Keep the Show on the Road!
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Posts posted by Keep the Show on the Road!
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This post will introduce you to an interactive video tour of Oregon’s US 101 along the Oregon Coast Highway, provided by the Oregon Departmnet of Transportation (Thanks ODOT for the beautiful views and video!) Drive north or south, back up, stop, or race ahead.....go in tiny steps or in huge leaps.
Rather than describe it, I’ll let you take the wheel. Just so I don’t dictate what you see, I’ll just get you started and give you a few mileposts along the road. I like going south, because the beach is on the right and in the virtual view.
Click below on a milepost and be on your way. You can change the milepost (higher as you go south), change the speed (I prefer 2) and change the increment (small to slow down to look, large to speed up and whiz by).
I haven’t taken the whole tour virtually, so when you spot a light house. or any other interesting sight, post the milepost here and share it with others.
Let's get started
UPDATE 7/1/08
The Oregon Department of Transportation apparently does not want public access to these videos, and has blocked access. Therefore I have removed the links. Sorry.
Keep the Show on the Road!
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Hold it!!
I see you have snuck in the word "officially" in saying that the road no longer exists. Now it no longer "officially" exists. Very tricky. Have you considered a career in politics!? OK, that fixes this bridge on old US40.
Keep the Show on the Road!
Hold it!!I see you have snuck in the word "officially" in saying that the road no longer exists. Now it no longer "officially" exists. Very tricky. Have you considered a career in politics!? OK, that fixes this bridge on old US40.
Keep the Show on the Road!
OK, on old 40, the north south US highway is probably US99E or US99W, or whatever they are today, so off to Google.
Keep the Show on the Road!
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My bad. It should have been 1697.
What I originally wrote was :
Let just say its more than a 1700 mile drive between Memphis and the bridge and leave it at that.
roadhound
So you are sticking to 1697. Hummmm. Mapquest for Californians must be different than for the rest of us
!Yah, Yah it’s more than 1700, and either 1679 or 1697 is along a route that has the same number as one of the roads crossing the bridge.Any 1697 mile road Mapquest would route you on from Memphis runs east and west, so it is even numbered (eg I40). The only interstates that Mapquest can use to take you west to California, Nevada, and Utah are I40, I70, or I80. I don’t recall a US 70 in CA, NV, or UT, so the bridge is probably on US 40 or US 80. However it can’t be on US 80 because Mapquest would never route you along I 80 to any destination on US 80. So its US 40 across the bridge.
The bridge is over calm muddy water. Not in the mountains for sure!
The distance from Memphis to Barstow along I40 is 1679, not 1697, thus my request for reaffirmation (which you cleverly evaded
). It is important because you would leave I40 at Barstow for destinations anywhere in central or northern California (eg US 40 around the Bay area or Stockton, etc.)So what do we “know.” At least one of the roads crossing the bridge is probably US 40. It is in California. If the 1697 wasn’t a red herring (which you now appear to be suddenly vague about
), then the route to the bridge goes along I40 as far as Barstow.But piecing it together, the bridge is in northern California, in flat country, along US 40.
The next puzzle is what north south road no longer exists. US99 still exists. Maybe the Pacific Highway (pre US99) has lost its identity, but not in the hearts of us ole roadies......
Well, I have some “honey does” on the agenda this morning, but if someone hasn’t nailed it later today, I will very soon. I'm closing in (maybe!!).
I think I should get a free question!
Keep the Show on the Road!
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Only 1 guess so far? I didn't think this was that tough. Time to pull out the maps and start figuring this one out.
Let's recap what we know so far:
-The bridge once hosted 2 US Routes, one north-south the other east-west
-One of the US Routes no longer officially exists
-The other US Route is now 695 miles away
-The bridge is at least 1697 miles from Memphis
-The number of one of the US Routes that once crossed the bridge is the same number as the Interstate that passes through Memphis.
-the bridge is in either California, Nevada, or Utah.
