New Travels and Stats Discussion

[mikeandkristie]

Mid July saw us go out west for the National Park Travelers Club convention in Flagstaff, AZ.  Of the 1400 miles we put on the rental car, a little over 900 were new as other than some existing mileage around Las Vegas and Flagstaff was new for us.  About 500 of that was in Arizona.  Some back and forth in the parks helped account for the rest of the difference.  We flew into Las Vegas and then back out from Albuquerque.

• Around Vegas, we added one exit south of I-215 on I-15 and a tiny portion of NV 160 as our hotel was near there.  I-215 to I-515 down to Boulder City was existing.  We already had US 93 through town which is now Business from a previous visit to Hoover Dam.  We went to Lake Mead.  Got to extend NV 564 by looping through the park and coming back out of the park that way.  Then some of NV 582 before doing the Boulder City Bypass AKA I-11 to clinch all of it.  Went over the Hoover Dam Bridge into Arizona.  Made it down to the turn for Willow Beach to legitimately have that now as a waypoint.  In 2010, we'd driven into Arizona to go over the bridge and hit road construction and it was dark, so I was a little unclear where we turned around so I guessed at the waypoint.
• Leaving Vegas, we got the rest of I-515 from I-215 to I-15 and then continuing north on I-15 to Utah.  We were behind schedule and didn't get to loop back down I-15 and then drive back up the Strip, so we have an annoying gap to fill next time.
• Stayed in St. George and got up to Exit 16 in Utah before taking UT 9 and then all of UT 59 back into Arizona.  It became AZ 389.  Stopped at Pipe Spring NM and connected with US 89A in Fredonia.  Drove north to Kanab, UT looking for food and to get another county and finish 89A where it connects with US 89.  Got a tiny bit of that one through town.  Then back south on US 89A and down to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon on AZ 69.
• A couple of days at the North Rim, so lots of back and forth on the park roads.  Then back out and around to Flagstaff, finishing US 89A and then catching US 89.  We'd previously done the west side of town with I-40 out to Williams and then Route 66 through town before turning on AZ 89A south to become I-17.  We did the rest of Route 66 through town (some of it also the I-40 BL).
• Two visits each into Walnut Canyon NM and the loop road for Sunset Crater Volcano NM and Wupatki NM to get those National Park roads.  US 180 also goes through town and then duplexes I-40 until Holbrook, so we got our first mileage on it.
• Headed east on I-40 giving us a straight run to Gallup, NM except where we pulled through Winslow on the BL.  It was dark, so we didn't see the "Standing on a Corner" stuff, so we'll stop back by again.  Since it was later, I didn't do my drive past to the second exit, take the business loop back through town, and then around on the interstate again routine and also skipped past going through Holbrook.
• Drove Route 66 / I-40 BL through Gallup and went north on US 491 to NM 264 and turned around and came back to get us our first US 491 mileage.  Then, headed south on NM 602 to NM 53 east to hit El Morro NM.  And then back to I-40 to Grants.  Did part of the BL / Route 66 through town looking for food and got back on I-40 at Exit 85 which we took to I-25 in Albuquerque.  Again, it was later than planned so I had to ditch my plan to go up I-25 to US 550 and get our first mileage on it and then loop back through Albuquerque.  We had an early flight and were getting up real early.  So, 2 out of 3 new US routes for us.  Instead we just got a few miles of I-25 down to near the airport.

Mike

[Bickendan]

