This is a question/thread idea I've had for a couple weeks, and that question is what is your biggest regret as a roadgeek? It can be anywhere from missing clinching opportunities on trips, to cancelling trips, or really just anything/any route you really regret doing/not doing on the road.
Mine is easily taking US 421/I-785/US 29 back home instead of I-40/I-885/I-85/US 15 on May 18, 2023. The main reason I chose the former route is because I thought I was gonna be able to get a picture of NC-3, but the route didn't get me close enough. I would have gotten plenty of new counties in VA/NC from the latter route, including some in Virginia that I probably won't get for a couple years.
In second place is likely the decision I made to continue on I-495/I-66/US 29 instead of merging onto I-95, likely to I-295/I-64 on my way back home from Washington, DC on April 21. With the latter route, I would have my first photos for Stafford County, and expand into more of Prince William/Spotsylvania/Caroline Counties.
Mine was probably learning that I-95 ended in Trenton, NJ, the hard way with my parents on the way to New York once because I convinced them to go through Philly for some reason.
Because of that, I was absolutely excited when the I-276/I-95 interchange opened in 2018. While I missed the Golden Spike Meet, I did drive the new interchange the morning that it opened.
Kind of regret not really exploring Lahaina given it burned down months after I passed through.
In Oklahoma I repeatedly missed chances to clinch the short US 266, as I zoomed past on the nearby I-40. When I finally clinched 266, it was in the dark -- no fun.
In the "trip" category, I soaked in a hot spring east of Eugene OR, a few days before the 2017 total solar eclipse passing through the area (which I avoided, like I did in Texas for the one last month). I hiked back to the parking area with a woman I'd soaked with. It turned out that she lived in the eclipse's totality path ... and she had a hot tub in her back yard. I should've tried harder to kiss up to her!
A related possible missed opportunity was that she gave me a little help steadying myself on the easy hike out. I wonder if she sensed that I had some mild balance problems, that became more obvious a few years later and perhaps could've been delayed or fixed if I'd figured that out sooner.
The thing that most readily comes to mind was beyond my control: In 1989, six of us in my Boy Scout troop, along with two adult leaders, went to the Canadian Jamboree on PEI. We drove up and back, taking three days each time (somewhat excessive, but on the other hand it allowed for a long stop at LL Bean on the way north). My father, as Scoutmaster, was in charge and he took the same route in both directions, including using ME-9 from Bangor to Calais and then up NB-1. I wish I had been able to convince him to use I-95/NB-95 and the Trans-Canada Highway across New Brunswick in one direction, both because I don't especially like using the exact same route in both directions and because I've still never been to the northern end of I-95 (that 1989 trip is still the farthest north I've been on I-95) because it's not an area I get back to very often. But I wasn't driving (wasn't allowed to, the troop's liability insurance didn't allow anyone under 18 to drive any other troop members) and I wasn't in charge. In the scheme of things, that was trivial because it was a great trip in every other way.
Definitely should have pushed myself to go on longer trips during 2020 with the gas prices being at the absolute lowest I'll see in my lifetime. Also visiting more national parks and other popular natural wonders that are now extremely overcrowded and have limited access/entry. If I had more foresight, I would have been all over California for the back half of 2020.
Not taking the express lanes all the way when I was driving south of DC to Florida in 2018. I saw the high price, saw the regular lanes moving at the speed limit, and assumed that was just trying to meter the backup that regularly formed at the south end before they were extended. A couple miles after exiting the express lanes, the regular lanes slammed to a standstill, and it was stop and go traffic for the next hour or two. I could have easily gotten to my hotel in Richmond half an hour to an hour sooner, and kept my evening plans for that night (and morning plans for the next morning, which were upset by needing to eat breakfast after skipping dinner the night before so I could catch the series finale of Once Upon a Time) intact.
