Interstate Driving

My new favourite barn is in Kentucky.

We have been driving on Interstates for a couple of weeks. This weeks Interstate is I64. We were going to follow I64 to I70 to Denver. At rest area we were at for lunch the other day Kathie saw a sign that said a bridge on I64 at Louisville was closed and alternate routes should be taken. This was the only indication that we had that there was an issue with the route.

We had already planned to be in Frankfort which is only 50 miles from Louisville so we continued on our way. Last night we spent over an hour trying to plan our way around Louisville. The recommended routes were to go north to Cincinnati or south to Nashville. While looking at the map we noticed the BlueGrass Parkway which cut diagonally across Kentucky.

Parkways and Turnpikes are usually toll roads but they had taken the tolls off the road. It was an easy drive as there were few hills the traffic was light until we turned north onto I24 which merged with I 57 after a few miles.

In the past we have avoided the Interstates because of the heavy truck traffic and you don't get to see much of the countryside. They are faster as the speed limit is usually 65 or 70 mph. We also have to pull over for fuel more often.

The problem with state roads and smaller highways these days is they can be very rough. Fifteen years ago they were well maintained and now they do not seem to be. In addition, some of them are very narrow and the speed limit is 55 mph. The one we were driving down the other day the shoulder white line was part of the lane and there was no shoulder. Fortunately we only had the truck (and not the trailer as well) as the truck took up almost all of the lane. The BlueGrass Parkway was an exception to this as it was smooth and wide.

We are starting to see more police cars again. We haven't seen this many since we left Ontario. Here though, the vehicles we see pulled over most often are the semi's.

Now that we have moved south there are actually other campers staying in the campsite. In Frankfort they were not sure they would have room for us. Tonight there is a motorhome rally in the campsite (so once again we (at 50 feet long) are one of the smaller rigs in the campground). That was quite a change from Cooperstown where there were only 1 or 2 other campers and Roanoke West Virginia where we were the only campers there.