Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for road travel
A Monumental Meetup
By Linda Tancs
Who says you can’t be in two places at once? At the Four Corners Monument in Arizona, you can do that and more. Four Corners marks the only spot in the United States where four states intersect: Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. Located on the Navajo Nation, the monument’s year-round visitors’ center offers demonstrations of Navajo culture.
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The City of Bridges
By Linda Tancs
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is located at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, the source of the Ohio River. Needless to say, a water town will have its share of bridges. But 446? That’s the oft-quoted number of bridges in Pennsylvania’s second largest city, reason enough for the nickname “City of Bridges.” This Gateway to the West has more bridges than Venice, Italy (431 tops most estimates). But if you think the ooze of romance emanating from the trusses and beams of its European counterpart is lost on this city of steel, think again. Even The New Yorker magazine proclaimed: “If Pittsburgh were situated somewhere in the heart of Europe, tourists would eagerly journey hundreds of miles out of their way to visit it.” And why not? Where else will you find a bridge crossed by a young George Washington while acting as a messenger of the governor of Virginia to the French forces. Or a trio of identical bridges across the Allegheny River, the only such group in the world. Or a bridge whose name depends on the outcome of the annual football game between the two rival high schools of Rochester and Monaca. And then there’s historic Smithfield Street Bridge, designed by John Roebling, America’s best known civil engineer and architect of the Brooklyn Bridge. You get the drift.
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A Leaf Peeping Bonanza
By Linda Tancs
Shenandoah National Park hosts a presidential retreat within its borders (Herbert Hoover’s Rapidan Camp), but that’s only one reason why visitors flock there, particularly in October. Why? Because autumn heralds peak leaf peeping season. Skyline Drive runs for 105 miles through the park, offering 75 overlooks to take in those magnificent hues. Better yet, slow it down a bit and walk the Appalachian Trail, which runs parallel to Skyline Drive. Now there’s room enough for a view.
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Racing on the Flats
By Linda Tancs
The Bonneville Salt Flats in northwestern Utah is a flat expanse of white salt crust on the western edge of the Great Salt Lake basin, measuring 46 square miles. Named for area explorer and Army officer Benjamin Bonneville, the area is on the National Register of Historic Landmarks because of its contribution to speed racing. Welcoming trucks, cars and motorcycles, the World of Speed annual racing event takes place from 7 to 10 September.
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The Great Lake Superior
By Linda Tancs
The largest of North America’s Great Lakes, Lake Superior holds almost three cubic miles of water, more than the four other lakes combined. That’s three quadrillion gallons of water, in case you’re counting. The largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area, it’s bounded by Ontario, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. With tens of thousands of square miles to cover, just start somewhere. How about Minnesota’s North Shore? The 154-mile All American Road combines the best of old and new Highway 61, including several state parks and at least 101 things to do.
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Tank Trivia
By Linda Tancs
Before you plan your next road trip, be sure that the price of gas along the way won’t eat up whatever savings you think you’ll reap. That’s where Gas Buddy comes to the rescue. The “heat map” will survey prices across the United States. Add to that their handy trip cost calculator and fuel saving tips and you road warriors have some pretty useful tank trivia.
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World’s Steepest Street
By Linda Tancs
Dunedin, New Zealand boasts the world’s steepest residential street, with an average slope of 1:5. Recognized by Guinness World Records, 1150-foot-long Baldwin Street gives any StairMaster a run for its money. Good thing a water fountain greets you at the summit! Best of all, though, it runs up Signal Hill, offering great views of Otago Harbor. Together with the peninsula, Otago Harbor is home to some of the rarest wildlife in the world and New Zealand’s only castle, Larnach Castle.
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The Million Dollar Highway
By Linda Tancs
As far as scenic road trips go, you needn’t pack your bags for the Swiss mountain passes to get the grandest views. In fact, the “Switzerland of America” is right in western Colorado. Just head to US Highway 550 between Ouray and Silverton in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado. Known as the Million Dollar Highway, the former toll road sports the same hairpin turns (sans guard rails, of course) and tremendous vistas you would expect in alpine Europe. The challenging drive takes you through three mountain passes; the highest is Red Mountain Pass at over 11,000 feet. The origin of the highway’s name is disputed. Perhaps that’s just as well because the views are, in any event, priceless.
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The Grand Staircase
By Linda Tancs
The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument has the distinction of being the first monument overseen by the Bureau of Land Management rather than the National Park Service. Holding court in southern Utah at an expansive 1.7 million acres (slightly larger in area than the State of Delaware), this world class geologic and paleontological site comprises not only the Grand Staircase but also the Kaiparowits Plateau and the Canyons of the Escalante. A staircase of cliffs and terraces, the Grand Staircase’s multi-hued formations represent 200 million years of Earth’s history, featuring fossils of fish and early dinosaurs from the Triassic Period (the vermilion cliffs) as well as Jurassic sand dunes (the white cliffs). An ancient freshwater lake deposited the siltstone comprising the pink cliffs at the top of the Grand Staircase. Nearly one thousand miles of roads provide access to what may arguably be one of the greatest shows on Earth.
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Tunnel Vision
By Linda Tancs
In 1930, the mile-long Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel was the longest of its type in the United States, created to provide direct access to Bryce Canyon and Grand Canyon from Utah’s Zion National Park. The sandstone tunnel is one of the busiest areas of Zion National Park, the first national park in the state. In fact, vehicles exceeding 7 feet 10 inches (2.4 meters) in width and/or 11 feet 4 inches (3.4 meters) in height require a tunnel permit to pass through. RVs and campers, take note.
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