BIG BEND trip
Oct. 14-21 2017
PART 6
This may be part of the auto tour of LBJ's ranch at Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park in Texas.
This too.
Probably going away from LBJ's ranch on RM 1. This was once US 290.
This has to be either US 290 or US 281. The billboard talks about "vitalogy." Not viatology, but "vitalogy."
The US 281 bridge over the Colorado River in Marble Falls - built in 2012. It replaces a 1936 span. This view is from a restaurant's outdoor seating area.
FM 1431 outside Marble Falls.
FM 1431 crosses Hamilton Creek.
TX 29 at Ronald Reagan Boulevard in Georgetown. It's ironic that Reagan claimed to be a foe of big government, yet there's a spy camera staring down at us from the sign mast.
TX 29 at Jack Nicklaus Boulevard in Georgetown. I wonder if Jack Nicklaus also claims to be a foe of big government.
I-35 has an exit to Ronald Reagan Boulevard way up here. Ol' Ronnie loops around the west and north of Georgetown.
"Doing the potty dance?" This is I-35 at Jarrell.
I wanted to know if the frontage road next to the "potty dance" billboard was once US 81, but I can't find detailed maps that old.
Ready for a surprise? Are you??? On I-35, we approach a brand bippus bustin' new 2-digit Interstate: I-14! I-14 was established in 2017 and ran from Copperas Cove to Belton, which was only 25 miles. Earlier, an I-14 was vaguely proposed from Natchez, Miss., to Augusta, Ga., but some advocated extending it all the way west to Fort Stockton, Texas. I-14 is also known as the 14th Amendment Highway - for one of the amendments that Texas public officials regularly disobey.
I-35 in Belton.
This could be I-35 in Troy. They may be trying to "fix" the stretch that goes right through town.
TX 31 in Hubbard. Not many towns use yellow sign blades, but this one appears as if it may even be embossed! One thing is certain: It's old, and that's why I include it here.
This unusual bridge on TX 31 crosses the Trinity River in Trinidad.
TX 31 approaches the Athens loop.
This set of traffic lights on TX 19 at TX 243 in Canton has strabismus.
This again, because. From I-30 near Fulton, Ark., this is the southwest approach of the pipeline bridge over the Red River.
In Hope, Ark., this is Hervey Street. That's right, Hervey Street. ("Pick a brick!") This used to be AR 4, but I'm not sure if it ever was US 278, which now uses Bill Clinton Drive, a bypass around town. Not only is Hope the hometown of Bill Clinton, but also of Mike Huckabee. I don't think the town is quite as proud of the latter.
Hervey near Avenue B. Up ahead, we go under a rail bridge.
Hervey Street continues.
A side street in Hope.