On 3/15/07, Doug Franklin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > William Robb wrote: > > > I expect that the Interstate highways would make it the quickest, > > but I would prefer to avoid large urban areas. > > The raw route that Google gives doesn't look too bad. I can't speak for > the run across the Midwest, but the route it gives from Louisville to > GFM doesn't look terrible. As for gentle routes, my main advice would > be to go farther south before turning east, like maybe Fargo, KC, St > Louis, Louisville, then the route from Google from that point. > > If you're going to stay on interstates, you're going to hit cities. > That's largely what the interstates are for. :-) But most of the bigger > cities will have some sort of interstate bypass around downtown. If you > look at the map of Atlanta on Google, you'll see I-285 ... an 80+ mile > "ring road" around the city. > Never having been to Minneapolis or Detroit, I can't comment on the "quality" of traffic in those cities. Should you decide to head a bit farther south and venture across Missouri, I can help you with that. I-70 from Kansas City to St. Louis is a very pleasant drive. In the eastern half of the state you'll find plains to your north and rolling hills (the northern edge of the Ozarks) to your south. This is Missouri's wine country. Very scenic. I understand you probably just want to get to GFM quickly, but a future trip to this area might be worth considering. If you're in the vicinity of Columbia when it's time to stop for a meal, you should really get off the road and venture into town. Flat Branch is located on Fifth Street. It's a microbrewery offering some very nice beer and wonderful food. Columbia is also a decent place to spend the night. Plenty of hotels near the highway. It's a college town, so there are lots and lots of bars, clubs, pool halls, etc.
If you hit St. Louis between 7 and 9 am I suggest taking the I-270 loop around the NORTH side of the city. Once you get into Illinois you'll see signs to get back on I-70. Any other time of the day I would recommend driving straight into downtown St. Louis. Pay attention to the signs. The I-70 to I-70 interchange (yes, you read that right) is easy to miss. This route will also take you very near the Arch, which should not be missed if you haven't seen it before. HTH. -- Scott Loveless http://www.twosixteen.com Shoot more film! -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
