Favorite roads/road trips

I just figured out another reason it sucks to be from middle America...anyone driven I-94 from Milwaukee to Fargo? It f-in sucks. It's nothing but corn fields and construction...I-90 across Illinois, Wisconsin and Southern Minnesota ain't much better.

However, there are a few drives from my neck of the woods that I do enjoy...

1. They call it the Great River Road. If you pick it up anywhere in Central Iowa/Southern Wisconsin, you can follow it all the way up to the Twin Cities. Unbelievable views of the Mississippi River bluffs, and you get thousands of potential stops in every river town along the way.

2. The western 1/3 of South Dakota on I-90. It's boring, but it can be pretty cool going through the Badlands and Black Hills. Plus, it's not too long of a side trip to hit Deadwood and Mt. Rushmore.

 

I-35 and I-45 going north into Dallas give you a solid view of the glitzy, obviously-trying-hard-to-impress Big D skyline.

But driving into Houston, that's a whole other story. It's overwhelming. That's the only way to put it. Three times the size of Dallas'.

 

Another one I forgot ...

I-93 through White Mountain National Forest in NH ... some of the most beautiful scenery you'll see on an east-of-the-Alleghenies interstate. IIRC, it ran past the Man of the Mountain. Also, it's technically not I-93 ... technically a service road through the park mantained by the NPS (and it's down to 1 lane in each direction and the guide signs are all brown instead of green).

There are a few other places where there is, on paper, a "gap" in an interstate even though you can drive on the same road. I-93 in NH is one. (IIRC, US 20 through Yellowstone is also unsigned). Another is the Chicago Skyway ... a few years back, the city took over maintenance (they have since leased it out) and put "TO I-90" on the guide signs, even though it connects I-90 in downtown Chicago to I-90 in Indiana, and technically carries mainline I-90 through.

I-70 also has a paper gap through Breezewood, PA, due to the antiquated PA notion that toll roads and freeways should not have direct interchanges. That gap has a handful of stoplights and a million hotels on either side of the road.

 

Fantastic thread. Loved thinking of these beautiful pictures and memories from my mind:

Delivery truck/working man: Hwy. 71 from Joplin, Missouri, to Fayetteville, Arkansas, through the Ozark Mountains during the fall, with a hint of the season's first snowfall in the air.

College student: I-17 from Phoenix to Flagstaff. Easiest 2-hour drive in the country, even when done a couple times a month.

Concert touring/Florida bound: I-24 from Manchester, Tennessee to Chattanooga connecting with I-75 as the sun came up over the Smoky Mountains, climbed a hill and sat and watched the sunrise.

 

I hate Dallas. Any city with a copycat space needle-looking thing and a skyscraper that glows in the dark should be shot on sight.

 

The new interstate connecting Bentonville-Rogers-Springdale-Fayetteville to Fort Smith helps tremendously because you no longer have to worry about falling off a cliff, yet you still have great views.

Good call on this one.

 

I do kinda like the green-outlined building, but it's just another example of Dallas showing off.

I don't like Dallas, either. People there think they're better than everyone and have to flaunt it to prove it.

 

It's been a few years since I've been down that way. Can't wait to see it again some day.

EDIT: And, yes, I meant for that to go all the way to Fort Smith. The Fayetteville to Forth Smith part of the drive is half of it.

 

Oooh, speaking of cliffs ... love the views driving up that windy Hwy. 18 from San Berdoo through Crestline, taking the long way around to Big Bear Lake, Calif.

When you're about 25 miles away from Big Bear, you start to smell the pine trees -- strongest I've ever smelled them this side of the Mississippi (PNW notwithstanding.)

 

You wanna smell pines? Try that Texas 21 through Davy Crockett NF I suggested.

 

I know what's dumber scarier: Using the Pa. Turnpike to get from Monroeville to Greensburg, losing your toll ticket and paying full fare.

 

For big city driving, can't forget the BQE (Brooklyn-Queens Expsway). The Highway is double decked by the Brooklyn Heights and it makes for a pretty cool view of the City. The highway itself is a cluster (45 mile an hour speed limits, stop signs where you're supposed to merge and left hand exits), but still a cool view.