Road Trip 2026 -- The Return

First, some humor. At one point, I headed to the basement of the house to do some laundry. (Remember this was not built as a "beach house," but was built as a home for a family in the early 1900s. The laundry is, as is often true in New England houses, in the basement. I was amused to see the two chairs sitting facing the washer and dryer, as if they those two household appliances were providing entertainment!

Saturday

We checked out of the Beach House, and I was among the last to leave at about 10:00 am. I headed to Costco (near Waterbury) to get gas, and stock up on some snacks for the journey. I traveled a little bit on I-95, but otherwise was on familiar roads from having lived and worked in the area. Post-Costco, it was back on I-84 to head towards Scranton, and I-81/US-11. I thought I had completely gone through Scranton and was in Wilkes-Barre ... but I was wrong. But that is where I spent the night.

Sunday

Headed out with an initial stop at Dunkin (of course). Then down US-11. As with other stretches, the road was similar with rural two-lane 55 mph stretches and then portions which are city streets. The geography was much different. This route follows the Susquehanna River, and thus is not as close to I-81. The Wikipedia article describes it from South to North, and I drove it North to South. [US-11 in Pennsylvania] Somewhere outside of Wilkes-Barre, I missed a sign (or two) and wound up driving through the city. There are some great buildings along the river -- and the river levee made me feel at home, it was similar to those in South Louisiana! It was early Sunday morning, so very little traffic as I negotiated through the city, trying to pick up US-11. 

 

Driving through an industrial area, I looked to my left, and there was Mr. Peanut and a sign saying that this was the original home of Planters Peanuts. I later checked my favorite pop-culture source (Wikipedia) and it is true! (I may have to plan a return visit!) 

 

I found US-11, and followed it on to Harrisburg. Much of that route with the river prominently visible on the left, and sharp hills/cliffs on the right. (Some closer to the road than others.) After Harrisburg, I got back on I-81, until I was approaching the Mason-Dixon Line. I was hoping to find a sign, monument, or some designation along US-11. Either it is very small, or does not exist. As usual, Wikipedia has a great description of the Mason-Dixon Line, the Radius and the Wedge.

 

I returned to I-81, a little disappointed, and continued through the rest of the little bit of Maryland, and "all" of West Virginia to spend the night in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

      

Monday

This was a mostly uneventful day. However, at one point, Waze suggested (and I followed the suggestion) getting off I-81 to avoid traffic(?) or an accident. It took me cross-country along a number of country roads to pick up I-40 in eastern Tennessee. Thence I proceeded to I-75, taking that to Chattanooga and on to I-24 to connect with I-59. From there, it was 20+ miles of Georgia to return to Central Time in Alabama. Spent the night in Fort Payne. No adventures ... just dinner and sleep.

Tuesday 

The final day of travel ... the simplest day ... just driving. 

• Total distance driven, including side quests both along the way, and during the week: 3,333.
• Average mileage: 28.4 mpg
• Total gasoline cost: $311.60
• Highest price per gallon: $4.199 (Gettysburg PA)
• Lowest price per gallon: $3.16 (Cleveland TN) {excludes Baton Rouge}
• Total gallons: 117.007 

Road Trip 2026 - First leg reflections

The first leg of the journey is complete. While I did not travel exclusively along US-11, I did drive some extended portions of that route. As a reliable source for popular culture, Wikipedia has an excellent article on the highway, with links to specific descriptions of each state's section.

Wikipedia article 

Here are some of my observations based on a data set of one, and a journey of approximately 1,700 miles -- so far.

Roads 

Because these highways go from community to community, they do not always take the shortest route, and as a result mean that the travel takes longer. This is the way we (as a nation) navigated around the country after the development of the automobile and prior to the construction and completion of the Interstate highway system which so many of us take for granted.

Traveling these routes have some important reminders:

• There is still a great deal of rural America where it is more than a 5 - 10 minute drive to the nearest commercial establishment.
• There is still a great deal of agriculture going on -- even in places where you do not expect to see it. The agriculture will vary with region. (I started in the warm South where cotton and sugar cane are grown, and ended in the north of corn, soybeans, and other vegetables.

