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

roadmaven

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  1. Today the 83 year old Miton-Madison Bridge crossing the Ohio River via US 421 met its fate today...or most of it. The large center span was sent to the river via explosives. The replacement next to it was designed in a very similar fashion, yet wider and safer. More info on the bridge and the replacement can be found on the Milton-Madison website: http://www.miltonmadisonbridge.com/ There's some really nice pics, progress videos, and live cams as well. Video of the implosion can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPuPNLcD3-0

     

     

  2. I recall a few of us...I believe you were one Denny...hanging out on the patio of a bar in Springfield, IL during one of the international festivals. That was the first time I met Carl and like everyone else has said on the Route 66 Yahoo Group, he was a good guy and one of the many roadies I've met over the years who had road stories to tell. He was a tireless researcher when it came to Route 66, especially in Illinois. Sad day for 66 indeed.

  3. Pat, is one of those claimed campsites yours?

     

    Why, yes it was, Denny! It was a fantastic four days at McCormicks Creek. I think the final tally was 142 trailers of all little shapes & sizes. And a big tip o'the cap to American Road for co-sponsoring the event. There was an issue in every goody bag passed out. I got a few questions from some of the attendees about the magazine Friday when I wore my AR polo, so some new readers will be joining soon. Here are a few shots I took...my apologies for not getting them labeled yet. Hopefully this weekend! Crossroads of America 2011

  4. Dave - As the week's evolved, we've mainly stayed in CT, with a brief visit into Rhode Island at the beach at Misquamicut. We're heading out to western CT today to do some intense hiking. Friday we're picking up Jennifer's daughter and grandson and heading back to Mystic, then off to Mohegan Sun for a little time at the casino. Saturday we pack up and head down to Hoboken, NJ before starting our way back home later Saturday from there. I could get used to this!

  5. Greetings from Waterbury, CT! We're in the early stages of a 11 day adventure to the east coast, visiting Jennifer's family in Connecticut and bringing along the little grandson out to meet his family out here. Having a great time thus far (only into our 3rd day!) with a big agenda of food joints to encounter. :burgereater: Feel free to follow along on my Flickr page as I update with new pics daily. I've been using my cell phone on them thus far, which don't give *too* bad of a shot, but I'll be pulling out the Nikon D-40 today. We'll be hitting Mystic, CT Monday morning after a big family gathering this afternoon.

  6. I started doing this very same thing in the late 1990's. Actually, I was inspired by Laurel Kane after I saw she had done some then & now comparisons using some of her vast collection of vintage postcards. She got me on a postcard collecting kick back then and I set out on a mission to find as much as I could. I've got some on our (now dormant) website for your perusal: Time Frames

     

    Jennifer & I have since moved this little hobby to a different level. Instead of comparing postcards, we've gone Hollywood! We take still shots from various movies we like and go to those locations and shoot then & now images. It gives you a much bigger rush compared to shooting postcard comparisons, especially when you're on a location and capturing an image, and saying to yourself, "Damn, I'm standing in the same spot where Dean Martin-Frank Sinatra-Dustin Hoffman-Tom Cruise-Dan Ackroyd-John Travolta stood". And believe me, you can almost feel the "ghosts" from those movies there with you. This hobby of ours is what fostered the "Hollywood Boulevard" segment in each issue of American Road magazine that others have taken the reins on...and they're doing a great job with it.

     

    Our work can be seen at our blog here: Movie Filming Locations As I type, we'll be hitting the road in two days to head out to Connecticut/Rhode Island for vacation and visiting Jennifer's family. For the past couple of weeks, we've been researching and documenting another installment of movie filming location features for our blog: Mystic Pizza. This is going to be one of my favorites, as we dug HARD to find various scene locations from the movie, which is half the fun of doing this kind of thing. Some of the obscure scenes of movies are probably the hardest, but with some investigation and use of Google Street View and satellite images, it can be done. We should have Mystic Pizza up in a couple of weeks after we get back.

  7. I've never been a fan of Class Bs, but that opinion of them might have more to do with what they're asking for new ones for what you get. However, I can easily understand that B fans are B fans because they don't necessarily want something the size of a Class C, even if they can get that kind of room for the same price. But as KTSOTR mentioned, it does have it's advantages.

     

    Up until two years ago, I had never towed anything either. We always "someday" wanted to buy a teardrop trailer. We found a teardrop on steroids that was produced for a few years:

    3936811795_ea40432931.jpg

     

    It was about 15' long and was a breeze to tow. The first time I towed anything was the day we picked it up, some 3 hours away in northern Indiana. On the drive home, I didn't even know it was back there after awhile. We've since moved "up" to a 16 footer that offered us more room and a shower/potty combo:

    4723201596_2e90021f3b.jpg

     

    There are plenty of smaller travel trailers of this size that you wouldn't have a problem towing, especially if your van is full size. I'd be more than happy to give you a few suggestions if you decide to go that direction.

