That's why I haven't done it.

Sundae Girl, you might want to get a copy of William Least Heat-Moon's

Blue-Highways-Journey-into-America.

This is one of my favorite books and I usually have a few thrifted copies around for people who haven't read it yet.

Blue Highways are the old US routes before the interstates went in. They still criss cross the country but are forgotten America in many ways. Route 66 is a blue highway.

OK, I'm gonna beat our regular song-quoters to the punch:

Oh you know we're gonna ride
On a blue highway
Walk with the legs you're blind
On a blue highway
Wave hellow to pride
on my highway
Yes I almost died
On a blue highway

SG, traveling across America is the same as London to Moscow....twice. That's without the side trips and detours that are damn near mandatory. There are long stretches of it that are repetitious(boring) and should be traversed quickly for time and energy conservation. There are other sections that should be seen at a snails pace.

Only with a little more sauerkraut.

PM me if you have one knocking about and you're willing to take a chance on a virtual unknown :)

Bruce - I know it wouldn't be non-stop pleasure, but it's a dream and if I had the money then I know I could schedule it so I could enjoy it.

SG -- you have a lot of imaginary American Cellar friends. I think that you should plan a trip to visit some of them (I mean us, if I may make that assumption), which would save you a lot of money and provide you with local guides through out the country.

I love the idea that I could do that HLJ - I'd like to at least have a beer with many Dwellars, although I'm so much more comfortable being the one imposed on than imposing.

I keep promising myself that with the great exchange rate (for the UK I mean) I'll buy at least $10 a week before the dollar gets any stronger. Something always comes up though!

I'll get my finances in order once I move. I promise I'll start working on a plan then.

Just a couple minutes too slow to catch them on the ground today...

one more

I concur. This is a riveting, excellent, next best thing to being there read, and also one of my favorite tomes. When this book was at the height of its popularity in the 80's, I heard the author on the Larry King Show when it was still on radio. It was a nationally syndicated call in show back then, so I called in, and got on. My question of Least Heat Moon was simply, "Where did you get all the information for the stories you tell about the places you stopped? All the little historical asides, people's names and such?" His answer?

"You know all those roadside markers you usually drive past? I stopped at *all* of them."

Brilliant.

Commute route B. 10 minutes longer, unless 422 is seriously hosed. Usta be the same distance as commute A, but the fuckers closed a critical road I needed.

http://cellar.org/2007/commute/b1.jpg
mill grove, historical home of john audubon
http://cellar.org/2007/commute/b2.jpg
http://cellar.org/2007/commute/b3.jpg
what "st gabe's curve" is named after
http://cellar.org/2007/commute/b4.jpg
422 hosed again, as we pass over it
http://cellar.org/2007/commute/b5.jpg
over the schuylkill river
http://cellar.org/2007/commute/b7.jpg
http://cellar.org/2007/commute/b8.jpg
http://cellar.org/2007/commute/b9.jpg
the country club
http://cellar.org/2007/commute/b13.jpg
over valley forge "mountain"
http://cellar.org/2007/commute/b14.jpg
http://cellar.org/2007/commute/b15.jpg
invisible driveways to the homes of the rich.
http://cellar.org/2007/commute/b16.jpg
trees so dense and lush they interrupt mah satellite radio
http://cellar.org/2007/commute/b17.jpg
http://cellar.org/2007/commute/b18.jpg
http://cellar.org/2007/commute/b19.jpg
horse farms
http://cellar.org/2007/commute/b21.jpg
one lane bridges
http://cellar.org/2007/commute/b22.jpg
http://cellar.org/2007/commute/b23.jpg
http://cellar.org/2007/commute/b24.jpg
and into officeland.
http://cellar.org/2007/commute/b25.jpg

That beats the first commute for me, UT (but then I'm greenery fan!). Looks far more inviting and interesting - and much less stressful with so little traffic to contend with.

I didn't know they called that "Saint Gabe's Curve."

I see the place and it just makes me get irritable.

(Saint Gabe's is a school for exceptionally bad children, most of them from Philadelphia, all of them miserable, manipulative, little criminal bastards. Well, mostly bastards. I think that one or two have come from intact two-parent families.)

i jumped off the schuylkill today and went down East River Drive....thought of this thread and wished I'd had my camera....I'll get it one day...

My Ann Arbor Commute
 

OK, so my regular commute is to and from the kids' school. Usually there on the freeway (because I'm always on the last minute) and back across town.

1) waiting to turn left at the first main intersection
2) Southbound US23

3) Eastbound I94 (with water tower in distance for cyclefrance)
4) it's neverending....

5) The city park with the ice rink where I take skating lessons. Melted in summer, though -they have an outdoor pool with a waterslide running in the summer
6) Zingermann's Roadhouse Diner Drive-through. The trailer has a huge aluminum coffee-pot spout on the front, but I didn't manage to get that in the picture.

