Bursing My Nostalgia Bubble

[mobilene]

I just posted an entry on my blog about my last trip down the Illinois National Road and how an encounter with a fellow who remembers driving the old brick road turned on their ears my nostalgic visions of life on the old road.

 

http://jimgrey.wordpress.com/2008/02/08/bu...stalgia-bubble/

 

Even if you don't care much about my nostalgia, there's a photo of my car sitting on the brick, with I-70 in the distant background.

 

jim

[Keep the Show on the Road!]

I just posted an entry on my blog about my last trip down the Illinois National Road and how an encounter with a fellow who remembers driving the old brick road turned on their ears my nostalgic visions of life on the old road.

 

http://jimgrey.wordpress.com/2008/02/08/bu...stalgia-bubble/

 

Even if you don't care much about my nostalgia, there's a photo of my car sitting on the brick, with I-70 in the distant background.

 

jim

 

Paul is right. The old two laners were often congested and obviously dangerous. The stories I could tell….....But today we have the freeways, built to get all the traffic off the two lane roads so we can enjoy them as they were meant to be enjoyed!!!

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

[mobilene]

Isn't perspective and experience a funny thing? I grew up in the Interstate Era. The last of the major bypassing of roads happened in my stomping grounds before 1980. So the old two-laners have always been "the old way" to me.

[BabyBoomerBob]

I just posted an entry on my blog about my last trip down the Illinois National Road and how an encounter with a fellow who remembers driving the old brick road turned on their ears my nostalgic visions of life on the old road.

 

 

It's a lot like the replacing of nearly all the old truss bridges here in Tennessee. The folks who had to drive the old bridge in Loudon were glad for the new, wider bridge. What's been lost is the aesthetics of the old spans.

[mobilene]

One thing's for sure, few modern bridges have any visual appeal.

 

I go out of my way sometimes to drive across an old metal truss bridge, just because. Trusses seldom fail to make me smile.

 

Here's a link to a Google Maps image of a truss bridge I can drive anytime, since it's not terribly far from my house. At some point, the road was widened from 2 to 4 lanes, but thankfully they just built a new westbound bridge alongside the old span.

 

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=39....mp;t=k&z=18

 

Street View is active in that location, so if you want to experience the bridge, click Street View and then click somewhere on the bridge.

[Jennifer]

One thing's for sure, few modern bridges have any visual appeal.

 

I go out of my way sometimes to drive across an old metal truss bridge, just because. Trusses seldom fail to make me smile.

 

Here's a link to a Google Maps image of a truss bridge I can drive anytime, since it's not terribly far from my house. At some point, the road was widened from 2 to 4 lanes, but thankfully they just built a new westbound bridge alongside the old span.

 

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=39....mp;t=k&z=18

 

Street View is active in that location, so if you want to experience the bridge, click Street View and then click somewhere on the bridge.

 

I love that bridge as well. I just drove it (virtually) to get to Maggie Moo's for a virtual hot fudge sundae! My daughter had a brief stint of employment there.

 

I am actually enjoying <insert shameless plug for Becky here> a hot cup of AMERICAN ROAD's turtle sundae coffee...mmmm!!

[mobilene]

Heh! My stepson (who's now 22) used to work at that Maggie Moo's too.

[Keep the Show on the Road!]

Isn't perspective and experience a funny thing? I grew up in the Interstate Era. The last of the major bypassing of roads happened in my stomping grounds before 1980. So the old two-laners have always been "the old way" to me.

 

Mobilene,

 

Reading the perspectives of you younger guys has been a great experience for me because you look at the 1950’s like I think of the 1930’s or 1920’s. And my grand children think that we always had maps like Google Earth that allowed us to look at the roads and see a pot hole.

 

Yesterday my son was lost about 2 hours from here as he looked for a rural address. He called and I pulled up Microsoft Virtual Earth and he gave me landmarks and I told him turn by turn how to get to his destination. “You went a hundred yards too far.... turn around and go back up the hill, and through the gate on your left.”

 

I was looking at our house the other day, and I recognized the grey image under the tree as Bo, in his favorite spot.

 

And now it is live streaming video....offered up by the department of transportation. Last night I watched a fellow put on his chains in a snowstorm beside I 80 near Tahoe....in 600 X 480 full motion, without a jerk. OMG! I wanted to shout at him that he was too close to the traffic lane.

 

By the time I’m too old to get out of my easy chair for a trip, I won’t have to!!!

 

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

 

Dave

[roadhound]

Perspective is a funny thing. I can recall driving on a trip with my parents in Northern California while I-5 was being built sometime in the mid to late 60's. I remember we were forced to alternate between the two lanes of 99W and the interstate in what must have been 10 mile stretches (I wasn't really paying attention to that detail).

 

When we we're on the 99W 2 lane roadbed the traffic would bunch up behind a slow moving truck and the traffic coming the other way was to heavy to attempt a pass. The faster moving cars would wait until they hit the interstate and it would be a mad dash to pass all of the slower moving vehicles before getting back on the 2-lane road. Once we stopped at the diner for breakfast we watched all of those slow moving trucks pass us by.

 

I also have a vivid memory from while we were on the 99W sections of looking across and seeing the earth moving equipment building the Interstate. That memory appears a lot from my early travels as a kid.

 

The last few times that I have driven that stretch of road the view has been from the Interstate looking at the old 99W roadbed. Once in a while I will take an offramp and drive the old highway.

[roadmaven]

One thing's for sure, few modern bridges have any visual appeal.

 

I go out of my way sometimes to drive across an old metal truss bridge, just because. Trusses seldom fail to make me smile.

 

Here's a link to a Google Maps image of a truss bridge I can drive anytime, since it's not terribly far from my house. At some point, the road was widened from 2 to 4 lanes, but thankfully they just built a new westbound bridge alongside the old span.

 

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=39....mp;t=k&z=18

 

Street View is active in that location, so if you want to experience the bridge, click Street View and then click somewhere on the bridge.

 

Good news....it looks like it's about to be renovated:

 

David Wolf Bridge

 

(I never knew it had a name!)

 

[mobilene]

David Wolf is an astronaut from Indiana. My ex-wife was in the Indiana Air National Guard at the same time he was. She was the base photographer in Terre Haute and used to take his "mug shots" that they put on his record when he was up for promotion.

[roadmaven]

David Wolf is an astronaut from Indiana. My ex-wife was in the Indiana Air National Guard at the same time he was. She was the base photographer in Terre Haute and used to take his "mug shots" that they put on his record when he was up for promotion.

 

.....and a graduate of North Central High School just to the west of "his bridge".

 

[mobilene]

I always wondered why, of all the bridges in Indiana, they named that one after him!

[mmarkley]

.....and a graduate of North Central High School just to the west of "his bridge".

 

And a Purdue grad. Woo Hoo. Sorry, just had to throw that out there.

 

Michele

Edited March 5, 2008 by mmarkley

[usroadman]

Wow, even I've been over that one a few times, and I live nowhere near Indy (although I used to go there for work occasionally). I really prefer that too, where instead of tearing down an old truss bridge they twin it to add the extra lanes. Luckily there are still a few of those places around the country where an old truss bridge carries traffic one direction while a newer bridge carries traffic the other direction.