NEW MEXICO trip
Oct. 8-15 2021
PART 11
I-44 in Oklahoma City. You must exit I-44 to stay on I-44.
"Germs stink...Yeah yeah..." This is I-35/44 on the northeast of Oklahoma City.
I-44 uses the Turner Turnpike, a toll road.
Free restrooms? I sure hope they're free!
I-44 heading away from Oklahoma City was plagued by this traffic jam where we sat for 2 hours. Actually, I checked Google Maps when we stopped for a picnic before Oklahoma City, and it showed there was already a traffic stoppage there, but it later showed that it cleared up. So this was a second traffic jam on the same day on the same stretch. While we were stopped, I checked the turnpike authority's Twitter feed, and it said this traffic jam had been cleared. I had to politely correct them on that. Electronic signs also failed to warn us about this traffic jam before the exit we could have used.
I-44 near Warwick.
The decoupling of this truck was the apparent cause of the traffic jam.
I-44 again.
Tulsa is up ahead in the distance. However, I-44 bypasses Tulsa on the south and east.
A construction gauntlet near Tulsa.
A rainbow. Not Rain-Blo (like the bubble gum), but a rainbow.
I-44 enters Missouri!
A better view of the Missouri welcome.
A downpour on I-44 closes out a day of frustration. We had dinner in Springfield and lodged in Rolla. The motel in Rolla gave us a room that was already occupied. When we unlocked the door to the darkened room, we heard a man saying, "Hello? Hello?"
The rest area (toily) on I-44 near St. Clair, Mo., is unusual in that it has a left-hand exit.
This sign has seen less ruined days. It's also a good time to note how badly billboards - especially those with a lot of red - faded in the early 2020s.
I'm sure I got this during our St. Louis mania of several years before, but I-255/US 50 uses the Jefferson Barracks Bridge south of St. Louis. It crosses the Mississippi River to Illinois.
A closer view of the Jefferson Barracks Bridge.
On the Illinois side of the St. Louis area, but I'm not sure where. I know that electronic sign had some ridiculous message, but I can't read it in this photo. It was something like, "You'll get blown to bits if you're not healthy like the Pritz."
IL 15 at what is alternately labeled as 44th Street or Mateer Drive in Mount Vernon. More friendly smiles greeted us at a Mount Vernon restaurant! I even posted a photo of myself on Twitter grinning widely inside this eatery.
A temporary setup on the Sherman Minton Bridge on I-64. This span crosses the Ohio River from New Albany, Ind., to Louisville. Though this is a double decker, this setup forced both sides to use the upper deck.
The bridge project in Louisville meant that a toll was established on I-65 to cross into Indiana. And it's expensive too!
I-64 in Louisville gives us this view of US 31's George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge, which received a fresh yellow coat of paint in 2018.
Behind the Clark Memorial Bridge, you can see the towers for the Abraham Lincoln Bridge, which opened in 2015 for I-65 north. The John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge, which has I-65 south, is in between.
Probably northeast on I-71 in Louisville.