Later in that trip, with the benefit of hindsight, I probably would have taken I-75 all the way to Cincinatti (with one overnight moved from Nashville to Knoxville) and filled in that clinch, but at the time, I assumed it wouldn't be all that long before I'd be back in the southeast and filling in some of the clinching gaps. Instead, I haven't been back since, and with the way things are going, I don't expect that to change any time soon.
Also that trip, I wish I had clinched the piece of I-10 between I-295 and US 17. Like the above, I assumed I'd be back to continue the clinch in not too long.
Part of me regrets not going to the 2016 Toronto roadmeet (I had balked at the cost of hotels that didn't have bedbugs and backed out; silly me, these days I routinely book at places with double the cost of what I considered too much then!). On the other hand, I loved the Birmingham roadmeet, which I wouldn't have attended if I had gone to Toronto. Although I would probably still have my I-81 clinch either way... I probably would have clinched it on the way back from Florida two years later.
I started a thread back in 2017 about missed road sign photo opportunities, and those remain my biggest regrets.
Back in the early 2010s, I had furlough days to use from work, in addition to my normal vacation days. I should've just traveled around the country, hitting every state. I've considered doing that now or in the future, but I know my days of taking long trips sitting in the car for 12+ hours a day are numbered.
If I knew county-clinching was a thing when I was young, I would've kept track of counties. I don't have the memory to think back of my various trips and the counties I would've traveled thru.
From 2005 - 2015, I was getting numerous offers for free rooms in Vegas, which was surprising being that I gambled very little. Combined with cheap, direct airfares that were often under $80 each way, they were trips I couldn't pass up. While we enjoyed those trips and did some traveling out there (I was giving myself yearly personal updates on the US 93 (and now I-11) Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge as it was being built), I still missed doing a few things in Vegas I wished I hit up, especially the neon graveyard.
Missing the 95/PA Tpk Golden Spike meet due to work. My current office can view the NJ/PA Delaware River Bridge 8 miles away on clear days; the meet was just a few miles to the west of that location.
I've had to cancel a number of planned trips due to illness, illness in the family (including my fur family), car issues, lack of leave time at work, finances, etc.
I had also neglected to get some sign photos in areas where I traveled semi-frequently, and those signs got replaced before I got around to taking pictures of them (the old cutout VA 70 marker off US 58 near Jonesville comes to mind).
As far as trips go, I regret not getting a clinch of I-70 during my recent trip to Utah, but that was out of my control (my brother was driving). Ditto a clinch of US 550.
I don't have much from a roadgeeking perspective. My only real travel regret is not taking the time to go to Monaco when I was in Nice. The easiest possible country visit I could have had.
Someday I'd like to drive the Old Priest Grade (http://www.gribblenation.org/2022/07/california-state-route-120new-priest.html) instead of CA 120 on a Yosemite trip. But that can be a really tough sell when you have passengers. You'd need a roadtrip buddy or more with similar interests.
Insisting on that route over others' concerns, then running into a problem with engine, brakes, etc., would instantly become a top trip regret.
I saw an RV losing its brakes on the Old Priest Grade from CA 120 back in the 1990s. They had stubbornly ignored the warning signs and were paying the price..."Christ! It was funny how they had named the only man that could save them now..."
Quote from: kurumi on May 16, 2024, 01:08:07 PMSomeday I'd like to drive the Old Priest Grade (http://www.gribblenation.org/2022/07/california-state-route-120new-priest.html) instead of CA 120 on a Yosemite trip. But that can be a really tough sell when you have passengers. You'd need a roadtrip buddy or more with similar interests.
I've done it a couple of times, and my memory of it is that it is less winding, just steep, so it's not really difficult.
Now, Priest
Street would be another story. That looks like a hell of a road, but I'm not sure it isn't gated somewhere.
