The 55-68 mile route (depends on who you ask) is pretty much an all-day excursion; 2-3 hours in and 2-3 hours out. If you really want to check out what lies behind each mile marker, you’ll need to spend the night. The road starts out smooth and wide, but within 3 miles it narrows and eventually becomes a “rain gouged windward side” road (Fodor’s “Maui” 2012). The further in you go, the more road character you will find; dirt roads, roads with occasional landfalls and flash flooding, and fewer cars. The view never ceases to amaze- waterfalls, lush rain forests, desert sands, salt and pepper beaches, and ocean views. Ginger shoots, eucalyptus and bamboo abound. If you go looking, you will even find lava tubes around about mile marker 31.

Somewhere around mile marker 19, is an 1860′s church made of coral (Lady of Fatima Shrine). MM22 boasts the best falls (Wai Kani Falls). Just pass the small town of Hana around mile marker 42, Haleakala National Park enters the scene with its “Seven Sacred Pools”. In several spots, you will even find some of the worlds best body surfers and windsurfers… just off the road and down a short path to the breath taking beaches.

Our roadie buddies, Cathy and Bobby H, decided to take the tour taxi through the area. “It was great. The driver knew the road so well and he would periodically check the skies to make sure he had us out of there before the heavy rains came in. He had it all planned out. We even had a picnic lunch at a scenic spot of his choosing. He also stopped at the road side markets for us to check out the banana bread, tropical flowers,  and tropical fruits for sale. The view was intense, amazing really.” Cathy boasts that she only “white knuckled it once or twice on the narrow bridges.” Good job, Cathy. We’ll make you a hairpin roadie yet.

For generations past and even continuing today, Hawaiian families steadfastly protect and care for this national treasure. The Road to Hana is on the National Register of Historic Places. If you are exploring past the pavement, you might even find a temple platform built for a 16th century Maui king. Even beyond the beauty and character of the road, that is what impresses us most; that history and roads have always been connected.

Thanks Cathy and Bobby for sharing your Road to Hana experience with FavoriteRoad. As always, we are grateful.

We found a story about that online this week, “The Hog Highway; Chasing Cues Across Eastern North Carolina”, by Sandy Lange, a writer for Guns & Gardens Magazine. To wet your appetite for the story, here’s the a portion of the opening paragraph.

“The whole adventure was a lark, a two-day open-road bender. There was little planning. We unfolded a map during a visit with family down east in North Carolina and stitched a looping route from Wayne County southeast of Raleigh to Beaufort County in the east, to as far west as Chapel Hill—and back again. Our guide would be pork, specifically the vinegar-pepper whole-hog variety that gives the eastern part of the state its reputation for serving up some of the best ’cue in the country. We’d stay off major highways when possible, following two-lane asphalt lined with farmhouses and pine tree rows, tobacco barns and railroad crossings.”

With an intro like that, you KNOW you gotta go read it right now. We promise you’ll enjoy it.

(Incidentally, the timing is great because Layne has been hanging on to this cool pic she took of a roadside barbecue in KY over Christmas. She’s been waiting for the chance to use it ever since. )

Ever notice that some states seem to have a lot more vanity plates than others? California highways are filled with vanity plates. Virginia is the same way. Having spent much time on the roads in Virginia, it seems like every 5^th car has some attempt at bumper side tomfoolery. Granted, it may just seem like that because the state requires every car to have plates on both the front and back of each car. So it’s double the message. At any rate,  it amazes us how much creativity can flow from just 6-8 letters.

Even Scrabble pros have nothing on vanity plate owners. Heck- instead of that license plate state game you play on road trips, let’s up the ante and give extra points for vanity plates: especially the ones that can make 7 whole words out of just 7 letters- the crème de la crème of the vanity plate world. Ingenuity at its most efficient… for example, ICUNIYQ – “I See You And I Like You”-(try it with the Elmer Fudd accent, it works better.)

Also in Virginia, you will find the world largest license plate collector’s association. Located in Hampton, the Automobile License Plate Collector’s Association (ALPCA) has been around since 1954. They boast having well over 3,000 members from all around the world. They even have regional conferences/swap meets. We tried to contact them for an interview, but were unable to do so. They were probably out collecting license plates. If you are a fan of license plates, too, visit their web page (linked above).

