Chris Rowland
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Posts posted by Chris Rowland
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Several of my coworkers felt aftershocks about 11:15 this morning, I didn't though. Weird!
The quake awakened both me and my wife, and somehow I immediately knew it was an earthquake even though it had been 20 years since I had felt one. But both of our boys (age 9 and 11) woke up from it too and were worried about the noises, so we didn't get to go back to sleep.
I also got to enjoy the aftershock at 11:15.
Chris
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US-52 is quite the trip. I've been on it in parts of Illinois and in Iowa.
In June, we're taking it from the Saskatchewan border with North Dakota to Indianapolis, so we'll be covering the parts you haven't been to yet. I'm really looking forward to it.
I have to agree that the segment between Metamora and Brookville, Indiana is wonderful.
Chris
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If you and Bliss and maybe at least another car (Chris, mobilene, Bucfan, RoadDog, mmarkley, Kip?) or so want to do one of those weekends, I'll try to do some coordination. If not, maybe as Bliss suggested, we can do it in the fall.
We're headed down to Georgia the next weekend, so our urge to travel will have some kind of outlet. We don't mind delaying the trip until a time when more can participate.
Chris
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Thought I'd pass this along to those of us on the forum who own a Toyota Corolla or Matrix. Toyota's recalling 2003-2004 models for potential breaking of driver's and passenger door windows. According to the article below, owners will be notified in late April. Denny, not sure if this includes your Vibe, since it's a Matrix clone. Looks like we'll be heading to Beck Toyota soon....
Sweet, new windows for my '03 Matrix! Maybe they will fix the window gasket again.
I wish they would recall my catalytic converter, since that's causing my Check Engine light to come on...
Chris
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Where is the other place in Illinois where Route 66 crosses tbe Lincoln?
Methinks it is Joliet. We're passing through there on July 4 when we cross Illinois on US 52. Did US 52 formerly coincide at the same point? And US-6 also? A map I saw now has 52 bypassing downtown by a few blocks, but I am guessing that they probably all met at the same place in the past.
Chris
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I would appreciate your feedback as to whether this works for you. (I have noted that sometimes the satelite view is buggy. If so, use the Map choice.)
It looked good to me! I know that Flickr and Picasa also can show pictures in a map view, but it's not quite as nice as the side-by-side of the photo and the location.
Chris
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I really want to make the whole trip off the interstate. I really don’t want any “excepts.” Right now I’m telling myself that if I am still a freeway virgin when I reach Wyoming, I want to stay one. If I have been violated by the time I get to Medicine Bow, I’ll figure I can’t unring the bell, and I’ll do 20 miles on I 80.
Keep in mind, too, that you aren't just doing this for yourself, but for posterity. You are blazing a new trail. You have to keep in mind the intrepid travelers who will try to follow your path through these rocky parts. If it's too convoluted, or has too many dirt roads, you will need to put up a whole lot of markers and signs on the telephone poles, which will add to your costs. If the road quality is low, independent publishers of Hypotenuse Trail guides will actually recommend detours around your original route...
Wouldn't it be a shame if the Hypotenuse Trail became so popular and well traveled that it became a proposed Interstate Highway corridor? We need a happy medium where the route is neither too difficult to follow or inefficient, nor too popular or useful.
Chris
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So what does he do, but offer to drive out and open the Fort if I give him a call. Gees, it’s like being a VIP when you travel in Wyoming.....they even open the forts when you come to visit.!
That's awesome! Can't beat service like that! I hope you have the time to take him up on the offer. I'm sure he can add some local color to make up for a mile or two of Interstate...
Chris
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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.
That "Old Highway", as it is marked, does look like it doesn't see much traffic. Would you have to take that big loop northward by the railroad tracks when heading west from Walcott?
Chris
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Can anyone here answer whether I can take the Medicine Bow Lincoln Highway segment westbound and then get to Rawlins without picking up I-80, recognizing I may need to follow a bit of dirt road west of the North Platte.
It looks like the Fort Fred Steele State Historic Site is just west of that bridge. Maybe you could call a dutiful civil servant at the office listed at that web site to see whether you could get more local information about the frontage road and bridge. The office is in Sinclair, and they should know, I would think.