  8. The biggest thing we did last year was to actually sit down, go over everything we spend, and create a month to month budget. We then put the credit cards away (10 months & counting!) and only use our debit card for purchases.

     

    Another big thing that helped is that we started carpooling to work. With gas prices (now) at $3.50/gallon and having a 35 mile round trip communte, my '97 full size GMC pick-up would cost me around $8/day at current gas prices. Last year we started to carpool in our Toyota that gets double the fuel mileage. The truck now sits except for those weekends we take the trailer out to camp, or on the days when one of us has to be somewhere else. I'd say on average carpooling saves us somewhere around $100 at current gas prices.

     

    Another one of our favorite things to do to save a few bucks is to just have water when we eat out. A typical restaurant might charge close to $2 just to get a Coke. The cost savings here is minimal since we eat out may 3 times a month.

     

    Another help is our grocery shopping card. Our preferred grocery, Kroger, also has their own gas station. When using our card in the store, we get a point for each dollar we spend. When the balance gets over 100 points, we get $.10 off per gallon of gas. Over 200 points gets $.20 off per gallon, and on down the line.

     

    Something we've found lately is a website called http://fatwallet.com. They have a huge list of websites where you might buy something online. When you go to one of those websites via fatwallet and ultimately buy something, it's recorded on your fatwallet account and you get "cash back", depending on what the company you're buying from is offering. For example, you might get 5% of your total purchase put into your fatwallet account. Anytime we plan on ordering online, we'll go to fatwallet to see if that company is on there.

  9. July 14-17, 2011, there will be a rally of some of the finest teardrop and tiny travel trailers assembled at McCormicks Creek State Park in Spencer, Indiana at McCormicks Creek State Park. The Crossroads of America 2011 Rally is expected to have well over 100 different types of home-built, factory-built teardrops and other forms of mobile escape pods. If you're in the area, bring along your camera, and mosey around the campground. Admission to the state park is required ($5 per car). Still some 4 1/2 months away, there are already 95 campsites claimed for the rally. If you have a trailer and want to join in, registration info can be found on the rally website. A big tip of the cap to Thomas & Becky Repp and American Road magazine for co-sponsoring the event!

  10. I read a troubling story regarding the financial troubles plaguing the RV Hall of Fame and Museum in Elkhart, Indiana recently. We visited there last year and the facility and displays were top notch. It would be a shame to lose this attraction dedicated to a segment of the history of American travel. If you're ever traveling in the northern Indiana area, this is well worth a couple hours of your time: http://www.rvmhhalloffame.org/

  11. I found a few here (scroll to the bottom), but some of the prices are a little pricey. Plus one, Eby's Pines, is up near your old stomping grounds, so that might not be too much of a retreat.

     

    Another option could be a KOA Kabin or Lodge. I found one example at the KOA in Horse Cave, KY, mentions:

    Kamping Lodges,great for a couple or a family and traveling with their furry friends.The lodge has a bathroom,fridge, microwave,queen size bed,futon & 26'TV w/DVD player.We have A/C NOW!!!

    For up to 4 people.

    On their website they have an estimated rate for 12/4 -- 12/6 at approx $60/night: http://koa.com/campgrounds/horse-cave/

    gallery_0006_lodge1.jpg

  12. Hey, at least the reporter used "historical" right -- I kept using "historic" when "historical" was the better choice in that context.

     

    That wasn't just any reporter....you got Debby Knox! She's been at WISH-TV I think since I was in junior high. Has there been anything said recently regarding changing the actual name of Michigan Road to MLK in the rest of Marion County? I recall a few years ago it looked like it was going to happen, but the idea seemed to disappear when Bart Peterson lost his mayoral election.

  13. Why thank you all! My apologies for not catching this sooner. The past couple of weeks have been BUSY! Had a great trip last week out to Route 66 in Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma. Then this week we took possession of our new trailer, so all in all, it's been a swell birthday "season"!

    4722551311_e74dc703db.jpg

  14. After doing more research on the Buffalo Trace, the thick plottens, as they say. Sources disagree on its route.

    Some say US 150, others say that it's actually local roads in that general corridor. Hmm.....

     

    OK, now this would get my vote! A good road dog always goes for those paths that need to be sniffed. And if I were a bettin' man, I'd probably put my gas money on the local roads theory.

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