New Travels and Stats Discussion

[Markkos1992]

I am finally done with my trip report for the Springfield, IL, Meet back in June.

So finally onto my Nashville, TN, trip that I skipped the Brattleboro Meet for. 

I finished the Nashville trip last night.

[mapmikey]

Took an 18 hr, 920 mile ride today…

New clinches in order: 
US 311 (VA) - reclinch Danville reroute
Bryan Blvd - Greensboro
US 70 (NC) - reclinch high point reroute
NC 74
NC 8
NC 47 - reclinch for west end reroute
NC 152
US 74 Byp Monroe
SC 151 Bus (Pageland, Jefferson)
SC 151
SC 265
SC 145
NC 742
I-73
I-74
NC 22 - reclinch southern pines airport reroute
NC 36

New mileage:
NC 150 - new Kernersville bypass

[Markkos1992]

Last Saturday, I had to get out of my apartment and touch grass to get my brain away from the online madness from recent events that will probably take a while to fully recover from.

I started around 5 AM by taking I-81 NB to the Scranton area and made a Sheetz stop in Dunmore along PA 347.  I then ended up on I-84 EB exiting at PA 247 and clinching PA 247 by taking it north to PA 370.  I took PA 370 east to PA 191 and then took PA 191 north into Hancock, NY, where I looped around NY 97 a bit before eventually clinching NY 97 by heading southeast from Hancock to Port Jervis.

I then ended up taking US 209 NB to NY 211 EB and went to Otisville just to be stopped by a brief parade (apparently it was First Responders Day so I guess this parade was planned before 9/10/2025).  I ended up waiting it out in a nearby parking lot even though the cops wanted me to turn around instead of wait it out....  Once the parade ended, I continued on NY 211 to Middletown where I took NY 17M south to US 6 and turned around.  I ended up taking NY 211 to Montgomery to clinch it, and took NY 17K and CR 29 to Walden to pick up NY 52 west to NY 302.  I took NY 302 and NY 17M back to Middletown and then went back north on NY 17M and CR 76 to NY 17K.  I would clinch NY 17K by taking it east to US 9W in Newburgh.

I then took US 9W south to the NY 218/NY 293 interchange so that I could clinch NY 218 along Storm King Highway. I had done the part of NY 218 in West Point in April 2022 on the way to Doug Kerr's CT Meet.  Once back at US 9W in Cornwall, I took US 9W NB to I-84 EB across the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, and then took NY 9D south to NY 301 as rain started to become a factor.  I clinched NY 301 by taking it from NY 9D east to NY 52 in Carmel.  I then went north to loop around Patterson a bit by clinching NY 311, NY 292, and NY 164 eventually taking NY 22 to Brewster and following US 202 to NY 118 and NY 35 to complete US 202 in NY.  I would also ultimately clinch NY 139, NY 118, and NY 129 before taking US 9 to NY 133 in Ossining.  I took NY 133 east to Millwood, and then took NY 120 southeast to Rye (where I pulled over and laughed at the Virginia Tech score while clarifying that I clinched NY 120 correctly).

I then clinched a little US 1 in Port Chester between NY 120 and Westchester Avenue, and looped back to Peck Ave via Midland Ave before taking the US 1 NB ramp to I-287 WB.  From there I took I-287 across the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge west and south to I-78, and then took I-78 and I-81 back to Harrisburg as you would expect.  I did not have the courage or feeling to drive the recently sinkhole-infested I-80. 

Clinched: PA 247, NY 97, NY 211, NY 17K, NY 302, NY 218, NY 301, NY 311, NY 164, NY 292, US 202 (NY), NY 139, NY 118, NY 129, NY 120

New Mileage: PA 371, PA 370, NY 17M, US 9W (NY), NY 22, NY 133, NY 100, US 1 (NY)

[oscar]

I just drove back home from a few days in Quebec. My travels included the recent extension of A-35, and some new km-age on A-85. There remains about a six-km gap between A-85's two segments, signed as QC 185. There is a lot of earth moving in progress for the new A-85 alignment alongside QC 185, which is expected to be finished next year but could slip into 2027. But in the meantime, I can claim a temporary re-clinch of the entire Trans-Canada Highway system.

Other route clinches:

RI 37
NH 101
NB 215
NB 120
QC 232
QC 133
QC 225
VT 225
NY 186
NY 3A
NY 342
NY 481

Also a near-clinch of the long NY 3 (missing a few miles west of Plattsburgh due to a construction detour, close enough to I-87 to snag next time I drive to Montreal).

And a short ferry ride across the Richeiieu River, north of A-20, between St-Denis-sur-Richelieu and St-Antoine-sur-Richelieu. The private ferry operator doesn't take credit cards for the C$5 toll, but the captain gave me change for my C$10 bill.

Both border crossings (US 1-NB 161 from Fort Kent ME, QC 225-VT 225 in Alburgh VT) were quick and painless.

[Markkos1992]

I took a trip yesterday to drive the North Millsboro Bypass (opened Friday) and to see other interesting sights in MD, PA, and DE.  The only clinching for TM was DE 24 along the North Millsboro Bypass, the new DE 24 BUS (Millsboro) as the east end at DE 24 connects to a realigned Hollyville Rd leading to part of DE 24 no longer being used, and US 30 BUS ALT TRUCK (Sadsburyville).

