Bingo!
Having lived in California, Arizona, and the Trite State of Grexas, I'll
admit that they have lovely weather and some wonderful highways. And I
sincerely hope that all people envious of such environs should move
there.
I've crawled all over the Santa Monica moutains on a fast street bike --
but I had to get up before dawn on Sunday to avoid the monotonous
traffic.
I've raced through the valleys, river valleys, and mountainous forests
of Arizona -- but I was often threatened by blue hairs, motor homes, and
indigenous drunks.
I've enjoyed the temperate weather of Texas. And usually it was either
in terror on their deadly freeways or loosening my fillings on the frost
heaves of the arrow-straight Farm-to-Market roads.
I've enjoyed the scenic, twisty, and mountainous two-lanes of the
Colorado rockies. The little LBC was thrashed to pieces trying to build
power on that thin air. And then had to hyper-heat the binders to avoid
the sport-ute around the blind corner stopping for photo-moments.
I'll stay where I am, endure the winter, and then enjoy the 1000s of
miles of empty, twisty backroads. All the locals just treat them like
onramps to interstate off to someplace else. I consider them a
destination in themselves.
Happy motoring to all the beautiful people
going to all the beautiful places,
Bob Allen in the middle of nowhere watching the freezing rain come down.
John McEwen wrote:
>
> Dear Dick, Ray, and List:
>
> I have driven both coastal roads - CA and OR - and thought the roads were
> great. However, the scenery was monotonous. I have never seen so much
> painted aluminum and fiberglass in my life. All of it was, of course,
> attached to the motor homes, fifth wheels, travel trailers, tent trailers
> and van conversions which solidly plug the highway during any seasonal
> moment. Driving such a highway during the top down portion of the year is
> a monument to 2-lane frustration coupled with moments of sheer terror when
> frustration leads to desperate moves.
>
> I think I'd rather drive on I-5.
>
> John McEwen
>
> PS - The Coastal Highway is equalled by the appalling conditions on the
> Trans Canada Highway through British Columbia. Travel between Banff and
> Kamloops during July or August can reduce one to tears of frustration.
> It's time we carefully examined the cost of building truck/RV roads or that
> we limit truck/RV traffic to certain hours or days of the week. BTW, I own
> a large camping trailer and van. I recognize that I contribute to the
> problem but I would be willing to pay for more and better roads and/or
> restrictions on certain types of vehicles. We have no idea of the
> unbelievable cost of heavy truck damage to our roads. We have no one but
> ourselves to blame for letting the trucking industry destroy the railroads
> which were designed to do the job.
>
> JM
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