Highway Thoughts
Some observations from a few weeks spent largely on the road.
• The United States is freaking huge. (Duh!) But you don’t really understand how huge this country is until you travel by road.
• 70+ F is definitely preferable to 30 F.
• No part of the country is free of oblivious and/or idiot drivers. Regardless of region, they do seem much more common in and around cities. But small towns and rural areas have their share too.
• Maybe it’s just me, but a surprising number of truckers seem to have have p!ss-poor road manners these days compared to 20 or so years ago.
• “Take the freeway” isn’t always your best option. The freeways aren’t always better roads, and they’re generally a helluva lot more crowded.
• Some of America’s highways need serious attention. Kinda makes you wonder where all that “stimulus” money earmarked to improve America’s infrastructure under the previous Occupant, 1600 Penn Ave, Wash DC, went.
• Don’t forget to take free breakfast – or lack thereof – and free WiFi into account when deciding where to stay for the night when you’re on the road. You can easily drop $10 a person on breakfast, and depending on your wireless plan you may pay dearly for Internet connectivity via wireless too.
• A five-hundred mile day behind the wheel isn’t too bad.
• Seven-hundred mile days on the road . . . kinda suck.
• Nine-hundred mile days really suck.
• A nearly eleven-hundred mile day behind the wheel sucks the Grand Wazoo. They’re not necessarily the smartest thing one can do, either. But sometime it’s worth it.
•Toll highways suck. Ditto toll bridges. Even so, sometimes paying the toll is worth it.
• Long-distance travel by road beats you up physically far more than you might expect.
And, finally
• The US Southwest between the Pecos and Colorado Rivers (the big Colorado River, not that little one in Texas) has to be one of the most physically beautiful areas on earth. If you’ve never spent any time there, you really should put visiting that area on your “bucket list”.
As much as I enjoy travel, it will be damn good to get off the road. And it looks like that will happen quite soon. One trip yet to go, but it’s a relatively short one.
Take care, all.
Category: Pointless blather, Who knows
Speed control is worth every penny. An enormous amount of mental energy is spent watching your speed.
Want a scenic or nostalgic road? Try 31W for a few hundred miles.
What’s a Navy Captain doing on the highway so much?
Driving. (smile)
Hondo ain’t no Navy Captain, he’s SEAL/Airborne/Ranger and whatever the hell else that idiot in Florida accuses him of being. 😉
Navy Captain? Isn’t that a friggin full bird Colonel?
Shit. I didn’t know Hondo was part of the elite. I would have watched my mouth carefully around here.
That “Navy Captain” part is an inside joke, Yef. One of the many folks that the DRG has misidentified as being me is a rather famous Navy Captain in the SEAL community.
In kinda goes without saying that they were wrong; after all, they’re the DRG. I was never in the Navy and have never set foot on a Navy warship. (smile)
I’ve driven in every major city in America and been to all of the states except Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and Hawaii and understand how you feel about driving.
I came down the AlCan through the Canadian Rockies and passed through Whitehorse Yukon and the Northwest Territories.
I have seen the beauty of this country and am always amazed at how truly wonderful this country is and how easy it is to travel the entire thing on the best road system on Earth.
I agree that driving is the best way to see America, but I believe that the Pacific Northwest and Alaska are the absolute pinnacles of beauty on the North American Continent. The areas I’ve been to in Alaska are absolutely breathtaking as far as the scenery goes. I can thank the US Army for that little adventure, and what an adventure it was.
But the Desert Southwest is also very beautiful.
I’ve seen these areas in trucks, cars and on big Harley Davidsons. The Harley is the best way to experience America, hands down.
Ride/drive safe Hondo.
Throw New England in mid-October on your bucket list. You won’t regret it.
And yes, the Southwest has some awesome scenery and I was spoiled growing up along the Rockies in several states, but it’s a LONG way to help if you break down or get stuck, and a lot worse if you’re not prepared for it.
Ah, yessha! Did a tour in Maine; autumn at peak really is stunning. Try Acadia National Park.
http://www.stateparks.com/acadia_national_park_in_maine.html
And they do have all four seasons there: June, July, August, and Winter.
Aroostook County west of Ashland in the Fall. Pick an old logging road and just get lost for a few days.
Whole lotta Maine north and east of there. Rt 1 up towards Ft. Kent. Run up the coast towards Calais. I’ve run a bunch of it and its really nice. The farther you get from the assholes that moved north out of Mass and CT to ruin the coast the better it is.
