And we're back after a 3 week vacation towing our camper 3300 miles with our 22 gasser to Maine from Alabama!

Jettech1 · August 28, 2023

5 hours ago, Tater86 said:

Fellow PA guy here too, I agree our roads are bad, but I can tell you one thing. I have never seen as bad as roads as those around Detroit, MI. They have pot holes that span the entire 3 lane highways.

I'm deleting MI now from our future adventures. Thank you for the info!!

Jettech1 · August 28, 2023

4 hours ago, Pryme said:

Nah, it’s colder here in Northern WI and while not perfect, I have no issues with our roads. Very rarely have I seen any open pothole on a freeway and if one does appear, it’s filled in a timely manner.

it’s government, allocations and incompetence.

Nailed it!!!

Grumpy Bear · August 28, 2023

6 hours ago, 64BAwagon said:

I-69 is still a nightmare. Apparently long lasting concrete road construction still is in its development phase since no one can seem to build one that lasts more than 8 yrs.

Well out of 'Development" just not used. :mad:

A Concise History of Germany’s Autobahns (motortrend.com)

Building (And Maintaining) For Speed

If you live in places where road construction and/or maintenance leaves something to be desired—Los Angeles and Detroit come to mind—German Autobahns are designed for high-speed driving. Freeze-resistant concrete or asphalt is laid over a heavy roadbed, with a combined depth in the neighborhood of 30 inches. Curves are gentle and slightly banked, and grades are limited to 4 percent. The roadways are split with a center median that features dual guardrails or concrete barriers. The routes generally avoid large cities, which are accessed by spur roads.

At high speeds, pavement irregularities can become fatal obstacles, so Germany's autobahn roadways receive frequent and detailed inspection. Repair generally involves replacing sections of the roadway rather than patching, which sounds like a dream here in the U.S.

Jettech1 · August 28, 2023

11 minutes ago, Grumpy Bear said:

Well out of 'Development" just not used.

A Concise History of Germany’s Autobahns (motortrend.com)

Building (And Maintaining) For Speed

If you live in places where road construction and/or maintenance leaves something to be desired—Los Angeles and Detroit come to mind—German Autobahns are designed for high-speed driving. Freeze-resistant concrete or asphalt is laid over a heavy roadbed, with a combined depth in the neighborhood of 30 inches. Curves are gentle and slightly banked, and grades are limited to 4 percent. The roadways are split with a center median that features dual guardrails or concrete barriers. The routes generally avoid large cities, which are accessed by spur roads.

At high speeds, pavement irregularities can become fatal obstacles, so Germany's autobahn roadways receive frequent and detailed inspection. Repair generally involves replacing sections of the roadway rather than patching, which sounds like a dream here in the U.S.

I've been lucky enough to tear up and down the A8 in Germany into Austria. It was amazing!! Best memories always.

UWSkier · August 28, 2023

16 hours ago, Grumpy Bear said:

Everything but roads. Missouri passed a law some years ago that said ALL taxes collected for road must be used for road. Boy did theirs improve.

Some construction on I-44 through Missouri was so rough and so rotten on my recent cross country RV trek that it almost caused me to get divorced.

6 hours ago, Pryme said:

Nah, it’s colder here in Northern WI and while not perfect, I have no issues with our roads. Very rarely have I seen any open pothole on a freeway and if one does appear, it’s filled in a timely manner.

it’s government, allocations and incompetence.

WI is a mixed bag. Most of my time was on I-41 (still not used to calling it an interstate) and up around Neenah and a bit south of Lomira, that will rattle your fillings out. Same with a few stretches of 29 west of Wausau. But the WORST roads of the entire trip were definitely around the Twin Cities and Gallup New Mexico.

Jettech1 · August 28, 2023

39 minutes ago, UWSkier said:

Some construction on I-44 through Missouri was so rough and so rotten on my recent cross country RV trek that it almost caused me to get divorced.

I'm sorry but that cracked me up a bit. The stress of the roads caused me to use the lords name in vain I don't know how many times. I talk like a sailor but his name I try not to use. I hope he forgives me....

Jettech1 · August 28, 2023

Next topic....truckers....I wasn't going to bring this up but what the hell. They are numerous and mostly pissed off. I hate to generalize because I know there a ton of great "professional" drivers out there. But.....there are a lot of angry aggressive ones out there too. I can't tell you how many times I had to slam on my brakes because they whipped out in front of me and then took 10 miles to get past the truck they are trying to pass. Quick story here, I had one do that to me, I had to stomp on my brakes so his trailer didn't wipe us out. Well an hour later I was closing in on a tractor trailer and low and behold, that same trucker was running up pretty quickly on me. So I grabbed the left lane and foot to the floor went around the tractor trailer in front of me and got back into the right lane. That dude was pissed. He came flying up on us, laid on his horn, flipped me off.....I gave him a little taste of his own medicine, he didn't like it at all but damn they are pissed. Now to get back to the good ones, when they passed me and got far enough in front of me I would flash my high beams. They would move over and give thanks by flashing their brake lights. When I was passing some of them they would flash their high beams at me and when I moved over I would flash them my brake lights as a thank you as well. So they all aren't bad, but damn, for the most part, they are aggressive so keep your distance to be safe.

