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Celebrating our two-lane highways of yesteryear…And the joys of driving them today!

BlueRidgeMike

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Everything posted by BlueRidgeMike

  1. From the album: Dixie Highway

    Located at the intersection of S. Dixie Highway and Hamilton-Middletown Road, just south of Franklin, OH.
  2. Thanks for the tips Dave. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving as well! Mike
  3. Jim - I probably have 80-90% of the road in NC pretty accurately mapped via a number of sources, and I think I know most of the rest of it. There are just a couple of places - the Asheville to Weaverville route being one of them - that I keep flip-flopping like a politician. Dave - Thanks for the tip on the USGS maps. I have actually used them in the past for genealogical purposes like plotting land deeds, but never for this purpose. I spent some time last night looking at the maps you identified, and they are helpful. The one thing I don't know how to do is overlay them on Google Earth or Google Maps. I have seen NC maps done that way and they are amazingly useful. I have wondered about doing that for a while so maybe the holiday weekend is as good a time as any for figuring it out.
  4. Sometimes the sleuthing just makes you crazy, but it's still the best part of it. I spent part of this past weekend, again, trying to figure out a short section of the original Dixie Highway just north of Asheville, NC. I know the approximate route, but all of my Clason atlases, ABBs, etc. are still not definitive enough to convince me that I am in the correct location. Someday... Mike
  5. I really enjoy reading your blog posts Jim. I spend time on some segment or another of the Dixie Highway (Carolina alignment) between Knoxville, TN and Greenville, SC at every opportunity. Trying to find the original routing between these points has been challenging to say the least, but every new discovery is worth the effort. Mike
  6. This is great Dave! I wish that we had known about it when we made our U.S. 20 trip in 2011. We spent a good deal of time at the nearby Craters of the Moon National Monument. Mike
  7. I hope so, but more importantly, I hope you get to feeling better very soon!
  8. Hi Cort, You'll have to stay in the Wigwam Village #2 in Cave City to finish the trifecta. I think I'd skip the winter months though, unless you have a warm set of pajamas. Mike
  9. Thanks Dave. There were several shots of the Ford, but they were all east of Amarillo. I think there are some in front of the Boots Motel, the Wagon Wheel Motel, and right under the Route 66 "Begin" sign at Adams & Michigan in downtown Chicago. I had planned to get pictures at the two 66 wigwams in Holbrook and Rialto, plus I especially wanted to get one under the Blue Swallow Motel sign in Tucumcari and in front of the Santa Monica Pier. Oh well, maybe another time or another car. Mike
  10. Hi Denny, I forget that I go by a different screen name here and that I know both you and Cort from both places. The radiator was the most expensive souvenir I ever bought, especially when you add in 8 days of renting a car, but all turned out well. The biggest disappointment was that we had to abort our return trip along US-80 though we were able to capture a chunk of the Lee Highway. Another real high point was getting to stay in the newly restored Boots Motel in Carthage, MO. It's a must for anyone passing through there. I also got some great shots of an old abandoned section of the Jefferson Highway in Carthage that used to be North Main Street. Mike
  11. On our most recent trip just completed a couple of weeks ago we stayed in all three. Cave City, KY on May 30th, June 8th in Holbrook, AZ (first time there) and June 10th in Rialto/San Bernardino, CA. They are all fun in their own way, but I can also confirm that a wigwam in Kentucky in February is mighty cold as well! My trip blog, if you're interested is http://mecurtis.blogspot.com Mike
  12. Cort, A lot can happen in a year, and I hope you don't wind up losing your Monte Carlos. In the end, no matter what, you still have the memories. My sister and I sold our parents' home of 38 years yesterday. It was difficult to let go, but the memories will always be inside. I truly hope everything works out well for you. Mike
  13. Hi Denny, I do have Jeff Jensen's book, and much of what I am doing right now is reversing his route to make it easier to navigate as we go along. Plus once we hit the Texas state line we're on our own so I'm still trying to decide between the various possible routes. By the way, I just bought the $9 copy of Eric Finley's book on Amazon. After reading that stellar review by some guy named Denny Gibson, how could I not. Mike
