With the current ongoing pandemic, it seems like a good time to reflect on fun roads that we used to drive quite often, or haven't driven in a while, that we wish we could have a bit more of in our lives! This isn't necessarily your favorite roads, or the most scenic ones, but just roads that have positive connotations and overall good vibes and memories.
For me, it's the New York State Thruway. I've only driven about 6 miles on it in the last 4 months. I really, really miss it, and I hope I get to use it a few times this summer, even if not as much as in past years.
AZ 88 since it was an awesome mountain highway and dirt road. It was so much fun being able to drive that highway on a whim.
I-35 in Minnesota, or really anything up there.
Roads I miss from my trucking days:
- I-5 through Oregon and Washington (minus Seattle area traffic)
- Many of the California freeways
- Oklahoma Turnpikes
- Ohio Turnpike (good overall design quality and best service plazas)
- Pennsylvania and New Jersey Turnpikes
- I-40 through eastern Tennessee
MN 61, of course.
Since switching my regular Kansas-to-Mexico route several years ago in order to avoid Fort Worth, I've missed driving this stretch of freeway beauty (https://goo.gl/maps/pE1BEAtDcgk9RW5g9) through the Sierra Madre.
The mountainous stretch of my current route (https://goo.gl/maps/GiajHCJxob3hA7vP6) is shorter and usually involves some dicey passing situations (https://goo.gl/maps/AqfqqfACYcofr2bc8).
Roads in general.
I miss most of the Florida roads before all the sprawl when you can go one mile without stopping for many stoplights or even one at all. In my old house you could go to Hunter's Creek in less than two minutes. Now that trip can take you at least five and several lights that were not up when I first moved to Orlando.
Thankfully, we got some of that back during the stay at home, but now its business as usual again, but you can enjoy the quiet time of it while it lasted.
Route 66, on which I spent many great childhood road trips.
http://www.google.com/maps/@39.2002057,-84.565251,3a,15y,222.22h,100.2t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1stiRo9vuKpBjobIgyiw6LWw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
Highway 2, since I haven't driven beyond Monroe since the beginning of the year.
I really miss driving the Merritt Parkway...I always made sure to hop on it at the Milford Pkwy exit when driving between the Cape and points south.
Throwing something exotic: roads beyond Zaragoza (as seen from my viewpoint at the foot of the Pyrenees), notably A-23 and A-2. At least I managed to get into the latter this year before the lockdown. Also A-21 in Navarre.
Two in particular; both part of my old regular CA>PNW routine:
US 97 from Weed, CA north to about Madras, OR; and US 101 in its entirety from Santa Rosa up through Oregon to the Columbia River. Don't make all that many trips utilizing either route since the early 2000's for any number of reasons; and the COVID situation has put the kibosh on at least doing partial segments. Oh well -- possibly things will change after things settle back to -- maybe -- some vague semblance of a previous "normal"; pretty much all we can hope for these days -- at least in terms of our travel capabilities.
Quote from: DJ Particle on July 01, 2020, 01:05:24 AM
I really miss driving the Merritt Parkway...I always made sure to hop on it at the Milford Pkwy exit when driving between the Cape and points south.
I like that road too.
Corridor H, especially from Elkins to Strasburg.
NC 12 in the off season.
Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The Dan Ryan Expressway in Chicago. I refuse to enter the city of Chicago at the moment. I miss passing the home of my favorite baseball team (Comiskey Park) and seeing the skyline on the horizon.
Quote from: Flint1979 on August 16, 2020, 10:32:38 AM
The Dan Ryan Expressway in Chicago. I refuse to enter the city of Chicago at the moment. I miss passing the home of my favorite baseball team (Comiskey Park) and seeing the skyline on the horizon.
Why? If you just want to drive the Ryan there's no reason to get out of the car :P
Quote from: Ketchup99 on August 16, 2020, 10:47:37 AM
Quote from: Flint1979 on August 16, 2020, 10:32:38 AM
The Dan Ryan Expressway in Chicago. I refuse to enter the city of Chicago at the moment. I miss passing the home of my favorite baseball team (Comiskey Park) and seeing the skyline on the horizon.
Why? If you just want to drive the Ryan there's no reason to get out of the car [emoji14]
Well I'd be in the city of Chicago and I'd be tempted to get off the expressway by my own self.
I used to travel US-35 from Dayton to Gallipolis about once every two months but stopped in 2016. I've only been back once in 2018. I can still tell you just about every town from I-75 to WV-2.
Quote from: Flint1979 on August 16, 2020, 12:22:01 PM
Quote from: Ketchup99 on August 16, 2020, 10:47:37 AM
Quote from: Flint1979 on August 16, 2020, 10:32:38 AM
The Dan Ryan Expressway in Chicago. I refuse to enter the city of Chicago at the moment. I miss passing the home of my favorite baseball team (Comiskey Park) and seeing the skyline on the horizon.
