The drive home was a certain disappointment on the Washington Highway front. I left Tacoma at about 5:30 in the morning and drove down to Vancouver. I killed some time down there for the sun to come up and then started motoring down SR 14.
As soon as I got on 14 it started raining like there was no tomorrow. All photos were blurry, rain soaked, and disgusting. I cut my losses and drove all the way to US 197 with the camera off. I got gas in Dallesport and it started raining again. I managed to clinch US 197 but I decided that if the weather was going to be cloudy and crummy I may as well stick on I-84 in Oregon, where quality pictures are desired but not demanded.
I did get off and drive the Biggs Bridge (US 97) before it closes. I may clinch US 97 on the way home, but I’ll talk more about that in a minute.
So essentially I clinched US 197 and made tiny progress on US 97 (not even finishing the segment, for some reason I forgot to photograph the intersection with SR 14).
But I also drove I-84 from The Dalles to Pendleton, so now I have photos (not with pages attached yet) from US 197 all the way to Idaho.
I obviously continued taking pictures in Idaho, having not done that last time I was on I-84 over there because the construction was insane and taking pictures would have given no indication of the actual I-84 experience. So I did manage to do that. I now have all of I-84 photographed in Idaho except for the stretch from I-184 to the US 20/26 Broadway Ave interchange and from ID 82 to the Utah Line (about 20 miles). I’ll get the 184 to 20/26 next time I’m down there, that’s not a big deal.
Anyway, no significant new developments. I did, however, notice that I-84 in Idaho has four new Clearview signs. I hate Clearview. I don’t have pictures of the old signs on I-84 but they were a lot more visually appealing (Id Ctr Blvd?)
I also never noticed it but I-184 is due for some sign replacement. The overhead reassurance shields are all pretty faded.
As far as the next month or so, I have quite a lot of stuff from Oregon and Idaho I need to post, and then get US 197 up. I will be driivng back to Tacoma, and right now I’ve got two options but no control over which arises:
If I have to go through Boise:
I-84 back up, leaving early in the morning (like three or four), hitting up US 30 trail offs where appropriate and light enough in Oregon. I’ll then head up US 395 through Hermiston and into Washington over the Umatilla bridge. I’ll hop on eastbound SR 14 up to SR 142. I’ll clinch SR 142, head south on US 97 back to 14. I’ll photograph the junction sign, turn around and photograph from a northbound US 97 perspective. I’ll then drive 97 all the way up through the I-82 and I-90 concurrencies to SR 10 where I will replace the old photos. I’ll clinch SRs 10 and 903 and then head home, clinching 906 if light permits.
If I don’t have to go through Boise:
I’ll head north on US 95, clinching US 95 BUS in Winchester (light permitting). I’ll head into Washington via Moscow and clinch SR 270. Then I’ll drive over to SR 194 and clinch that and take local roads into Colfax. From there I will clinch SR 26 while also clinching SR 262, SR 170 and making (small) progress on SR 17 on the way. I’ll then head over to I-90, drive over to the end of the US 97 concurrency (photographing the concurrency from a US 97 perspective), and then I’ll drive up US 97 to SR 10 replacing old photos and then clinch SR 10, SR 903 and SR 906 as light permits.
Both drives have their advantages and I will be happy to do either. Hopefully the roads hold up.