Next guess anyone?
roadhound
This is not a question (but it may sound like one
! Are you sure that the number is 1697 and not 1679? Not a question!!! Just a reaffirmation !Keep the Show on the Road
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Rarely, but often enough to keep me looking, I find a true road treasure on the internet. Bear with me because the reward will be learning how you can drive the Lincoln Highway on your computer, believe it or not.
I started this little discovery trip knowing that my state (Washington) had a “video log” of all highways in the state, but that I had to provide the hard drive for them to download it for me. So I started looking for other state departments of transportation that had video logs, and several do. However many are not available to the public, on hard drive or on line.
There are some exceptions, and I have discovered two that are on line, and expect to find more, perhaps with the help of other forum members.
The two I have discovered are Pennsylvania and Oregon, but I suspect they will be several more. They are not heavily promoted. In fact you may have to dig pretty deep to find them. I suspect that the DOT’s really don’t want lots of virtual tourist’s to tax their servers, but if they talked with their tourism departments they might think differently.
It sounds a lot “Road Geek” to take a road trip on the computer, and I don’t recommend it as an alternative to the real thing. But as a way to scout out a real trip, or to discover the potential beauty and attraction of an area, it really can’t be beat.
With these sites you can drive down the highway of your choice and see the sights just as you would out of your car. They allow for variations in speed and for selecting where you want to start and end so you can skip sections if you wish.
What the departments of transportation haven’t figured out quite yet is that they could connect with tourist interests and promote specific “rides.” You folks here on the forum with an interest in promoting your road should start to introduce your “groupies” to the segments of your road that are fascinating. You can bet I will with US 101 in Oregon.
I just “drove” a short segment of the Lincoln Highway in Pennsylvania. And I did it for free. It was amazingly beautiful, with quaint houses and roadside businesses, lovely trees and vistas, and a nice two lane road. I never knew the “typical” Pennsylvania landscape was so interesting. I have to go there. Really.
I don’t want to turn you into an armchair driver, it isn’t good for the old cardio, but I am going to start showing off some of the beauty of US 101 in Oregon, thanks to the Oregon website. (Washington, listen up, you could be famous too). I’ll identify mileposts that have special sights and you can drive them. Just crossing the high bridge over the mouth of the Columbia River at Astoria via the Oregon DOT video will make you a believer. (Note Hester_Nec, no vertigo, and Roadhound, Oregon US101 is bridgeguy paradise)
Well I have kept you on the hook long enough, so let’s look at the Lincoln.
Go to
http://www.dot7.state.pa.us/ividlog/video_locate.asp
Choose PennDOT Route, Bedford, Route. Hit GO. Wa la...Cinerama on the old Lincoln, US30. Happy travels!! For Free!
For Oregon, look at my earlier post, and start looking at US 101 here on the forum for some recommended sights you can key in as mileposts.
Let me know with a post what you have discovered.
Keep the Show on the Road!
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Memphis? My brother lives in Memphis, or near Memphis I should say. He lives in Rossville. I will have to remember that you live there next time I go out there to get some tips on places to see.
Nope, the bridge is not in Memphis but if you Mapquest the driving directions from the bridge pictured to Memphis 1697 of the miles on the recommended route is an Interstate that is numbered the same as one of the US Routes that went across the bridge.
Roadhound,
I think this is a fun idea, but maybe you should do a 20 questions thing with the rule that no one questioner can have two consecutive questions, and all the questions must be answered "Yes, No, Don’t Know, or Can’t Answer, Needs restating" ... in the order received.
Just a thought, but “Is the bridge in California, Nevada, or Utah?
Tell me again your departure date as I am moving things out of boxes to new shelves and drawers and hope to find the Brush book before you leave.
Keep the Show on the Road.
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Thanks for the great write up! I enjoyed every word, and the images they created. I am sorry that the couple asked about buying a business in their town because it so captures the plight of small towns. I guess I am like a guy bemoaning the end of the horse and buggy. The lost of America’s small towns is the loss of many cherished values and putting vintage style lamp posts along main street doesn’t bring them back.