Why? If you just want to drive the Ryan there's no reason to get out of the car [emoji14]
Well I'd be in the city of Chicago and I'd be tempted to get off the expressway by my own self.
I admit I like the older section of I-90/94 just north of I-290 when it's all lit up at night. I miss that.
Places I've lived
St Louis, MO: Bluff Road south of Columbia, IL
Portsmouth, VA: US 301 and US 17 from the Potomac River to Yorktown when returning from DC
Green Bay, WI: The old Monroe Road in Bellevue before WI 172 (early 70's)
Madison, WI: Riding my bicycle through the Arboretum and down Seminole Highway to Paoli (late 70's)
I agree that NC 12 down to Hatteras during the offseason is beautiful.
Randy
Utah 12, all of it. I've been thinking a lot recently about how much I love that road, even though I've only driven it once.
Quote from: DJ Particle on August 17, 2020, 01:42:14 AM
Quote from: Flint1979 on August 16, 2020, 12:22:01 PM
Quote from: Ketchup99 on August 16, 2020, 10:47:37 AM
Quote from: Flint1979 on August 16, 2020, 10:32:38 AM
The Dan Ryan Expressway in Chicago. I refuse to enter the city of Chicago at the moment. I miss passing the home of my favorite baseball team (Comiskey Park) and seeing the skyline on the horizon.
Why? If you just want to drive the Ryan there's no reason to get out of the car [emoji14]
Well I'd be in the city of Chicago and I'd be tempted to get off the expressway by my own self.
I admit I like the older section of I-90/94 just north of I-290 when it's all lit up at night. I miss that.
It's fun driving through there. I don't miss anything about the Southside other than Comiskey and don't miss anything about the Westside at all. I can't stand the leadership there though.
Quote from: Flint1979 on August 18, 2020, 03:14:43 PM
Quote from: DJ Particle on August 17, 2020, 01:42:14 AM
Quote from: Flint1979 on August 16, 2020, 12:22:01 PM
Quote from: Ketchup99 on August 16, 2020, 10:47:37 AM
Quote from: Flint1979 on August 16, 2020, 10:32:38 AM
The Dan Ryan Expressway in Chicago. I refuse to enter the city of Chicago at the moment. I miss passing the home of my favorite baseball team (Comiskey Park) and seeing the skyline on the horizon.
Why? If you just want to drive the Ryan there's no reason to get out of the car [emoji14]
Well I'd be in the city of Chicago and I'd be tempted to get off the expressway by my own self.
I admit I like the older section of I-90/94 just north of I-290 when it's all lit up at night. I miss that.
It's fun driving through there. I don't miss anything about the Southside other than Comiskey and don't miss anything about the Westside at all. I can't stand the leadership there though.
Oh, I assumed you refused to enter Chicago because coronavirus, but is it some political squabble you have...
Quote from: Ketchup99 on August 18, 2020, 10:41:51 PM
Quote from: Flint1979 on August 18, 2020, 03:14:43 PM
Quote from: DJ Particle on August 17, 2020, 01:42:14 AM
Quote from: Flint1979 on August 16, 2020, 12:22:01 PM
Quote from: Ketchup99 on August 16, 2020, 10:47:37 AM
Quote from: Flint1979 on August 16, 2020, 10:32:38 AM
The Dan Ryan Expressway in Chicago. I refuse to enter the city of Chicago at the moment. I miss passing the home of my favorite baseball team (Comiskey Park) and seeing the skyline on the horizon.
Why? If you just want to drive the Ryan there's no reason to get out of the car [emoji14]
Well I'd be in the city of Chicago and I'd be tempted to get off the expressway by my own self.
I admit I like the older section of I-90/94 just north of I-290 when it's all lit up at night. I miss that.
It's fun driving through there. I don't miss anything about the Southside other than Comiskey and don't miss anything about the Westside at all. I can't stand the leadership there though.
Oh, I assumed you refused to enter Chicago because coronavirus, but is it some political squabble you have...
Well my reason is because of the crime right now for the most part. I had stayed away from the rougher parts of town but now it seems like they are into destroying downtown and I'm not a fan of Lori Lightfoot's so yeah I guess you could say it's political. I've been in Detroit since the coronavirus although I never got out of my car in the city just in the suburbs. Coronavirus does have an effect on it though, I think you should avoid the hotspots. NYC is even worse but I don't live close enough to NYC that it's even on my radar to travel to or through.
I live about 4 and a half hours from Chicago and about 10 and a half hours from NYC.