I almost reclinched MD 213 (turned onto US 50) and drove both termini of DE 15 (to annoy those that are annoyed by the route's existence).  Other items looked at were the MD 331 Choptank River Bridge, the DE 10 construction at US 13, completed widening of DE 299 between Middletown and DE 1, and the new ramps at the I-95/DE 896 interchange.

EDIT (10-5-2025):  I visited my parents this weekend and added some new mileage in VA and NC.

Saturday we did another Smithfield's Chicken-N-BBQ (SCNB) NC run by taking VA 35 into NC and reclinching NC 35 in the process.  We then looped around Ashokie for a while clinching NC 561 (done previously west of NC 35), NC 461, and NC 11 BUS (Aulander) along with completing NC 36/NC 42 east of Sanford (was done west of Ashokie to Clayton in May).  We then took NC 45 south to Plymouth (new mileage north of US 17, thankfully already done south of US 17 due to a closure just south of US 17) and then took US 64 to Jamesville to clinch NC 171.  Once to US 17, we took Wharton Station Rd to US 264 WB and then completed NC 33 west of Greenville by taking it from US 264 east of the city to US 301.  From there we went to the SCNB on US 301 in Rocky Mount, and then checked to see if the I-95/Sunset Avenue interchange was open (it was not), before taking I-95 back to VA while checking out the redone Exit 145 interchange and the US 158 Roanoke Rapids/Weldon realignment along the way.

Clinched: NC 561, NC 461, NC 11 BUS (Aulander), NC 171, NC 33, US 158 (reclinched), US 158 BUS (Weldon, NC) (certified to check signage, but had been clinched before as US 158)

New Mileage: NC 42 (clinched segment east of NC 36), NC 45

Today I drove most of the Washington-Rochambeau Trail segments from US 360 and north along US 301/VA 2 (turns out I missed a spot, but that is easily fixable the next time I visit my parents).  Once I got to US 17, I took it north (well west) to US 1, and took US 1 NB (with a SR 638 loop in Prince William County to view the new VA 394 signage) to VA 294 WB to VA 234 BUS NB in Manassas.  Once VA 234 BUS becomes VA 234, I clinched the newly signed VA 393 before taking VA 234 NB to SR 659 NB clinching SR 659 in Prince William and Loudoun Counties.  I then took VA 7 WB to Purcellville and ultimately took VA 287 NB into MD taking MD 17 NB to US 340 EB and US 15 NB back to the Harrisburg area.

[cl94]

Very busy few weeks in my world on the travel front. Work sent me to Minnesota in the middle of September, and I used that as an excuse to spend a couple of days by Lake Superior after my conference. I got quite a bit of new MN mileage, including all of MN 61, a reclinch of the extended MN 62, and significant mileage along I-35, US 169, MN 65, and MN 210, bringing me above 14% of active system mileage. Non-roads, I visited several new counties and grabbed the Minnesota state high point (Eagle Mountain) north of Grand Marais.

Last weekend was my first foray up to Alaska. Reward flight sale meant I got a great value for my miles with the flights to and from. My trip focused on areas south of Anchorage, visiting Whittier, Seward, Kenai, Homer, Anchor Point, and Hope, with over 10% of the state's clinchable mileage obtained. State 50, 4 new county equivalents, and a new national park, with lots of fall foliage to boot.

[jtstill]

Just returned last weekend from a 2 week trip through New England (my first!), which marks my first significant mileage boost of the year that I can recall and the addition of 6 new states to bring my total to over half of the US (28 states, plus DC) since I started keeping track on here in 2022! I wasn't too concerned with TM-eligible roads, since it was primarily a sight-seeing vacation with the wife, but I did try to prioritize new miles whenever possible.

We started by taking the familiar I-83, I-81, and I-78 east through PA before hopping on I-287 and I-95 to take us most of the way through Connecticut. A bit of time around Mystic and an out-of-the-way hotel further north before snaking our way down to grab the ferry to Block Island for a day. We then continued east through Providence to Cape Cod, where I was happy to grab the endpoint of US 6 in Provincetown. From there, we spent a couple days in Boston before heading up the coast to the furthest location on our trip, Acadia National Park in Maine. After spending a few days biking around and enjoying the fall foliage, we zig zagged west toward New Hampshire, where I unfortunately got a little lost and ended up unintentionally forgoing a bit of state route mileage in favor of some gravel back roads. Whoops.

We circled around there for a bit, driving scenic US 302 and ascending Mt Washington (where we frighteningly had to skirt the outside edge of the auto road near the top because of active road work!) before taking the Kancamagus highway toward Franconia Notch. Fall colors were exceptional, lots of stops to hike over these few days. Continuing to Vermont, we checked out tiny Montpelier and looped around Stowe and scenic VT 108 before finally turning toward home and taking a couple days to come down past Lake Champlain and spend the next two nights near Lake George and in the Poconos.

In all, I added 1,751 new miles from the ~2,500 mile road trip (1,932 TM-eligible), bringing my rank from 315 to 293. I surprisingly increased my travelled routes by 24%, from 501 to 623, clinching 13 along the way (80 to 93 total). I'm still missing 3 numbers under 100: 46, 47, and 73 (I got 84 and 91, both interstates). I did pass a 46 (ME), but didn't realize I didn't have one (of all things though, this is one aspect I don't care too much about). The only other noteworthy thing is perhaps that I-95 is now my second-most travelled route behind I-70, pushing I-81 to third by nearly 50 miles.

On the county front, I added 53 across 8 states, not consciously taking detours to grab any besides Bristol in RI, but that was to complete the set, a pretty easy task for RI.