TEXAS trip
By the way, this is US 51 near Troy, Tenn.
Apr. 30-May 6 2015
PART 8
As OK 2 crosses a corner of Sardis Lake near Yanush, Okla., we look over and see this older bridge. In this picture, the bridge ends right over the lake.
OK 2/31 in Kinta, Okla. The 1973 Pepsi logo lives - in rusted, Pepsified form.
OK 9 is arrow-straight east of Stigler, Okla., and goes under this rail bridge.
This is somewhat of a mystery. The photo has to be from OK 9 near Keota, Okla., and the lake has to be Robert S. Kerr Reservoir. But I'm not sure of the bridge. My best guess is that the bridge is just northwest of town. It looks like a road bridge, but I think it's some sort of trail that actually used to be a rail line. The reservoir was formed from the Arkansas River and was completed in 1970.
US 271/OK 9 goes under a rail bridge in Spiro, Okla. (as in Spiro Agnew or Spirograph).
US 271 loses OK 9 as we enter Arkansas near Fort Smith. Up ahead, the road will become I-540, which was first built as what I call a "spoop" around that city. And Google does label the road at right as the old US 271.
A traffic jam on I-540/US 71 in Fort Smith.
When you look up the Arkansas River from I-540 - as cool people often do - you peep this scene. The most visible feature here is the rail bridge, but a bridge for US 64 and Biz US 71 is in front of it.
I-49 COMES TO NORTHWESTERN ARKANSAS!!! Indeed it does. The Interstate to Fayetteville was part of I-540 for a few years, but in 2014, I-540 was scaled back to just the Fort Smith stretch as it used to be, as I-49 was designated here. I'm warning you in advance that it's going to be next to impossible to link I-49 here with the stretch south of Texarkana.
Looking down Big Piney Creek from I-40 near Russellville, Ark. Here you see a US 64 bridge, and a rail bridge behind it. Behind that, the creek flows into the Arkansas River.
A similar view looking down Mill Creek. Here you can't see the US 64 bridge, because it's too low. The power lines at bottom are for US 64.
Unusual sign on I-40 entering Conway, Ark.
I guess it's a brand new day after all, and here we enter Missouri on I-55.
I-55 near Cooter, Mo. - like the mechanic on The Dukes Of Hazzard.
Braggadocio is another ridiculous town name - like how the Tea Party puffs up with braggadocio. But this exit provides a nifty shortcut to I-155.
Who can use SEC U? U! That's who! This is the shortcut I'm talking about. Buy a map, and you'll see what I mean. A family member cheered me for pointing this out.
I-155 is the Interstate that keeps on giving, isn't it? This is right where the ramp from the shortcut merges with I-155, and what interested me is the minor road at right. Even old maps don't show the road, but some old aerial photos do, and it appears the road used to continue past where the barrier is.
Farming is tough. Have a helmet. A helmet is a round, sturdy hat that protects the head. There are helmets for football players, riot police, and soldiers. Why not you too? So please. Have a helmet.
Back to Kentucky! My home state! This is where US 51 picks up the Julian M. Carroll Purchase Parkway. Not only is it fairly uncommon to see an exit 0, but it's much rarer to see a weigh station treated as a control city on a BGS.
A view from I-24 - which had recently been also designated I-69 - looking up the Tennessee River towards the celebrated Kentucky Dam. Most visible here is a rail bridge, but the bridge for US 62/641 should be right behind it. Both were opened in 2009 as the old bridge on the dam was closed so the lock could be expanded.
The Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway near Leitchfield, Ky. Odds are that the BGS was once a BBS, having faded from brown to green. The long and short of it is, that sign is old. The hostess at a restaurant in Elizabethtown right after this had a cool-shaped nose.
Ha-ha, this BGS maked a funny! The final photo from this trip is on I-64 in Lexington, approaching I-75. The arrow is funny-shaped. We went through Lexington because there were numerous warnings of traffic tie-ups in Louisville.