I’ve seen upstate NY at that time of year; supposedly that’s fairly similar. It’s nice, but it’s nowhere near what the Sonoran Desert looks like when it’s in bloom after a wet winter.
Occotillo blooms have been termed “frozen fire”. The description is apropos. And seeing saguaro and mesquite in bloom along with them is quite memorable.
Ditto seeing a desert basin when it’s covered by an inch or so of snow, shortly after sunrise. (It generally isn’t covered for very long; the snow in the basins usually melts fairly quickly.) Looking out over a basin ten or 20 (or more) miles wide that’s been so coated, with snow-covered mountains in the background . . . that’s truly a magnificent sight.
Or seeing a doubled rainbow over the mountains after a storm (and a desert thunderstorm is a sight in and of itself). And then realizing that both arcs of said double rainbow are complete and visible from where each end intersects the ground all the way to the other end. That was one of a few occasions in my life I really wished I’d had a camera with me – and didn’t.
The desert is harsh, and can be lonely and dangerous. But when conditions are right, it’s unbelievably beautiful. You really have to see it under those conditions to appreciate just how beautiful the desert can be.
amen….when first transferred to Ft. Bliss, I thought “Who did I piss off at DA?” Then I learned to love the area, voluntarily lived there for 15 years, miss it since, and love occasional trips back that way.
I couldn’t think of a better place to post these things.
What with us being under attack from libs all over America it is nice to see that there are still American Patriots out there in the entertainment industry and other good people around.
Thank you to KISS, an American Rock and Roll Legend.
I seriously had no idea they did this. What a great thing to learn and see.
http://uschronicle.com/fbn-iconic-rock-band-kiss-stops-middle-concert-liberals-will-annoyed-reason/#sm22_alm_page7_2drepeat
I knew they were patriotic but had no idea it was to this extent. Way to go, Kiss. Love you for doing this.
WOW! I’m flabbergasted. I’ve never been much of a KISS fan (not my favorite genre), but much respect to them for this.
Try western NC/eastern TN during the Fall and Spring. Also, Poconos during these seasons as well.
Sis-in-law and her husband lived in Asheville, NC. Beautiful country, but more hippies than one could shake a stick at.
“The US Southwest between the Pecos and Colorado Rivers (the big Colorado River, not that little one in Texas) has to be one of the most physically beautiful areas on earth.”
Southern Utah-one minute you’re in what looks like the rocky desert of Morocco, the next minute you’re in Switzerland (Plus Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon and-especially-Zion).
I remember when the truck drivers were the best drivers on the road. Nowadays, you’ve got punks who are texting while merging onto the freeway. Really. I was the one that almost got ran off the road in Arkansas.
Texting. While. Driving. A. Semi. COME ON!
Or heaven forbid, he was playing Candy Crush.
AMEN TO THAT, it was getting worse when I came off the road in 2001 and it’s still getting worse. Nowadays bug trucking companies care more about getting cheap labor versus quality, a lot of today’s Truckers barely speak any English.
Good to see you reintegrating, Hondo. You were missed.
Taking a bus is also a good way to see the country. You have a lot less flexibility, though.
As a Navy brat I did a lot of travel by car, back in the days before interstates or chain restaurants. I am pretty sure my parents hated it, but I generally enjoyed it.
I agree about the southwest; amazing scenery. One time driving through the mountains NE of Alamagordo NM at night, with a full moon. Absolutely incredible. Texas, not so much. It took us three long days to cross it. And the liquor laws are(were?) lousy.
What about Florida, Hondo. Have you been in Florida recently? 😉
Drive safely, Hondo and remember: There can be only one!
Now I have to…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqcLjcSloXs
*grin*
I will never forget the first time I took my lovely bride out to Colorado to see the rockies! I drove her up the Pike’s Peak road, I thought she was going to leave claw marks in the dashboard! If you ever doubt there is a God, just take a drive out in Colorado! I really do miss the mountains, they are really a site to behold! Be careful out there Hondo, you really have to watch out for the idiots!
I love visiting Colorado myself, I’ll never forget the first time I took Mrs. A Proud Infidel®™ out there. While going West out of Denver I decided to take Loveland Pass instead of Eisenhower Tunnel on a cloudy day, kind of a mistake. Halfway to the summit we were going through a combination of sleet, snow and lightning and by the time we reached a spot big enough to turn around we were past the halfway point so on we went into Silverthorne, I had forgotten how volatile the weather gets as you gain altitude!
America the beautiful.
