Recently, my father was showing me and my family his passionate collection of Arnold Palmer memorabilia. I’d say this collection borders on obsession, but who am I to say? Actually, this collection has made me go back and remember how my own obsession began…the obsession with roads and highways.
I remembered my own obsession (I’d prefer to call it love, and who’s to say? Roads , maps, and atlases can’t file stalking charges!) because my dad was clearing out old things to make room for more Arnold Palmer materials. By clearing out old things, I mean he was essentially regifting things back to me that I’d given to him long ago! The first item was a book about Route 66. The other was a fairly short, but well-photographed, history about the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
I’ve written about the Turnpike before, in the context of many drives from Pennsylvania to Michigan when I was young. The earlier drives I do not remember much about, with the exception of the tunnels. When I was 8, however, I started noticing the red white and blue Interstate shields for the first time. Those signs began to mean something important to me. They meant a nearly endless piece of pavement that would take me to places I had never seen before.
I remember the Christmas trip to Michigan in late 1980 vividly. We had just moved back to PA from North Carolina 2 months earlier, and were doing the out-of-town Christmas trip for the last time (we didn’t know that then, though). Months later, my dad’s mom would lose her long battle with cancer, and our reasons for not being home for Christmas would be gone.
We set out from our rental house and were soon on U.S. 222. It wasn’t an interstate (well, it was, but it was a black and white shield that wasn’t exciting as flag colors). Going south on 222, we left the Reading area and it wasn’t long before the first sign for the Turnpike came up: 5 miles away! Soon came 4 miles, then 3, then 2. At that point 222 became a freeway. Soon came the exit for the Turnpike. What a magnificent sign lay at the end of the ramp: a huge green keystone-shaped sign that pointed left for the magical road. We drove through a toll booth to get a ticket. Up ahead were several signs indicating which lane to stay in.: west Interstate 76 for Harrisburg and West, or east Interstate 76 for Philadelphia and East. I think that’s another thing that made the Turnpike so great, it was also a flag-colored Interstate! We headed west, went down a cloverleaf and onto the Turnpike itself finally!
Now that we were on the road, the anticipation was gone somewhat, but I was still excited. We could go about 20 miles before seeing any indication that an exit was coming up. When one did come up, it was excitement in itself. There would be the first sign two miles away, then the 1-mile sign, then the ½ mile sign that simply said in large letters “THIS EXIT.” It wasn’t too long before we hit the Harrisburg area and crossed the Susquehanna River. Harrisburg held a series of exits fairly close to one another. The final one, which was for U.S. 11 and Interstate 81 (oh boy, ANOTHER Interstate!) was significant in that we were now entering the original 160-mile segment of Turnpike. Once that moment passed, we were on a fairly boring (in terms of LONG) stretch of the road.
We could see Blue Mountain, but it would not come our way for 25 miles! When it did, we saw the classic “TUNNEL: 1 MILE” sign that got my blood pumping. Once we went through those first 2 dazzling, well-lit tunnels with the low hum, the scenery changed drastically. Instead of rural, rolling countryside filled with farms, the turnpike now went through low mountainous country. This is actually what made the Turnpike favorable in the 1940s when it was new. The trip between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh had once been an all-day affair due to the treacherous road conditions in the mountains, such as tight curves and bad visibility. The Turnpike cut that drive almost by more than half for many people, even though it was originally just 160 miles!
After the first 2 tunnels, another one (Tuscarora) went by. Soon after, another anticipated part of the Turnpike came: Sideling Hill! This was a rest stop we made on all of the Michigan trips. In those days, it was run by Howard Johnsons, and was a cafeteria-like set-up. We got what we wanted to eat, grabbed a snack and bathroom break, then headed back on to the road.
Ordinarily after that stop, I’d just sit and watch the scenery, or read a book that I’d brought along. It would be about 50 miles before the next tunnel. Wait, though, there was another surprise for me. Soon after that rest stop, the Turnpike picked up another Interstate highway! For 88 miles, the Turnpike was both Interstate 70 AND 76! While we carried I-70, the Turnpike went through its final tunnel at Allegheny Mountain.
Even though the terrain was still mountainous, the distance between exits was greater in some areas, the largest being 36 miles! However, Allegheny Tunnel was within those miles, so there was a balance. Not long after, we got into the greater Pittsburgh area and got more exits close together. Before I could fully take all that in, the mile markers narrowed to the final 10 miles. In all that time, we had lost I-70, crossed I-376 and I-79, and got a lot of nice western Pennsylvania scenery. At about mile marker 1, we reached the end toll plaza for Pennsylvania, paid the fare, and about 3 miles later we crossed into the Ohio toll plaza to begin the process over again.
I had noted in a previous post that Ohio didn’t do much for me. There were no tunnels, the land was fairly flat, and after the Cleveland area it was all mostly treeless farm country. Even after getting off the Turnpike, it was the same. Interstate-wise, it was more exciting! Ohio took away I-76 20 miles in, but in exchange I got not only I-80, but also I-90 after Cleveland. We crossed I-680, I-71, I-77, I-480, and after getting off the Turnpike, we were on I-280, which merged into I-75 after Toledo! Michigan brought interchanges with I-275, I-96, I-375, I-94, and I-696.
Yes, that Christmas I truly became enamored with the numbered highways. Quite frankly, I still am. Whenever my family and I go up to Utah, I-15’s junction with I-70 makes me want to take the long way to Salt Lake just so I can experience Glenwood Canyon and the Eisenhower Tunnel again in Colorado. Every time we take a road trip, I get a rush. My love for highways is unexplainable…but then so is people’s love for “Dancing With the Stars”. Well, you can keep your dancing celebrities, bad song remakes and moronic boring judges. I want my highway signs and road atlases, tunnels and bridges. I don’t judge them. I love them all!
