Wyoming Routes

So, I didn’t get everything done I anticipated in Western Wyoming- I decided that I’m going to have to drive cross-state at least twice more anyway in the next year just to get back to Idaho, so I couldn’t get too fired up about burning $80 on a hotel room to spend the night when I could just do it next time I drove cross-state, so I crammed as much as I could into one day.

So, I ended up

Clinching

• US-30
• US-30 Bypass (Kemmerer)
• WYO 231
• WYO 232
• WYO 233
• I-86 (Idaho)

and making progress on

• WYO 28 (US-189 to US-191)
• US-30 (Idaho) from Burley to the Wyoming line

Then, tomorrow I’m going to go on another drive, and get all the “urban” routes around Casper/Douglas/Glenrock done,

Clinching:

• I-25 Business (Glenrock)
• US-26
• WYO 90
• WYO 91
• WYO 93
• WYO 94
• WYO 95
• WYO 96
• WYO 192 (time permitting)
• WYO 251
• WYO 252
• WYO 253
• WYO 254
• WYO 256
• WYO 258
• WYO 259 (time permitting)
• WYO 487

and making progress on:

• I-25 (from either WYO 192, WYO 387, or WYO 254 to WYO 258 depending on time)
• US-20 (western US-20 business terminus to I-25 re-merge at Glenrock)
• US-87 (part from Casper to Glenrock where it’s independent from I-25)

so that’s cool.

So, I’m heading back to Wyoming here in about 6 hours. I’ve got a big drive in store that’ll take a couple days, and will basically allow me to finish southwestern Wyoming (save WYO 150, WYO 376, WYO 430, and US-191 from Utah to Rock Springs), so that’s cool.

I did a ton of work on the queue while I was in Idaho, but it’s still pretty big. I got all the Nebraska stuff up, which was really a lot of work, and then I did Montana too, which really is not, plus all Wyoming stuff (which gets first priority). So I still have Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Idaho, and Colorado photos dating back to August. Through a strict regimen I’m going to try to devote an hour a night to this site starting Monday until the queue is empty, which seems reasonable and productive.

Anyway, for this drive back I’m going to

Clinch

• US-30
• US-189
• US-30 Bypass (Kemmerer)
• WYO 28
• WYO 231
• WYO 232
• WYO 233
• WYO 235
• WYO 350
• WYO 351
• WYO 487 (light permitting, if not I’m planning on going to Casper in a few weeks so I’ll get it then)
• I-86 (Idaho)
• I-86 Business (American Falls) (Idaho)

Make Progress on:

• WYO 220 (US-287 to WYO 487)
• US-30 (Idaho) (Burley to Wyoming)

Additionally I’m going to rephotograph some WYO 89 corridor stuff, namely the US-89/Idaho 61 junction and the WYO 89/Utah 30 from US-30 to Utah 16 stretch, since those photos sucked/I didn’t get all the signs.

This’ll knock off Lincoln, Sublette, and Fremont counties, leaving me with 12 of 23 counties completed, with most of Sweetwater, Carbon, Uinta, and Niobrara done too.

So, I finally uploaded and posted everything I have for Wyoming. Now to tackle the out of state stuff, which hasn’t changed at all except for the additions of Utah SRs 86 and 109.

In 2 weeks, I’ll be driving back to Wyoming, so I’ll have more Wyoming stuff then, but I’ll announce that drive as soon as I get closer to the date and figure out exactly how I want to tackle it. In a nutshell, it’ll get everything I haven’t done in western Wyoming except WYO 77, WYO 150, WYO 376, WYO 430, and US-191 from the Utah state line up to I-80

So…I’ve been working my butt off on the queue, and it’s still huge. Additionally, I’m driving back to Idaho for Christmas right now, and the drive I’m taking tomorrow will allow me to

Clinch:

• US-30 Business in Kemmerer
• WYO 240
• WYO 372
• WYO 412

Make Progress on:

• US-30 (US-189 to I-80)
• US-189 (I-80 to US-30)

I haven’t decided how I’m handling Idaho/Utah yet, I may go through Logan and do that, or I may go straight up on the interstates through Utah and do some off-freeway stuff in Idaho…depends on how I feel and how much spare time I have.

