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Clouds Turn To Sunshine Over Hypotenuse Trail


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The weather along the HypotenuseTrail is lousy this week…snow and wind in Wyoming and Nebraska, thunderstorms in Kansas, floods in Arkansas and Mississippi, overcast in Florida…..Great! Let Mother Nature get it out of her system! Next week will be sunny and the birds will be singing…

 

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay,

My, oh, my, what a wonderful day.

Plenty of sunshine headin' my way,

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay!

 

If clouds are hanging over your route today, click on the rousing midi below. And…

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

 

Dave

 

Zipadeedodahshort2.mid

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And ole Missy keeps on a'rising here in Memphis. Expected to crest sometime this weekend.

 

Hudsonly,

Alex Burr

Memphis TN

 

Alex,

 

I appreciate the report! Like I said...the sun will shine next week! And it looks like the river will fall.

 

I spent last night downloading music related to each state along the route of the Hypotenuse. And I note there is a big blues festival in Clarksdale, Mississippi about the time I go through.

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

 

Dave

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Sunny skies and good people......

 

Fort Fred Steele is a frontier fort in Wyoming about 18 miles east of Rawlins. The former community near the fort lost its hope of survival when the Lincoln Highway/ US30 was rerouted, but the Fort remains.

 

Because of its frontier and Lincoln Highway connections I wanted to stop by as I blazed the Hypotenuse Trail in a couple of weeks. But the maps and Brian Butko, Lincoln Highway pro extraordinaire cautioned me that I couldn’t get between Fort Steele and Sinclair, Wyoming without driving on the interstate. Brian did add that the old road was under the interstate, so in truth I would still be on it..….well if that isn’t turning lemons into lemonade, I don’t know what is.

 

Chris Rowland had earlier suggested that I call the folks at Fort Steele to see if there was a way. So I did, and Steve returned the call. Steve oversees the fort. Steve confirmed that the road between the Fort and Sinclair was not open to traffic, and added that the fort didn’t open until May 1. He asked when I would be passing through.

 

I told him I thought it might be a few days before May 1. 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.!

 

There is a possible work around. If I can get from Walcott across the North Platte on the old road and steel truss bridge, I can visit the fort, then backtrack to Walcott and down to Saratoga, then west and north by graded dirt into Rawlins. Of course I could just do the sane thing and take the interstate for a few miles.....calling a sow's ear a silk purse. We'll see.

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

 

Dave

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On the news tonight - river's up to 37 feet - 4 feet above flood stage.

There was a levee breech in Greenville, MS - something to keep in mind.

 

Hudsonly,

Alex B

 

Alex,

 

Well that 'ole Man River is out to drown the Hypotenuse! I'll check the Mississippi and Arkansas road reports as I choose the final route along the Mississippi. I wanted to visit some of the places in American Road near Greenville, but I'm not a good swimmer!

 

I just added "Five Feet High and Rising" sung by Johnny Cash to my road music!

 

Keep me Posted!!!

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

 

Dave

 

 

 

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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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Dave, I think it's just good engineering practice to locate an auto trail out of the flood plain!

 

I think it's unbelievably cool that Steve is willing to open up Fort Steele just for you.

 

1,000 years from now, when archaeologists dig in that area, do you think they'll be puzzled over why there's a road buried under the road?

 

From the fort, couldn't you go north on CR 347, under (?) the railroad and then bear left, follow it until it picks up 76, and then follow that to where it becomes Cedar St. in Rawlins? I'm using Google Maps on that. Looks shorter than your route through Saratoga. Only thing is I am not 100% positive if CR 347 goes under the railroad or stops and then picks up on the other side of it.

 

jim

 

 

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Jim,

 

You have zeroed in on the road I thought I might take….but Steve tells me it is now on private land, and is closed to the public. I suppose it is used by the railroad to do whatever they do.

 

You are right, we should be sure the Hypotenuse stays on high ground! :) On the other hand, there must be something to be said for seeing the Mississippi Delta country at flood stage. I have heard about the floods on the Mississippi for 50 years, so maybe I will get to see it for myself.