I have a lot of little regrets in the form, "I wish I had/hadn't done ____ back in the 1990s when I was doing lots of cross-country trips" because in those days, I wasn't conscious of clinching roads, or even keeping precise records (pre-GPS) of my route. For instance, I have a gap in I-90 that I will probably never fill because I detoured through Badlands NP. I could have driven past it, then come back through it, then driven that section of I-90 again. I also skipped a section of I-95 in Florida and went through Orlando for no discernible reason, and now I really have no desire to go back to Florida. But since I became more conscious of driving roads I hadn't been on before, I haven't made any real mistakes that I've regretted.
Quote from: pderocco on May 17, 2024, 03:00:06 AMI have a lot of little regrets in the form, "I wish I had/hadn't done ____ back in the 1990s when I was doing lots of cross-country trips" because in those days, I wasn't conscious of clinching roads, or even keeping precise records (pre-GPS) of my route. For instance, I have a gap in I-90 that I will probably never fill because I detoured through Badlands NP. I could have driven past it, then come back through it, then driven that section of I-90 again. I also skipped a section of I-95 in Florida and went through Orlando for no discernible reason, and now I really have no desire to go back to Florida. But since I became more conscious of driving roads I hadn't been on before, I haven't made any real mistakes that I've regretted.
I have the less severe variant of one having planned trips under the assumption that I'll be going back. I'd let roadmeets leave me with fragments, pass up opportunities that I'd have to divert to with the idea "I'll clinch it next time", etc. These days I plan trips with the mindset of "if I never returned, would I still be happy with what I accomplished, or would I feel like I should have covered something that was left out?" and my Travel Mapping map is a lot cleaner for it.
Had I gotten my learner's permit at 15 instead of 16 I would've been able to drive on our family trips to Omaha and Orlando (as well as New Mexico). I have not been to Georgia (aside from I-59), Florida, Iowa, or Nebraska since. Could've added Interstates 4, 25, 29, 35, 280, 475, 480, 680, 840, and Florida's Turnpike to my list of roads driven.
I kept delaying taking a picture of an old sign... and I found out today it was replaced.
Not going back or stopping to take a picture, particularly when it comes to errors. Today, while on a trip to MO's Grand Gulf State Park, I intended on getting a photo of a US/state mix-up in the form of a pavement marking here (https://www.google.com/maps/@36.5219675,-91.5356192,3a,39.4y,36.39h,83.43t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sPsiYhh-erGIcl4JkD3Lr3g!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DPsiYhh-erGIcl4JkD3Lr3g%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.share%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26yaw%3D36.39178326131535%26pitch%3D6.572650240840176%26thumbfov%3D90!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205410&entry=ttu), only to find out the markings were removed entirely (I originally spotted the error in March 2021 and only now have I revisited that part of the state).
The other regret would be not taking a different route back versus taking the same one taken to my destination. Both of these more or less have to do with having passengers with me or being the passenger.
The trips I was not able to take when I lived in California:
- I-70 from Cove Fort, Utah to Denver, CO - This was actually planned for 2013, but got cancelled due to work. Then, 2015 as part of a three-week trip out of Las Vegas, but again cancelled when that got reduced to one week.
- US-395 south of Bridgeport, and US-395 north of Lakeview, OR
- US-50 east of Austin, NV
- I-5 north of Olympia, WA
- US-6 in California and Nevada. I've only driven the section between Tonopah, NV and NV-375, and did take advantage of the only opportunity to travel the Extraterrestrial Highway aka NV-375 end-to-end in 2003
Of these, I-70, I-80, and US-50 are the best to make up. I can travel North on I-35 to I-135/US-18.
My biggest roadgeek regret would probably be skipping out on a road trip to clinch a bunch of routes in the Midwest a few years back. I had other plans that seemed more important at the time, but looking back, I really wish I had prioritized hitting those roads.