Now, you might think, wow, that’s a hole-y drive, and you’d be right. On my way back when I have more time I’m going to clinch basically everything else in southwestern Wyoming, leaving only WYO 150, WYO 430, and US-191 left in this part of the state.

I’ve done a ton of work on the queue, I’m almost dry on Wyoming stuff, but I’m going to try to clean it out completely over Christmas. Here’s where I stand

Wyoming

• US-16 from Yellowstone to I-90
• US-20 from Yellowstone to the I-25/US-18 junction
• US-14 Alternate
• US-14 Business (Sheridan)
• US-20 Business (Casper)
• US-20 Business (Douglas)
• WYO 11

Colorado

• I-25 (US-85 junction in Castle Rock to US-24)
• I-70 (US-36 junction in Byers to I-270)
• I-270
• US-6 (NE State line to US-385, I-25 to CO-93)
• US-24 (I-25 to US-285)
• US-36 (KS State Line to I-25)
• US-87 (US-85 junction in Castle Rock to US-24)
• US-285 (US-24 to I-25)
• CO-105 (I-25 to Palmer)
• CO-470 (US-6 to I-70)

Idaho

• US-26 (I-84 to Wyoming line)
• US-26 Business (Ririe)

Iowa

• I-29 (IA-2 to MO Line)
• I-80 (NE Line to US-59)
• US-59 (I-80 to MO Line)
• IA 2 (NE Line to I-29)

Kansas

• US-36 (US-73 to Colorado line)
• US-59 (MO Line to US-73)
• US-73 (US-59 to NE Line)
• US-281 (US-36 near Lebanon to K-191)
• K-191

Missouri

• I-29 (IA Line to I-70)
• US-59
• US-169 (I-70 to I-29 in northern St. Joseph)

Montana

• US-212 (WY Line to MT-78)
• MT-72 (MT-308 to WY Line)
• MT-308

Nebraska

• I-80 (I-76 to IA Line)
• US-6 (N-4 to CO Line)
• US-30 (US-138 to US-34)
• US-34 (N-4 to western US-6 split)
• US-73
• US-75 (US-73 to N-4)
• US-77 (I-80 to N-2)
• N-2 (I-80 to IA Line)
• N-4
• L-44C

so…that’s a lot!

Gosh, sorry I haven’t posted in a while. Rest assured that I’ve been driving, a lot. I won’t quite have everything south of US-20 done by Christmas, but it’s going to be darned close. Since the last update, I’ve gone ahead and clinched WYO 11/WYO 70/WYO 72/WYO 130/WYO 789 in one drive, and then WYO 211/WYO 212/WYO 213 in the next, finally getting some updated Laramie county stuff since the route extensions. They extended WYO 213 up to US-85, which I already knew, and then I discovered they for some reason extended WYO 212 an extra 2000 feet or so west to Hynds Blvd.

Outside of Wyoming, I went to Kansas City…again, and clinched I-80, US-73, and N-4 and made progress on US-30, US-6, US-34, and US-75 in Nebraska, then made progress on I-80 and US-59 in Iowa, clinched I-29 in Missouri (again) and made progress on US-59 and US-169, then made progress on US-59 and US-73 in Kansas, and progress on US-6 in Colorado, so I have an inflated queue, which I’m working on as we speak.

To top it off, I’ll be driving to Colorado Springs on Saturday, and then back to Idaho and then back to Wyoming here in a few weeks

So…the drive I said I was going to do never got done. That day, I woke up hungover and felt a strange need to go eat some Steak ‘n Shake. So I went to Kansas City and back for some Steak ‘n Shake. I spent several hours the next day driving around the Kansas City area, and unfortunately lost a couple hundred photos somehow, so I didn’t get everything I wanted, and the trip has a giant gap in it.