Just finished an overnighter to Ontario/Fruitland and back. Took I-84 out to The Dalles, then clinched the entirety of OR 206 and unsigned OR 206S (and took US 97 up to WA 14). Wasco, Condon, Heppner, and Pilot Rock are far from anything around. Eastern end of 206 overlaps with OR 207; 206 could be truncated a bit and no one would probably notice. Got the eastern end of OR 74, some standalone mileage on US 395 up to Pendleton, figured out what the situation is with OR 37 within Pendleton and clinched the northern fringe of ORH 28.
Took OR 11 up to OR(H) 331, back down to I-84/US 30, and over to La Grande, taking ORH 66 (US 30, OR 203, OR 237, US 30) through La Grande, Union, North Powder, Haines, and Baker.
Took Bus 30 through Huntington, then OR 201 to OR/ID 52. Confirmed that OSM's US 95S in Payette doesn't exist.
Took US 95 north to Weiser, did not feel any wiser, took US 95S back into Oregon, and OR 201 into Ontario.
Grabbed Bus 30 in Ontario, finishing off US 30's auxiliaries in Oregon, and US 30 into Idaho, clinching 30 in Oregon.
Went north on 95 to ID 52 to grab that segment, then south all the way to ID 19 in Hopewell, and ID 19 into Oregon and onto the southern end of OR 201.
Checked out the Parma Spur and the three routes on the only portion of Oregon east of the Snake River... and found out that OR(H) 452 (already unsigned) isn't the route that crosses the snake -- it's unsigned OR 201S/ORH 450. 452 starts at the T junction of OR 201S/453 instead... and just to complicate things, GIS says it's OR 452/ORH 489(!), not OR 201S/ORH 450. Ugh.
Drove back up to Ontario to snag the final unclinched portion of 201, then took US 30 out to New Plymouth, detoured down and back on ID 72, and down to I-84, giving me a continuous clinch of US 30 from Astoria to Bliss.
Returned back to Portland by US 20, clinching it in Oregon, and have it now clinched in three states (OR, ID, MT), US 97, OR(H) 361, and US 26.

[Barefoot Driver]

latest clinches, 07/25-30/2019
25 trip began, 2330, several hours after i’d planned to leave.
25-6 west on ia-141. realized i was too late to go to w end of the state to gain two highways.
26 stopped at barefoot bar in w. okoboji. ate there in only shorts and cap. on to franklin, mn. no new highways until after chess event, then headed west on mn-19.
26-27 west on mn-19, no new segments.
27 new part of mn-19 west of mn-68 to sd line. that road becomes sd-30, which i drove to i-29. had i looked a bit, i would’ve noticed that i only needed to go a bit farther west to complete it. i then went south on 29 to us-14, and gained the last segments i needed on that in sd and mn, from i-29 to us-71. i then returned to the chess tournament. in the evening, then headed west on mn-7.
27-28 gained a piece of mn-7.
28 mn-7 to us-212, back thru montevideo, to where mn-29 begins, to us-12 (getting the last of that in mn), to mn-23, to mn-55 and that to us-61. rained all day. north on 61 to its end at i-35, getting a piece of us-10 in the process. i then got the i-35bl at pine city.
28-29 lost in the country, and too cloudy to get navigational fix from stars. eventually i found where i was on the interactive map, made my way to mn-70.
29 mn-70 to mn-107 to mn-65, detoured off that and into twin cities on i-35w which was a total mess. returned to mn-55 to us-61 and us-10 east into wi (completing 10 in mn), back into mn on us-63, getting a bit more of us-61 and the minuscule mn-292. (i need only a small piece of 61 to have all of it in mn.) got all of mn-50, us-169br shakopee (see pic, first time i ever saw a green u. s.shield!) and both segments of mn-101 at chanhassen plus a bit of mn-62 and mn-7, picking up the last piece of us-212 i needed in mn as well, before going to us-52 to i-90, to mn-76 (all) which took me out of the state.
29-30 a small piece of ia-76 from mn line.
30 us-52 from ia-150 to us-18, then all of ia-51. later, the rest of us-52 in ia, from us-18 to ia-3. big detour. i. e., ia-136 from luxembourg to us-20! later, all of ia-32 and 62, and the rest of ia-136 before heading back. by the time i arrived, i was one very tired driver! first i filled up with gas in altoona, then went to a meal site for supper before returning home.
there were no new counties to be had here. the nearest of those i need is in nd, a fair distance from where i was. (there are only a handful of counties within 500 miles/800km of d. m. i have left to grab. see here for more information, and the map as well.)
all in all, a nice trip, though would’ve liked to get a few more highways.
total distance was just under 1600 miles/2560km.