64BAwagon · August 28, 2023

2 hours ago, Jettech1 said:

I'm deleting MI now from our future adventures. Thank you for the info!!

Its not bad everywhere ! If you come up US23 just South of Toledo its pretty good all the way to I-75 in Flint. Bets part is you get to bypass Detroit.

AND only 55% of the people are idiots, the rest of us are okay.... I guess.

KARNUT · August 28, 2023

15 minutes ago, Jettech1 said:

Next topic....truckers....I wasn't going to bring this up but what the hell. They are numerous and mostly pissed off. I hate to generalize because I know there a ton of great "professional" drivers out there. But.....there are a lot of angry aggressive ones out there too. I can't tell you how many times I had to slam on my brakes because they whipped out in front of me and then took 10 miles to get past the truck they are trying to pass. Quick story here, I had one do that to me, I had to stomp on my brakes so his trailer didn't wipe us out. Well an hour later I was closing in on a tractor trailer and lo and behold, that same trucker was running up pretty quickly on me. So I grabbed the left lane and foot to the floor went around the tractor trailer in front of me and got back into the right lane. That dude was pissed. He came flying up on us, laid on his horn, flipped me off.....I gave him a little taste of his own medicine, he didn't like it at all but damn they are pissed. Now to get back to the good ones, when they passed me and got far enough in front of me I would flash my high beams. They would move over and give thanks by flashing their brake lights. When I was passing some of them they would flash their high beams at me and when I moved over I would flash them my brake lights as a thank you as well. So they all aren't bad, but damn, for the most part, they are aggressive so keep your distance to be safe.

You must travel pretty fast. My trips from Texas up through Atlanta then up 95 to Fayetteville there’re passing me when I’m doing 72. The only caveat is when it gets hilly on interstate 20. I stay just ahead so I’m not passing them up then here they come going down. They get going pretty fast sometimes going down, I just match it so they don’t get pissed off. They get aggravated passing the same people over and over.

Jettech1 · August 28, 2023

2 minutes ago, KARNUT said:

You must travel pretty fast. My trips from Texas up through Atlanta then up 95 to Fayetteville there’re passing me when I’m doing 72. The only caveat is when it gets hilly on interstate 20. I stay just ahead so I’m not passing them up then here they come going down. They get going pretty fast sometimes going down, I just match it so they don’t get pissed off. They get aggravated passing the same people over and over.

Cruise set on 65 for the most part, 70 max in other areas. I'm the speed demon from hell, but not while towing our camper.

64BAwagon · August 28, 2023

Ga does seem to have a lot of aggressive truckers. I know once you get South of Chattanooga on 75 they drop the hammer.

Edited August 28, 2023 by 64BAwagon

Jettech1 · August 28, 2023

4 minutes ago, 64BAwagon said:

~~GA does seem to have a lot of very aggressive truckers~~

It's horrible here around Atlanta. Outside of Atlanta you're fine. I never hit my horn no matter how the dumbasses drive. There are too many Glocks locked and loaded here, I just shut up and get out of the way. I'm locked and loaded too, but I hope I have never have to skin mine. I stay low here and try to put up with the smell of weed everywhere. Makes me sick to my stomach. No offense to anyone that likes weed but I hate the smell of it.

Edited August 28, 2023 by Jettech1

NE18 · August 29, 2023

We moved from Massachusetts to Maine (just outside Augusta) last year and yes, 95 in southern Maine is buttery smooth. After Portland, gets a little bumpy. Where in Naples did you stay? So manny great options in Maine to camp. Generally, we like the State Parks but no hookups.

Grumpy Bear · August 29, 2023

On 8/28/2023 at 7:49 PM, NE18 said:

We moved from Massachusetts to Maine (just outside Augusta) last year and yes, 95 in southern Maine is buttery smooth. After Portland, gets a little bumpy. Where in Naples did you stay? So manny great options in Maine to camp. Generally, we like the State Parks but no hookups.

Last time I was in Maine I went to bed (tent) in the 70's and woke up near freezing with everything I had on the bike. Then off to showers with no hot water :crackup: Awesome pancake breakfast though.

Edited September 3, 2023 by Grumpy Bear

Jettech1 · August 29, 2023

15 hours ago, NE18 said:

We moved from Massachusetts to Maine (just outside Augusta) last year and yes, 95 in southern Maine is buttery smooth. After Portland, gets a little bumpy. Where in Naples did you stay? So manny great options in Maine to camp. Generally, we like the State Parks but no hookups.

We stayed at the 4 seasons campground in Naples. My wife grew up in casco and I grew up in Naples. I'm actually from Presque Isle, still have a little bit of family left up there. I have an Aunt and Uncle who lives in Waterville.