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

Us 45 Michigan To Alabama


usroadman
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We did the drive on 45 back in August and I finally got the pictures uploaded here. It was a nice drive with lots of 2-lane, and even a detour back onto the old alignment for a few miles north of Oshkosh. We got pretty lucky with the weather. Just one day where a thunderstorm caught up with us as we left Chicago and stayed with us for hours, with apparently both the car and storm moving at the same average speed.

 

Flying to & from the road was a bit more harrowing. Never enough $, so had to use airlines miles for the flight out, but even that they really get ya on since any "normal" flight is full. So flew LaGuardia to Cincinnati to Detroit to Duluth leaving LGA at about 6:00 AM (and it's a minimum 90 minute drive to LGA) getting to Duluth at 12:30. So first they change the schedules 6 times, so still leaving at 6 but now not getting in until 4:00 (and we're spending the first night in Ontonagon, not exactly around the corner from Duluth). Then a week before we leave I get a call from the car rental place in Duluth. They're moving off airport, so need to take a cab. I also notice that they are now closed on weekends, so I call them up and point out that I am flying in on Saturday. They were really pretty good and assured me they'd have someone there to meet me since I already had a reservation, & the guy even gave me his cell number just in case (although he'd be out of town) & they gave me a really nice Cadillac (I was only paying for an Impala), surprising for a one way rental. Get to LGA early and find that storms the night before had made a real mess, tons of people sleeping in the terminal, huge lines, & everything overbooked, but luckily we sneak out as planned. CVG to DTW also no problem, and Mike from American Pickers (on History Channel) was on line right in front of us at CVG, so we all got to meet him & the kids got a picture with him. The 3.5 hour layover in Detroit started out fine. Then 30 minutes before the flight they change our gate (from one with a plane to one without one). 10 minutes later the gate agent says the flight's been delayed 4 hours. Panic sets in. I'm worried about the car rental guy being there at 4:00. No way he'll still be there at 9:00. Start searching for other options. Luckily it was a miscommunication, and we actually left close to on time.

 

As we're driving down US 45, we start to see reports in the mornings & evenings about this thing called Irene spinning out in the Atlantic. The good news is it's not supposed to go anywhere near Alabama, so finishing US 45 is fine. I keep hoping that it will move just slowly enough so we can slip into New York Saturday night as scheduled and get home before the storm. I spend Thursday night making contingency plans though, reserving a few days of rental car and hotel in Atlanta just in case we get stuck at the last minute. But of course since everything is currently "on time", I can't even re-book to an earlier Saturday flight without paying a boat-load of money. Friday night they cancel my flight into New York, so now I can re-book, but there is nothing available. I go over to the Mobile airport and spend about 45 minutes with them searching for some way to get the 4 of us at least close to home (small airports can be really nice for that sort of thing). Finally we figure out how to get us into Buffalo leaving early the next morning. In the end it worked fine, reserved a rental car, got to Buffalo and drove the 6 hours home (the last couple in the front edge of the storm).

 

Hope you enjoy the trip down 45.

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As we're driving down US 45, we start to see reports in the mornings & evenings about this thing called Irene spinning out in the Atlantic.

 

Yes, Irene put a giant monkey wrench into a lot of vacation plans. I was at the Airliners convention in Portland (OR), and as soon as it became clear that Irene had the New York metro area in her sights, the Big Apple area folks all started to bail early, knowing they had to get home before carriers started pulling planes out of the three NY airports (six airports, if you count Islip, White Plains, and Stewart/Newburgh) to get them out of (potential) harm's way. What made it worse was that a lot of them (the airline employees or retirees) were traveling non-rev, which means that they are flying space available only--no guaranteed seats.

A friend of mine who works for US Airways at LGA was able to get back in time to batten down his Bronx apartment (tape up the windows, get provisioned, etc.), but he had to take the 'scenic route' through two of US's three hubs, Phoenix AND Charlotte, on the trip from PDX to LGA!

Luckily, Irene turned out to be not as bad as predicted in the city and surrounding area. It was much worse, flooding-wise, farther north, in far upstate NY and VT.

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Hope you enjoy the trip down 45.

 

I certainly did!

 

Now, I want to just get in the car and head on down the road....

 

 

 

Cort | 38.m.IL | pigValve + paceMaker | 5 Monte Carlos + 1 Caprice Classic

CHD.MCs.CC + RoadTrips.models.RadioShows.legos.HO.us66 = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort

"Looking at me now you might not know it" __ Emerson Drive __ 'Moments'

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A very nice drive. Too bad the entry and exit were rather unpleasant. I haven't given US-45 much thought but it sure looks interesting and is a border to border route somewhat close to home. I may have to give it a visit some day. Knowing that it goes through two of the eight (according to DeLorme) Humboldts in the country just adds to the attraction. Thanks.

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