[Barefoot Driver]

Just finished what was supposed to be an 8-day pre-back-to-school trip in August that turned into a 2-part odyssey due to a self-inflicted SNAFU right from the beginning.
congrats on a delightful excursion, for the most part. we all make mistakes when planning a trip.

* Long AT&T story: At least, I thought I had some data left; calling AT&T, I couldn't actually find someone who knew for sure. The best they could do was say they were pretty sure I'd used about 60MB of the 300 purchase. Friday afternoon when I got to my hotel, I noticed that my data usage for the day had barely increased. So I headed out to get some pictures of the town, and upon turning on cellular data, got the warning message that I'd already burned through 80% of my data. So, somehow, just using Google Maps in the car and checking something in Safari while waiting at a construction site, I'd gone from 20% to 80%. I checked the usage again on my phone, and it hadn't changed at all. I called AT&T; they couldn't decipher it either and assured me it was an error.
i absolutely refuse to have anything to do with [anus (we all know the word i meant)] telephone. i had a number of bad experiences with them in the past, and so a t & t!
i keep my data usage to a minimum by using the wifi at mickey d’s or local libraries. if no password, i’m in!

[Barefoot Driver]

Mid July saw us go out west for the National Park Travelers Club convention in Flagstaff, AZ.  Of the 1400 miles we put on the rental car, a little over 900 were new as other than some existing mileage around Las Vegas and Flagstaff was new for us.  About 500 of that was in Arizona.  Some back and forth in the parks helped account for the rest of the difference.  We flew into Las Vegas and then back out from Albuquerque.
i was shocked when i found out that meteor crater (1) does not allow bare feet and (2) charges $18 admission!

• Stayed in St. George and got up to Exit 16 in Utah before taking UT 9 and then all of UT 59 back into Arizona.  It became AZ 389.  Stopped at Pipe Spring NM and connected with US 89A in Fredonia.  Drove north to Kanab, UT looking for food and to get another county and finish 89A where it connects with US 89.  Got a tiny bit of that one through town.  Then back south on US 89A and down to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon on AZ 69.

some day i plan to get 89 from s terminus to ut-14, but am not looking forward to that excursion. in addition, while there, will pick up 89a, 160 from w terminus to 163, and 191 from i-40 to us-6. i still have four counties to get in az.

• Two visits each into Walnut Canyon NM and the loop road for Sunset Crater Volcano NM and Wupatki NM to get those National Park roads.  US 180 also goes through town and then duplexes I-40 until Holbrook, so we got our first mileage on it.

hope you get to capulin volcanic nat. mon. no park road, but a very pretty site, and lots of excellent hiking, which i did barefoot, much to the surprise of the onlookers.

• Headed east on I-40 giving us a straight run to Gallup, NM except where we pulled through Winslow on the BL.  It was dark, so we didn't see the "Standing on a Corner" stuff, so we'll stop back by again.  Since it was later, I didn't do my drive past to the second exit, take the business loop back through town, and then around on the interstate again routine and also skipped past going through Holbrook.

nothing much to see in holbrook.

• Drove Route 66 / I-40 BL through Gallup and went north on US 491 to NM 264 and turned around and came back to get us our first US 491 mileage.  Then, headed south on NM 602 to NM 53 east to hit El Morro NM.  And then back to I-40 to Grants.  Did part of the BL / Route 66 through town looking for food and got back on I-40 at Exit 85 which we took to I-25 in Albuquerque.

curse nm and their tiny state highways in towns!! i had to drive all over gallup to get them!
i have yet to do 491. too bad they had to change to that from 666!
i find driving in abq to be a mess. always a lot of road destruction, and can get lost easily.
still, overall a fine trip for you.

i posted my travels in the region. the trip was successful in that i completed the counties of two states, but failed to complete two others and missed the event i’d planned to do, the bare to breakers.