 

Chris and Jim,

 

I not only would like to see Fort Steele, I also want to see the old hotel in Sinclair (old Parco). It looms large in old travel guides.

 

I have studied that section for three nights now, expecting to see a work around. I’m afraid there isn’t one. It is the interstate or a different route. One alternative is to go north from Medicine Bow and up to Alcova, then back over South Pass (gotta do South Pass…Mormon handcarts, Oregon Trail, etc).

 

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.

 

That’s my thinking tonight.

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

 

Dave

 

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Boy, this is one thorny patch of ground.

 

Major bummer that the route I suggested isn't open to the public. I once worked with somebody who used to live in Wyoming, and he used to say that there's no easy or fast way to get anywhere in Wyoming. He also said that it was common to buy 3-4-year-old used cars with 200,000 miles on the odometer because of that.

 

Good luck figuring this one out -- and I'll be interested to know what route you decide on.

 

jim

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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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It is a bummer! But Wyoming is so interesting, I forgive them for this “mistake.” There is no doubt that any route the Hypotenuse follows will be interesting, but it is obvious that the interstate designers didn’t consider my needs here. Maybe this is revenge for all the bad things I have said over the years about their handiwork! :rolleyes:

 

I am mindful of the awesome responsibility that has been heaped upon my shoulders as the Hypotenuse Trail Pathfinder. I am humble (as always :P ) in accepting this charge, and recognize that others may follow in my path. Whether they succumb to the siren song of the interstate for a few miles here and there will be a battle they must fight. I haven’t been able to bring myself to the view that the interstate here is just two a two lane road anyway…..in each direction!

 

In addition to being the undisputable best auto trail between Key West and the Puget Sound, I have discovered that the straight line distance SE/NW across the United States is about 50 miles greater than the straight line distance SW/NE. In short, this hypotenuse rules!

 

You gentlemen, being officers and charter members of the Hypotenuse Trail Association, may take pride in knowing that you are following in the great American tradition that the longest, or biggest, is best! Hail the Hypotenuse! One Great American Road!

 

I have been working on an original song for the Hypotenuse. This is as far as I have gotten. Now if I could just find a tune to go with it!! <_<

 

This Road is your Road,

This Road is my Road,

From the Gulf Stream Waters

To the Puget Sound

 

From the Mississippi

To the plains of Kansas

This Road was made for you and me

 

As I went driving that ribbon of highway

I saw above me that endless skyway

I saw below me that golden valley

This road was made for you and me!

 

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

 

Dave

 

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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...

 

I sit in awe of your incredible insight!

 

I imagine that after the trailblazing trip, the Hypotenuse Trail Ass'n's coffers will not have sufficient funds for too many markers and signs. And I feel certain that the trail guide publishers will just send people down I-80 for those few miles no matter what Dave does. Those guys always like the road with the best surface, no matter what.

 

Dave, you really need to apologize to Woody Guthrie!

 

Peace,

jim

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It is a bummer! But Wyoming is so interesting, I forgive them for this “mistake.” There is no doubt that any route the Hypotenuse follows will be interesting, but it is obvious that the interstate designers didn’t consider my needs here. Maybe this is revenge for all the bad things I have said over the years about their handiwork! :rolleyes:

 

I am mindful of the awesome responsibility that has been heaped upon my shoulders as the Hypotenuse Trail Pathfinder. I am humble (as always :P ) in accepting this charge, and recognize that others may follow in my path. Whether they succumb to the siren song of the interstate for a few miles here and there will be a battle they must fight. I haven’t been able to bring myself to the view that the interstate here is just two a two lane road anyway…..in each direction!

 

In addition to being the undisputable best auto trail between Key West and the Puget Sound, I have discovered that the straight line distance SE/NW across the United States is about 50 miles greater than the straight line distance SW/NE. In short, this hypotenuse rules!

 

You gentlemen, being officers and charter members of the Hypotenuse Trail Association, may take pride in knowing that you are following in the great American tradition that the longest, or biggest, is best! Hail the Hypotenuse! One Great American Road!