We have one small section of recognized (on the Yellowstone Trail) old brick road outside Seattle and practically enshrine it! In your area you have lots of brick road and folks take it largely for granted. Hummm.
Since you opened the door a bit for me to comment on the maps and guides, I will. It is certain that you would have found at least a third to a half the business buildings described. You were going through towns that were probably static or declining so there was no reason for them to tear out an old building and replace it. Thus, if they didn’t burn down, odds are good that the hotels and garages are still there, even maybe some service stations, most serving another purpose. Your comment about motels is interesting too, because you can probably find post cards and an AAA guide that describe several of them.
You are blessed with some great road tripping country, and material on the midwest is around if you want it. And the good news is that the old guides and maps can be “free.” I seldom buy anything I can’t sell for at least twice what I paid, often much more
Before this begins to sound like a real estate investment pitch, my point is that reasonable choices in old maps and guides are investments that on net will return as much or more than you paid for them. So in effect, in the long run, they are free, and better.
And an opposite approach that works as well for someone one who wants to use the maps and guides themselves and not ever resell them is to buy torn or damaged items. Since condition drives price, you can often buy something without the cover, or missing a few pages for peanuts. Collectors like me don’t want them or already have a pristine example, but they read just as well as the $100 item. They won’t resell for much, but you can carry and use them on the road and not worry that your collectable will be damaged.
Tell us again where is your July 28 trip headed? I’m getting juiced up for another trip myself, maybe along the Columbia River Highway and US 20 through Central Oregon or down US 101, or even US 99.
Keep the Show on the Road!
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Did you know that you can see a video of every foot of every state & US highway (two lane or other) in Oregon by going to:
http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/TD/TDATA/rics/P...gital_Video_Log
Follow the link to “external digital video log” and choose the highway you want to follow. Leave the options at default to get started.
What you will see is like driving down the road with one image looking ahead and the other looking right. If you want to start at a different milepost or go back the other way, select the appropriate option.
Oregon isn’t the only state with this facility.
Do you have others you would like to share?
Keep the Show on the Road!
Hint. Once you get started, set the increment higher than default (maybe about .05) or you will be all day driving "virtually" 100 miles.
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Hat’s off to Denny for that interesting info addition! And isn't it great that the house has a second chance.; I bet it had something to do with the National Road. There is a story there.
I am really sorry I didn’t find this 1925 Hobbs Guide before your trip. But look at the bright side. If you had it you might still be out there looking for the old sites!
Here are the Stewart's US 40 photos from about 1953 for visitor's comparisons to the ones you took.
Keep the Show on the Road!
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Wow, and double Wow! Three out of four is amazing!
I bet if you did the Marshall shot in black and white like in Stewart’s US 40 book they would be close to identical. You had a great day, even with the car bottoming. BTY, I had no idea that brick was so extensive along the road.
Unless you prefer to do it I will add the Stewart photos in a post later today so those who don’t have the book can compare them with your “Now” pictures.
I don’t know whether I dare mention this, but yesterday I discovered a 1925 National Old Trails Hobbs Guide in my stuff.. It lists the brick sections and lots of businesses along the route you took. I wish I had found it a week ago, I could have sent it with the Stewart pages. I will copy the relevant pages sometime today and post it as a reply here.
The interest in old alignments has encouraged me to start to organize 25 years of map and guide collecting. It is kind of fun because I discover things I didn’t know I have. I’m looking for a book I have that describes a trip Roadhound is taking soon, and it is neck and neck as to whether I find it before he leaves.
A completely minor point.....in the Marshall photo...the cornice or whatever you call it on the building on the far right is gone. It had a date, and name for the building. It may have been victim to a misguided modernization.
Back to your adventures. I look forward to see the write up and more photos.
