Gribblenation

After leaving SeaTac my destination was on the Kitsap Peninsula which required a crossing of Tacoma Narrows on Washington State Route 16.  Back in 2015 I failed to obtain the pictures I wanted due to seven hours of flight delays, so in a sense it was a long overdue stop. WA 16 is a 27.2 mile state route from I-5 northwest to WA 3.  I pulled off of I-5 and headed northwest towards the Tacoma Narrows.   WA 16 junctions WA 163 at Pearl Street just before the Tacoma Narrows. The Tacoma Narrows is a straight in Puget Sound which separates Tacoma from the Kitsap Peninsula.  The Tacoma Narrows is spanned by the 1950 Bridge carrying westbound traffic and the 2007 Bridge Carrying eastbound traffic.  The 1950 Bridge is free to cross but the 2007 bridge has a $6 dollar toll to cross. I pulled off of WA 16 and took this picture from Stone Drive Northwest. Followed by a trip down to the Tacoma Narrows Park for a better look at the ...

After returning to California from the Southeast region I was back on a plane headed to Washington State.  My flight was from Fresno Yosemite International Airport to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport which is much better known as SeaTac. I had a little bit of a rarity in that the weather over Washington was completely clear and I could see the Cascades unobstructed out the window.  I had views of just not just Mount Rainier but also Mount Adams and Mount St. Helens. The Cascade Range roughly runs from California State Route 36 north through British Columbia and is far more volcanic in nature than the Sierras.  Most of the high peaks of the Cascade Range are volcanic and have a large prominence.  When I visited Washington in 2015 I did go to Mount Rainier National Park.  Most of the day was extremely foggy and I missed being able to see Mount St. Helens from the park overlooks.  Mount St. Helens is a 8,363 foot high stratovolcano that ...

After departing FL 997 on northbound US 27 there wasn't much left to do other than get back to the Tampa Area.  I'm not a big fan of taking I-75 or Florida's Turnpike due to the traffic and often found that US 27 through the center of the state is much viable for a quiet/somewhat scenic drive. Immediately after I took this FL 822 picture on northbound US 27 the truck on the left blew out a tire and the trailer caught on fire.  The driver kept rolling on a flat for about a mile before noticing his trailer was falling apart and combusting. Northbound on US 27 it wasn't too long until the Andytown Interchange with I-75 came into view.  Andytown was a small community on FL 84 that was demolished in the late 1970s when Alligator Alley was expanded to make way for I-75. There isn't much in the Everglades along US 27.  US 27 passes through dredge cut canals through Miami-Dade and Broward Counties before entering Palm Beach County.  The shi...

After returning to the mainland and Florida City via Card Sound Road I decided on bypassing Florida's Turnpike given was rush hour on Florida State 997. As discussed previously in Part 12; FL 997 is a 36.7 mile state road from US Route 1 north to US Route 27.  FL 997 used to be part of FL 27 until 1983 but was renumbered to avoid confusion with US 27.   FL 27 can be seen on the 1956 and 1964 State Highway Map of Florida along with the original alignment of the Ingraham Highway to Everglades National Park . 1956 Florida State Highway Map 1964 Florida State Highway Map  Back when I was living in the Florida Keys I would often take Krome Avenue/FL 997 from Florida City to US 27.  I typically found that the Turnpike Extension was typically backed up to Bird Road and could take well over an hour to get through.  Generally that meant following the slow orange trucks alongside the Everglades on a two-lane FL 997 was often a better way of reaching ...