Difference in mood/feel while crossing state line

[Roadgeekteen]

I would argue that crossing the border between California and Nevada on I-80 is a pretty stark difference.  On the California side, you have the steep high-elevation mountain pass that you begin climbing just east of the state line, as you pass through boreal forests.  On the Nevada side, you are in range-and-basin wide-open country desert.

3 miles East of the state line in Nevada:  https://www.google.com/maps/@39.5142228,-119.9842203,3a,75y,94.71h,92.18t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sKO0rjezEicpmVCXWLeAJfg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Similar distance West of the state line in California:
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.4422238,-120.013181,3a,75y,228.09h,91.89t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s1Ol7HIjF4KiIMrHlazY_HQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

I'm going to guess that the mountain range was made the state border.

[Sctvhound]

Another one that is very noticeable: NC to SC on I-26. Go from the mountains of the Green River Gorge, Hendersonville, Saluda, and high hills almost immediately into the Piedmont of SC above Spartanburg.

The temperature often goes up 10+ degrees in the summer when you go down those hills into South Carolina. It often gets colder by the same amount going up into NC in the winter.

[jdbx]

I would argue that crossing the border between California and Nevada on I-80 is a pretty stark difference.  On the California side, you have the steep high-elevation mountain pass that you begin climbing just east of the state line, as you pass through boreal forests.  On the Nevada side, you are in range-and-basin wide-open country desert.

3 miles East of the state line in Nevada:  https://www.google.com/maps/@39.5142228,-119.9842203,3a,75y,94.71h,92.18t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sKO0rjezEicpmVCXWLeAJfg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Similar distance West of the state line in California:
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.4422238,-120.013181,3a,75y,228.09h,91.89t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s1Ol7HIjF4KiIMrHlazY_HQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

I'm going to guess that the mountain range was made the state border.

Absolutely.  Or, more precisely, the state border was drawn to include the entire mountain range, rather than the typical arrangement where a border follows the ridge line or basin divide.  Why?  GOLD!

[US 89]

I would argue that crossing the border between California and Nevada on I-80 is a pretty stark difference.  On the California side, you have the steep high-elevation mountain pass that you begin climbing just east of the state line, as you pass through boreal forests.  On the Nevada side, you are in range-and-basin wide-open country desert.

3 miles East of the state line in Nevada:  https://www.google.com/maps/@39.5142228,-119.9842203,3a,75y,94.71h,92.18t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sKO0rjezEicpmVCXWLeAJfg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Similar distance West of the state line in California:
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.4422238,-120.013181,3a,75y,228.09h,91.89t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s1Ol7HIjF4KiIMrHlazY_HQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

I'm going to guess that the mountain range was made the state border.

Absolutely.  Or, more precisely, the state border was drawn to include the entire mountain range, rather than the typical arrangement where a border follows the ridge line or basin divide.  Why?  GOLD!

The actual definition of the California-Nevada border is a straight line from the point where the Colorado River intersects the 35th parallel, northwest to the intersection of the 39th parallel and 120th meridian, then north along the 120th meridian to the 42nd parallel (which happens to be the Oregon border).

[OCGuy81]

I would argue that crossing the border between California and Nevada on I-80 is a pretty stark difference.  On the California side, you have the steep high-elevation mountain pass that you begin climbing just east of the state line, as you pass through boreal forests.  On the Nevada side, you are in range-and-basin wide-open country desert.

3 miles East of the state line in Nevada:  https://www.google.com/maps/@39.5142228,-119.9842203,3a,75y,94.71h,92.18t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sKO0rjezEicpmVCXWLeAJfg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Similar distance West of the state line in California:
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.4422238,-120.013181,3a,75y,228.09h,91.89t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s1Ol7HIjF4KiIMrHlazY_HQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

I'm going to guess that the mountain range was made the state border.

Absolutely.  Or, more precisely, the state border was drawn to include the entire mountain range, rather than the typical arrangement where a border follows the ridge line or basin divide.  Why?  GOLD!