Keep the Show on the Road
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BabyBoomerBob
Great post, even educational...I learned about the 13 Confederate "states." Enjoyed the photos as well. Hope the disease or dis ease goes away.
Keep the Show on the Road!
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A fun idea! I'll see if I can figure it out!
Keep the Show on the Road!
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If that flies with your wife, then I salute you, KTSOTR.
It's worse than that. Did you read Granny's Letters at Denny's site? It will take several sittings to fully digest that gem. I am going to encourage him to start a new thread so it will get more attention.
I hope your National Road Trip is great tomorrow. I hope you got the Stewart US40 pages OK. We'll watch for your report.
Keep the Show on the Road!
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I’m having a problem reaching the site, so comment will have to wait until I do. (I see that the URL associated with the link is garbled, so I believe it will require your correction) I look forward to seeing your photos. It is a little tweeter (a high note, a sweet, clear experience) to stand where your great grandparents stood 80 or more years ago.
%#@!% Denny, you got the link fixed, but now I have a hour of fun reading to do following Granny. I will just tell the wife that I can't pick up her new display cabinet this morning.
Keep the Show on the Road.
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Denny, again you prove to be the master road voyerger!
First, the Stewart book. I just now saw a copy for $18 on Alibris. Try searching wwww.alibris.com if that link doesn't work. Mobilene, you strike me as the sort of person whose life will not be complete until you own this book.I’m glad you spotted the Stewart book on alibras. I think what I did on ABE was to type US40 whereas you typed U.S. 40. So I got just one or two citations.
You might also want to pick up something that Thomas & Geraldine Vale did in 1983. It's a thirty year update on many, but not nearly all, of Stewart's photos. Alibris shows this available new in paperback for $7.50 or used for $4. It's nothing close to what Frank Brusca is working on but I think it's still worth four bucks.I didn’t know about this one. I’ll buy one for sure.
Frank did post a note in his US-40 egroup about working on photos this summer between Kansas and San Francisco. I expected to see a similar note show up in the US-40 forum here but it hasn't yet. He is looking for help along the way and he doesn't sugar coat the task ("lugging camera gear, battling critters") but it would be an opportunity to be involved in what promises to be a remarkable book. Anyone interested can contact Frank through his profile here.I’ll take a look. It has been awhile since I visited the site.
Russell Olsen did release his second volume of "Route 66 Lost & Found" a year or so ago but I just got a copy last month in Clinton. I explained to Russell that I was waiting to pick it up myself so I could save postage. He's well into a third (and probably last) volume of the series and was heading east from Clinton to nail down some of the photos.I got his first volume when we were on 66 this winter. I’ll pick up the second.
And now my own "old family/road picture" discovery. My great-grandparents drove a Ford Model T to Florida in 1920 and, in 2001, my girlfriend & I retraced that as best we could. Prior to the trip, I had borrowed and scanned lots of old family photos hoping to find something from the 1920 version. No joy. Then, after we had repeated their stop at Lincoln's Cabin near Hodgenville, KY, we (actually my girlfriend had to point it out to me) realized that one of the scanned photos was of the cabin but reversed. While it was a picture taken by rather than of my relatives, I was still pretty excited. I now knew that about a half-dozen similar sized pictures were likely from the trip and that the pictures were all contact (i.e., reversed) prints. A couple of the others are at roadside but lack any sort of clues as to location. The photo can be seen here. It's not much - just one more picture of a cabin that has been photographed probably millions of times - but finding it was a bit of a thrill for me.I’m having a problem reaching the site, so comment will have to wait until I do. (I see that the URL associated with the link is garbled, so I believe it will require your correction) I look forward to seeing your photos. It is a little tweeter (a high note, a sweet, clear experience) to stand where your great grandparents stood 80 or more years ago.
Keep the Show on the Road!