Chris
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All you have to do to get in on this incredible offer is to post a comment regarding the trail here on the American Road Forum before or during the Trail Blazing and send me by personal message (or e-mail) a mailing address. You will automatically be enrolled as a charter member of the Hypotenuse Trail Association with all the rights privileges and responsibilities thereto appertaining.
I can't turn down the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of something this groundbreaking! My contact info will follow.
Your descriptions make the trail sound so beautiful, I can't wait to see the guide book with the beautiful photos.
Chris
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Chris, thou art the essence of subtlety.Oh, and Chris, I suppose the whole idea was a bust!
Obviously I was referring to "Pikes Peak or Bust"... I'm not sure what you guys could have been referring to?!?
Chris
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An eight page brochure, which I believe is from 1949 or '50, contains the slogan "Travel the Perfect 36" with an illustration of another "perfect 36".
Gotta wonder whether that marketing technique brought more traffic, or whether it was a bust.
Chris
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Not talking about visits here; should be places you have had a "residence"!
Anyone with more than my four?
I've never lived on it, but if I can take credit for my wife, before we were married she lived in Rock Springs, WY; Green River, WY; and Salt Lake City, UT. So it's somewhat vicarious. We were married in Green River, though.
Chris
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I would leave 52 in Kankakee and take IL-102 from there to Wilmington, IL where I'd pick up IL-53/Route 66 and take it up to Joliet where I'd rejoin 52...
Long story short, the Launching Pad would be my suggestion for lunch, although you'd have to leave 52 for a spell.
This sounds like a worthy detour! IL-102 looks like it would be scenic, following the river. I've seen pictures of The Launching Pad, but didn't realize it would be close to the route--it would be good timing for a lunch stop.
I always feel guilty on a trip like this when my goal is to "Follow 52" when I take detours and end up missing some miles. For instance, in North Dakota, I'm probably taking a side trip over to Rugby to see the Geographical Center of North America, because I honestly don't think I will be in that neighborhood again. But that means missing about 70 miles of US 52 as I go off to see that... But I guess I'm not writing a book or anything--in which case I would probably need to travel the road a half-dozen times to really know the subject. I just need to convince myself better that I am being true to my purpose.
Just curious, is there much of 52 left between The Cities and Sauk Centre, MN? I've followed what appears to be an alignment that roughly parallels I-94 from Fergus Falls, but after Sauk Centre, it appears to disapper underneath 94, unless I'm looking at the wrong road. Sounds like a great trip regardless! We've always said we're going to pick a US route from Indy and make a vacation out of it.I've been wondering about that, too. I do see a Minnesota state road called "52" and then some other roads following along I-94 down to Sauk Centre, also. After that, it looks like old alignments may have converted back to county roads. I am considering dropping south on US-71 and picking up Minnesota state road 55 for the drive into Minneapolis, because it looks like a nice 2-lane without many cities on the way. But then, of course, I feel a twinge of guilt for leaving US-52 for so long... But I guess the trip should be more about my enjoyment than a somewhat arbitrary commitment to follow a certain signed highway, right???
Chris
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I regret that my information is a little out of date
(1924 ABB) but should you want more “helpful” 
advice, let me know and I will try to supply it when I get back from riding the Hypotenuse Trail!As Wikipedia notes, "Contrary to most other even-numbered U.S. Highways, US 52 primarily follows a northwest-southeast route"
So it looks like US 52 is, itself, a shadow of your hypotenuse trail, just offset several hundred miles to the northeast:
Chris
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Can’t decide whether it’s the Lincoln.... or up to Buffalo and Ten Sleeps and through the Grand Tetons.
It's Tensleep Canyon in my userpic--so I would have to vote for that! But of course Independence Rock would make a good landmark, also. Give it kind of an Oregon Trail feel...
Chris
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I wanted to solicit input for our family trip this summer returning from Regina, Saskatchewan to Indianapolis, Indiana along U.S. 52. If you know of any must-see attractions, good places to eat, etc., please chime in! As far as lodging, we would like to stay somewhere that is non-chain but nice and clean for a family of four. Same with restaurants--we prefer it not to be a chain restaurant. We like simple diner-style lunches, and my wife is keen on steak for dinner but it doesn't have to be terribly fancy.
