My tax dollars at work


 
Brad Olson

Brad Olson

TVWBB Diamond Member
That's a great map collection. I found a place online that had hand-drawn perspective maps of the city I grew up in from 100+ years ago. I'm assuming they were meant as souvenirs of sorts rather than as navigation aids since they had little houses and churches drawn in the appropriate places. It was interesting to see how much the town had changed, not all of it for the better.

Some years ago I was planning a trip a bit more than halfway across the country and stumbled upon a US route I recognized a long way from where I knew it. Turned out one end of the route was not far from a place I planned to visit anyway and the other end terminated not far from where I was planning to stop. So I drove that route one end to the other. It's almost 1000 miles as the crow flies so I'm sure it was well over 1000 as driven. That was a pretty fun thing.

When driving long distances I've found I enjoy the trip much more staying on the secondary roads and avoiding divided highways as much as possible. On a 2000 mile trip I find it only adds one day to what would otherwise be a four-day drive. I'd much rather spend an extra day and actually enjoy most of the five days than save a day and be bored for four days.

Good luck with your trip.
 
Just got back home from Mercer, Wisconsin last Sunday. Been going up to the Turtle-Flambeau Flowage for over 35 years. Years ago, it was almost all 2-lane roads. Now, just the last 60 or so miles are 2-lane. Beautiful area with lots of history. Just spent an hour browsing your link. Hour well spent. Thanks for posting Brad. And thanks for paying your taxes.
 
I avoid larger volumes of concrete as much as possible, four (5-6) lane roads are fine when you feel like you need to pound out miles but, I find them stressful and usually dull as dishwater! I’m just as fond of “blue roads” to see real people, places and, things.
We live in a beautiful country, it’s a shame to drive across the country and not see America.
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
I avoid larger volumes of concrete as much as possible, four (5-6) lane roads are fine when you feel like you need to pound out miles but, I find them stressful and usually dull as dishwater! I’m just as fond of “blue roads” to see real people, places and, things.
We live in a beautiful country, it’s a shame to drive across the country and not see America.
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I had the same view before riding shotgun, on the wrong side, all over Southwestern Ireland, on roads like this.:

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https://flic.kr/p/2mueFja
]

Don't mind the super slabs as much now :)
 
I used to be a road rep for a paper company, I saw a bucket load of super slab every week, I do not miss it. Now, you kids get off my lawn!
 
Brad Olson said:
I'm guessing that some of the taxes I pay go somewhat indirectly to fund the Wisconsin Historical Society, and for a map junkie like myself there's no better way to use them! I could spend HOURS here:


I'm planning to travel the original route of US-51 from Stoughton to Hurley next year and the WHS maps are going to be an invaluable resource.

GPS? No, MAP!
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Used to love driving on old 51 when I was a kid going through Tomahawk and all the other little towns along that stretch past Minoqua.
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
I avoid larger volumes of concrete as much as possible, four (5-6) lane roads are fine when you feel like you need to pound out miles but, I find them stressful and usually dull as dishwater! I’m just as fond of “blue roads” to see real people, places and, things.
We live in a beautiful country, it’s a shame to drive across the country and not see America.
Click to expand...
When driving that US highway I mentioned above there was one stretch where it was four-lane divided with very wide shoulders and everything set way back from the road. When it went back to two-lane I realized it was like the difference between living in the environment and watching it on TV. Everything is so far away on the interstate it almost doesn't seem real. On a lot of the two-lane roads you can practically reach out your window and pick an ear of corn. I know I'm still just driving by at 50 MPH so not really experiencing it, but it seems a lot closer to that than watching it roll by half a mile away at 75 MPH.
 
JayHeyl said:
When driving that US highway I mentioned above there was one stretch where it was four-lane divided with very wide shoulders and everything set way back from the road. When it went back to two-lane I realized it was like the difference between living in the environment and watching it on TV. Everything is so far away on the interstate it almost doesn't seem real. On a lot of the two-lane roads you can practically reach out your window and pick an ear of corn. I know I'm still just driving by at 50 MPH so not really experiencing it, but it seems a lot closer to that than watching it roll by half a mile away at 75 MPH.
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Well said sir! When my Dad had the old Chevy “Greenbriar” van you really had a window on the world, he and I spent a lot of time cruising back roads camping and fishing. I miss that old thing, he’d done a really clever camper conversion so it was pretty comfortable!
I will never forget the smell of spam and eggs on the Coleman stove!
 
Brad Olson said:
By any chance does that highway have a number?;)
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US-34. The western terminus is not far west of Rocky Mountain National Park. It's the main road that goes through the park. The eastern terminus is in Berwyn, IL. From the intersection where the "end of" sign was I could see the Hancock building in the distance. The route used to end closer to downtown Chicago but parts have been interrupted over the years and it now stops a ways short of there.

It's two-lane the vast majority of the way aside from when it's in the Chicago metro area and one stretch between Ottumwa, IA and the Illinois border. Some Congress critter must have pushed through a pet project for that bit of road because as near as I could tell there was absolutely no reason for it to be more than two lanes.
 
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