I just realize I kind of miss road trips

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Ever since moving to Minneapolis, I have everything I want in my city, meaning I don't need to drive anywhere for it anymore. Which I'm starting to miss, because the charm in having to drive the 80 mile drive here from Mankato is gone now. Ever since I've moved the only time I've left the Twin Cities area is to my brother's graduation in which I carpooled with relatives and slept most of the way and to go to a certain strip club way out in rural Minnesota, and even that isn't as cool anymore, because the route I take now is completely on the interstate. None of the charm of the creepy rural areas and backroads I took from Mankato.

I'm thinking of heading up to northern Minnesota sometime, the area that was too far to visit while I lived in Mankato. Maybe I ought to swing down by Mankato sometime as well.

[Jake]

Ugh. I can't imagine missing driving. College does require the same horrendous three hour drive I've been making for almost 20 years though.

[bgwah]

80 miles is hardly a road trip...

[Hash]

I'd like my "road trips" to involve going some place other than Montreal, Quebec.

[dead0man]

I prefer my road trips ON the interstate, not off it.  Off interstate cross country travel can be hairy, slow and much more dangerous for various reasons.

[muon2]

As some may note from threads I've done in the past, I do enjoy road trips. For me a road trip has to go somewhat off the main path. I wouldn't count a drive to a university 3 hours away unless I took some overnight side trip.

Ideally for me a road trip involves a mix of scenic driving and interstate travel. It should run from 4 to 14 days, and can have a primary destination in the middle. The key is to enjoy seeing the route itself, and at the same time pick up any sights that wouldn't normally be destinations along the way.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Drive up here to Bemidji via Motley.... if that doesn't cure you of missing your road trips, continue on up to Warroad via Red Lake and Thorhult....

There's nothing like seeing nothing but vast bogs for several hours and nothing else...

Oh, and if you get north of Akeley on Hwy 64 around dusk, you'll have the chance to see a nice sunset among hte hills... and also 85 billion deer crossing the road.

I once saw turkeys grazing in the ditch along that stretch and then once a massive bald eagle scavenging a deer carcass on the shoulder... the thing just looked at me as I passed and didn't budge.

[muon2]

Drive up here to Bemidji via Motley.... if that doesn't cure you of missing your road trips, continue on up to Warroad via Red Lake and Thorhult....

There's nothing like seeing nothing but vast bogs for several hours and nothing else...

Oh, and if you get north of Akeley on Hwy 64 around dusk, you'll have the chance to see a nice sunset among hte hills... and also 85 billion deer crossing the road.

I once saw turkeys grazing in the ditch along that stretch and then once a massive bald eagle scavenging a deer carcass on the shoulder... the thing just looked at me as I passed and didn't budge.

An excellent trip. I'm thinking of taking my family through Bemidji next month.

[Хahar 🤔]

The farthest trip I've ever taken by car alone is to San Diego. I've also ridden in a car from Salt Lake City to Yelloswtone.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

80 miles is hardly a road trip...

It's not that far and less than two hours true, but the drive from Mankato to Minneapolis is very interesting. Much like the only slightly longer Bismarck-Minot route I did quite a bit when I lived there.

I prefer my road trips ON the interstate, not off it.  Off interstate cross country travel can be hairy, slow and much more dangerous for various reasons.

Slower yes, but I don't see how they're dangerous. Anyway, I liked the charm of carless roads and whatnot, it added to the strip club's appeal a bit as it was more "hidden". I still have to drive through some remote areas to get to it, but it's still not the same.

From Minneapolis

From Mankato

The Mankato route is more charming.

[Jake]

Slower yes, but I don't see how they're dangerous.

Depends on the road, but any road that doesn't have actual exit and on ramps are inherently more dangerous than those that do. For example, US-15 in southern PA is basically a sealed highway, once you cross into Maryland there are at-grade intersections, places to make U-turns, etc. And any road without a median is much more dangerous (MD-32 between US-29 and I-70) because traffic passes next to each other.

And I agree with deadman. Travel is much better when you're able to sit at 90 and cruise on the interstate.

[Hash]

I love road trips in France because of two big factors:

1. Until January 2009, license plates indicate departmental number and identifying the car's department is sooo much fun.
2. You can drive through so many departments in half a day.

[exopolitician]

Driving from Texas to Florida or Texas to Virginia was always fun, and I miss doing it too. I havent taken a trip anywhere for awhile, can't afford it

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

The problem is the interstate means you don't see anywhere you drive through. Just a brief stop for gas or food. I like to observe creepy small towns and drive through the actual roads, even if it's slower. You see bizarre things. On the interstate there's nothing but billboards and road signs. You can drive from Bismarck to Fargo (about 200 miles) and see nothing but flat lands, but drive driving from Bismarck off the interstate and check out the strange and creepy places you see.