I'd describe my overall experience as conceptually kind of the inverse of this thread. I have plenty of small regrets, like not clinching I-790, and a few more abstract ones, like trips that family members have been on that I either couldn't go on or chose not to for one reason or another, but none that I regard as terrible decisions per se. If I had to pick one, it would be lack of planning for our 2018 trip to South Dakota. With better planning, specifically around the second night, we could have easily made it Devils Tower, and I would have picked up a new state and a whole bunch of new mileage. Instead, we ended up heading back towards the Twin Cities area (which was our base for the trip) and arriving back much earlier than we needed to.
But I think my list of detours / alternate route I'm really glad I took is as long or longer. I got heavily roasted by my family for a lengthy detour to clinch the CBBT, which ended up adding around 3 hours to the trip home from Maryland... but knowing they would never be talked into doing it again is exactly why I'm glad I pushed for it. That's a whole bunch of Virginia counties and almost 300 miles in TM that I may have never gotten if I didn't insist on doing it then. My 2019 trip through Ohio was similar: I took I-77 south out of Cleveland to I-70 to get down to Hocking Hills even though going through Columbus (which I'd already done) would have been about 20 minutes faster. 20 minutes for 7 new counties and over 150 new miles in TM was a very worthwhile tradeoff. Same for taking I-91 south to CT 2 to get to Rhode Island instead of the Mass Pike to 146.
My dad, brothers and I regret passing up on a chance to go through Preston, Idaho, the main setting of Napoleon Dynamite, on a leg of a western RV trip in 2009 going from Yellowstone to Salt Lake.
My biggest regret is that I did not take more sign photos sooner. For 5-6 years after I moved to this area, I worked off the last exit on I-95 in Trenton when it was at Route 31. I did not keep any photos of the signs prior to the 1993 extension of I-95 to U.S. 1.
I didn't start taking road and sign photos seriously until 2016. Kind of shame considering I could have had a couple decades worth of viable photo stock. What photos I do have from the early 2000s are crap and poorly framed. It didn't occur to me back then that people might want older road photos.
Quote from: epzik8 on June 16, 2024, 12:20:34 PMMy dad, brothers and I regret passing up on a chance to go through Preston, Idaho, the main setting of Napoleon Dynamite, on a leg of a western RV trip in 2009 going from Yellowstone to Salt Lake.
You didn't miss much.
*was in Preston before it was cool*
My wife loves that movie. I saw it in the theater when it was new but I was kind "meh" on it. I've watched again twice in an attempt to figure out what I'm missing.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on June 16, 2024, 05:11:51 PMMy wife loves that movie. I saw it in the theater when it was new but I was kind "meh" on it. I've watched again twice in an attempt to figure out what I'm missing.
Heh. My parents didn't get it at all, but then their friends thought it was hilarious ("He tries to feed a llama casserole!"), so my parents had to give it another shot and see if they could wrap their heads around the humor. They improved.
Maybe not biggest of all time, but I'm kinda wishing I had my camera with me this weekend. I left for Rochester a good 2 hours earlier than usual due to having a bridal shower to go to Friday evening, and as a result ended up getting off the Thruway in Syracuse to get lunch at DestiNY USA, since the service areas don't really have decent food options heading that way between Pattersonville (when it reopens) and Junius Ponds (I'm not obsessed with fried chicken like many people seem to be these days), reconnecting via I-690. Turns out there are quite a bit of new signs around Syracuse. And then, I decided that a trip that I already mucked about with and that's sandwiched between two others was the perfect opportunity to finally use Thruway exits 38, 37, 34, and 32, and clinched Old Liverpool Road in the process, looping back via Onondaga Lake Parkway. Turns out NY 370 has a lot of stuff to shoot or reshoot too. Had I known, I would have brought the camera, but the details of this trip were a lot more spur of the moment than usual, especially since how I handled lunch Friday was highly dependent on when I managed to leave, when I felt like eating (specifically, whether I felt like trying to stretch it to Junius Ponds), and the weather. I don't think my route for Sunday was even conceived up 24 hours in advance.