The roads themselves are not monolithic. There are a variety of styles/structures:

• Two-lane (double yellow line), small shoulder, often curving highways through agricultural and forest areas;
• Four-lane with median, often through agricultural areas, and connecting larger communities;
• Four-lane limited access highways, these can be with limited cross-traffic and with no cross-traffic; 
• Four-lane, double yellow line roads often through spread out commercial areas, the edge of an urban area;
• Two-lane roads through a community, often with housing and commercial establishments on the side of the road, and often with parking (usually parallel) along the road; normally these also have sidewalks.

Any given highway can shift from one style to another in a very short distance - and with corresponding changes in speed limits.

Institutional Names 

In each of our communities there are institutions whose names are family and symbolize certain attributes or products. One thing I noted was the changes over the geography. Some national brands were not geographically dependent. For example, Target and Walmart in the store category, MacDonald's and Burger King in the fast food area. In the South, Waffle House is a familiar and reliable site while Dunkin' is spread across the north. (They are both favorites of mine, and unfortunately for me there seems to be only a small sliver of geography which has both.) Gas stations are an interesting arena. There are the national brands (Exxon/Mobil, Shell) and then there are others which seem to be large but regional in nature (RaceTrac is a Southern one which comes to mind). Banks are a different anomaly. While there are some which claim to be national in service and scope, there are parts of the country where any given bank can be under- or un-represented. There seem to be many local and some regional banking systems. I suspect that this is an area of flux.

Hotels, generally the major chains are reasonably well-represented along the Interstates, and less so in the smaller communities. Areas that have longstanding travel destinations also seem to have fewer national chains and more local establishments.

Personal reflection 

Driving the "old roads" takes longer. Between the lower speed limits, and the drop in speed limit for more heavily developed areas, and the longer distances, it simply takes longer. It can be a wonderful view and a great opportunity, but when time is of the essence, the Interstate is the way to go.

 

I also noted that my fuel efficiency was better on the "old road." I was regularly getting 30-31 mpg when traveling exclusively on the US highway, and 27-29 mpg on the Interstate. I wondered why...but I think I know. Back in the days of the first gas shortage (late 1970s) speed limits were dropped to "force us" to improve our fuel efficiency. It seems that automobiles are engineered for maximum efficiency at a certain speed, and that speed is less than what I drive at on the Interstate. [Again, please remember that this is a data set = 1 ... and technically is an anecdote, and not even "anecdata"!]

 

I have greatly enjoyed this part of my journey ... I recently picked up a brochure on the Great River Road, which I am committed to drive all or part of over the next year or two! 

 

 

 

Road Trip 2026, #5 & 6

Not many photos ... some may be found on my Facebook page, but it was a light photo part of the journey.

 Day #5

After arriving in Gettysburg for the night, I got up the next morning with a Dunkin' stop and headed to the battlefield visitor center to visit the gift shop. Mission accomplished, I headed out to Connecticut. Initially the trip was along US highways (2 and 3 digit roads) until reaching Harrisburg. The remainder of the trip was Interstate. The only precipitation of the trip (and it was sporadic and light) was while driving in New York State. It was generally uneventful. Arrived at my daughter's home and spent a nice quiet evening with the family there.

Day #6

Up and moving relatively early, and headed to get gas ($3.99 a gallon, thanks US Government and war in Iran) before heading to the beach. Traffic was pretty uneventful -- even the stretch in I-95 which can be notoriously crowded on summer weekend days. Now settling in for a week at the beach. The park across the street is where our mother used to visit in her childhood. In preparing to link to articles about this, I found that the Wikipedia article (usually pretty authoritative) talks about the park being started in 1940. However a local news article refers to the City as purchasing the land in 1893 -- that was before either our mother or her parents were born!

Next

I'll post some general reflections and observations ... with the trip resuming in a week-ish.  

Road Trip 2026 #4

 Items I should have noted yesterday ...

Drive-in movie theaters! There were several, the one pictured to the left was convenient to stop and take a photo. And it is still active!

