Gribblenation

After reaching Interstate 94 after a long stretch into North Dakota on US Route 85 I turned west towards Theodore Roosevelt National Park. This blog serves at the 12th post in the 2016 Summer Mountain Trip Series; Part 11 can be found here: 2016 Summer Mountain Trip Part 11; Lonely US Route 85 in the Dakotas Theodore Roosevelt National Park is 110 square mile National Park consisting of the Little Missouri River Badlands located in Billings County and McKenzie County of North Dakota.  Although Theodore Roosevelt National Park was established in 1978 it has been an area of conservation far longer.  Theodore Roosevelt visited the Missouri Badlands throughout the 1880s to hunt bison and live in seclusion.  Subsequent books by Roosevelt brought attention the Missouri Badlands and it was designated as the Roosevelt Recreation Demonstration Area in 1935 which was transferred to the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 1946.  In 1947 Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park was establish

This past weekend I drove the entirety of Signed County Route J16. Signed County Route J16 is the longest of the Signed County Routes in California at 75.74 miles.  J16 is an east/west route spanning from Interstate 5 in Stanislaus County to California State Route 49 in Bear Valley.  According to CAhighways.org J16 was defined in 1960. CAhighways.org on Signed County Route J16 My route on J16 was eastward from I-5.  J16 begins at Howard Road at I-5 Exit 441 in rural Stanislaus County. The first 4.11 miles of J16 are on Howard Road east from I-5.  Howard Road begins on a bricked roadway passing by several I-5 service stations before breaking off east into San Joaquin Valley. Howard Road and J16 take a 90 degree turn into Westley where the route meets CA 33.  J16 crosses CA 33 and continues east onto Grayson Road.  Westley is a fairly recent rail siding which apparently dates back to the 1940s. J16 continues 11.80 miles east on Gra