The actual definition of the California-Nevada border is a straight line from the point where the Colorado River intersects the 35th parallel, northwest to the intersection of the 39th parallel and 120th meridian, then north along the 120th meridian to the 42nd parallel (which happens to be the Oregon border).

That reminds me of a good show that aired on History years ago called "How the States Got Their Shape". 

[jdbx]

I would argue that crossing the border between California and Nevada on I-80 is a pretty stark difference.  On the California side, you have the steep high-elevation mountain pass that you begin climbing just east of the state line, as you pass through boreal forests.  On the Nevada side, you are in range-and-basin wide-open country desert.

3 miles East of the state line in Nevada:  https://www.google.com/maps/@39.5142228,-119.9842203,3a,75y,94.71h,92.18t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sKO0rjezEicpmVCXWLeAJfg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Similar distance West of the state line in California:
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.4422238,-120.013181,3a,75y,228.09h,91.89t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s1Ol7HIjF4KiIMrHlazY_HQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

I'm going to guess that the mountain range was made the state border.

Absolutely.  Or, more precisely, the state border was drawn to include the entire mountain range, rather than the typical arrangement where a border follows the ridge line or basin divide.  Why?  GOLD!

The actual definition of the California-Nevada border is a straight line from the point where the Colorado River intersects the 35th parallel, northwest to the intersection of the 39th parallel and 120th meridian, then north along the 120th meridian to the 42nd parallel (which happens to be the Oregon border).

That reminds me of a good show that aired on History years ago called "How the States Got Their Shape". 

I remember learning in history class that when they set out to survey the actual border, the surveyor had a bit of a challenge because the junction of the 120th meridian and 39th parallel happens to be in Lake Tahoe.  He had to create sight lines around the lake to establish the correct point.  I have had fun with GPS while boating on Lake Tahoe trying to get my boat to that precise point, just to say that I had been there.

[OCGuy81]

I would argue that crossing the border between California and Nevada on I-80 is a pretty stark difference.  On the California side, you have the steep high-elevation mountain pass that you begin climbing just east of the state line, as you pass through boreal forests.  On the Nevada side, you are in range-and-basin wide-open country desert.

3 miles East of the state line in Nevada:  https://www.google.com/maps/@39.5142228,-119.9842203,3a,75y,94.71h,92.18t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sKO0rjezEicpmVCXWLeAJfg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Similar distance West of the state line in California:
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.4422238,-120.013181,3a,75y,228.09h,91.89t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s1Ol7HIjF4KiIMrHlazY_HQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

I'm going to guess that the mountain range was made the state border.

Absolutely.  Or, more precisely, the state border was drawn to include the entire mountain range, rather than the typical arrangement where a border follows the ridge line or basin divide.  Why?  GOLD!

The actual definition of the California-Nevada border is a straight line from the point where the Colorado River intersects the 35th parallel, northwest to the intersection of the 39th parallel and 120th meridian, then north along the 120th meridian to the 42nd parallel (which happens to be the Oregon border).

That reminds me of a good show that aired on History years ago called "How the States Got Their Shape". 

I remember learning in history class that when they set out to survey the actual border, the surveyor had a bit of a challenge because the junction of the 120th meridian and 39th parallel happens to be in Lake Tahoe.  He had to create sight lines around the lake to establish the correct point.  I have had fun with GPS while boating on Lake Tahoe trying to get my boat to that precise point, just to say that I had been there.

Oh that's really cool! Sounds like a fun challenge using a GPS.

[machias]

Any interstate from any state into Pennsylvania. The ROW narrows considerably, the pavement quality degrades, and the sign count goes up (but not as much as PA to NY on the Thruway). This is most noticeable on I-90 Ohio to PA or I-81 New York to PA.