 

I have been working on an original song for the Hypotenuse. This is as far as I have gotten. Now if I could just find a tune to go with it!! <_<

 

This Road is your Road,

This Road is my Road,

From the Gulf Stream Waters

To the Puget Sound

 

From the Mississippi

To the plains of Kansas

This Road was made for you and me

 

As I went driving that ribbon of highway

I saw above me that endless skyway

I saw below me that golden valley

This road was made for you and me!

 

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

 

Dave

 

 

Realizing your reference to the "Hypotenuse Trail Association" is somewhat in jest, I've long thought a commercial rebirth of the "trail associations" as a means of advertising now bypassed businesses could be a viable enterprise when taken to the internet as the medium of exposure. How many mom and pop restaurants and motels along those routes could benefit an exposure targeted to all the nut cases like us that enjoy traveling the old highways? With a bit of promotion younger generations could be exposed to the true culture of America. There is a culture and heritage out there beyond urbanization, Interstate Highways, video games, and plastic funny money, or at least it appears to yet be so.

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Realizing your reference to the "Hypotenuse Trail Association" is somewhat in jest, I've long thought a commercial rebirth of the "trail associations" as a means of advertising now bypassed businesses could be a viable enterprise when taken to the internet as the medium of exposure. How many mom and pop restaurants and motels along those routes could benefit an exposure targeted to all the nut cases like us that enjoy traveling the old highways? With a bit of promotion younger generations could be exposed to the true culture of America. There is a culture and heritage out there beyond urbanization, Interstate Highways, video games, and plastic funny money, or at least it appears to yet be so.

 

Starfire,

 

I think you are absolutely right!

 

Some years ago I thought that a tour book of the type done by AAA, but featuring vintage lodgings and restaurants, would be fun to develop. It is not hard to imagine selling advertising and marketing the finished product.

 

But like a lot of my other ideas, it started to look somewhat like work. :angry: That was the end of it for me! :rolleyes:

 

I am 100% with you on the virtures of the old roads! We are not alone!!!

 

BTW, join the Association now while the price is right and you can beat the crowds!

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

 

Dave

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Starfire,

 

I think you are absolutely right!

 

Some years ago I thought that a tour book of the type done by AAA, but featuring vintage lodgings and restaurants, would be fun to develop. It is not hard to imagine selling advertising and marketing the finished product.

 

But like a lot of my other ideas, it started to look somewhat like work. :angry: That was the end of it for me! :rolleyes:

 

I am 100% with you on the virtures of the old roads! We are not alone!!!

 

BTW, join the Association now while the price is right and you can beat the crowds!

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

 

Dave

 

These days I doubt if a print book would be very successful and as you point out it would be a lot of work. No, more like a drudge as I suspect it would be a very hard sell to convince mom and pop operations to pay for advertising in such a medium these days.

 

Yeah, I guess I'd better get that membership fee off right now. You do accept shekels don't you........ :)

 

If you still have a serious interest in doing something like that, I'll E-Mail you the idea I had in mind about five years ago and got side tracked with other things without getting too far beyond square one with the idea. I think it is still a good idea, and could well be a serious money maker along with a lot of fun. That's your first hint I figured out a way to make money out of taking fun trips along America's two lane highways.

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There is a possible work around. If I can get from Walcott across the North Platte on the old road and steel truss bridge, I can visit the fort, then backtrack to Walcott and down to Saratoga, then west and north by graded dirt into Rawlins. Of course I could just do the sane thing and take the interstate for a few miles.....calling a sow's ear a silk purse. We'll see.

Dave

Even in 1915, Wyoming was notorious for not having a single Lincoln Highway; instead, drivers knew town names and were left to figure out how to get between them. Today, with the Interstate connecting main towns, there's even less reason to improve the old roads. Just this week, the battle continues over connecting Green River and Rock Springs. The only road between the two cities is I-80. The old LH is parallel but not drivable so locals must use the Interstate. That's a problem if Rock Springs folks are heading to the only hospital (in Green River) and weather or an accident closes the Interstate, which happens a half-dozen times a year. They want to upgrade the LH so it can be driven, but even making it gravel will cost $27 million!

