the big three-oh tour
The date: July 3, 1976. The place: Northwest Community Hospital in Rolling Meadows, IL. The event: r-dub's entrance to this world of ours. Flashing forward thirty years, we find r-dub wandering yet again, enjoying not only his birthday but a rare day off from work as well. He's heading to the southwest part of the state, heretofor unconquered by him. Let's tag along, shall we?
From canyon to flat lands in 3.3 seconds (or so)
Now that we're through the fun part, the amount of pics will slow down again. There's still about 100 snaps to go through, so I'll take this time to let you get a drink, go to the restroom, whatever. I'll wait.
.........
Back? Great. Let's keep going.
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No canyons now!
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Open lands and mesas will dominate the view for the rest of the trip.
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This is the first reassurance shield since Silverton.
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Now that we're back in a more civilized part of 550, the END!s start appearing again.
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At the intersection of US 550 and SH 62.
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Looking down SH 62. 62 is the main way to get to Telluride, which is the site of the world-famous Telluride Bluegrass Festival.
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Bouncing over the Uncomphangre.
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Mountain town splendor!
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Heading back to US 550.
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Although it wasn't marked too well on the entire trip, US 550 is known as the San Juan Skyway Scenic Byway.
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At the end of SH 62. No end sign is present, as usual.
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Considering there's a river just after this ending and a whole lotta nothing after that, I can only assume there was extra cement left over from a site and it ended up here. Why else would this stub be here?
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Approaching the Ridgway State Park.
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Reservoir framed by mountains.
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I was hoping this shot would have come out better. This is the entrance to the Pa-ko-chu Park section of the state park. There was a cousin of Pikachu joke there.
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This sign alternated between this message and telling you what your speed was.
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Road, river, and blue skies. Aaaaahhhhhhhhh.
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Wow. Flashers and flags?!? I guess there's a deer issue up in here.
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Upon entering Montrose, US 550 widens to a four lane road. After Montrose, it gains expressway characteristics.
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Great oops sighting.
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Montrose has some traffic issues.
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I think the helicopter pilot was trying out for stunt pilot. That helicopter did everything but flip over. It was fun to watch, but it almost made me miss a red light ahead.
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...and then I spotted him. Crouching in the tall grass, waiting for his next follically dissheveled victim, was Jack the Clipper. We made eye contact. He snickered at my thinning hair, held up a large pair of scissors, and let out a yell. I drove away as fast as I could.
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More END! goodness for you. This is the end of both US 550 and SH 90.
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The final few feet of US 550. *sniff* Goodbye, my friend. It's been swell.
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Taking a quick peek at what traffic on WB 50 sees on the traffic light mast.
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Looking down SH 90. 90, at least this part of it, goes no further than western Montrose. That's why there was no control city listed.
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Typical view of US 50 heading north. In Montrose, 50 curves northward to connect with Grand Junction. Colorado took the easy way out of trying to sign the cardinal direction: they don't.
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Montrose Regional Airport. The same day I drove through here, a small plane crashed in Montrose, killing the pilot and passenger. By time I got here, there was no sign of troubles.
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Distance sign goodness. Traffic stays heavy through this entire stretch of 50.
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An END!? Say it ain't so!
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SH 348 makes a big loop to the west of 50.
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Looking down 348.
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US 50 in full-blown expressway mode. That's the Grand Mesa in the background.
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Entering Delta, CO.
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Approaching the other end of 348.
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At the northern end of SH 348.
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Looking down SH 348 again. It's even marked for you on the mast arm above the truck.
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Coming up on the END! of SH 92.
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92 seems to go through a lot of towns.
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We'll be turning here, too. US 50 really doesn't change too much from here to Grand Junction, so we'll take a different way there.
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Heading east on SH 92.
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The incorrect way to mark the start of a median. There's the "end median" sign on the back of this one, too.
- Where to next?
- Page 11
- This trip's Index
- Page 13
Section Links
- Trip Index
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
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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