  14. Hi Denny, Thanks for the tip. I added the waypoint labels which makes it easier to track things. I still don't understand why it was doing what it was doing though. I was trying to get off of I-8 in California at Exit 80 to take a look at some 1927 and 1932 sections of US-80. The map shows an off ramp and then an on ramp. It allows me to exit there but will not let me get back on I-8 there. Instead it sends me back west to Exit 77, then I get back on eastbound I-8 at the same place and continue on. There doesn't appear to be an issue with the entrance ramp at Exit 80; I even double checked it visually with Google Maps and the off ramp and on ramp both appear to be open. In any event, the issue is solved, and I'm getting (slightly) better at using the program. thanks for the help, as always. Mike
  15. Hi Arnold, The Parkway runs right along my county border. I drive sections of it many times over the course of the year, including just to go up there at night and star gaze. I've driven the entire route once. The North Carolina and Virginia sections are very different, but both very beautiful. Mike
  16. Oh man this software is driving me crazy. After several hours I was able to create and print my route from San Diego to El Cajon. Then, starting to feel confident, I created the next section from El Cajon to El Centro. While the route includes all of the roads I want to drive on it also decided to put me on I-8 in the wrong direction, then off at the next exit, and back on I-8 to the original exit. It happened in three different places and no matter how many waypoints I add or where I move them it doesn't solve the problem. I even set my preferences to avoid limited access highways and that didn't help either. Any thoughts before I give up and use magic markers on paper maps to draw my 6,000 mile route? Mike
  17. Denny, I've been enjoying your trip blog as well as catching up on the rest of your site. The Valiant looks great! Mike
  18. Hi Denny, Thanks for the feedback. I'm actually going to be in Charlotte all day at a car show, so it will probably be over the weekend some time when I can get back to this. I knew from some of your previous posts that you were familiar with using this software, so I'm sure I will be picking your brain. What precipitated my original request was that when I tried to create a specific route (not even sure of the process I used now) the software kept trying to "snap" back to a more direct route, typically along a nearby interstate. The only way I could force it to stay on my route was by inserting a whole bunch of artificial waypoints along the way. Eventually the software told me I had exceeded the number of allowed waypoints, which I think was 100. So I figured I was not using the correct procedure and rather than beat my head against a wall I would ask the experts. Mike
  19. I'm wondering if someone can point me in the right direction with the Street Atlas USA 2012 software I bought. I don't want to do anything particularly difficult with it (I don't think) but I haven't had much time to play with it yet. Basically, I want to be able to draw our route back from California to North Carolina and print it out section by section. Is there a simple way for me to do that? Any help would be appreciated. Mike
  20. It's incredible what a breadth of knowledge people on this forum have, and even more so that everyone is willing to take the time to share.
  21. Thanks Dave. I took your advice and will contact Cort another way. You, of course, can email me anytime!
  22. We aren't currently hiring, but there may be other companies out there who are. I'll contact you with a few possibilities. No I haven't joined, but I just spent the last hour pouring through the site. Thanks for the tip. Mike
  23. You definitely are a car guy Cort. You nailed all of them except the ES 350, which is a Lexus. My company does a lot of work with auto and motorcycle manufacturers; things like new product development, customer satisfaction, early buyer studies, etc. We specialize in something called a "car clinic" where we invite owners of cars from a particular segment (e.g., midsize owners, minivan owners) to come in and give us feedback on a prototype vehicle being developed by one of the manufacturers. We try to determine the relative strengths and weaknesses of the new design and provide feedback to the manufacturer so they can make whatever changes they deem suitable before the car is released into the marketplace. Because of the long lead time in vehicle development, this process typically takes place 3-4 years before the planned release of the vehicle. And yes, my newest car (and daily driver for now) is my 1972 Monte Carlo. I put a lot of miles on my other cars too. When the weather is bad I do my best not to drive any of them and I drive Sharon's Ford Escape instead. If I decide that I really need to have a new car I am inclined toward further impracticality, so maybe a Miata, Mini Cooper S or a Corvette. I can never quite stop stalking cars on ebay though, so my next new car is likely to be another old one. Mike
  24. Happy Birthday Denny!! Let's have that beer soon.
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