Not going to the Central Jersey Roadmeet of 2011, whose starting point was right in my backyard. Probably would have been more involved with the community earlier on in my life instead of really ramping up with the community about 10 years later. There's a chance I may have known the people driving the famous ice cream truck too since at the time former high school classmates of mine did have a business driving one that made the local newspaper.
Before I was into road clinching, there were some routes I took that I'd love to be able to do over:
Utah: I took US 50 as a shortcut on my way from Moab to SLC and will likely never clinch I-70 as a result.
Minnesota: Used US 12/MN 15 to visit Darwin on the way from Minneapolis to St Cloud and missed a segment of I-94 that is now my only missing segment.
DC/MD/VA: Only lived there for a year, left somewhat suddenly, and never managed day trips to Richmond or Annapolis.
Buying an RV trailer. I'll just leave it at that.
Quote from: wanderer2575 on May 14, 2024, 09:56:51 PMI started a thread back in 2017 about missed road sign photo opportunities, and those remain my biggest regrets.
I've got plenty of those, sadly.
I also regret not taking my June 2010 road trip to New York City earlier in 2010, so I could find out why the northbound Interstate 95 Pee Dee Rest Area has been so intriguing to me, before the SCDOT shut it down.
Come to think of it, my regret is just not keeping track of my travels over the years as well as I do now. Still, all it's meant is even more travel for me, even if it is to places I've sort been before. No biggie.
A subtle one that just occurred to me:
When I was younger (1998), my family and I did a roadtrip from NYC (Staten Island) to Buffalo where I had us take NY 17/future I-86, then from Buffalo to Boston.
We did use the elevated Central Artery portion I-93 as well as taking the original interchange to US 1 north, of which I don't think we got any photos of it at the time as far as I recall. Would've been cool to have that in photographic form.
In January 2019, I got shafted out of a clinch of I-59 as the viaduct through Birmingham was closed. If only I had taken that trip a couple weeks earlier... I got a clinch of I-459 instead, which is alright, I guess.
In October 2017, my wife (gf at the time) and I took a last-minute trip to far northern CA and southern OR. The area was riddled with wildfires, and Crater Lake was a bowl of smoke. We couldn't even really see the water. Nothing to really regret in terms of decision making--but it was a letdown in its own way.
Realized after a trip to DC in 2016 that I'd missed the last half mile or so of I-66 where it turns North to head up to K Street. On my next trip to DC, convinced my family to detour, not hugely but some, to finish it off. Crossed the Potomac on the Arlington Bridge and missed the cloverleaf at the Lincoln to get on I-66. I've been back to DC a couple of times since then, but haven't been driving, so I'm not sure when that might happen.
Quote from: clong on December 03, 2024, 12:20:03 PMRealized after a trip to DC in 2016 that I'd missed the last half mile or so of I-66 where it turns North to head up to K Street. On my next trip to DC, convinced my family to detour, not hugely but some, to finish it off. Crossed the Potomac on the Arlington Bridge and missed the cloverleaf at the Lincoln to get on I-66. I've been back to DC a couple of times since then, but haven't been driving, so I'm not sure when that might happen.
When I clinched I-66, I came down Constitution Avenue and hit the interstate, crossed the Potomac, then crossed back on the Key Bridge, which put me in position to clinch that odd portion.
New regret; I regret that when I took my Madison County, FL-Folkston, GA day trip yesterday, I didn't take one of the 400 Mile Marker on Interstate 75.
There are a few other things I missed the chance to do, but that doesn't necessarily mean I can't do them another time.
Not driving the extra few miles from West Yellowstone to enter Idaho. Still have never been to Idaho, no idea when I would ever go.
Well I could have seen the completed US 209/PA 115 roundabout in Brodheadsville twice recently before actually doing it today since I have been on PA 33 twice on recent trips (including the one last weekend).
Mostly beyond my control, but I wish I would have had one more day to explore West Virginia on my Appalachian road trip this past May.