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Dave, as one who has the utmost admiration for then & now photos, I tip my proverbial cap to you! Cool how it looks like they lowered the level of the road over the years. I've toyed with then & nows several years ago and have a few up on my web site. Russell Olsen put a fine book out about three years ago of Route 66. I think it's called Route 66 Lost & Found. I believe he came out with a follow-up on it a year ago.
US 40 guru Frank Brusca is in the process of publishing a 50 year follow-up to the George Stewart book, and painstakingly working to take every one of his pictures at the same location and same angle as Stewart's. Last I heard he was nearly done with retracing, but I think a week or two ago he posted a note about it on the Route 40 Yahoo Group about doing some work on it out west and was looking for anyone interested in tagging along. I'm too lazy to look up what he said, so I'm sure Denny can fill in the holes of my story.
Funny that you should mention Frank Brusca and the George R Stewart US 40 book. I sent Mobilene some pages from it this morning of the route in Illinois he will be following tomorrow. I communicated with Brusca months ago and not only was he revisiting Stewart’s sites and redoing photos (including some 360 degree panoramas), he was trying to find some of the people!!! I think he succeeded in at least one case. Talk about your Then and Now!
I told Mobilene he should buy a copy but they want 80 bucks for a copy. I’m glad I bought mine 20 years ago. It is a real classic.
Thanks for the comment on my grandfather’s pictures. I look for the old buildings in my travels, but this one topped them all. Those old photos have been around the family for years (although I got my copies from the Brand Library). I knew they were taken at “Mono Lake” but never imagined that the Tioga Lodge was the site. To see the match up yesterday as I was doing a post here on US 395 had to be a lifetime highlight for roadside then and now shots.
The lodge sits right beside the highway and as an old road map guy, I have seen it marked on 1920’s and before Automobile Club of Southern California maps for years. And I knew the place when I used to roam that area, but it was mostly deserted back then.
It will be hard for me to top that experience.
Continued thanks for your leadership and let’s Keep the Show on the Road!
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I think of Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell often as I see the throws of changes
as we drive across our country, open roads in cities now big boxes, classic motels gone,
great eateries taken over by fast food joints.
That song is one that has as much meaning the day it was written as it does today.
It sums up in one song, what is great and not so great in America today.
Great quiz for sure. There are a few songs that I have heard of.
East Down and Bound is a classic. Those 70's songs were classics.
My recent favorite is Long and Winding Road by Sheryl Crow. It keeps me in the American Road
mood for sure.
Thanks again, Becky, Pat and Jen for creating.
66 Willy
66 Willy, thanks for the shared insights! Much appreciated!
Your recommendation caused me to listen to Big Yellow Taxi again. I’m glad I did!
And yes, it’s easy to regret what’s gone. Imagine growing up in the Santa Clara Valley as I did!
But I had Route 66 to myself this winter. And the east side of the Sierra Nevada along 395. And even Death Valley.
And I feel that it is dawning on us that we can’t pave it all over and be better off as a consequence.
And in my very selfish moments, I’m glad that the freeway carries 95% of the traffic. Otherwise they would all be on my two lane road. Did you ever think we have the secret?
Back at ya.
Keep em coming!Keep the Show on the Road!
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You may find more information on following the old rail bed at Trails.com under Transcontinental Railroad Trail. And the Oregon- California Trails Association did a trip in 1997 along it. Go to the site below to read about it.
http://www.utahcrossroads.org/G_FT1097.htm
One caution they noted is that flat tires were common because of old railroad spikes on the roadbed. At least a couple of their vehicles got flats
I have no right to give safety tips because I have been stuck without an adequate backup plan too often. But if the temperature is 109, and you are in sand up to the running boards, or experience a second flat tire, it is a bad time to wish you had planned ahead.
I only know two things about GPS. One, don’t leave one on top of your car then drive away. And two, I don’t think the one I own is worth bragging about.
Having exhausted my knowledge has never kept me from opining. I would like one that had good maps displayed on a screen I could see in daylight. I don’t need a voice telling me where to turn, but I do need maps that show back roads.
