We pick up in Iowa, where we decide to stop heading east in order to get to New Mexico. We see flooding along the Missouri River, and catch a thunderstorm in Kansas. Minimum maintenance road. Flooding causes standing water. Standing water causes mosquitoes and other insects. A fresh source of food means the dragonflies grow fat and happy. This one was about three inches long, with a five inch wingspan. [...]
The longest swath of the Fourth of July trip that we’ll feature in one set of photos: about 800 miles covered in this burst. Continuing on US-212 across eastern Montana, to get to South Dakota, and then driving through the Black Hills at the time of day when they are the blackest. We then continue into Nebraska, and drive US-20 east all the way to Iowa. Endless fields of yellow [...]
East along I-80 in Nebraska, then north along I-29 into South Dakota, then westbound on I-90 – all the while looking for old signs. First thing in the morning. US highway 30 eastbound in western Nebraska. We follow 30 for a while because it’s a mile or two away from I-80 and more likely to have old signs. It may or may not be rather cold. Catch of the day! [...]
Brent drove from Chicago west to QC and met up for a joint trip southeast to Champaign. A quick cold front blew through the morning of, washing out most of the ride west. This view shows that construction along Interstate 88 (East-West Tollway) is finally complete! If you drove through in 2008, you noted jersey barriers everywhere and your eyes bled orange. The Illinois Tollway is slowly [...]
Started out the day being greeted by this VMS with the message "I-80 EB Closed at Mississippi River". Had to turn around and trudge southward along the real I-74 eastbound, which was equally under construction for an ARRA based resurfacing project. A routine inspection revealed damage to a faulty floor beam and currently only one lane of westbound traffic is permitted to use the bridge due to [...]
Almost devoid of snow, U.S. 61 northbound after its split with U.S. 67 in downtown Davenport, Iowa. A full day of rain washed most of the snow away, but it would return with a vengeance later Christmas day. More snow fell then forecast, with the Quad Cities area receiving 3 to 4 inches. This photo, taken at 7:47 am, shows the condition of Interstate 74 near Exit [...]
Took an afternoon drive from the Quad Cities up to Dubuque and back utilizing portions of the Great River Road system. U.S. 30 joins U.S. 61's freeway briefly at DeWitt, Iowa. The exit numbering of the U.S. 61 interchanges shifts to U.S. 30's mileage along their shared alignment U.S. 61 varies between a four-lane freeway and four-lane expressway between Interstate 80 and its merge with [...]
What began as a local river crossing in 1935, the Interstate 74 & U.S. 6 bridges (Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge) across the Mississippi River between Moline and Davenport are reaching the end of their life span. Though never built to Interstate standards, the 1935-northbound bridge and 1959-built southbound span were added to the Interstate system in 1974. Each suspension bridge carries two lanes without left or right-hand shoulders. The safety issues [...]
The final day in the Twin Cities involved a spin around the metropolitan area to clinch the remaining Interstates and a dip into Wisconsin. After a few hours at our friends' apartment that afternoon, we braved peak hour traffic on the return drive to Omaha, Nebraska. Some additional photos and commentary about Twin Cities area roads: Interstate 335 was conceptualized as a connector between Interstates 94 and 35W north of [...]
Interstate 29 north approaching I-129 at Sioux City, Iowa. For those who wonder, including ourselves, as to why signs along Interstate 29 northbound at Interstate 129 reflect the spur in text, I have an answer. At first, I speculated that Iowa wanted nothing to do with Nebraska's Interstate 129. The fact of the matter is that there are signs for Interstate 129 on Interstate 29, half of [...]