Anyway, after that drive I briefly considered not driving Wyoming highways anymore and just driving around as a I please, and then I went insane and just got back from a 3 day drive in northwestern Wyoming, getting the entirety of that region. So, here’s what I’ve got:

Wyoming:

Clinched

• I-25 Business (Douglas)
• I-80 Business (Rawlins)
• US-287
• US-310
• US-14 Alternate
• US-14 Business (Sheridan)
• US-20 Business (Douglas)
• US-26 Business (Douglas)
• US-30 Business (Rawlins)
• US-87 Business (Douglas)
• US-287 Bypass (Rawlins)
• WYO 30
• WYO 31
• WYO 32
• WYO 33
• WYO 35
• WYO 36
• WYO 37
• WYO 73
• WYO 114
• WYO 120
• WYO 170
• WYO 171
• WYO 172
• WYO 173
• WYO 174
• WYO 175
• WYO 290
• WYO 291
• WYO 294
• WYO 295
• WYO 296
• WYO 319
• WYO 319 Spur
• WYO 341
• WYO 342 (accidentally, in fact)
• WYO 343
• WYO 431
• WYO 432
• WYO 433
• WYO 434
• WYO 435
• WYO 436

Made Progress On

• I-90 Business (Gillette) (just the part from the WYO 59 junction eastward)
• US-14 (from I-90 in Gillette all the way to its terminus in Yellowstone)
• US-16 (from Yellowstone east to I-90 in Buffalo)
• US-20 (from Yellowstone east to Shoshoni split)
• US-87 (just the part concurrent with US-14 business in Sheridan)
• US-212 (western segment)
• WYO 59 (Douglas business loops to northerly US-14 junction)
• WYO 345 (from US-14 north to the Montana line)
• WYO 789 (from Montana line to I-80 junction in Rawlins)

Colorado

Clinched

• I-270

Made Progress On

• US-36 from Kansas Line to I-25/I-270 junction

Iowa

Made Progress on

• I-29 from IA 2 to the Missouri Line
• IA 2 from the Nebraska Line to I-29

Kansas

Clinched

• K-191

Made Progress on

• US-36 from US-73/US-159 to Colorado line
• US-281 from US-36 in Lebanon up to K-191

Missouri

Made Progress On

• I-29 from the Iowa line to I-635

Montana

Clinched

• MT-308

Made Progress On

• US-212 (WY Line near Red Lodge to MT-72)
• MT-78 (MT-308 to WY Line)

Nebraska

Made Progress on

• I-80 (I-76 east to US-77 in Lincoln)
• US-77 (I-80 to N-2)
• N-2 (US-77 to Iowa Line)

So that’s a pretty big chunk of fish. I’ll probably take some much smaller scale drives in the next couple months, mainly focusing on the area south of I-80 and then some goofy other stuff (Casper/Glenrock maybe?), with the goal of having everything south of..oh…US-20 done by Christmas. Then next spring I’ll focus on the northeastern chunk, maybe doing another huge drive where I just blow everything out.

So I got everything done on the drive back, with a couple exceptions. I got tired and was nervous about how my car was running, so I ended up skipping WYO 90, WYO 251, WYO 252, WYO 258 (mostly), the US-20/26/87 stretch from Casper to Glenrock, and the I-25 (and associated) business loops. That sounds like a lot, but really isn’t that much. On the bright side, I now have I-25 south of Casper clinched.

On another note, I’ve determined that US-191 on the west edge of Yellowstone is actually a Montana highway. Given that the road is maintained by Montana DOT, and given that with roads like WYO 70 which I consider to be part of the Wyoming Highway system despite entering Colorado, and given that that particular portion of US-191 does not connect to the rest of Wyoming, I have determined it to be a part of the Montana highway system.

This weekend, I’m going to go ahead and clinch everything south of I-80 except for WYO 150. I’m planning on

Clinch:

• I-80 Business (Rawlins) (finally)
• US-191
• WYO 11
• WYO 70
• WYO 130 (direction reversed from current one, I’ll  be heading east on it)
• WYO 376
• WYO 430

Make Progress On:

• US-287
• WYO 789 (from US-287 split in Rawlins to Colorado border)

