Making anything possible

Bryce Canyon on left, Zion on right

This road trip, as well as so much else in America, was made possible by the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System. With some help from wikipedia and the internet, I've assembled a few key facts which people may or may not know:

1) Primary Interstates – also called main line Interstates or two-digit Interstates – are assigned numbers less than 100. For north-south routes, the lowest numbers begin in the west, while the lowest numbered east-west routes are in the south. By this method, Interstate Route 5 (I-5) runs north-south along the west coast, while I-10 lies east-west along the southern border. http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/programadmin/interstate.cfm

2) The major route numbers generally traverse urban areas on the path of the major traffic stream. Generally, this will be the most direct line of travel. Connecting Interstate routes and full or partial circumferential beltways around or within urban areas carry a three-digit number. These routes are designated with the number of the main route and an even-numbered prefix. To prevent duplication within a State, a progression of prefixes is used for the three-digit numbers. For example, if I-80 runs through three cities in a State, circumferential routes around these cities would be numbered as I-280, I-480, and I-680. Think about how 610 would be the third loop of I-10 in Texas. See Image below:

3) Is one mile out of every five on Interstate highways straight for emergency airplane landing strips? Absolutely not! According to Richard F. Weingroff, who works in the Federal Highway Administration's Office of Infrastructure, "No law, regulation, policy, or sliver of red tape requires that one out of five miles of the Interstate Highway System must be straight." It's a complete hoax and urban legend that the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System requires that one mile in every five must be straight to be usable as airstrips. Besides, there are more overpasses and interchanges than there are miles in the system so even if there were straight miles, planes attempting to land would quickly encounter a overpass on their runway. http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/mayjun00/onemileinfive.htm

4) The longest interstate route (I-90 across the north) runs 3,020 miles. I-10 ranks fourth with a distance of 2,460.

The nation's highways have enabled the business, trade, travel and road-trips that make America thrive. My trip required a little more though. A loving wife who graciously let me hit the road for a month, a fortunate lapse in employment, lots of couch-crashing with friends and some great tunes and eats provided by those in Houston. Thank you to all and especially Samantha. I love you and miss you babes.

Currently we have completed two National Parks in Utah, Zion and Bryce Canyon both shown above. We saw some incredible wildlife, scenery and the grandness of these canyons. I've attached a very small sampling of pictures below as well as the movie of the rattlesnake. Yellowstone is next and time to hit the bed tonight.

Miles driven: 4,710

Quote of the Day: "Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Poker Update: I'm done for awhile since out of Vegas, total of down circa $500