[mikeandkristie]

Mid July saw us go out west for the National Park Travelers Club convention in Flagstaff, AZ.  Of the 1400 miles we put on the rental car, a little over 900 were new as other than some existing mileage around Las Vegas and Flagstaff was new for us.  About 500 of that was in Arizona.  Some back and forth in the parks helped account for the rest of the difference.  We flew into Las Vegas and then back out from Albuquerque.
i was shocked when i found out that meteor crater (1) does not allow bare feet and (2) charges $18 admission!

• Stayed in St. George and got up to Exit 16 in Utah before taking UT 9 and then all of UT 59 back into Arizona.  It became AZ 389.  Stopped at Pipe Spring NM and connected with US 89A in Fredonia.  Drove north to Kanab, UT looking for food and to get another county and finish 89A where it connects with US 89.  Got a tiny bit of that one through town.  Then back south on US 89A and down to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon on AZ 69.

some day i plan to get 89 from s terminus to ut-14, but am not looking forward to that excursion. in addition, while there, will pick up 89a, 160 from w terminus to 163, and 191 from i-40 to us-6. i still have four counties to get in az.

• Two visits each into Walnut Canyon NM and the loop road for Sunset Crater Volcano NM and Wupatki NM to get those National Park roads.  US 180 also goes through town and then duplexes I-40 until Holbrook, so we got our first mileage on it.

hope you get to capulin volcanic nat. mon. no park road, but a very pretty site, and lots of excellent hiking, which i did barefoot, much to the surprise of the onlookers.

• Headed east on I-40 giving us a straight run to Gallup, NM except where we pulled through Winslow on the BL.  It was dark, so we didn't see the "Standing on a Corner" stuff, so we'll stop back by again.  Since it was later, I didn't do my drive past to the second exit, take the business loop back through town, and then around on the interstate again routine and also skipped past going through Holbrook.

nothing much to see in holbrook.

• Drove Route 66 / I-40 BL through Gallup and went north on US 491 to NM 264 and turned around and came back to get us our first US 491 mileage.  Then, headed south on NM 602 to NM 53 east to hit El Morro NM.  And then back to I-40 to Grants.  Did part of the BL / Route 66 through town looking for food and got back on I-40 at Exit 85 which we took to I-25 in Albuquerque.

curse nm and their tiny state highways in towns!! i had to drive all over gallup to get them!
i have yet to do 491. too bad they had to change to that from 666!
i find driving in abq to be a mess. always a lot of road destruction, and can get lost easily.
still, overall a fine trip for you.

i posted my travels in the region. the trip was successful in that i completed the counties of two states, but failed to complete two others and missed the event i’d planned to do, the bare to breakers.

The three national monuments around Flagstaff took us long enough that the Meteor Crater got bumped from this trip.  :-(
We have been to Capulin, hitting it in 2016.  So, this was our second time in New Mexico.
Yeah, I got away with as much of circling around Gallup as I could this trip.  We'll be back some day as there are more park sites nearby.
We'll probably stay in Holbrook when we come back and visit Petrified Forest.  I'd like to stay in the Wigwam Motel.
Doing all the stuff you do barefoot is very impressive.

[mapcat]

The 11-day trip to the west coast with mapkitten was a success for both of us, netting me 2100+ new miles and 75 new clinches, and giving her the distinction among her peer group of being the only 16-year-old to drive 80 mph legally. It also convinced her that she needs to attend college in California. So I may have to make more cross-country trips in the near future.

We drove out together, so the opportunity to pad my stats was limited to whatever connected college to college (or college to beach) plus a few business loops. She flew back to Ohio, and I took the opportunity to not rush home, clinching I-580(NV) & I-80 (thereby completing all the signed interstates) as well as US 56 & US 50. No significant ranking increases besides reaching the top 10 in Nevada. Raton Pass almost killed my engine, but I made it 600 miles (without cruise control...across Kansas) to a mechanic recommended by that evening's Airbnb host, who reset the computer and gave me the go-ahead for the final 1000 miles (thankfully with cruise control) the last day. Seems fine now but I expect the dealer will disagree next week.

