Skip to main content

Cross Country Roadtrip - Day 1 - 04/17/2010

Last Saturday, it was time to set out on the big cross-country roadtrip.  Joe Babyak and I would spend a week driving out to and then exploring New Mexico and Arizona before heading back to North Carolina.

Day 1 took us from Raleigh, NC to Lonoke, AR via I-540; I-40; Business I-40; US 52, I-74, I-77, I-81, and I-40.

Our original plan was to go from Wilmington, NC to Lonoke via I-20, future I-22, and I-40 but last minute plans changed the route the first day.  The trip was straight driving so unfortunately no stops at small towns or things like that but still as always some good photos.

For the entire day one set on flickr (31 photos overall) head here.

One of the prettiest freeway backdrops in North Carolina is approaching Pilot Mountain along US 52 North.

IMG_4909

Pilot Mountain sits 2,421 feet above sea level and US 52 runs amazingly close to it.  I doubt that a new freeway today could run this close to it.  US 52 has direct access to Pilot Mountain State Park, which I have yet to visit!  I need to do that this year.

Just north of Pilot Mountain is an overhead sign that I have been wanting to take a photo of for sometime.  Not because of anything unique or it's age, but because of the damage done to it by birds over the past decade.

IMG_4910

The overhead diagram sign for the US 52/I-74 split near Mount Airy has gradually gotten worse from bird droppings over the past ten or so years.  Since, Joe did most of the driving on the trip, I was able to take a number of sign photos I normally wouldn't take.  This is one of them.  Below, is a closer version of the sign.

IMG_4911

As a result of the last minute route change, I was able to ride on I-81 in Eastern Tennessee for the first time in nearly 20 years (freshman year high school band trip to Gatlinburg/Knoxville - wow I am getting old).  Obviously, I don't recall anything about I-81 from that trip - most of the driving was at night and we stopped for breakfast somewhere off of I-81 - so it was hard for me to compare.  Where I-26 now meets I-40 in the Tri-Cities area, I snapped this shot.

IMG_4942

The detour East I-40 banner is for the official detour route due to the I-40 rockslide.  With I-40 scheduled to re-open this week, the Detour I-40 shield will most likely come down.  I suggest that they keep it up, because they're going to need it again sooner rather than later, and while a detour is not in effect resign it as Alternate I-40 East.  But then again what do I know.

Finally, it's always fun to drive through Nashville - one of my favorite cities.  Though this was driving through town vs. an actual visit.  I did get a few photos of the skyline while we buzzed along on I-40 West.  (Too bad the Predators didn't have a home playoff game that night, I think a stop would have been necessary.)

IMG_4949

IMG_4953

Next will be Day 2 from Lonoke to Albuquerque...though we had overcast skies much of the route...there will a number of stops on that leg.  For now, enjoy!

Comments

Bob Malme said…
I guess we now must include birds among those who don't like the I-74 designation in NC!
Bob Malme said…
Speaking of roads reminding you how time flies, I-74 from I-77 to US 52 completely opened 10 years ago this upcoming June.
Awesome photo of Pilot Mountain! :)
Froggie said…
Maggie didn't go with?

Popular posts from this blog

Ghost Town Tuesday; Mannfield, FL and the stairway to Hell

Back in 2015 I went searching the Lecanto Sand Hills for the original Citrus County Seat known as Mannfield.  Unlike Centrailia in Hernando County and Fivay in Pasco County I did find something worth seeing. Mannfield is located in the Lecanto Sand Hill section of Withlacoochee State Forest somewhat east of the intersection of Citrus County Route 491 and Mansfield Road. Mannfield was named after Austin Mann and founded in Hernando County in 1884 before Citrus County Split away.  In 1887 Citrus County was split from northern Hernando County while Pasco County was spun off to the south.  Mannfield was selected as the new Citrus County seat due to it being near the county geographic center.  Reportedly Mannfield had as many as 250 people when it was the County Seat.  The town included various businesses one might include at the time, even a sawmill which was common for the area.  In 1891 Citrus County voted to move it's seat to Inverness which set the s...

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l...

The mystery of Hawaii Route 144 and temporary Hawaii Route 11

The 1959 Gousha Road map of Hawaii features two largely unknown references in the form of Hawaii Route 144 and Temporary Hawaii Route 11.  Both corridors are shown running from the boundary of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park east to Glenwood via Volcano Village.  At the time Hawaii Route 11 was using the so-called "Volcano Road" which was constructed as a modernization of Mamalahoa Highway during 1927-1928.  This blog will examine the two map references and will attempt to determine what they might indicate.  The mystery of Hawaii Route 144 and Temporary Hawaii Route 11 Hawaii Route 11 is part of Mamalahoa Highway (the Hawaii Belt Road) and is the longest Hawaiian State Route at 121.97 miles.  The highway begins at the mutual junction of Hawaii Route 19 and Hawaii Route 190 in Kailua-Kona.  From Kailua-Kona the routing of Hawaii Route 11 crosses the volcanic landscapes of southern side of the Big Island.  Hawaii Route 11 terminates at Hawaii Route 19/Ka...