So that should be fun. Over Labor Day, I have a rental car reserved and am planning on doing one of two things. The first, and the one I’m leaning towards is taking a trip to Illinois (rough sketch would be I-25 south to Pueblo Colorado, US-50 east to Sandoval Ill., US-51 north to Mendota, Ill, US-34 West to La Moille, Ill., and then Illinois/Iowa/Nebraska/Wyoming 92 west all the way back to Wyoming. The other option is to drive for three days in northwest Wyoming, knocking everything west of I-25 and north of US-26 out, and then some. Both drives have their advantages- I really want to get out of the area for a bit, but at the same time I sort of want to get Wyoming done as quickly as possible, because quite frankly the Wyoming highway system bores me with long, endless spur routes into nowhere, no major cities, and very few things to keep it interesting. I like small, rural areas, but for driving highways it does get a bit tedious. For instance, less than a week ago I clinched Wyoming 136, a 44 mile long route that heads through flat, sagebrushed covered terrain, intersects no highways other than WYO 789 at its western terminus, passes through no towns, and ends at a lonely dirt road in the middle of nowhere. That’s 88 miles of driving I’ll never get back. That said, despite how frustrating this highway system is compared to Washington’s (or any of the other 49 states, for that matter) I will finish it.

So… no posts for a while.

I made it back to Idaho, doing most of the drive outlined. I’ve finally cleared the highway queue, including dozens of highways in Colorado stuck at the bottom of the list.

Unfortunately I haven’t had time to do ANY driving this summer as I’ve been working 70 hour weeks. The plus side is that this means that I’ll have plenty of money to drive highways when I get back to Wyoming in a couple weeks.

Right now I’ve got my drive back pretty much finalized. On Thursday, August 20th I’ll be driving back to Wyoming. The plan is to focus on the US-26 corridor, taking it from Bliss ID all the way to where it splits from I-25 north of Wheatland. Along the way I’ll get a bunch of other highways while spending the night in Lander. Here’s a tentative list:

Clinch:

I-25 Bus (Casper)
I-25 Bus (Douglas)
I-25 Bus (Glenrock)
US-26
US-89
US-20 Bus (Casper)
US-20 Bus (Douglas)
US-26 Bus (Casper)
US-26 Bus (Douglas)
US-87 Bus (Casper)
US-87 Bus (Douglas)
WYO 22
WYO 90
WYO 131
WYO 132
WYO 133
WYO 134
WYO 135
WYO 136
WYO 137
WYO 138
WYO 139
WYO 251
WYO 252
WYO 255
WYO 258
WYO 390
WYO 391
Make Progress On:

I-25 (in Casper, then from south end of Glenrock business loop to what I currently have at US-26 Dwyer)
US-20 (from the US-26/WYO 789 junction in Shoshone all the way to Orin junction)
US-87 (from the US-20/26 junction in north Casper all the way to what I currently have at US-26 at Dwyer)
US-191 (segment from Moran junction north to Yellowstone)
US-287 (from Yellowstone boundary to WYO 135)
WYO 789 (Lander to WYO 135)

Idaho:
US-20 ( Carey to the 20/26 split west of Idaho Falls)
US-26 (from Bliss to the Wyoming line)

After that drive, I’m planning on taking a non-Wyoming-centric drive that will involve going from Laramie to Illinois, details to come. Beyond that, my focus this fall will be finishing everything south of I-80, and then everything east of I-25/I-90.

By the way, for Wyoming I’m changing “Erroneous Signage” to “Notable Signage,” because that’s less boring than pointing out hugely technical errors that nobody (myself included) cares about- but particularly egregious errors are notable and will be included.  I’ll work on populating that page and the state line crossing page in the next week or two.

Due to tight finances and an unexpected run to Colorado, I was unable to head up to Crook/Niobrara county. I’ll do this in the fall, when I have money, along with a lot of other parts.

Anyway, I’m closing the Spring 09 drive season with a great two day drive back to Idaho, clinching (UPDATE: Due to Utah DOT not opening SR 150, I’ll avoid WYO/UT 150 and do something a little different)