I attended an event in Atlanta over Memorial Day weekend--said event ran from early evening Friday 5/24 through late evening Sunday 5/26. Happened to find a great deal on a rental car (one week, Tuesday 5/21 to 5/28, unlimited mileage) so I decided to use the opportunity to take a road trip through the Appalachians that I've been wanting to do for years. For various reasons I didn't get an early enough start on that first day, and was only able to make it to Bowling Green, Kentucky (and even that took me until just past midnight). Spent Wednesday seeing various sights through eastern Kentucky, stopping that night in Prestonsburg, which meant I only had all of Thursday for WV as Friday would have to be spent getting into Atlanta on time. I really loved what I did get to see (Marshall University plane crash memorial, state capitol complex, Hawks Nest State Park, New River Gorge Bridge, not to mention some of the most beautiful scenic drives I've ever experienced) but sadly I had to scratch Corridor H off the itinerary. I've been fascinated with that road for years, tried to make the road meet there a few years ago but ended up having to cancel, and couldn't make it work this time around either. I have no idea when I'll ever be able to make it back out that way.
I didn't take a ton of pictures, but the few that I did snap I'll upload and post separately.
Not a huge regret, but in late November I took a little trip into NE Arizona and SE Utah--Monument Valley etc.--intending to include AZ-67 to the Grand Canyon North Rim. On 11/30 I was exploring Utah and taking Halls Ferry over Lake Powell. That evening I went online to check up on the North Rim and found it had been closed for the season at 5pm. Had I gone there first...
But it's within range of a weekend trip, so I'll see it next spring.
Being too lazy to get out of the car and ending up with an inferior sign photo: Weird tint from being taken through the windshield, or less-than-ideal angle from where I was able to stop the car.
Quote from: paulthemapguy on January 05, 2025, 01:01:37 AMQuote from: pderocco on January 04, 2025, 05:44:21 PMNot a huge regret, but in late November I took a little trip into NE Arizona and SE Utah--Monument Valley etc.--intending to include AZ-67 to the Grand Canyon North Rim. On 11/31 I was exploring Utah and taking Halls Ferry over Lake Powell. That evening I went online to check up on the North Rim and found it had been closed for the season at 5pm. Had I gone there first...
But it's within range of a weekend trip, so I'll see it next spring.
Fixed.
11/31??
In Lund, Nevada there is an old RODEO GROUNDS sign in the old Nevada custom font. I debated making a U-turn and getting out so I could take a photo, but I ended up not stopping.
Now I keep thinking that there probably isn't a more rural Nevada sign than that. But when am I ever going to have reason to be anywhere near Lund next?
Mine is I-75 is Tampa Bay. The last, and only time as an adult, I've been down there, I traveled I-275 in both directions. That marks the only portion of I-75 south of the Ohio/Michigan line that I've never traveled.
I did a cross-country trip in 2023 which involved driving most of I-40. I mistakenly thought I had driven it from I-95 to the Wilmington NC back in the 1990s, so I started my westbound trek at I-95. Later, in reviewing some old trip logs, I found I hadn't driven that stretch. I could have taken a few extra hours to drive it both ways, and would have ended up adding I-40 to my list of cross-country Interstate clinches.
Back in the 1990s, when I was doing lots of cross-country trips, I also left some gaps in I-95 in FL and SC. So I may do a fly and drive trip to the southeast to close those gaps, and clinch I-40 and I-95 (and hopefully some much more interesting roads).
For me it was not driving on US-199 was I had the chance. That was in 2009. I still haven't gotten back to NORCAL or Oregon!
The first one that comes to mind is missing the very west end of BC Highway 4 in Tofino. Now I'm stuck at 99.61% completion (https://travelmapping.net/hb/showroute.php?units=km&u=7_8&r=bc.bc004), and who knows when or if I'll get back to Tofino.
Not being able to re-clinch highways that have been extended and/or rerouted, like I-69. I've done Indianapolis to Port Huron, but none of the new stuff to the south (with the exception of I-164 to Evansville, when it was still around).