That's probably it for this summer. Back to work next Tuesday.

[froggie]

Did mapkitteh enjoy the trip?  Which college is she zeroing in on?

[mapcat]

She did. It was her first cross-country road trip, and she got to drive in 6 states she hadn't driven in yet. She appreciated the differences in landscapes and even noticed how the roads looked different, and the state highway markers. But for her the travelling was less about the roads and more about the 'gram. Most of our travels in L.A. were to photo ops (Rodeo Drive, Hollywood, angel wings, various restaurants). Still, I was the one providing directions, so occasionally we took a non-direct route to a particular stop.

We DIY-toured of the University of Kansas (my alma mater), Colorado, and University of Denver on the way out, then took real tours of the University of Redlands, Chapman University, University of San Diego, and Loyola-Marymount. She loved all of the California schools (being told people go to Disneyland to study will do that) and was not happy about having to return to two more years of Ohio and sub-par Japanese restaurants.

[froggie]

She should be glad she's not in northeastern Vermont.  We can't even find basic sushi up here, let alone hibachi...

[mapcat]

She should be glad she's not in northeastern Vermont.  We can't even find basic sushi up here, let alone hibachi...

Well you do have that maple cream pie place, which doesn't really have a SoCal equivalent. When she had New England on her search radar, UVM was one of the schools I thought she should look at, since Burlington's a great town. Northwestern Vermont ought to have some food variety.

Re the colleges, U of Redlands impressed me a lot, mainly due to the large presence ESRI has in the curriculum. Plus if she chooses Redlands, whoever is driving her stuff out there won't have to deal with L.A. traffic. But she's going to major in sociology or Asian studies at this point, so she can get both of those just about anywhere out there.

[oscar]

I just got back home from a week-and-a-half road trip to South Dakota and some neighboring states. I'm home for a few days, then rolling out again Monday for about a week of camping in western Massachusetts.

The goals of the South Dakota trip were to visit the Corn Palace in Mitchell SD (a major attraction I managed to miss on more than a dozen visits to the state where my father was born and raised), and to try to complete my coverage of US 18 and US 212 as well as to gnaw at my unclinched US 52 mileage. An unexpected bonus of the Mitchell visit was finding (too late in the day, alas) the museum at Dakota Wesleyan University about its notable alumni Sen. George McGovern and his wife Eleanor. I strongly supported, as a high school student (in Nixon country) his failed 1972 presidential bid. My politics have changed since then, though not my proclivity for political lost causes.

As for my route clinch efforts, I got most of US 18, with a short construction-closure gap in Waukesha WI and a longer one in southeastern South Dakota. Most infuriating was my near-miss of US 212. As I was getting set to complete the route in Watertown SD, I encountered a re-construction closure in both directions of a few blocks of US 212 just west of downtown. These add to a growing list of gaps (including parts of US 14 and US 218, and a forthcoming reroute of a few miles of US 30 in Iowa) which I'll have to fill on future trips to the upper Midwest.

[mapcat]

@oscar: Did the Corn Palace live up to your expectations? What theme did they go with this year?

Also, you missed clinching 212 by a couple blocks? Why not just walk it?

[oscar]

@oscar: Did the Corn Palace live up to your expectations? What theme did they go with this year?

Also, you missed clinching 212 by a couple blocks? Why not just walk it?

For 2018-2019, the Corn Palace went with a "Salute to Military" theme. Lots of photo ops on the outside, not much inside (but at least admission is free).

The US 212 construction zone looked non-walkable, with both carriageways and sidewalks torn up. But it's close to I-29, and the project might be completed (or at least two-way traffic allowed on one carriageway) next time I'm up there, which could be as soon as late October.

[julmac]

The Corn Palace went with a military theme, carried over from last year. Lots of photo ops on the outside, not much inside (but at least admission is free).

The one time I went to the Corn Palace was a bit of a bust as it turned out to be the day the corn was taken down waiting for the next mural to be put up. That and the tour guide who gave us a tour of the inside acted like he was presenting to a group of 30, but it was just two of us.