a lot up and down the borders of Connecticut and Rhode Island. It is a surprisingly wooded area.


jon daly

On second thought. I think some re-signing on I-95, particularly the part I use on my commute, prompted me to revisit here.



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