mobilene

Dave, I think it's just good engineering practice to locate an auto trail out of the flood plain! I think it's unbelievably cool that Steve is willing to open up Fort Steele just for you. 1,000 years from now, when archaeologists dig in that area, do you think they'll be puzzled over why there's a road buried under the road? From the fort, couldn't you go north on CR 347, under (?) the railroad and then bear left, follow it until it picks up 76, and then follow that to where it becomes Cedar St. in Rawlins? I'm using Google Maps on that. Looks shorter than your route through Saratoga. Only thing is I am not 100% positive if CR 347 goes under the railroad or stops and then picks up on the other side of it. jim

Looking at the Google aerial image, it looks like the bridge is open. It's hard to tell for sure, but it looks like the old highway may be but that a part of the road leading to it from the east is buried under I-80. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&...mp;t=k&z=17

As First Vice President, how can I not accept this generous offer? Check your PM box for the contact info. I've been thinking about membership cards, but I imagine that getting them cut along the diagonal is really stinking expensive! jim

Hey, I lived in Terre Haute (birthplace of the Kiss Army) for 9 years, does that count for something? ;-) Yes, this is also the place Steve Martin called "the armpit of America." When I worked in radio in Terre Haute, at what was then the big rock station (but is now dark), we still had some Kiss on the playlist. jim

Well hell's bells. I fired up Google Maps at Presidio, and right there north of town are what look like two former alignments, one of them looking to be partially abandoned. Then about 65 miles away I think I see two more east of Marfa. One thing guaranteed to make me smile is to come upon an abandoned road. Oh, yes, I-30. My ex-wife picked up a speeding ticket on I-30 on the Arkansas side of Texarkana ten years ago when we were on our way to San Antonio. Her usual bat-the-eyelashes trick didn't faze the revenue-enhancement agent. jim

Chad, welcome. I'm class of 85 but don't hold that against me! Great blogs! jim

Oh lordy are you ever in good company here. I've been to Texas a number of times -- a couple times on business to Dallas, once to visit ex-family in San Antonio, and thrice I've been all the way through Texas on a school bus to do mission work in Piedras Negras, Mexico, just across from Eagle Pass. Until the Piedras Negras trips, I thought Texas was all Interstates and frontage roads. But south of San Antonio a bit the major highways start to thin out into endless miles of two-lane ribbon. It's made me wonder about Texas before freeways and now your US 90 / OST stories are making me itch to hightail it to Texas and see what's what. Unfortunately, it's a dang long drive from Indiana, so today isn't the day. Peace, jim

Dave, maybe you could get some gov'mint funding for the guidebook! You could write the next WPA Guide!

Dave, I eagerly await your reports! jim

Excellent shots, esp. of N. 2nd and all the flooding. Thanks for sharing! jim

I see from Google Maps that CR 217 uses the old follow-the-railroad-track trick. Looks like the north frontage road for I-10, just west of where 217 ends, might also have been US 90?

You may have the holy grail there! I hope that as time and opportunity present, you will share. I've never seen a photo of a gravel US highway. Closest I've come is to drive a road in western Indiana identified as an old alignment of US 36. It's gravel. Here are some photos: http://www.jimgrey.net/Roads/US36West/06_W...of_Bellmore.htm Finding film for old cameras has become increasingly difficult over the past 20 years. The older the camera, the more likely you can't get film for it. It is actually easier to identify the sizes still in production. 35mm film remains relatively popular, of course. Size 120 still exists, primarily because it's still used in professional applications. You can still get 110 film if you look hard. You can buy foreign-made 126, 127, 620, and 828 only from specialty retailers and it co$t$ bigtime. You can even spool your own 620 film using 120 film and two 620-sized spools -- the only thing different between the two is the spool. If your camera takes any other size, as far as I know you're out of luck. I blogged a few times about old cameras. I included some photos taken with a couple of my old cameras -- ones I could get film for, anyway, when I took the photos, going back to the 1980s. My favorites were the 1930s Ansco box camera (120 film) and a Kodak Duaflex from the 50s (620 film -- could still get that film when I had the camera). http://jimgrey.wordpress.com/2007/03/17/i-like-cameras/ http://jimgrey.wordpress.com/2007/03/18/ph...om-old-cameras/ I started collecting again in the past couple years, half-heartedly, and here's the camera I got most recently: http://jimgrey.wordpress.com/2007/07/04/br...-synchro-model/ Peace, jim

Cooooooool! I hope you publish some of those photos for us all to enjoy. I used to have a large collection of old cameras. It's amazing how many old Kodaks I had that still worked. If they're not abused and are kept out of the damp, many of them can function for a hundred years. jim

Heh, Jim, you're gonna wound the pride of one of the moderators here with your Corvair comments! And I must say, the first-year Valiant with its toilet seat ring on the trunklid was an acquired taste in styling, though I can't argue with your assessment of the venerable slant six! ;-) I had a friend in college with a 1963 Comet (Falcon sibling) with a six, and that car was painfully slow. Cars behind him would honk as he crept away from a light. Just awful. jim

Wow! That sounds really cool. I hope you'll keep us up to date as planning continues. jim

Well, until that bad mood comes, I'll be a faithful servant and a tireless cheerleader for the route. And I promise to look the other way should the opportunity for graft present itself to me! It pains me to say that Indiana seems to be a bit easterly of the perfect hypotenuse route, but if your mathematics doesn't jibe with mine and your route veers this way, I can suggest several juicy old alignments... Peace, jim BS Mathematics, RHIT 1989

Dave, you ought to look around online for a company that can make up big stickers of your Hypotenuse Trail symbol, and as you drive along, stop off and put them on telephone poles! I'd pay a small sum to be a founding member of the Hypotenuse Trail Booster's Association!

This is too cool! Believe me, Dave, I wish I could go along on this trip with you. Just to drive across the country and take it in as it flies by. Wow!

Seems to me that part of your trip would have to include the Dixie Highway!

I was holding my breath and crossing my fingers that my circumstances wouldn't change, but they are not always entirely under my control, and they have changed. I am now able to go along with you all only on Saturday the 17th, assuming that's the weekend we pick, and even then only if we do the route from Vandalia east so we wrap the day up in Indy. My kids will be with me and will come along for the ride. jim

You could mail me some munchies and beer, you know. Or, hell, just the beer. I like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale! I'd watch all night for a six pack of that! :)

How do you render a breathy "wow" on a forum thread?

Dave, you appear to be on a serious mission! Also, I admire your chutzpah to call the lady in Rockville. Finally, I'm amazed that Live Maps has a bird's-eye view way out there. jim

No luck! But I'm not as adept at this kind of mapsleuthing -- I'm more used to midwestern farmland. I am astonished by all the road traces visible on this UT/AZ map area, though. US 163 appears to have quite a colorful old-alignment history. jim

I will be very interested in what you find -- I'm always up for a good roadsleuthing story -- but unfortunately I have nothing to offer. jim