DennyG uses a pretty fancy one and may be of help. I would not travel off-road without one today, so I would at least buy a cheapie. My guess is it won’t be your last one, and your first one should tell you what you want on the next one. Like a camera, your first one told you what you wanted on the next one.
Twice in the past 10 years I have saved myself at least a long walk by having one, once in a labyrinth of logging roads on the Oregon coast and once in western Utah on the Lincoln Highway.
I mark latitude and longitude at several junctures or crossroads along my route. Then I never miss a turn, or take a wrong turn. And should I get disoriented, it is great to know how far and in what direction your waypoint is.
I am looking for the 1908 story. I will send it when it is uncovered! Are you still leaving mid month?
keep the Show on the Road!
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Ohhhhhh rapture. This is the kind of road evidence I dream about. And how cool that your grandfather was involved!
I hope to find old pictures along Indiana roads like this!
jim
Thanks for the comment! Yeh, it doesn’t get much better. The Tioga Wolf was familiar to my mother’s whole family as they lived on the Brand’s Estate in Southern California. I had seen these pictures many times before because copies were held by my uncle. And I knew the Tioga Lodge existed because I had driven by several times over the past 50 years, but never stopped there. Then when we passed it by on this trip something clicked.
I do a lot of Then and Now stuff, in fact I wrote an unpublished book using old postcards, so this little discovery from my own family on a road I truly love is a once in a lifetime find. And you can take some credit as it really was as I was answering your e-mail that I remembered taking the photo six months ago.
I sent a copy to the folks at the Lodge to get their reaction. And I maybe I will send a note to the Brand Library in Glendale as they maintain a history of the Brand family on the former estate. It would be a minor thing to them, but they would no doubt add it to the photo description in their possession.
In the 1950’s and 60’s I recall the Lodge as deserted, but it has been very nicely renovated. It isn’t open in the winter, so we didn’t go inside, but we will the next time we are by. It is about 500 miles from where we live, but this adds another reason for a return visit to that area. And I want to take the old alignment that goes around rather than over Conway Summit.
And speaking of old pictures, I will e-mail you some pages out of George R Stewart's US 40 book of Marshall and Vandalia. It's early 1950's not 1850's though.
Keep the Show on the Road
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As I replied to Mobilene about my US 395 California & Mono Lake post, I was reminded that I had seen photos taken between 1916 and 1921 at Mono Lake on US 395 (which of course wasn’t US 395 then!).
My grandfather was chauffer to Leslie. C. Brand, often referred to as the Father of Glendale (California). Mr. Brand bought property just off 395 in 1911 and the lodge he built up Lee Vining Canyon still exists. He had a Locomobile modified to provide his Sierra transportation and named it the Tioga Wolf. Of course my grandfather, as driver, got to go on Brand’s road adventures along the old road.
This part of California was sparsely populated in the teens, and the primary economic driver was mining. At the time, Bodie and Aurora (now both ghost towns) were going strong. My grandfather recalled the impossibility of getting a night’s sleep in Aurora because of the noise from the huge stamps crushing the ore.
But this is about a modern road trip, not family history!
This is a photo of the Tioga Wolf parked in front of two buildings on US 395 in 1921.
Tioga Wolf at Tioga Lodge in 1921 on what was to become US 395.
Glendale California Public Library. L. C. Brand Collection
As we passed by the modern Tioga Lodge across the road from Mono Lake, I recalled the old photo and wondered if the 1921 photo might have been taken there. The battery was dead on my primary camera. Not having the old photo in hand to compare angles, I took a couple of quick grab shots with my backup camera to compare when we returned home.
The Tioga Lodge Today on US 395
I haven’t compared them until now. They match ....as I have just this moment discovered! The angles aren’t perfect but there is no mistaking the buildings. That is great! Is it any wonder I love the old roads!
I find it amazing that the Tioga Lodge today looks so much like it did in 1921. About all that has changed is that the old road was dirt and higher than the present road, the Michelin sign is gone, and an ornate railing sits on top of the old rock wall.
