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

Chris Rowland

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Posts posted by Chris Rowland

  1. I just finished a trip where I noticed signs for Illinois 110 - or the "C-KC" highway. I saw them on I-74 between Galesburg and the Quad Cities. I thought it was strange because the signs didn't state "East" or "West", they simply had a little "CKC" at the top with the C in red and the KC in blue over a gray highway picture. My first thought was that maybe this stood for Chicago and Kansas City, and I guess I was right! I hadn't heard about this project before.

     

    CKC110c.jpg

     

    The routing is different from the CKCG highway on this thread, but I did find it fascinating that Illinois and Missouri are working together to create this "new" CKC auto trail and that they created a special logo and are using the same highway number for this "freeway".

     

    I just wanted to share this because I found it somewhat fascinating and somewhat of an anomaly. Are other states doing anything like this?

     

    Chris

  2. Michael G. Buettner writes on this page: “Given the impermanence of the overall route selection, it comes as no surprise that in Ohio, the PP-OO has largely been forgotten by everyone except highway historians and map collectors. However, according to the Martins, the fourth transcontinental highway is remembered in several Missouri towns where the route had its roots, and an Ocean Trail has managed to survive as a street name in Decatur, Illinois.”

     

    It certainly is odd to think about any road in Decatur, Illinois, being named "Ocean Trail" without the context to know that it was once part of that route.

     

    Chris

  3. Jim,

     

    I sent you by e-mail the itinerary/log of the Route 66 trip that my wife and I took last summer from Joliet, IL to Arcadia, OK. I put each day on a separate tab of the Excel workbook. What you might appreciate is that I have the exact GPS coordinates of every attraction along the way, mostly in order.

     

    I did got a lot of the coordinates before the trip, and made updates after I returned. Having these coordinates was really helpful when trying to find some of these obscure locations. After each point of interest, my wife would key in the next one while I drove.

     

    Anyway, I offer this log in the interest of helping you not to miss anything. If there’s something you get stumped while looking for it on the road, the coordinates should help.

     

    You also will get to see how much money we spent and what we ate, but who doesn’t want to know that?

     

    If anyone else is interested in it, just private message me with your e-mail address.

     

    Take care,

    Chris

  4. Thanks, Dave! We had a great trip, and there are many more photos to come. After our journey, I'm a little road-tripped out, which is somewhat surprising. I'm sure that feeling won't last too long.

     

    I can't believe how much research goes into planning a trip like this. If I hadn't found most of these places ahead of time and plugged their coordinates into my GPS, I'm sure I would have missed at least half of the sights.

     

    Chris

  5. My wife (Katherine) and I finally gotten back to our Route 66 journeys this month. Our first and only adventure had been the short segment between Chicago and Joliet back in January 2009, so we picked up this time in Joliet and I have finished posting our first day's photos, from Joliet to Springfield. We went all of the way to Oklahoma City on this trip, so the following days will follow later.

     

    I've just finished looking at a lot of Denny's photos, and I guess we just missed following him by a couple of weeks!

     

    These photos are from Monday, August 6, 2012, and quite a few things were closed. Highlights for our journey:

    • Eating at breakfast at The Old Route 66 Family Restaurant in Dwight
    • Visiting the Route 66 Museum in Pontiac
    • Sampling Funks Grove maple sirup
    • Lunch at the Dixie Travel Plaza
    • Dinner at the Cozy Drive In

    We camped at the Springfield KOA that night.

     

    Here are the photos, they are all geotagged for those who want to find where they were taken:

     

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/rowlandweb/sets/72157631143252906/

     

    I'll post the next installment once I have finished tagging them.

     

    Chris

  6. I always divide my road trips into separate plans for each day. After I figure out what area I want to spend each night, I then create separate files/routes as I plan each day. Otherwise it does get too hard to manage. I can't imagine trying to generate one itinerary over multiple continents and weeks without breaking it down.

  7. Jim, this is great information! I always wondered why the road was called Dandy Trail, and had no idea that it went beyond the northwest side of town. As for the street sign crossing the numbered street, it looks to me like it says "46th Street" which would place it on the northwest side of town (you can just make out the little triangle that forms the top of the number '4' to the left of the 6). Two additional reasons for that: looks like a "T" intersection, and that the road is actually called "Dandy Trail." I am thinking that over the rest of town, such as the one of Sargent Road, the streets were not renamed for the trail, except the area of town where it still retains the name.

     

    I am wondering whether the Sargent Road sign is at the intersection with Fall Creek Road, although the sign for Sargent Road would then be at 90 degrees from where it should be, since Sargent is the one that T's at that location. The only other T along Sargent would be 75th Street or at Lantern Road, but I would expect the fishery to be on Fall Creek. The field behind it also reminds me somewhat of the field south of Fall Creek at that intersection.

     

    Thanks for posting this!

     

    Chris

  8. Great shots Jim!

     

    I have always wondered about the crossing of Sugar Creek just west of Crawfordsville. There was an old alignment just east of the current bridge, which would have crossed Sugar Creek at the north end of what is now labeled Wayne Court (40.050433,-86.921039) and then headed down what is now Wayne Avenue towards Crawfordsville. However, there is also a Covington Street that looks like it used to cross at about (40.047784,-86.915213). Looking at a historical map of Crawfordsville here: http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/US/486710/Crawfordsville++Hillside++Durham++Fairview++Longview/Montgomery+County+1878/Indiana/

     

    I can't figure out which one would have carried the Dixie Highway. "Wayne" avenue makes sense since Waynetown was on the route, and "Covington" street also makes sense since Covington was on the route. Perhaps you have an opinion?

     

    Chris

  9. I have stayed at the Oakes Motel cabins before, in Cave City. They are pet friendly and should also be quiet. It is definitely a lot more "mom-and-pop" than the KOA, and used to be the "Rock Cottage Court" back in the day. Should come in under your price range, too.

     

    1935856250_ec89c9471d.jpg

    (not my photo)

     

    Chris

  10. Thanks for the 3D photo of Jim, and the report on the virtual coast to coaster! He looks like a "natural" at the presentation.

     

    The 3D was for you, Dave... thought it would show the depth of the presentation.

     

    So a 'biway' is a road that has oncoming traffic, right? Otherwise it would be a 'one-way'.

     

    Chris

  11. I had the opportunity to hear mobilene's Michigan Road presentation tonight. It was very professional and well-done. We had a reasonably good-sized crowd in Wanamaker who appeared to be very supportive of promoting byway recognition.

     

    Here you can see him here in 3D as he was preparing to begin our virtual coast-to-coast journey through Indiana.

     

    4968990385_a49860e8c4_z.jpg

     

    Great job!

    Chris

  12. Sacajawea's son was called Pomp by William Clark, and Pompey's Pillar was named by Clark for Pomp. Clark carved his name half way up the pillar to mark the expedition's passing. His signature carved in the rock still exists and is of course protected by a glass covering.

     

    It is the only sign if the expeditions passing anywhere on their route. I climbed the 100 stairs up to the site, and wished I kept myself in better shape. But it was worth every bead of sweat. I am a follower of Lewis and Clark and seeing that carving was moving.

     

    We visited Pompey's Pillar back in October 2003, and the gate was closed for the season, but there was a sign stating that we were welcome to walk the lane back to the site. I fondly remember walking over half a mile from the highway back to the pillar with my wife and our kids who were 6 and 4, then climbing up all of the steps there to view the historic graffiti, and then walking the half mile back to the car. Hopefully the gate was open when you visited :).

     

    Chris

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