Jump to content
American Road Magazine
Celebrating our two-lane highways of yesteryear…And the joys of driving them today!

Chris Rowland

Full Members
  • Posts

    294
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

Posts posted by Chris Rowland

  1. I remember one shows the road thru the gap in Maryland, another of the Y bridge in Ohio and still another shows Berthoud Pass west of Denver.

    We just drove through Berthoud Pass this morning on our way to Steamboat Springs, Colorado. It was my first time through the pass, and it was great! I took a few pictures I hope to post when I get some time...

     

    Chris

  2. When I visit the forum, I click on the link at the top that says "View New Posts." That should show you a list of all new posts which have been made since your last visit. I find this helpful, because you can see all the threads with new posts.

    My experience is that this feature only works if it has been no more than two days since you last visited. If I don't check every day or two, things don't show up on "View New Posts".

     

    And the other annoying thing is that every time I visit I don't have chance to read everything on "View New Posts", so next time I log in, it only shows me things since that last visit whether I read them or not.

     

    I really wish the forum somehow kept track of what new posts I had actually viewed, and could give me a list of all unviewed posts. Since I try to read every post in every subforum, it's often very hard to keep track. I don't use the e-mail notification because it looked like you had to sign up for that at the sub-forum level, and I wasn't sure I wanted to sign up for 20 different forums... but if I did, would that work better for me?

     

    Chris

  3. You know, the most vocal of us here are, I think, pretty hardcore...

     

    Yet the magazine looks to me to be about two-lane tourism...

     

    I wonder if people in that audience come here, see the serious roadgeekery going on, say, "Nothing for me here," and move along.

    I think I agree with your assessment. Being on the roadgeek side, I tend to feel that being highly involved in a forum requires some sort of "geekery" to keep you coming back: whether it's motor oil, old highway alignments or whatnot.

     

    What would be the compulsion for someone seeking "tourism" that would draw them back several times a month to see what others are doing? Is it more "touristy" content? We have the 'roadside business' section with lodging, dining and other attractions. I would anticipate that to be the type of content to draw them in. So maybe I should ask, what interests a typical "tourist-geek"?

     

    Chris

  4. Looking over the edge where the new cement was grafted on, I could see the old railing lying on the riverbank below!

    How surprising to see the old railing just lying there... an excellent souvenir for any road fan, if only it could be hauled out of there :P

     

    I believe you are correct that the numbered highways also used this alignment before US-31 was upgraded and relocated.

     

    I'm glad my directions where helpful--did you find any errors in them that I should fix? I haven't had time to take a second trip to verify them.

     

    Chris

  5. I'm interpreting the fact that Chris listed just one day, Oct 5, as his only chance to participate as indicating he's thinking of doing what he had planned for the spring and joining the troop for Sunday only

    Yep, Saturdays don't work for me because that's our Sabbath and I've got church responsibilities on those days. As for spring, March and April look wide open at the moment :D

     

    Chris

  6. If there is enough interest, I'll try to take the point in getting something going. If there isn't, we can take another look next spring.

    Right now, it looks like the only days I have open are Oct 5 in the near term, and any weekend Nov 2 or later. In between those dates we are driving to Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Of course you are all welcome to drive back with me on the PPOO, except that will be on weekdays.

     

    Chris

  7. On the way to Canton I looked over an 1805 bridge, visited Valley Forge and a yellow brick road, and slept over a bar, inside a 1940s cabin, and adjacent to my garaged car.

    Denny, I enjoyed the write-up. The motel near Minerva with the garage was pretty cool. I'd never seen one like that before (the correct address for the motel is http://www.palmantiersmotel.com).

     

    I thought your train photo was timed just right and well-composed. And the framing was excellent with the yellow brick road in it, too.

     

    And I've learned that I will probably want to skip a "motel and grille" on nights with live entertainment.

     

    Chris

  8. The two versions are here (old) and here (new). The PanoramaPlus/Autostitch version is much better with no detectable seams.

    While the new image does better at hiding the seams, the old picture is much sharper and clearer. So I actually like the old one better... unless the sharpness is an artifact of the image compression and the new one actually looked sharper at a higher quality setting.

     

    Chris

  9. WE HAVE A WINNER!!!

     

    Member Chris Rowland has correctly identified the location of the American Road Geocache and Treasure Hunt hidden treasure! It is hidden in the Beacon Rock State Park on the Columbia River in Washington State. He will receive the grand prize!

    I've been so busy enjoying my new autographed edition of American Road (Becky was so kind to send me a back issue that I did not have), that perhaps I may have been distracted and missed the next treasure hunt. Will there be another? I hope so. There are at least a dozen more back issues that I need to win for my collection...

     

    Chris

  10. And thanks to the BLM for reposting the 1850’s plat maps. I used them as overlays on Google Earth to provide the detailed path of the old trail.

    I really liked the overlays... I have tried that technique from time to time when drawing my own maps, but for showing old alignments or history, it seems to work pretty well!

     

    I still have a sense of wonder at how accurate most old maps are, especially when you compare with an aerial photograph. It makes me want to learn how to do land surveying...

     

    Chris

  11. We made our final cross back into Wisconsin on a 15 minute ferry ride down the Mississippi that dropped us off in Cassville, WI.

    I liked the photos. I haven't been on a car ferry for 27 years (Lake Champlain: Port Kent, NY to Burlington, VT)... maybe I should plan a trip where I will need to do that.

     

    Chris

  12. Chris, how did you figure it out?

    The hint about "paralleling" a signed U.S. highway for miles made me stop and think 'why would a highway parallel a signed U.S. highway for so long, and be near a body of water? That's what made me guess the Columbia River in round 4, which meant I knew they were talking about Washington 14...

     

    Also, I knew it had to be in a state park, not a national park, so I checked out all of the state parks in Washington in that corridor... I saw that Beacon Rock had a Lewis & Clark connection, so I made a leap of faith.

     

    I still never found the hint in the store--I hunted around but had no idea what I would be looking for. Did anyone else find a hint there?

     

    Chris

  13. What is\was the definition of the classic family road trip?

    I consider all of my road trips to be classic family road trips. They all beat going in to the office. :D

     

    I think a classic family road trip would need to have at least the following components:

    • Stop at some tourist attraction along the way

    • Stay in a motel

    • Take some pictures

    • Have kids in the back seat

    • Require a map be brought along

     

    Chris

×
×
  • Create New...