[sparker]

While the basic scenery is the same, crossing the CA/OR state line on I-5 is a mood-altering experience:  NB relief, as you're now off 1960's-era concrete that is cracking and has been extensively patched to relatively new asphalt; coming back south -- if one knows it's there -- the opposite occurs, and you're gritting your teeth as you approach the state line sign knowing you're in for a bumpy ride!  Not so much over on US 97 -- two-lane asphalt on both sides; while back in the '80's the CA side was quite distressed in terms of pavement, it's since been overlaid and/or rebuilt a couple of times, so while the OR stretch of US 97 seems to be a more "modern" road (considerably wider shoulders, straighter alignment), but at least to me, there's little difference in pavement quality.  Nevertheless, in summer months I've always been in a better mood NB, because I'm leaving 100-degree Redding weather behind!

[ErmineNotyours]

On my vacation to the District of Columbia, traveling with others, I landed at Ronald Regan, but was taken in a rental car to the hotel in D.C.  Later in the week I took the Metro to the first stop on the Virginia side.  I got to the surface and saw the Robert E. Lee Highway.  I knew I was in a different world.  I only walked for a few blocks in Virginia before I crossed back on the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

[Roadgeekteen]

On my vacation to the District of Columbia, traveling with others, I landed at Ronald Regan, but was taken in a rental car to the hotel in D.C.  Later in the week I took the Metro to the first stop on the Virginia side.  I got to the surface and saw the Robert E. Lee Highway.  I knew I was in a different world.  I only walked for a few blocks in Virginia before I crossed back on the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Northern Virginia is very liberal, highway name is probably an old relic.

[sprjus4]

On my vacation to the District of Columbia, traveling with others, I landed at Ronald Regan, but was taken in a rental car to the hotel in D.C.  Later in the week I took the Metro to the first stop on the Virginia side.  I got to the surface and saw the Robert E. Lee Highway.  I knew I was in a different world.  I only walked for a few blocks in Virginia before I crossed back on the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Northern Virginia is very liberal, highway name is probably an old relic.

Agreed, I'm surprised it hasn't been changed.

Northern Virginia is definitely not anywhere close to conservative.

[fillup420]

Going into NC on VA/NC-86 from Danville. As soon as you cross into NC, you're in the boonies. Going the other way, civilization pops up out of nowhere as soon as you cross the VA state line. 

On NC-86, there ain't jackshit between Danville and Yanceyville, and between Yanceyville and Hillsborough.

The road gets much nicer in NC though. 86 from the state line to Hillsborough is an excellent drive.

[mgk920]

I remember learning in history class that when they set out to survey the actual border, the surveyor had a bit of a challenge because the junction of the 120th meridian and 39th parallel happens to be in Lake Tahoe.  He had to create sight lines around the lake to establish the correct point.  I have had fun with GPS while boating on Lake Tahoe trying to get my boat to that precise point, just to say that I had been there.

Oh that's really cool! Sounds like a fun challenge using a GPS.

Or better yet, WITHOUT a GPS thing....

Anyways, my stark 'Difference in mood/feel while crossing state line' is crossing between Wisconsin and Michigan - there is a very definite change in the 'feel' of the landscape between the two.  Michigan has the overall depressing, run-down look and feel of a long-term major decline and negative attitude while Wisconsin has a much more prosperous, optimistic and inviting aura to it.  I feel sad and depressed driving around on the Michigan side of the line.

Mike

[stevashe]

While the basic scenery is the same, crossing the CA/OR state line on I-5 is a mood-altering experience:  NB relief, as you're now off 1960's-era concrete that is cracking and has been extensively patched to relatively new asphalt; coming back south -- if one knows it's there -- the opposite occurs, and you're gritting your teeth as you approach the state line sign knowing you're in for a bumpy ride!  Not so much over on US 97 -- two-lane asphalt on both sides; while back in the '80's the CA side was quite distressed in terms of pavement, it's since been overlaid and/or rebuilt a couple of times, so while the OR stretch of US 97 seems to be a more "modern" road (considerably wider shoulders, straighter alignment), but at least to me, there's little difference in pavement quality.  Nevertheless, in summer months I've always been in a better mood NB, because I'm leaving 100-degree Redding weather behind!

