Wyoming Road Trip - Days 7 & 8: Returning Home

Wyoming and South Dakota were amazing - but now it's time to head back to North Carolina with two long days of driving ahead.

Day 7 Route: I-180, I-80, I-74, local roads to Champagne, IL.

Photo Set on Flickr: Wyoming Road Trip Day 7

Day 8 Route: I-74, I-465, I-65, I-64, I-75, I-40, US 25/70, I-240, I-40, NC 16, I-485, Home.

Photo Set on Flickr: Wyoming Road Trip Day 8

Friday, Day 7, was a true go as far as you can in as little time as you can. The plan was to take two days to get back to Charlotte plus time for Joe to drive the three and a half hours to Wilmington on Saturday evening.

We left at around 5:30 am and finally traveled the infamous Interstate 180 to I-80 to start going west. Since it was dark, no photos, which I know to some in the roadgeeking hobby is probably a good thing.

We did, however, catch a pretty nice sunrise in Western Nebraska.

Snow flurries in Omaha - Somewhere in the Middle of America

Interstate 80, as we discussed earlier, is a rather boring non-descript highway. But around Omaha, things got a little more interesting and some light snow flurries saved an otherwise photo-less part of the trip.

Interstate 880 is one of the newest designations in the Interstate System.

This time I got to see Iowa in daylight. With the cold overcast day, there wasn't too much to take photos of, and by the time we go to Illinois, it was dark.

Saturday, Day 8, would be a little more interesting.

We weren't planning to go through Downtown Indianapolis, and that's a good thing. Construction on the I-65/70 "North Split" has Indiana recommending thru traffic to use the 465 loop.

We started to find a return to some fall color in Kentucky and Tennessee.

Our original plan was simple, take 40 through the mountains home. Unfortunately, a vehicle fire at the TN/NC line - and construction for a new bridge and wildlife underpass at the Harmons Den (Exit 7) interchange on I-40 were causing significant delays. So backup plan, US 25/70 to Asheville and I-40. It had been a good 12-15 years since I had taken this route, so it was a great final pleasant surprise.

US 25/70 in Eastern Tennessee

With that, it was an easy ride home and the end to a wonderful trip.

2021 Wyoming Road Trip Site Navigation:

Day 6: Devils Tower National Monument

Comments

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l...

Massena Center Suspension Bridge

The Massena Center Bridge, also known as the Holton D. Robinson Bridge, has had quite the tumultuous history. Situated on the Grasse River just east of Massena, New York in the hamlet of Massena Center, the Massena Center Bridge is a reminder of the efforts the community has made in order to connect over the river. The first and only other known bridge to be built at Massena Center was built in 1832, but that bridge was never long for this world. During the spring of 1833, the Grasse River dammed itself due to an ice dam, flooded and lifted the bridge off its foundation, destroying the bridge in the process. The floods were frequent in the river during the spring, often backing up the river from Hogansburg and past Massena Center, but not to nearby Massena. After the first bridge disappeared, local residents had to resort to traveling seven miles west to Massena to cross the next closest bridge, and that was no easy task for a horse and buggy. However, it was many decades befo...

The Dead Man's Curve of Interstate 90 and Innerbelt Freeway in Cleveland

"Dead Man's Curve" refers to the transition ramp Interstate 90 takes between Cleveland Memorial Shoreway onto the Innerbelt Freeway in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. Said curve includes a sharp transition between the two freeways which is known for a high rate of accidents. Currently the curve (not officially named) has a 35 MPH advisory speed and numerous safety features intended to mitigate crashes. When the Interstate System was first conceived during 1956, Interstate 90 was intended to use the entirety Cleveland Memorial Shoreway and connect to the Northwest Freeway through Lakewood. The Innerbelt Freeway was initially planned as the northernmost segment of Interstate 71. The extension of Cleveland Memorial Shoreway west of Edgewater Park was never constructed which led to Interstate 90 being routed through the Innerbelt Freeway. Part 1; the history of Cleveland's Innerbelt Freeway and Deadman's Curve The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 was signe...

Gribblenation

Search This Blog