7) Looking behind me towards the freeway I just left (still sat at the intersection with the ice rink on one corbner and the diner on another)
8) Heading straight for downtown Ann Arbor -about a mile from the very center

9) About a half mile away from the city center you can just start to make out the taller buildings
10) At school

11) The school nicely hidden by trees :rolleyes:
12) A random house on the way home

Some more of the way home, then the memory card malfunctioned, so I'm going to use someone else's images of the rest of the way if I can google some! :lol: (I should be able to -I go past the Michigan Stadium)

Pioneer High School (in winter)
http://www.aaps.k12.mi.us/pioneer.pa...s/flagpole.jpg
which is kitty corner to:
http://www.med.umich.edu/em/education/bighouse.jpg
The U of Michigan Stadium
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/110/3...a922ede0_m.jpg

Is Zingermann's Roadhouse Diner Drive-through, a trailer permanantly parked in a parking lot?

Past what is apparently an old gas station, although i only knew it as a drive-thru bank and now in it's current incarnation as a drive thru coffee shop (Bear Claw)
http://www.ohiobarns.com/othersites/...22-81-01a.jpeg
turning right by the Meri Lou Murray Rec center
http://www.ewashtenaw.org/assets/pr_reccntr.jpg

Finally I wanted to show you the purple "castle" which houses a homeopathic pharmacy. A huge old purple house with turrets and spires. I'll try and snap a pic next time I'm passing -I can't believe I couldn't find a pic.

Yes, but it's in the parking lot of Zingerman's Roadhouse restaurant.


(oops, only one N in Zingerman's)

A while back, my mother had an art show in Ann Arbor, and loved her visit there. Thanks for the pics, monster!

you're welcome. Oh And I meant westbound I94. You feel cheated now, dontcha?

Ah ha, clever way to add a drive through without remodeling the whole joint. Thanks.

Actually, they moved in and completely rebuilt an old restaurant, and added the trailer in the same year. I think it was always the intention. It's incredibly popular (and a very cool trailer).

I tried to take a pic of the purple castle today, but I suspect I failed. I'll get the camera from the car in a mo.

I'd like to see some Aussie commutes in here

*cue smartarses posting upside-down commute pics*

Colorado Commute
 

I drive about 20 miles one way to work, with an elevation change of about 2000 feet.

The first 10th of a mile is dirt; the rest is paved.

I had this great idea that I would ride my motorcycle, with my camera hanging around my neck, and would be able to shoot without stopping. Apparently, I was lacking in either riding or photographing skills, and found this to be impossible. Instead, I put the camera in my tank bag, and had to pull off the road to take every picture, sometimes risking death just to bring you these photos.

19.9 miles to go.

The road, for the first 5 miles, includes about 54 curves, but must of the pictures I took on the connecting straight parts.

Most of the trees are Ponderosa Pine. The deciduous trees are either Aspen or Cottonwood.

I'll try to post more throughout the next few days.

Dang, everyone lives in such nice places... I'll have to try and compete!

LabRat, do you live in Iowa City or Cedar Rapids? I've lived in both!

I thought that Georgia was nice. At least you're not too far from the ocean.

But it's not really a competition (or is it?).

Buy one of these: Gorilla Tripod, affix to your handlebars or helmet and try again.

BigV, that's really neat, but we're going to need a bigger Gorilla, or a smaller camera. It says that the maximum weight capacity is 9.7 ounces. The D70 weighs 21 oz, plus battery and lens.

I have been considering getting a smaller camera.

Edit: I just went to the Joby site and saw this. That might be the way to go.

uh, yeah, that's the one I meant!

While you're at it, you can secure your gorillapod with some Gorilla Tape. This stuff is the real thing. You better mean it when you apply it. You *can* take it off, but it *will* leave a mark.

The horses in the first picture are spoiled - they have lots of room, and they get blankets in the winter. The horses across the road are in a little lot that turns to mud after the first snow.

The water in the foreground is the creek that the road follows.

The second picture is a better view of the creek - which was a roaring rapid this summer. You can see I'm risking death to get this picture, as the shoulder is only about 8 inches wide. If I lost my balance and fell to the left I'd get my head run over. If I fell to the right I'd be smashed upon the rocks.

The road has no line in this section because drivers don't know how to keep their BUTs (big ugly trucks) within their lanes, which eventually erases the line. The line has since been replaced, and a rumple strip placed along the center of most of the road.

This is my drive to the gym (because it's nicer, and I actually do the drive more often than work)

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1299/...9e30e6f7_o.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1267/...9951da4d_o.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1274/...2598f21f_o.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1155/...becb950f_o.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1433/...7f75e357_o.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1145/...2cff9fa2_o.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1058/...0e6d97d9_o.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1300/...77519009_o.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1259/...f3e978cd_o.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1137/...d4cc8ea9_o.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1426/...2c25fd72_o.jpg

Cool pics !!

