Rocky Mountain High...Colorado (Plus a few other states)

Due to some unforseen circumstances, the Wyoming Trip, scheduled to take place May 29-June 1, has been renamed and expanded! The trip will now be known as the Rocky Mountain Roadtrip and will take place May 25-May 31.

We are no longer simply going to Wyoming. We have added Utah, Idaho, and Montana to the trip! This will be our first time to Utah & Colorado since June 2003, when we were in those states during the Deserts & Mountains Trip. This trip will also mark our first time to be in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. After this trip is complete, we will have been to 46 states! The trip route will be announced in late April or early May.

We are excited about this trip and are looking forward to getting pictures from 3 new states!

ES

Upcoming County Collecting Roadtrip

This weekend, we will be taking a roadtrip to East Texas and West Louisiana for a concert and some county/parish collecting.

Route:
Friday:

I-35 South -> I-35E South -> I-635 East

Saturday:

I-635 East -> U.S. 80 East -> I-20 East -> U.S. 59 South -> U.S. 84 East -> I-49 South -> U.S. 371 North -> U.S. 84 West -> U.S. 171 South -> LA 191 South -> LA 6/TX 21 West -> TX 103 West -> U.S. 96 North -> TX 21 West -> Bus. U.S. 59 North -> U.S. 259 North -> TX 64 West

New counties/parishes: Panola, Shelby, Red River (LA), Sabine (LA), Sabine (TX), San Augustine, Nacogdoches, Rusk

Sunday:

U.S. 69 North -> U.S. 80 East -> TX 155 North -> U.S. 271 North -> I-30 West -> U.S. 69 North -> U.S. 75 North -> U.S. 70 West -> I-35 North

New counties: Wood, Upshur, Camp

Coming soon: a big announcement about a future roadtrip!

ES

Clearview...AAH!

The Clearview sign font is spreading throughout the Oklahoma City metro area. Within the past couple weeks, button copy signs on I-235 between I-40 and N. 36th Street have been replaced with Clearview signs. Also, button copy signs on Lake Hefner Parkway (OK 74) between I-44 and OK 3 West (NW Expressway) have also been replaced with Clearview. There are still a few button copy signs around the metro, but most of them are on the I-40 Crosstown section that will be replaced in the next few years. And we all know that when the new I-40 opens that the new signs will probably be in...Clearview. AAH!

Texas County-Collecting Roadtrip & A New Car!

Later today, I will be leaving for Fort Worth, where I will be spending the night before heading out tomorrow for some county collecting in East Texas. The planned route is as follows:

Saturday:

I-30 East -> I-35E North -> Spur 366 East -> U.S. 75 North -> SMU -> U.S. 75 South -> I-45 South -> U.S. 175 East -> U.S. 69 South -> U.S. 59 South -> U.S. 190 West -> TX 19 North to Palestine

New counties: Henderson, Anderson, Cherokee, Angelina, Polk, San Jacinto, Trinity, Houston

Sunday:

TX 19 North -> TX 154 West -> TX 24 South -> I-30 West -> U.S. 380 West -> U.S. 75 North -> U.S. 70 West -> I-35 North to OKC

New counties: Rains, Delta

On this trip, I will collect 10 new counties and will clinch U.S. 175 in its entirety.

This will also be my first trip out-of-state in my brand new 2010 Mitsubishi Lancer ES! I bought it on Wednesday. I do still have the old Lancer (with 176,450 miles on it and counting) but I will be selling it to someone.

And here is the new official car of OKRoads...

ES

OK 34A & OK 34B

OK 34A & OK 34B, 2 short spurs to the towns of Willow & Brinkman, respectively, were supposedly decommissioned several years ago. Yet I just looked in Google Street View, and both of those highways are signed at its respective intersections with U.S. 283/OK 34 with "END" signs! And the shields are the meat cleaver versions. It looks like the "END" signs are the only places were the highways are signed, though. Neither 34A nor 34B are signed from U.S. 283/OK 34. Weird...

Wyoming Trip Announcement

With 99 days left until the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend, I am happy to announce the Wyoming Trip! The trip will take place on Memorial Day weekend (May 29-June 1) and will take us to our 44th state, Wyoming. This trip will also have a few sidetrips built in to see some college football stadiums (and also to go to a few extra counties).

Planned trip route: (subject to change)
I-35 North to I-135
I-135 North to U.S. 81
U.S. 81 North to U.S. 136
U.S. 136 East to U.S. 77
U.S. 77 North to I-80
I-80 West to Laramie, WY
I-80 East to I-25
I-25 South to U.S. 36
U.S. 36 West to Boulder
U.S. 36 East to I-25
I-25 South to U.S. 87
U.S. 87 South to I-40
I-40 East to OKC

This will not be the only big trip we will be taking this summer, as we are also planning our first trip to Michigan since May 2003. The dates for that are not set yet, but it will likely be in late June or early-mid July. The route is already planned, but I will hold off on announcing the route until a later date.

ES

Upcoming Short Trips

Today's blog will cover 2 trips I plan to take the next 2 weekends (1 short trip & 1 medium-length trip by OKRoads standards). In my next blog, I will announce a Memorial Day Weekend roadtrip!

Tomorrow night, I will be leaving OKC on a 3-day trip to the Lubbock, TX area for a concert & for county collecting. I will be driving to Weatherford, OK tomorrow night, and then on to Lubbock & Post on Saturday, and then home on Sunday. This will be my 3rd time to be in Lubbock but the first time I have been there since April 2006, when I was there on two consecutive days. (On a related note, it seems like I only go to Lubbock every 4 years because the 1st time I went there was in July 2002)

Route:
Friday & Saturday:
I-40 West to I-27
I-27 South to Loop 289
Loop 289 East to U.S. 84
U.S. 84 East to Post
U.S. 84 West to Lubbock

Sunday:
U.S. 82 East to TX 6 (including Marsha Sharp Freeway)
TX 6 North to U.S. 287
U.S. 287 South to U.S. 283
U.S. 283 North to OK 6
OK 6 North to I-40
I-40 East to OKC

The new counties that will be collected this weekend are all in Texas, and they are Lynn, Garza, Dickens, King, and Foard counties.

On Sunday 2/28, I plan on taking a trip to Clinton, OK for another concert. This trip will just be along I-40, but if I have time, I may cover other roads in the area. Of course, this is weather permitting.

Next blog: Wyoming Trip announcement!

ES