 

BB

http://www.lincolnhighwaynews.com

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Even in 1915, Wyoming was notorious for not having a single Lincoln Highway; instead, drivers knew town names and were left to figure out how to get between them. Today, with the Interstate connecting main towns, there's even less reason to improve the old roads. Just this week, the battle continues over connecting Green River and Rock Springs. The only road between the two cities is I-80. The old LH is parallel but not drivable so locals must use the Interstate. That's a problem if Rock Springs folks are heading to the only hospital (in Green River) and weather or an accident closes the Interstate, which happens a half-dozen times a year. They want to upgrade the LH so it can be driven, but even making it gravel will cost $27 million!

 

BB

http://www.lincolnhighwaynews.com

 

Brian,

 

Wow, what an interesting bit of information!

 

Now I know why every effort I make to chart a route in Wyoming to go from east to west off the interstate is along a “saw tooth.” I knew when Steve at Ft Steele pondered a route into Colorado to get the 12 miles between the Fort and Sinclair, that there were not many through routes off the interstate!

 

I will have to make a decision at Medicine Bow whether to take the interstate. There is something to the bragging rights that I made it across the longest possible coast to coast route without traveling on the interstate.

 

It shouldn’t surprise you that I am using your "Greetings from the Lincoln Highway" as a guide for the Lincoln Highway sections. I want to pass on a little useful tip for travelers like myself who want to take a trunkload of books on a trip. If you know the route, photograph the sections of the books you need using your digital camera. It took little time, and scanning takes too long. By doing so, I have the books at my fingertips on the laptop, and 50 pounds less luggage to carry or ship.

 

Thanks for the info!

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

 

Dave

 

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These days I doubt if a print book would be very successful and as you point out it would be a lot of work. No, more like a drudge as I suspect it would be a very hard sell to convince mom and pop operations to pay for advertising in such a medium these days.

 

Yeah, I guess I'd better get that membership fee off right now. You do accept shekels don't you........ :)

 

If you still have a serious interest in doing something like that, I'll E-Mail you the idea I had in mind about five years ago and got side tracked with other things without getting too far beyond square one with the idea. I think it is still a good idea, and could well be a serious money maker along with a lot of fun. That's your first hint I figured out a way to make money out of taking fun trips along America's two lane highways.

 

Starfire…Jim

 

If you have discovered a way to make money “on the road” that is fun and doesn’t involve work, you will have a path beat to your door before you know it! That has got to be the dream of three quarters of America! In fact most would be happy just to pay for the travel.

 

You are probably correct on the vintage travel guide. No matter, I have a hundred more. How about the wiper blades with the built in bug scraper? Now there’s a sure winner!

 

You kind of said it all when you said you “got side tracked with other things.” Isn’t one secret of life to always have more worthwhile things to do than you can possibly accomplish?!

 

It is like right now, I want to reply to your message and I want to go photograph a section of the old Pacific Highway, and I want to…..you know the story! It seems to me you have discovered that secret already!

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

 

Dave

 

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...even making it gravel will cost $27 million!

Yeah, that's a lot for some gravel but it would let folks drive the Lincoln Highway and become riders of the Purple Sage Road. How cool is that?

 

Seriously, though, we roadies are a complex lot. Here we are simultaneously moaning because some of the LH was paved for the interstate while urging some sort of resurfacing of the part they left unmolested so we can access it. And they both seem "right". :P

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That supposed 27 million to gravel a short distance seems to me to be a bit ludicrous and perhaps an estimate done by an idiot. The State of Texas just finished doing a resurfacing of the road that runs in front of our house over a distance of some 8 to 9 miles and it didn't cost anything even close to the cost per mile that 27 million represents. The resurfacing in this case included new base, and asphalt. Something ain't just right about that cost estimate!

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