Well you may be permanently relieved to hear that the California side of I-5 was in the process of being repaved when I passed through in the Fall of 2019! There's still a transition from asphalt to concrete though, but it looks like the Oregon side is concrete, not California. Photos in both directions below.

Northbound:


Southbound:

[cpzilliacus]

On my vacation to the District of Columbia, traveling with others, I landed at Ronald Regan, but was taken in a rental car to the hotel in D.C.  Later in the week I took the Metro to the first stop on the Virginia side.  I got to the surface and saw the Robert E. Lee Highway.  I knew I was in a different world.  I only walked for a few blocks in Virginia before I crossed back on the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Northern Virginia is very liberal, highway name is probably an old relic.

Road names for heroes of the Confederacy are being removed from streets and roads and other things in Northern Virginia.  I do not think the Lee name is long for what has traditionally been the name for most of U.S. 29 between Warrenton and the Key Bridge.

Same for Jefferson Davis - his name was on much of U.S. 1 and VA-110 in several Northern Virginia jurisdictions but is now going away.

[SSR_317]

I would argue that crossing the border between California and Nevada on I-80 is a pretty stark difference.  On the California side, you have the steep high-elevation mountain pass that you begin climbing just east of the state line, as you pass through boreal forests.  On the Nevada side, you are in range-and-basin country and a wide-open desert.

3 miles East of the state line in Nevada:  https://www.google.com/maps/@39.5142228,-119.9842203,3a,75y,94.71h,92.18t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sKO0rjezEicpmVCXWLeAJfg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Similar distance West of the state line in California:
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.4422238,-120.013181,3a,75y,228.09h,91.89t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s1Ol7HIjF4KiIMrHlazY_HQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

I've been waiting for someone to mention this one.

When I was 11 years old in 1967, we took a "National Lampoon's Vacation" trip across the country to visit relatives in San Buenaventura, CA (better known to most as Ventura). It was a fascinating time to do so, as it was nearing the peak of Interstate construction, and I was just old enough to remember & appreciate everything along the voyage across 3/4 of this country from NE Indiana to SoCal. One of the most memorable moments was, after driving all day from Salt Lake City across the salt flats of Utah and the northern high deserts of Nevada, was to round that bend west of Reno in the Truckee Canyon, see the "Entering California" sign on I-80, and see the landscape immediately turn from brown to green. My mom, dad, and I all noticed this and commented on it.

Years later, I thought that memory might have been a bit inaccurate, clouded by time, but upon visiting friends in Reno a few years back, I took a day trip to retrace our route and lo-and-behold it's still true (in spite of recent severe drought). Kinda figures those old-timers knew what they were doing in drawing the border where they did! They went to the start of the "Sierra rain shadow" where the green stopped and the brown began and placed the state line there (and all without satellite or aerial photos).

[SSR_317]

Any interstate from any state into Pennsylvania. The ROW narrows considerably, the pavement quality degrades, and the sign count goes up (but not as much as PA to NY on the Thruway). This is most noticeable on I-90 Ohio to PA or I-81 New York to PA.

What do you mean "the sign count goes up" (emphasis added)? I've always found PA highways to be some of the poorest marked in the USA. Lack of advanced warning for major junctions, what signs they did put in placed in poorly visible locations, et cetera. Now granted, I haven't been back to the Keystone State in quite some time, so they may have improved some over the interim.

[ethanhopkin14]

Talking about mood and feelings going from one state line to another...

There is a huge difference from SC to GA along with GA to SC. Go on I-95 from well-maintained, 3 and even 4 lane wide I-95 through Georgia, to washboard quality 2 lanes the moment you take the Savannah River bridge into SC. Same on the Talmadge Bridge heading out of Savannah.

SC is so different also depending on what part of the state you're in. It feels like everything from about Brunswick, GA through Wilmington, NC is its own state. Savannah and Charleston are so much alike, and share a lot of things. It feels like home to me pretty much anywhere along that stretch.