[CultureKing]

I drove all the way to Monterray, California once... That is a pretty long car ride, about 900 miles.

[Torie]

The "blue" highways rule. I seek them out. There is a book on it. Do an amazon. In my area, we have stamped out blue highways, and I miss them!

[Jake]

The problem is the interstate means you don't see anywhere you drive through. Just a brief stop for gas or food. I like to observe creepy small towns and drive through the actual roads, even if it's slower. You see bizarre things. On the interstate there's nothing but billboards and road signs. You can drive from Bismarck to Fargo (about 200 miles) and see nothing but flat lands, but drive driving from Bismarck off the interstate and check out the strange and creepy places you see.

I don't deny that. It's just far safer to drive on the interstate, and thus preferable for long distance travel.

[dead0man]

Slower yes, but I don't see how they're dangerous.

As was mentioned by Jake, non-divided roads, roads where people can just turn onto (instead of accelerating up an onramp), passing slower cars, local police, locals themselves, road visibility, chance of not finding a gas station when you need one, ambulance will take longer if you need one, wildlife and road maintenance all add up to an ever so slightly more dangerous traveling experience.  And it's much harder on the driver's sanity because you have to pay a lot more attention to what's going on around you.  You can kind of veg on the interstate (which introduces it's own set of dangers of course).  Yeah you might miss the biggest ball of twine in Minnesota or the guys from Deliverance and it makes everybody think Nebraska is flat (it's not, I-80 follows the Platte River flood plain and it is flat, but go north or south 50 miles and you're in rolling hills.), but all things considered, I'd rather be on the interstate.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

The problem is the interstate means you don't see anywhere you drive through. Just a brief stop for gas or food. I like to observe creepy small towns and drive through the actual roads, even if it's slower. You see bizarre things. On the interstate there's nothing but billboards and road signs. You can drive from Bismarck to Fargo (about 200 miles) and see nothing but flat lands, but drive driving from Bismarck off the interstate and check out the strange and creepy places you see.

I don't deny that. It's just far safer to drive on the interstate, and thus preferable for long distance travel.

Is 100 miles long distance though?

[opebo]

I prefer my road trips ON the interstate, not off it.  Off interstate cross country travel can be hairy, slow and much more dangerous for various reasons.

I couldn't agree moer, deadman, though torie has a point about the charm of the smaller roads.  But for me only urban areas have interest, so back when I took road trips I just barrelled along between cities as fast as I could.

I did occasionally get off the interstate to do mabye 50 miles or so on some recommended smaller scenic route however.

Best road trip car I ever had, by far, was my '82 Chevrolet Caprice - big, comfortable, roomy, easy to drive high geared V-8 sedan with a huge gas tank and reasonable mileage.  I could cruise 90 mph all day long in that thing, and get out feeling, well, not exhausted.

[Torie]

I love cruising around cities Opebo. I love street scapes, architecture, and people watching. When I went to school in Chicago, the first thing I did was take a road tour of the ghettos. I also have did it on foot a bit, albeit with a "gang." I remember walking through three blocks of such a place to a Chinese restaurant. It was surreal. Tons of teenagers on the street (like 30 per block), no lawns, lots of broken glass, lots of booze and weed, and some fornication. For some reason, they left the ten of us white boys alone, so I am here to tell the tale. By the time I graduated, the entire area had been burned to the ground by Harry the Torch - all of it. The population of Woodlawn in 5 years dropped from 70,000 to 20,000. Since then of course, much of it has been rebuilt. It probably is a much more bourgeoise area now. I am sure the U of C insisted on it. It was just too close.

[Jake]

Is 100 miles long distance though?

Yes. 100 miles is definitely long enough to make me not want to drive it, and that's the criteria.

And we had a mid 80s Caprice for awhile. Best car to drive in ever.

[opebo]

I love cruising around cities Opebo. I love street scapes, architecture, and people watching.

Haha, me too Torie.  I have spent countless hours cruising through quite bad ghetto or semi-ghetto poor areas.  Of course while I greatly enjoyed the sociological aspect you mentioned, I was really looking for streetwalkers.

And we had a mid 80s Caprice for awhile. Best car to drive in ever.

Yes!  I grew up mostly driving Cadillacs, Oldsmobiles, Buicks, Caprices, and Mercuries.. a few Thunderbirds, Lincolns, and Pontiacs thrown in (yes we changed cars a lot back in those heady days of the cheap and often low-mileage bulletproof beater).  The thing I loved about the Caprice was it was so simple - big but simple is something that is nearly impossible to find on the automotive market today.   Kinda felt like one was driving a cop car...
Cinematically, check out the Caprice Harry Dean Stanton drives in Repo Man..