I think we can say with certainty that this is a photo taken in 1921 in front of what is now the Tioga Lodge, on the old road, before it was US 395. Note too the boat they are carrying. This is fishing country!
The photo below was taken on the shore of Mono Lake, probably on the same trip as the photo above (note the boat). That is my grandfather with the cigarette in his mouth.
The Tioga Wolf on the Shore of Mono Lake
Glendale California Public Library L. C. Brand Collection
The lake is lower today, so it would be next to impossible to match the sites. But if you have a little imagination, place the car left center in the photo below.
Mono Lake Today looking east from US 395
The map below is a 1923 Automobile Club of Southern California (ACSC) strip map showing the Tioga Pass and Mono Lake, with the Tioga Lodge clearly marked. For those interested in the old road, note that the road north of Mono Lake goes northeast and the original (not the more modern) Conway Summit road is under construction. Also note that Lee Vining doesn’t exist, at least on the map.
Mono Lake & the Tioga lodge in 1923 on ACSC Map
Keep the Show on the Road!
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From the book Automobile History Day By Day, by Douglas A. Wick: on Fourth of July, 1939, in Creston, WY, a monument is dedicated to honor Henry B. Joy for his efforts in building the Lincoln Highway. Another thing to celebrate today.
Have a Safe July 4!
Hi Dave,
I guess it’s too corny to proclaim "Oh, Joy!"
I trust you are driving in Triumph (TR3, that is) today. Cheers, and tally ho!
Are you working on your Alexandria Bay post? We all await the rest of the story.
Happy 4th!
Keep the Show on the Road!
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This makes me itch for a trip to CA. I could probably easily spend a week driving interesting roads, it looks like.
Is that old alignment of 395 still driveable?
jim
Hi Mobilene,
There are some sections of the old road that are still there and they are very beautiful, complete with the towering Sierra Nevada as a backdrop. On the way back a few weeks later, we drove some of the old alignment and my wife liked it so much she wanted to move there.
If you take a look at Conway Summit in Google Earth in 3D, you can easily see the old alignment up the mountain. I’m not confident that one is open. The section on the flat where I almost rolled the Chev is already overgrown.
One section I do want to take myself bypasses Conway Summit altogether and goes through a canyon further east.
I think the best time for a trip along this 395 and the Sierra is in the fall. In the summer it is busy, and in the winter it draws ski crowds.
If you ever decide to take a trip to Yosemite, include Tioga Pass and 395. I can give you some “tips” for sure. My grandfather was the chauffeur for a well to do Californian (L.C. Brand) and drove throughout this area in the teens.
Hey, I just remembered! I have photos of the car they drove parked beside Mono Lake about 1916. They called the car the Tioga Wolf. I’ll do another post here with a couple of then and now shots.
I also plan to post a few more segments of 395, so when you get back from your National road trip, take a look
Keep the Show on the Road!
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Since you are going in a single vehicle, I’m sure you will travel smart
1. Carry plenty of water (not only to drink, but to cool off if you stall), gas up in Wells, and check your spare. (VERY BIG CAUTION: NO KIDDING! DAYTIME TEMPERATURES ABOVE 105 ARE PREDICTED. VISIT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE)
2. Carry a couple of good FRS walkie talkies
3. Advise someone that you will telephone them when you arrive at your destination and give them the FRS channel you will use in emergency. They should know the phone number of the county sheriff in your intended travel area in case you don’t call.
4. Carry a GPS so you can give your coordinates in an emergency.
5. Plot GPS waypoints on your map prior to leaving.
6. Carry extra batteries.
If I find the story of the couple who did this route in about 1908, I’ll e-mail it.
Have a fun and smart trip and Keep the Show on the Road!
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Who has a story to tell about a highway not listed among our other forums? I’ll start by doing a few posts on US 395 in California. You can reply to this post or start a new thread. This post covers the road between Bridgeport and Mono Lake.
