roadtrip or snap and kill trip
March 16, 2007: So my life over the last few months has been stressful. I'm trying to open my own coffee shop, and keep running into roadblocks on the financial side. Banks not returning my calls, my credit rating getting tons of queries thus making me look unfavorable to other banks, former employees who said they would come with me jumping ship because of how long this is taking, and more and more "no"'s from more and more people. I'm stressed. Tremendously. So how to solve the stressed issue? Roadtrip! Make it a long one (total of 15 hours on the road), visit old stomping grounds, and just relax. It's what the doctor ordered.
What can I say? Eastern Colorado is flat.
Working our way northeastwards still. We're taking a few detours, but still heading in the right direction. It's 5:00 now, and we're still a ways away from our goal.
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The 100th mile of 76 shows not a lot of anything.
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Proof that we're way out in the middle of nowhere. Street lights get mounted to phone poles.
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An abandoned rest area.
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If that was the size of the bathrooms, no wonder it closed.
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The lane markings are still quite obvious where the rest stop was.
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The westbound lanes had this rest area too.
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Distance sign goodness. There's about 6 miles after Julesberg to the end of 76.
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This is where US 6 crosses to the southern side of 76 and heads due east.
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Not sure why these shields are secondary. Seems to me that they'd be part of the interchange.
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I wasnt to check out US 138, so we've exited 76. Looks like this CDOT region is a little confused about the proper usage of the TO banner. This is US 6 we're intersecting.
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Looking east down US 6. This is also the northern END! of SH 61.
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Looking down SH 61.
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Looking back at the official END! of 61. Nope, no end sign present.
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Interesting sign support. I think there used to be more here.
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Heading into Sterling now. There's plenty of TO SH 14 and TO US 138 signs along this route.
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Once we go over the railroad yard, we'll hit US 138.
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Here we are! This is the western END! of US 138. Well, the eastbound part of it. The westbound part is one block further down. One block down and one block west of here lies the end of SH 14. Shoulda grabbed it. Oh, well.
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The first reassuarance shield for US 138.
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At the northeastern edge of town, the two directions of 138 rejoin.
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138 parallels the railroad tracks for its existance.
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It's that time of year again to be clearing the brush out of the irrigation ditches, or, as I started to call it, "Smokin' some weed."
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Coming up on our next state highway.
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.Here's the southern END! of SH 113. It heads north into Nebraska, intersecting I-80 as NE-19.
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Looking down SH 113.
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Entering Iliff, CO.
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Interesting that when crews replaced this bridge they didn't just widen the highway.
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As with all highways that are "secondary" to the closest interstate/US highway, you get multiple chances to get back on the "primary" roadway.
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Our next state highway. We're going to turn here. The r-dub-mobile is running low on gas, and I know there's a station at this highway's interchange with 76.
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I'll be darned! An END! sign!
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Interesting distance sign considering this highway doesn't come close to either place.
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Aww, but what should I do with this tree I've been dragging along since the start of the trip?
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Back at the interstate. The gas station is on the other side.
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Great button copy guide sign now used to funnel traffic in the station.
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Back onto 76 eastbound. The sun's behind some heavy clouds, so this could prove interesting.
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Random officer with his lights on.
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One of the last few exits of eastbound 76.
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You know, we still have to hit Julesberg. How come that's not on this sign?
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Random blank signs.
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Julesberg has a Colorado Welcome Center in it.
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Hoo boy. This is going to be interesting from here out. The sun's low and still behind clouds. This is the Julesberg/US 385 interchange.
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No time for pleasantries. Here's Nebraska.
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Random VMS.
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Only a mile to go. I've had to trick my camera into focusing now by pointing the camera into the sky, "setting" the focus, then pointing at what I want to shoot at.
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We made it! I-80 is heading over us on those bridges.
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The eastern END! of the western segment of I-76.
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Heading east on 80 to the first exit to turn around.
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What in the world happened to this sign?
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For those of you who don't like the graphical service signs, I present a blast from the past.
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Heading back to 76. Say cheese!
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Back in Colorado.
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This sunset destressed me to complete happiness.
From Julesberg, I took US 385 back into Nebraska and then west on I-80. At NE-71, I headed south again. I took CO-71 all the way to 76, thus clinching that highway for me. Then I took US 34 west into Greeley, stopped for a bite to eat, then headed west to I-25 and home. I got home at about 2am. Fully relaxed. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
- Where to next?
- Page 4
- This trip's Index
- Various Trips Home
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with any of the orginizations listed within this site. I'm just a bored roadgeek with way too much time on his hands. All of the picts in this page are mine and mine alone unless otherwise noted. Remember, kids: stealing is bad, mmmm-k? I get quite pissy if things are taken without telling me. I don't like to be pissy. You won't like it either. If you want to link to this page, that's fine. Please shoot me an email beforehand so I can link to your page as well. K? Thanks. --Ryan
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