We found another site too that is partially dedicated to vanity plates, www-chaos.umd.edu/misc. This is a fun space online with quips, quotes, and funny license plates stories. They have over 1,000 vanity plates listed online too, which is great fodder for late night boredom. You’ll laugh quite a bit.

From the site, we chose a few favorites; “BAA BAA” (on a Black Jeep),  “IBJAMEN”,  “IAML8” (Oh that should totally belong to Layne), “OJDIDIT”, “O2B39” (on a middle aged woman’s car), “CME4DK” (on a dentist’s license plate), “GSNDHT” (Gesundheit, on an Isuzu), “YY2WRY” (Too wise to worry), “WIZBYU” (Whiz by you), and “WOHORSY” (on a Mustang).

We did an informal poll of several of our FVR Roadies and they sent in some great ones, too. Here’s what you shared with us;  “ASFLT ROX” (Asphalt Rocks.) “4RCEBWU” inside a frame that said “ May the..”  Someone also found “FSHWHSPR” on a plate up in Maine. We know of a nurse with a plate that said “1BZ RN”. Some others include; “OK2NV” ( on a sports car), “PB4WEGO” (on a minivan), “M10 BKR” (mountain biker) and Layne’s favorite… “BRTQUL8”.  Also “ASUWISH”  came in from a Princess Bride fan, and “ITYP175″ from the back of a medical transcriptionist’s car. Thanks for sharing your plates!

Editors love word plays so vanity plates are totally our thing, though we aren’t sure it is fair to call them “Vanity Plates”. These folks RNT VAIN, they R WIT E.

Well it’s TM4ME2GO.. .but if you are just getting started and craving more, check out this license plate translation of the epic classic, Oedipus the King… told solely in license plate-anese.

And, as usual, if you find some fun zippy plates on the road, snap a pic and send them in. We are always looking for a few good laughs from the road!

Most of these street side architectural pieces were constructed in the 1920’s and 1930’s and were a common way of marketing to the folks driving around in this relatively new invention, the automobile. With the automobile comes the need for more roads, right? You got it. Streets and highways sprung up and a uniform numbering system was introduced in 1925.

Once the Depression hit, these roadside attractions became vital to the survival of the local businesses owners trying to catch the eye of a passerby. The businesses that survived the rough times were the ones that were able pull in the tourists from off the street to get some gas at their store or to sample whatever local tasty goodness the town happened to specialize in; sort of  an “If you build it, they will come” mindset. And so, witty, wacky roadside architecture was born.

Of course today, there are so many it is hard to count, and impossible to cover completely in a story. But here are a few of my favorites.

Dinosaur Park

Rapid City, South Dakota

Dinosaur Park, located in South Dakota, displays five dinosaurs made from black iron pipe, and a steel skeleton surrounded in wire mesh with a concrete skin. The creatures are built to scale and symbolic of the prehistoric dinosaur remains found in the badlands of South Dakota. The Triceratops measures 27 feet long, 11 feet high and sports 40-inch horns. The T-Rex is 35 feet long, 16 feet high and has a 4 foot head. There is also a Brontosaurus (80 feet long), a Stegosaurus (11 feet long) and a Trachodon (33 feet long). Emmitt A. Sullivan is the sculptor and he also created “Christ of the Ozarks” mentioned previously. Kids are free to climb on the dinosaurs and their bold green paint makes them easy to spot from the road.

Superman

Metropolis, Illinois

Just across the river between Western Kentucky and Illinois, you will find the famous Superman sculpture outside Metropolis’ Massac County Courthouse. I saw this one for the first time a few years ago. Metropolis, self-proclaimed Superman’s small hometown, hosts a huge super hero festival each year. For one weekend in June each year, the town is maxed out on tourists from all over the map. Parking spaces are limited so I recommend going another weekend but it’s a fun trip when you go. Be sure to stop inside the “Superman Museum” just down the block from the 30 foot sculpture and take a quick tour. There have been plenty of famous pics snapped beneath the giant sculpture including one I saw of President Obama during his pre-election days.

Paul Bunyon and Babe the Blue Ox

Bemidji, Minnesota

Like many of the other towns with roadside attractions, the City of Bemidji, had these works of art constructed in 1937 as a way to boost tourism. They were built in conjunction with the Winter Carnival begun that same year. The carnival’s theme promoted their former prominence as a lumbering center. Paul Bunyon and Blue Ox served as mascots for the carnival and were actually some of the earliest roadside attention-getters constructed. Paul is 18 feet high with a three foot shoe and his behemoth partner is around 10 feet tall, eight feet across. It’s quite a bovine spectacle.