I’ve covered quite a few road miles for business and pleasure over the years. It’s a hair shy of 1,000 miles from my driveway in east San Diego County to my Uncle’s in Boise via US Highways 95 and 395 through Cajon Pass, Adelanto, Owens Valley, Hawthorn, Fallon, Winnemucca, and (God help me) southeast Oregon. For the most part, it’s a very pretty drive through the eastern Sierras and the western Great Basin, though southeast Oregon is hours and hours of *nothing*, not even a feature on the horizon. With two drivers on board, I can make it in one LONG day. By myself, not so much. “Shortcuts” are often falsely advertised as well. I once had to make the aforementioned drive with my Grandma and two Aunts on short notice due to an unexpected death in the family. Right before we left, another of my Uncles told me to take I-15 until I hit I-84. “It’s real easy,” he said, “All freeway.” When I saw the sign saying “Welcome to Salt Lake City” about two hours after we otherwise would’ve been parked and unpacked in Boise, I called that Uncle and asked where I had missed a turn. He said I was still going the right way, to which I replied, “Shortcut my ass!” Preparation is also important. A family trip preceded by a good night’s rest is one thing. Getting the call moments after your head hits the pillow at the end of a long day that your engine is one of five selected for a Charlie strike team headed for a fire somewhere FAR north, you have one hour to report to the form-up location, and are expected to report to the incident base camp by 0500 the following morning so you can immediately go out on the line for 24 is something else entirely. Most fires start in the afternoon, and the process of identifying that the fire will go beyond Initial Attack, making resource orders, sending those resource orders through the local ECC, GACC, up to NIFC, then having them processed and filled (it’s actually… Read more »
“Shortcuts” can become memorable adventures. Did one of those running south from Cripple Creek CO either the last week in January or first week In February years before we had cell phones. Fresh snow and incredible scenery. Old mining trail complete with rail and occasional abandoned rail car. A creek ran between the roadway and the railway most of the time. Had to stop a couple of times to insect a little bridge spanning the creek before crossing. Figured that was why the dangling sign said “Travel at Your Own Risk.” But the chain across the road was down. Eventually came out near Pueblo.
Did someone mention “Cripple Creek?”
Likely not the same one, but:
One of the roads I’ve never been on but always thought might be interesting to travel is the old U.S. Route 66 which runs from Chicago to Santa Monica. In years past, it was apparently almost impossible to trace the original route because of re-routing, designation changes, etc. That seems to have changed more recently with things like new signage and structure renovation.
Would join you on such a trek. I’ve already covered most of it, parts multiple times, but was young enough to only remember how exciting it was. Never did it in a dedicated trip from one end to the other.
Most memorable was the move from the Presidio to Fort Leonard Wood. Disneyland was new, and I wanted to go. There just wasn’t time. Oh, well. One of those trips was the first time I saw snow.
A couple of years ago, my husband and I took a 2 week fall trip from our home in Colorado, north through Wyoming and Montana, west through Idaho and Washington, south along the coast through Oregon and the California Redwoods, then east again through Nevada and Utah.
Spectacular scenery the entire trip, sans eastern Washington, eastern Nevada, and western Utah. I think the Oregon coast is the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen. That said, we saw the most spectacular sunrise in Reno, it was every color, including purple.
We had golden aspen on our way over the mountains toward home, a fantastic end to a fantastic trip.
Tip, if you go whale watching out of Friday Harbor, be sure to take a seaplane, so worth the extra expense. It’s a 45 min flight vs 3 hours for the sea bus and the views left us speechless.
I’ve driven over 3,000,000 miles across this country and have visited just about every corner of it and talked to many, many people. After traveling to many places across the world this is by far the best place on Earth.
“…this is by far the best place on Earth.”
Here in Southern Maryland the locals would say “Dee by Gaw, Cap’n!”
That’s an enthusiastic agreement in the local vernacular. Best just to smile and nod your head, even if your a bit vague on the actual translation. And I would completely agree with their sentiments.
And yours.
“• Maybe it’s just me, but a surprising number of truckers seem to have have p!ss-poor road manners these days compared to 20 or so years ago.”
I’ve been driving a truck over that span and have watched it go downhill like the rest of society. Politeness has been replaced by me, me, me. It’s a disease.
IMHO the big trucking companies are to blame for a big share of that. First, most of the fleets are equipped with speed governors limiting them to 65 MPH or less and they’re more concerned about hiring who will work the cheapest over hiring quality Drivers.