• I-80 Business (Rawlins)
• I-80 Business (Lyman)
• WYO 71
• WYO 76
• WYO 78
• WYO 89
• WYO 150
• WYO 231
• WYO 232
• WYO 236
• WYO 237
• WYO 238
• WYO 239
• WYO 241
• WYO 352
• WYO 353
• WYO 354
• WYO 370
• WYO 371
• WYO 374
• WYO 377
• WYO 410
• WYO 411
• WYO 413
• WYO 414
• WYO 530
• Idaho SH 25 (time permitting)
• Idaho SH 46 (time permitting)
• Idaho SH 61
• I-215 (Utah)
• Utah SR 16
• Utah SR 43
• Utah SR 65
• Utah SR 86
• Utah SR 150

and making progress on

• US 26 (Hoback Junction (US 26/89/189/191) to Moran Junction (US 26/89/191/287))
• US 30 (Idaho State Line to east end of WYO 89 concurrency)
• US 89 (Moran Junction (US 26/89/191/287) to Idaho 61)
• US 189 (south end of US 191 concurrency to end, Utah SR 32 to I-80)
• US 191 (east end of I-80 concurrency to Moran Junction (US 26/US 89/US 191/US 287)
• Utah SR 30 (WYO 89 to Utah SR 16)
• Utah SR 32 (Utah SR 150 to US 40/US 189)

Additionally, here is the queue as it stands. I’m going to try to get as much possible blown out this week, but we’ll see.

Wyoming (I thought I had already made these pages, guess not)

• WYO 222
• WYO 225

Colorado

• I-25 from WY State line to US 85 split in Castle Rock
  
• I-76 from NE State Line to western US 34 exit in Fort Morgan
  
• I-225 (full)
• I-70 Business from I-25 west to I-70/US 40
• US-34 from west side of Fort Morgan at I-76 to I-25
• US-87 from WY State Line to I-70 Bus/US-40/US-287
• US-85 from Castle Rock to WY State Line
• US-85 Business Loops (Platteville, Ft. Lupton, Greeley)
• US-138
• US-287 from WY State Line to I-70 (near E-470)
• CO-2
• CO-125 from C-127 to WY Line
• CO-127
• CO-14 from US-6 to north end of US-287 concurrency
• CO-392 from US-287 to US-85
• CO-470

Idaho

• US 20 from Idaho 44 to I-84 plus I-84 concurrency
• US 26 from Idaho 44 to I-84 plus I-84 concurrency
• US 30 from end of I-84 concurrency at Bliss to beginning of I-84 concurrency at Burley

Nebraska

• US-30 from WY Line to US 138
• US-138

So, I’ve done a lot of work clearing the queue tonight, but it’s still quite large. Here’s what I’ve got left:

Colorado

• I-25 from WY State line to I-70 Bus/US-40/US-287
• I-76 from NE State Line to first US-6 exit
  
• I-225 (full)
• US-87 from WY State Line to I-70 Bus/US-40/US-287
• US-85 from south side of I-25 concurrency to WY State Line
• US-287 from WY State Line to I-70 (near E-470)
• CO-125 from C-127 to WY Line
• CO-127
• CO-14 from US-6 to north end of US-287 concurrency
• CO-392 from US-287 to US-85

Idaho

• US 20 from Idaho 44 to I-84 plus I-84 concurrency
• US 26 from Idaho 44 to I-84 plus I-84 concurrency
• US 30 from end of I-84 concurrency at Bliss to beginning of I-84 concurrency at Burley

Nebraska

• I-76 (full)
• I-80 from the WY Line to I-76

So that’s not so bad. In other news I gave Nebraska its own page along the vain of Idaho. I’ll do the same with Colorado if I ever actually post Colorado photos (I will eventually).

I also need to develop the site banner, the state line crossing, and erroneous signage pages. I expect all that to happen in late May or June.

Anyway, tomorrow I’m going to head to Nebraska and Colorado again, taking US-30 from the Wyoming line to US-138, taking US-138 to US-6, and then I-76 to US-34 which I’ll take back to Loveland. I’ll also get the I-76 Fort Morgan business loop.

Now, you might say, “What about Wyoming?”

Rest assured I have not forgotten about Wyoming. After May 1st I’m getting back into full Wyoming gear. I’ll be heading up, clinching US-85 and then a bunch of other cool stuff in Weston and Crook counties as well as clinching Platte and Niobrara.

Shortly after that I’ll be driving back to Idaho and I’ll spend two days doing that, getting as much of western Wyoming as possible.

So all is good in the world of highways. At the rate I’m blowing out Wyoming I would not be surprised if I were done in exactly 1 calendar year. At that point I’ll probably move to Colorado or Nebraska or wherever it is I go to graduate school (if I do grad school in Wyoming I’d say I focus on Colorado).