DennyG

Nicely done.

Sounds like Robert V. Droz's us-highways.com that went missing last year. There has been some related Facebook chatter and Robert (according to his brother) is on a long (possibly permanent) vacation from the internet along with his website. The WayBackMachine has some of the site from as recent as last November. https://web.archive.org/web/20151105234108/http://www.us-highways.com/

Thank you both for your support. I imagine Chris has driven a fair amount of the Dixie but I'm not so sure about Dave. It's a long way from the Pacific Northwest although I guess the southern terminus is a pretty straight shot on the Hypotenuse Trail. The book is print-on-demand so they should never really be out of them. I've seen that 1 or 2 left message before and wondered if they really print a few for quick shipping or if it is just a marketing tactic. I kind of favor the marketing trick idea since it seems to me that, with the huge number of titles they carry, it's probably easier to print a new one than to find the one you printed yesterday.

The interstates often get a really bad rap and some of it is deserved. Their construction did cause some good stuff to be lost. But they also did some good in removing the bulk of big trucks and time focused drivers off of the remaining two-lanes.

It took me about thirty trips over eleven years to complete a pass of the entire Dixie Highway system but I drove the last piece in July. In November I published a book about the experience. The book, A Decade Driving the Dixie Highway, is available at Amazon and eBay.

Nice slideshow and pretty much all new to me. I believe the only parts of US 51 I've been on are a few miles north from Memphis and the bit it shares with US 62 around the Ohio River.

Nice bit of sleuthing.

No but I can tell you that I passed that point at 8:18 on the morning of Sep 26. I was on the way to a 9:00 meeting with a friend in Albany which must have kept me from noticing. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I had seen the site but pretty much forgot about it. There is an associated Facebook page which I just checked and see it has been somewhat active lately. It hasn't shown up in my feed for a long time, though. FB works in mysterious ways. Interesting to see that the website founder has a book coming out in a matter of days. In September I drove US 20 from Erie, PA, to Albany, NY, and quite enjoyed it.

Sorry I'm so late to the party. By now you've probably been cruising with the top down and having Ford-to-Ford chats with the Model T guys while dodging elk and photographing mountain goats. Sounds like a great trip. If only I knew what the past tense of bon voyage was.

If interested, you can read my thoughts on a Nuvi here and on a Zumo here.

I think your method is a great way to follow a preplanned route and do it cost effectively. I have used both Nuvis and Zumos and understand some of the basic differences. One of the most obvious indicators that a GPS unit does not handle routing properly is the inability to turn off automatic recalculation. I believe that remains the case with all Nuvis. Some Nuvis used to support downloading routes but I could not tell with a brief visit to Garmin.com whether any of the current models do. In any case, they wouldn't really follow them.

I know there have been times when I wanted to produce an image from a route or track so learning about IMGfromGPX is a good thing. ridewithGPS also seems like a good thing and a reasonable way to deal with GPS limitations. I would think that others could use this too. The GPS limitation I'm thinking of is the inability to follow a route properly. As you've noted, most GPS receivers, including Garmin Nuvis, simply don't do this "right". In fact, the only units I personally know of that do routing properly are Garmin Zumos. This is the reason that turn-by-turn products (such as River Pilot's Route 66 Turn By Turn) specify Zumo. Garmin markets Zumos for motorcycles and blames their higher cost on ruggedized construction and weird mounts and power supplies. I have the impression that most Garmin employees don't even realize that they also contain more powerful processors that are capable of handling the task of proper routing. I really wish Garmin would sell me a routing capable unit without making be pay for waterproofing, direct wire power, or handle bar mounts. They won't but I've decided that the extra money for a bottom of the line Zumo is worth it. As a solo traveler, having a voice tell me when and where to turn is a valuable thing.

I just completed a nineteen day trip that included about 1700 miles of Dixie Highway. The journal is here. I'm posting in this thread because one of the things accomplished on the trip was reaching the seven DH-Lee markets I hadn't yet seen. As proven by the fact that I'd previously driven by several of these markers without seeing them, I couldn't have done it without Mike's excellent instructions. The directions and photos posted about five entries back are more than enough to get anybody there and I'm going to augment them with numeric coordinates not because they're needed but because I can. Franklin, Ohio - N39° 32.701' W84° 18.933' TN/NC State Line - N35° 55.083' W82° 54.759' Hot Springs, NC - N35° 53.467' W82° 49.912' Marshall, NC - N35° 47.851' W82° 41.042' Asheville, NC - N35° 35.698' W82° 33.105' Fletcher, NC - N35° 26.572' W82° 30.369' Hendersonville, NC - N35° 18.857' W82° 27.658' NC/SC State Line - N35° 11.017' W82° 25.670' Greenville, SC - N34° 51.312' W82° 23.821' Bradfordville, FL - N30° 40.123' W84° 09.812'

Distinguished Eagle Scout, Lincoln Highway sparkplug, and all around good guy Bernie Queneau died Sunday at the age of 102. Newspaper report here.

That's a pretty nice article. Enjoyed reading it.

That's a wonderful article and it sounds like the 190 is off to a rather plush retirement. Is the car on loan to Mercedes or did you sell or donate it?

Good idea and it looks like you'll be covering a goodly chunk of the middle of the country. Have fun.

All done. Saw a ton. Lottsa fun. Plenty sun. http://www.dennygibson.com/rt66fest14/

I started with some Dixie Highway and I'll follow it with some Route 66 but the bulk of my drive to attend the 2014 Route 66 Festival in Kingman, AZ, will be on the Old Spanish Trail. I'm a couple of day in, having started in St Augustine, and it will take me several more days to reach the western terminus in San Diego. The trip journal is here. Actually driving on the OST starts on Day 4 but Day 3 includes a visit to the Zero Milestone in St Augustine.

It looks to me like the Dixie Highway North Florida Connector and the Old Spanish Trail are identical between Jacksonville and Monticello. Can anyone confirm or deny that?

The vehicle for this trip will be a reasonably well maintained and modern though the driver will be neither. I've not driven all of those remnants you mention but I have driven several and I've visited the plank road (which is very cool) a couple of times. West of El Paso, OST, DOH, US80 and a few other trails essentially share the same path and I've driven much of it (El Paso-Las Cruces is the exception) a time or two and once even stood at The Center of the World (with a certificate to prove it). East of El Paso, the two auto trails follow different paths and, even though they both go through some places I've been, I'm not really familiar with either one.

I have a reason/excuse to drive to San Diego next month. The Dixie Overland Highway has been suggested as a possible route and the Old Spanish Trail came to mind as well. Recognizing that early August is hardly the best time to drive either of these southern roads, I'm posting this Request For Comments to see what others might think are the good and bad points of each.

I had pretty much decided that I would never see anything inside Dugway so I'm very glad that I got to see anything. I'm not letting the disappointment of not seeing the Cutoff interfere with the enjoyment of seeing the bridge. It was always known that permission could be withdrawn at any time including before we entered at all. Some people see our Dugway visit and think half the gates were locked. I like to think that half were unlocked.

I recently attended the Lincoln Highway Association conference in Tooele, Utah. The conference included two bus tours and I drove some "alternate" LH alignments on the way. The trip continues as I return home but the LH related stuff is over. Day 3 involved the original Omaha alignment, days 5, 6, and 7 were spent on the Colorado Loop, part of day 8 might have been on the Elk Mountain alternate route, and I followed the Ogden Loop on day 10 although I didn't have much to say about it. Days 11, 12, and 13 cover the conference and the cover page for the full trip is here. Highlights include a bus tour through Dugway although plans to travel the Goodyear Cutoff were thwarted by the USAF. It always has been a tough road to get to.