Iowa Highway Ends (etc.)

Ann Arbor, Michigan, Oct. 5 — It’s a cloudy, dreary day in the Midwest, raining early but then warm enough to keep the coat off. In other words, it’s midseason Big Ten football weather. After some early roadgeeking, I was on my way to see the winningest football team of all time on its Homecoming. Michigan and Minnesota were playing for the 100th time with the Little Brown Jug on the line.

The Jug is one of the few things in college football that was around before Iowa State won its last conference championship. The Michigan football program has the most all-time wins in NCAA Division I-A. Michigan Stadium is one of the Cathedrals of Sport that followers of college football have on their bucket lists. I have been to Michigan Stadium once, in 2002, before a renovation that expanded the press boxes and luxury suites and before the stadium was closed to the public on a daily basis. I wanted this day, seeing a football game in the stadium, to be special.

After studying the parking options online, I figured my best bet was to park in the northeast corner of Ann Arbor and take a shuttle bus. Although I was literally on the second bus to leave, I got to the stadium only 45 minutes before game time. It’s on the bus that I heard a Minnesota fan remark that coach Jerry Kill suffered a seizure and will not be at the game.

The gate area and concourse were filled with people. I came in at the entrance beside the Crisler Center and checked out the pillars listing every Michigan championship in every sport. There are many pillars, and many engraved years. Nearly every spectator was decked out in maize or blue.

And no one is wearing a sundress.

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Ann Arbor, Michigan, Oct. 5 — It’s a good day when you can travel the entire length of a US highway before noon. US 223 is only 48 miles long. It is signed north-south (as a branch of US 23) but runs more east-west even if you include an unsigned portion that goes just barely into Ohio.

Route: I-280, I-75, I-475, US 23, US 223, US 127, US 12, I-94, M-14, US 23, I-475, I-75, I-280

One of the very few indicators US 223 is redundantly multiplexed into Ohio, and only to the first exit.

“North” end of US 223 at US 127. More pictures on Dale Sanderson’s site.

Up next: JUG JUG JUG

New counties so far: 41 (2 IL, 10 IN, 11 KY, 2+2 MI, 13 OH, 1 PA). I would get no more new counties on this trip.

Toledo, Ohio, Oct. 4 — I drove in downtown Detroit, and around Detroit, and survived, clinching the entire portion of I-94 east of the Missouri River* along the way.

Route: I-280, I-75, M-39, I-94, I-75, I-375, (loop Woodward to Michigan-Cass and downtown), M-10, I-75, I-94, BL 94, I-94, I-696, I-275, I-75 to x199 and turn around, I-475, I-75, US 20, OH 420, I-280

I-75 was six lanes all the way, some parts in better condition than others, and early rain cleared up halfway between Toledo and Detroit. I hopped off the interstate only to cut to I-94 and take that to close to downtown, then looped into downtown. Cadillac Square at noon was bustling, but I made it through. I-375 ends as the freeway turns southwestward into a boulevard, only for the boulevard to re-emerge as a freeway heading northwest. There was no Spur I-375 signage.

Michigan attempted to conserve space on this sign by putting two cities on one line, but there needs to be a hyphen in there or something. This is on M-39.

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Toledo, Ohio, Oct. 3 — Although my start and end points were relatively close to each other, I stretched this day out to its maximum and squeezed in a museum visit along the way.

Route: I-271, I-71, US 224, US 42, US 250, I-71, US 30, I-75, US 33 to state line and back, OH 49, US 224, US 24, road east to south end of I-469, I-469, I-69, US 30, turnaround at light on US 33, I-469, US 24, I-475, I-75

I-271 splits off I-71 far enough away from the Cleveland metro area that it has a rest area near the south end. Once I rejoined I-71, I got off it again for some mileage on US 42.

The US 30 four-lane, once again wobbling around the Lincoln Highway, has its own rest areas east of US 23 and mileage signs mentioning Toledo before US 23 joins it. West of 23, I was traveling 30 for the first time, again — in 2007, 30 between US 23 and I-75 was still two lanes and still following the Lincoln Highway. Now, though, it was a full expressway running parallel to the south.

More button copy! OH 309 here, west of Mansfield, is an old part of 30 that connects to the Lincoln Highway. LH routings in Ohio are, to put it mildly, a muddled mashup.

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Cleveland, Ohio, Oct. 2 — A good chunk of the morning was spent getting my car’s oil changed, but this provided an excuse to drive a rarity of the US interstate system — an unsigned, suffixed route — I-480N, connecting I-271 and mainline I-480. I also passed the new I-90 bridge then under construction, and had a much smoother ride past Dead Man’s Curve.

Route: I-271, I-480N, I-480, local streets, OH 14, I-480, OH 161, I-90, OH 2 to 9th St; OH 2, I-90, I-271

But aside from eating downtown and doing a bit of wandering around Public Square, the day was devoted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. All of the pictures below can be seen in a larger size if opened in a new window/tab.

The starting point is a 12-minute intro film with the roots of rock and roll, drawing from gospel, blues, bluegrass, hillbilly. Then the doors open from the theater into the museum. Going up from the lower levels, where many guitars and outfits and various musical/concert artifacts were on display, there were specific exhibits — on the evolution of music players, Les Paul, a film of inductees by year, and two floors on the Rolling Stones’ 50th anniversary. At the turn of the century, I would’ve agreed with this article that says the first few bars of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” are the second-most famous opening guitar riff in history behind “Smoke on the Water.” However, the overexposure of “Seven Nation Army” in the past decade, especially at sporting events (warning: Deadspin), is giving both of those a run for their money.

Rock-n-roll is an important part of American cultural and pop cultural history, and I considered the day time well spent. (As for another part of American culture, the Cleveland Indians lost a wild-card game that night.)

The Civil War monument at Public Square is also a recommended visit.

Bronze relief of Abraham Lincoln inside the Cuyahoga County Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument.

Beachwood, Ohio, Oct. 1 — With a two-night stay and a refrigerator, I decided it would be a good night for pizza. Using the GPS, I called the number for the nearest Pizza Hut.

I’m in Ohio. I’m calling a number in Ohio. Simple, right?

“Justin?” No, Jeff. “Justin, it will be ready in 20 minutes.” $20.25 seemed costly for even a Stuffed Crust Meat Lover’s.

I went to the Pizza Hut I had called (or THOUGHT I did), west on US 422, but I didn’t see my name on the overhead list. I didn’t see a Justin, either. They didn’t have my pizza. “I called [X number].” “You might have called a call center.” So it might be in another suburb? “It might be anywhere in Ohio.”

I went out and called the number back. I told the person at the other end of the line, I ordered a pizza, where are you? “7060 International Drive, by Wet n Wild.” And what city is that? “Orlando.” Um, I’m in suburban Cleveland. “Oh.” CLICK.

I tried again, at least getting the confirmation that I would not have to pay for it. But then the line went dead again when a man (who had taken over for a woman) said he was going to check something.

A thought occurred: I ordered from a Pizza Hut with this cell phone in Orlando once, in 2009. In fact, after a check of the map, I ordered from that very Pizza Hut. If my phone number was somehow plugged into the system to automatically reroute to that place 3½ years later — an Iowa phone number attached to a Pizza Hut in Orlando of all places — that’s a colossally stupid move on behalf of Pizza Hut’s system.

I ate at Wendy’s.