Q - you have a much greater variety of trees than we do. We don't have nearly as many hardwoods in Colorado.

You also seem to have a better ratio of cars to trucks/SUVs.

It's really hard to appreciate the things and places that you see everyday, which is why this thread is nice.

Oh, don't be fooled, we've got a lot more trucks than cars... this was driving through the rich white neighborhood :yelgreedy

But, I had never noticed the variety of trees. It's always just green and green. It reminds me, I went to Colorado when I was younger with a family reunion, and as we were driving about the Rockies in a hotel-airport shuttle I asked our driver/impromptu tour guide, "This area is so beautiful, do you ever get used to it?"

He just said, "Yup, I hardly even notice anymore." It made me a little sad, and I think that one moment made me a little more willing to notice some of the beautiful things around me that I might otherwise overlook as commonplace... Except for tree variety, that is. ;)

queequeger

Welcome. Please phonetically pronounce your name so I stop calling you kweerkweiger in my head. :lol: What is the origin of this interesting handle?

I live in Marion and work in Iowa City. For how long and when were you a local? Did you remember any of the pics I posted? What brought you to Georgia?

Haha! I guess it would best be written as Kwee-Kwayger. It's based on a character from Moby Dick (Ishmael's savage bosom buddy if you remember) and I stuck an -er at the end, mostly in case someone already took the name.

I was a local of Iowa for longer than anywhere else I've lived, which means about 8 years. I went to High School at LaSalle (when it was still around) and then Kennedy. After that I moved to Iowa City to go to school at U of I. My parents still live out in North Liberty (mom works in Cedar Rapids at McLeod and pops worked at UI and Mt Vernon until recently, and now works at a marketing research firm in Iowa City).

And yes, I made the drive from IC to CR countless times, brought back some memories it did. The whole Georgia thing happened when the Air Force tricked me! I thought I'd be going to Middle Eastern countries and far away places... but instead they plopped me down in Augusta, GA. I can't say it's that bad though, one more interesting place to live.

In another thread I posted a picture of Tiny Town. Here are two more.

Tiny Town was built in 1915, and recently restored. In addition to the railroad, there's a mining building (I think that that's what that red building on the hill in the upper center of the first picture is), a church, and lots of other buildings.

Ah, HLJ, you get so many great shots of stuff that is so familiar to me. It helps me appreciate where I live! Yes, it is true, you can get use to mountains. In fact, I am so use to them now, that driving through Kansas through storms was truly frightening for me. Somehow the mountains are protective. In Kansas the sky is so big and I am so small.

When I was taking the pictures I thought, "Case will be able to figure out where most of these were taken." I hope to add the return trip (different route - including Dinosaur Ridge, Red Rocks, Mt. Falcon, etc.) later.

P.S. I'm trying to include a mix of blue sky and intimate landscapes. So far, the pictures are more documentation than art.

:)

I think they become art through their use as documentation.

My commute is pretty long (29 pictures worth) but it's very green and pretty...just wondering if you guys think I should cut out some of the photos, or post them as is. (If yer still interested, of course.)

Post them.

Could vBulletin (possibly) run some kind of slideshow?

Razz - I felt the same way. I took about 90 pictures, then had to figure out which to reject. To me, most of mine weren't interesting.

I've only posted part of the commute. I don't know if I'll do the rest.

I took a lot more than 29 also HLJ...but I cut it down as best I could to save on poor UT's bill (since I can't send anything his way just yet).

He's very forgiving of pictures that feature naked women.

Don't often see naked women on my way to work though, so that doesn't help me in this thread.:o

Well, here's my commute:

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l7...r/DSCF1187.gif
Start off heading down the driveway
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l7...r/DSCF1188.gif
It's a long driveway
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l7...r/DSCF1191.gif
Ok, now turn onto the real road.
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l7...r/DSCF1192.gif
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l7...r/DSCF1195.gif
which is in lovely shape
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l7...DSCF1200-2.gif
today we're taking the short route
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l7...SCF1200-21.gif
which is still very pretty
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l7...r/DSCF1201.gif
this road was HELL before it got paved about two weeks ago..yaaay road matinence
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l7...DSCF1201-2.gif
we're about to turn at that stop sign
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l7...r/DSCF1209.gif
the road surface here makes me think of quilts
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l7...r/DSCF1212.gif
hey look some lines finally
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l7...r/DSCF1213.gif
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l7...r/DSCF1214.gif
Pass the christmas tree farm
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l7...r/DSCF1219.gif
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l7...r/DSCF1225.gif
that driveway has about 10 posted/no tresspassing signs...makes me wonder what's up there
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l7...r/DSCF1230.gif
annnd we keep goin
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l7...r/DSCF1232.gif
and goin
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l7...r/DSCF1241.gif
and scary bridge
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l7...r/DSCF1244.gif
annnnd goin