 

While I have seen a lot of cows, I did see at least one herd of sheep. I had to take a second look, because it was clear that they had been recently shorn! The second agricultural item I forgot to mention was the poultry barns. Suddenly, I began seeing poultry barns - which I recognized from having seen them growing up. These were different, they were constructed of blocks rather than the wood-framed shingled barns of New England. I am guessing that this was to help keep the poultry cool. From the size, I am guess that they were for chickens, and most seemed abandoned. I did see a couple of newer metal clad ones currently in use, and at one intersection there was a chicken processing facility which let me know that this poultry was raised for meat rather than for eggs -- although the latter is still a possibility.

The morning was devoted to Luray Caverns. A separate set of photos will be mounted on Flickr later (Luray Caverns photos). The caverns were amazing, and needless to say, it was much cooler underground. It seems to me that they are still developing ... there were many places which were damp (more than condensation from warm air hitting cold air), look at the photos.

After leaving the Caverns, the next decision was where to spend the next night. I chose Gettysburg. Waze took me via back-roads on a circuitous route. Among my revelations was how close the Caverns are to Maryland, and also how close Gettysburg is to the Maryland border. The route took me through Harpers Ferry, and if I had planned a little better, I might have spent some time there either at the National Park or at the headquarters for the Appalachian Trail.

 

Dinner was at a "real" diner in downtown Gettysburg! {Formatting note: I am having difficulty getting the text to wrap around the photo the way I want. Right now I am suspecting that there was an "upgrade" to the software which makes that less intuitive - or no longer possible.}

Day 5 will be the last day on the road for the trip north! 

Road Trip 2026, #3

I dilly dallied this morning, and then headed out to Dunkin! (Yay, Dunkin!) It just happened to be on US-11 as I was leaving Bristol. (I'm still not sure if I was in Tennessee or Virginia!) Leaving town, I saw the cabbages.

The route was scenic. This part is definitely in the hills. The terrain is no longer flat, and there are real mountains in the distance. (Note to self: Get some shots of the mountains.) Today had lots of agriculture: corn, cows/cattle, and soybeans or cotton. It's hard to tell from 55mph whether those plant are soybeans or cotton -- from a distance they look very much the same.

There continue to be lots of churches. Fewer Baptist churches, and more Lutheran with an occasional Catholic church. Also a good number of Church of Christ. They often appear near an intersection with a smattering of houses (6 - 10) and sometimes an open (and often a closed) gas station. Occasionally there is a closed general store, and even more rarely an open one (without gas pumps).

The first big town I went through was Abington. It is an incredibly cute town. It seems larger than what Wikipedia reports for its population (8,375). A nice downtown. Architecturally, it seems to have almost every style represented. There are early settlement buildings (hewn logs with daub between), classic wooden Colonial era buildings, solid brick homes and storefronts, and the more modern. (On reflection, I am not sure I can identify a 21st Century style, but all the others were present.) Lots of arts and crafts stores and Main Street (Lee Highway) seemed pretty active for a mid-week morning. But, that could be because it is summer!

I kept on US-11 all the way to Wytheville. Another cute downtown where I stopped for lunch.

Driving along had me thinking about the businesses I was seeing. (I think it was the Ashley Furniture on Main Street Wytheville that set off this chain.) There are national chains everywhere: CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, Target. The first two often in the business district the other two more likely to be on the outskirts of town. There are churches (see above). There are the banks. Most of the banks are local or regional often with names like {ordinal number}{optional place name} [State/National] Bank {of place or region}. Which makes one of my favorite names Fifth Third Bank. While there seem to be regional grocery stores, they tend to be more regional. I know saw one Kroger, and have seen several Food Lion. Any other chains are not familiar enough for me to remember.

Driving on US-11 yesterday was not particularly quick, and after Wytheville, I decided to get back on the Interstate to make time to Luray Caverns. The universe had other ideas. There was an accident on the Interstate and Waze helpfully navigated me off. But, I think I put a lot more miles, and I know it felt much less direct. As a result ... no caverns. That will happen as the start to Day #4.