July 1, 2008:
Regina, SK; Weyburn, SK; Estevan, SK; Minot, ND
Any lunch recommendations near Minot, ND?
Rugby, ND; Jamestown, ND
Any dinner recommendations for Jamestown, ND?
Any lodging recommendations for Jamestown, ND?
July 2, 2008:
Jamestown, ND; Fargo, ND; Fergus Falls, MN; Alexandria, MN
Any lunch recommendations between Fergus Falls, MN and Alexandria, MN?
St. Cloud, MN, Minneapolis, MN, St. Paul, MN
Any dinner recommendations in Minneapolis or St. Paul?
Any lodging recommendations in the twin cities?
July 3, 2008:
St. Paul, MN; Rochester, MN; Decorah, IA
Any lunch recommendations near Decorah, IA?
Dubuque, IA; Savanna, IL
Any dinner recommendations near Savanna, IL?
Any lodging recommendations near Savanna, IL?
July 4, 2008:
Savanna, IL; Dixon, IL; Mendota, IL; Joliet, IL
Any lunch recommendations near Joliet, IL?
Kankakee, IL; Lafayette, IN; Indianapolis, IN
We plan to spend the night in Indianapolis at our own home
This return phase is still in the planning stages, so I look forward to any tips or recommendations along the way.
Thanks!
Chris
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I'd pay a small sum to be a founding member of the Hypotenuse Trail Booster's Association!
If only we could raise enough interest to get this new trail routed through Indiana! Just think of what it could bring to our communities! I hear that money talks!
Chris
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Its kind of tough to take the full Hypotenuse Trail in only 14 days...
"Hypotenuse Trail", I love it! You seemed to have picked the "right angle" when naming this route!
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If, as Chris suggested, you drive US-19 and you pick it up soon enough, you'll be able to cross Tampa Bay on the Sunshine Skyway. Perhaps a four mile bridge could make up for some of the water watching you'll miss if you decide to forgo the keys drive.
The probem with US-19 from St. Petersburg up past Clearwater, etc., is that it is a very heavily traveled road and is part heavy 4-lane with stoplights, and part interchanges. It is jam packed with strip malls, etc.
If you don't cut diagonally across Florida (US-27), I do think the Tamiami Trail (US-41) from Miami, through the Everglades and up the west coast to St. Pete is probably a good choice. Once to St. Petersburg, I would recomment Alternate US-19 and heading more toward the Gulf and enjoying the older coastal communities and let that lead you up to US-19. The only problem with any option including the Skyway Bridge is that you would have a lot of stop-and-go any way you try to travel north from there (avoiding the Interstate, of course).
Overall, for quicker time on the Florida leg, I would recommend US-27 north from Miami, west on Florida 60 and then catch US-98 to take you northwest over to US-19.
Chris
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US-19 along the west side of Florida is a nice drive.
Looks like your path would take you through Dothan, Alabama. We went through there this past summer and saw their
World's smallest city block:
and Peanut statue: 
The western part of the Nebraska segment is nice, I've been on that one before. Chimney Rock and Scottsbluff are great, and maybe you can swing up by Carhenge in Alliance if you haven't been there.
Chris
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Here is my old (5 years ago) shot of the Rockville bridge. Great setting!!
Dave
Great photo! I wish I could join you.
Chris
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Chris,
If you ever make it to West Lafayette, IN, I recommend the Reuben at O'Bryan's Nine Irish Brothers. It is my personal favorite.
Michele
Thanks, Michele! We're in West Lafayette several times a month. I will definitely put this on my to-do list!
Chris
041908 White Sand And Old Bridges On The Hypotenuse Trail
in Hypotenuse Trail
Posted
My wife and I always have that problem on our trips, too! Getting enough rest is important to enjoy things, but documenting what has happened is also compelling.
This year, I think I will hand my wife the laptop and she can take dictation in the car while we drive... that should at least give us a head-start. Then we only will need to download and insert photos when we arrive at our destination...
We'll see this June whether that actually turns out!
Chris