US 395 between Bridgeport and Lone Pine California is hands down one of the most spectacular roads in America. It follows along the east side of the Sierra Nevada beneath he highest mountains south of Alaska, through high desert country, along ancient lakes, and past movie settings. It provides access to Yosemite National Park along the awesome Tioga Pass Road, to Bodie, one of America’s best preserved ghost towns, and to lake after lake at the base of the Sierra.
It also provides a sad reminder of one of our mistakes. The Manzanar internment camp for Japanese Americans during WWII is on the road. And whether you consider it a mistake or not, you see the consequences of diverting the water from the east side of the mountains to an ever thirsty Los Angeles, 300 miles south.
My experiences along 395 dates back to the late 1950’s when as a high school student my buddies and I explored the lakes and ghost towns that we often had to ourselves back then. But this post isn’t about the “good ole days,” it is about a trip in January and February this year (2007) along this marvelous road with Bo, the Malamute Wonder Dog and Sheila, Rose of the Road.
We will start this adventure in Bridgeport because we drove south from Fort Churchill and Yerington and connected with 395 there. Bridgeport in the winter and Bridgeport in the summer are two different towns. In the winter you can walk down the middle of main street (US 395) and seldom have to dodge a car. In the summer it is a continuous stream of automobiles and motor homes.
Ken’s Sporting Goods, a Bridgeport Roadside Landmark Since 1954.
Bridgeport is at the heart of an outdoor sports paradise. The bright sunlight of a winter morning brightens Ken’s Sporting Goods Store, with its classic neon trout sign. Ken’s was in business when I first visited Bridgeport in 1958 (it was opened in 1954) and frankly, it hasn’t changed a whole lot in that 50 years. I honestly believe that blue box was out front then, as was the fish sign.
Across 395 on the south stands the Bridgeport Inn. In 1962, when I last stayed there, they had a cougar in a cage in the yard to the right of the building. The cougar is gone, but the Inn built in 1877 lives on.
The Bridgeport Inn built in 1877
The Mono County courthouse is a symbol of Bridgeport. Bridgeport became the county seat when it was discovered that the former county seat at Aurora was in Nevada! The courthouse was constructed in 1881 and still serves the county.
Bridgeport Courthouse, Built 1881.
South on 395 the road climbs toward the Conway Summit at 8143 feet. As you approach the summit there is an area off to the right that is spectacular in the fall with yellow aspen, but isn’t so bad here in the winter either. You are looking west toward the Sierra Nevada.
The Sierra Nevada approaching Conway Summit
At the summit looking south you see US 395 as it heads toward the famed Mono Lake. At 8143 feet the view is breathtaking in more than one sense.
US 395 from Conway Summit, 8143 Feet high.
As a teenager driving my 51 Chev, I took a curve on the old alignment (visible in the smaller photo) too fast and enjoyed a few seconds of two wheeling. I’m not sure you could slide one of those old chunks of iron, they just rolled.
US 395 follows along the western shore of Mono Lake. We stopped and walked down to the lake. You see a tufa tower standing out of the water
Tufa Tower Rising from Mono Lake
Tufa is essentially common limestone. Typically, underwater springs rich in calcium mix with lake water which is rich in carbonates and a chemical reaction occurs resulting in calcium carbonate—limestone. The calcium carbonate precipitates around the spring, and over the course of decades to centuries, a tufa tower will grow. Tufa towers grow exclusively underwater, and some grow to heights of over 30 feet.
Because the water supply along the east side of the Sierra is siphoned off to Los Angeles, the lake is lower than its historical height, thus many of the tufts are above water or on dry land.
Our next installment will take us southward from Mono Lake.
Keep the Show on the Road!
Seattle Selling Street Signs
in General Discussion
Posted
Thanks, Chris!
I checked the site. They are selling the good ones on Ebay!
Must be a SIGN of the times!
Keep the Show on the Road!