Piggly Wiggly, which used to be our largest grocery store chain, had major presences in Savannah and Charleston, and the National Weather Service office for Charleston serves Savannah as well. Once you get west of I-95 though on I-26 things change pretty quick. You go from the flat land of the Lowcountry to hills pretty quick.

The Midlands of SC is in the middle with all the different changes in elevation and with flat + hilly areas.

Upstate SC feels like a different state. Most of the roads (especially in Greenville and Spartanburg) are well-maintained, and the accent is different, plus the barbecue. SC doesn't spend the money on the Lowcountry like they do the Upstate.

What are your thoughts about this?

I always get excited when I cross from Texas to New Mexico. 

Back to what you were talking about Georgia to South Carolina, makes me think of driving from Las Cruces to El Paso on I-10.  I-10 south of Las Cruces in New Mexico is a 6-lane freeway, where in Texas from the state line until about Woodrow Bean Transmountain Road its a 4-lane freeway (I really don't know why the Texas part isn't 6 lanes).  This makes me think of another scenario that might be a child of this thread: When an interstate crosses state lines, and the two states don't have the same amount of lanes on the freeway, where does the transition take place.  In the above scenario, the transition happens on the New Mexico side, where you lose the outside lane in Anthony, NM (or gain the lane in the opposite direction).  I have seen the inverse I know, but I can't think of any examples at this moment. 

[sprjus4]

I-81 at the Virginia / Tennessee border is similar... I-81 is 6 lanes on the Virginia side, and upon entering Tennessee (though it goes for about a mile), it drops to 4 lanes.

The only part of I-81 in the entire state of Virginia, besides the I-77 overlap and various "climbing" 3 lane sections, that's a true 6 lane design.

I-65 drops from 6 lanes to 4 lanes crossing from Kentucky into Tennessee... Kentucky has widened their entire portion between Tennessee and Indiana to 6 lanes, whereas Tennessee has done very little outside the Nashville metro.

[ethanhopkin14]

I think the mood changes drastically from a roadgeek standpoint from any state entering California, and vise-versa.  The oddball quirks of California signage (50+ year-old signs still rockin, lots of green-outs, different interstate shields plus drastically different US Highway shields, general overall non-MUTCD conformity in signage and lack of state wide FHWA mile posts) plus drastic-ish landscape (Arizona desert and California desert aren't that different, but about 2 hours later the landscape is completely different) plus signage conventions not seen anywhere else in the US.  Then when you visit for a week, and enter one of the bordering states, and you get back to the way the other 49 states sign their roads and design them, you get knocked back down to reality. 

[Kniwt]

I-15 from AZ into UT goes from undeveloped mostly govt-owned desert scrub right into massive new developments that literally bump up against the state line in re-booming St. George.

[Roadgeekteen]

I-15 from AZ into UT goes from undeveloped mostly govt-owned desert scrub right into massive new developments that literally bump up against the state line in re-booming St. George.

Will the St. George development ever spill into Arizona?

[Kniwt]

I-15 from AZ into UT goes from undeveloped mostly govt-owned desert scrub right into massive new developments that literally bump up against the state line in re-booming St. George.

Will the St. George development ever spill into Arizona?

Extremely unlikely due to the BLM ownership on the AZ side, not to mention any type of local government services or even basic infrastructure except for I-15 in that part of vast, vast Mohave County.

More likely that we'll see more development in the Littlefield and Beaver Dam area. With the new services at Exit 9, some additional economic activity is springing up.

[US 89]

Extremely unlikely due to the BLM ownership on the AZ side, not to mention any type of local government services or even basic infrastructure except for I-15 in that part of vast, vast Mohave County.

More likely that we'll see more development in the Littlefield and Beaver Dam area. With the new services at Exit 9, some additional economic activity is springing up.

I wonder if there will ever be talk of splitting Mohave County down the Colorado River if there's enough growth in the Beaver Dam and Littlefield areas. I can't imagine the people down in Kingman (the county seat) care too much about what goes on north of the Grand Canyon. Hell, it takes 3 hours to drive from Kingman to Littlefield... and a majority of that is in Nevada.