Speaking of bovines…maybe you think this article is cheesy. Well read on….

Let’s Eat!

I found a mouse eating cheese in Black River, Wisconsin and Sissy the Cow in DeForest. And there’s another rat (this one is named Igor) eating cheese in Fennimore and Bessie the Cow in Janesville (You’d think they made cheese in Wisconsin or something). Now if I could just find some giant macaroni, I’d be set for dinner.  Oh LOOK! There’s a giant noodle in Chicago, Illinois. Oh see- now I have your attention and you are wondering, “What else is for dinner, Layne?”

I should advise you that you can find the following giant fruits and vegetables roadside (and in alphabetical order no less, for all or our OCD Roadies out there); apple, artichoke, corn, garlic, lemon, orange, peach strawberry, watermelon and zucchini. Your mother would be proud. Now, how about dessert?

There is a pretty delicious sounding dessert sculpture, the “It’s It” in Burlingame, California. Best guess says it’s an ice cream sandwich encased in an oatmeal cookie and covered in chocolate. Yum!

900 words later, you are hungry. So I’ll finish up with this…

Basically, if you want to see it in giant size, it’s out there somewhere along a road in America. To ease your online search, you can find them all in one spot. Check out www.roadsideamerica.com.

Once you find them, what do I want you to do with them? Put a pic on the site for me, www.favoriteroad.com. I’d love to see what you run across out there because I will never get to see them all. I’ll even give a free Favorite Road t-shirt or cap to the first 25 people that send in pics and info on some of your favorite “Windshield Wonders” from the road (while supplies last).

Load them on the site under “Submit a Road” or send them in an email to  editor@favoriteroad.com.

Come on, it’s January and you know your ears are cold. You could really use that hat, huh?

(Some of this info comes from www.nps.gov and roadsideamerica.com. Photographers; Beth Boland, Martin Ince, and RoadsideAmerica)

Driving around town the other day, two things caught my eye. Crossing in front of me was this antiquated long powder blue cadillac with a few odd pieces of “junk” glued to the car panels in various location. I thought “Hmm, what is that glued on junk all about?” Not much later, a brown car rolled by; similar in size and age, loaded and overflowing inside with trash; on the dashboard, up to the windowsills and etc. Piles and stacks of papers and fast food bags/cups, rags, etc. The driver had room only for him; the junk was closing in around him. I guess that is what you call a car hoarder. It was awful. But it made me think about my choice of words earlier when I had seen the blue car.   I decided right then and there that there is car junk and then there is CAR ART (Oh yeh Mr. Powder Blue, share your little piece of funky flair, your car bling.)

It’s a great concept really. Sure to encourage conversation everywhere you go. Give the eyes a break from the same old silver four-door sedan or the black or white SUV. Adds color to your neighborhood, your errands, your road trips. Brings a smile to almost everyone who sees it. Express yourself, show your personality the “on asphalt” way. People take pics of your car and it spreads all over the internet. It’s a win-win really.

Flipping through Facebook, I found a friend had posted this pic of the car of a popular vintage fashion clothing designer, Magnolia Pearl. This gal’s car, “Rose Royce” is a fabulous work of art. Swirls of painted ribbons and roses interspersed with funk. I would describe it exactly as Magnolia Pearle (Robin) defines her fashion style, “what Victorian style would have been if Queen Victoria had partied with Janis Joplin and Alice in Wonderland.” It screams “Girls Road Trip, BYFH (bring your favorite hat)!” This car is a spectacular expression of EXACTLY who she is.

So now I’m hooked, of course. On to the next muse.

Just a short distance off of Route 66 near Amarillo, TX is the famous Cadillac Ranch, built by a group of art hippies in 1974.  Ten rainbow-ed Cadillacs (model years 1949-1963) are buried nose down into the dirt, tail fins saluting the sky. These painted roadside monuments, though originally built for other reasons, now encourage shared public expression. Tourists can actually bring their own spray paint can and join the fun (snap a pic of your temporary talent, though, because it will be covered up by someone else’s art very soon.).

At this point, you are wondering “What else is out there? Show me more!“? Oh people, there is a world of CAR ART out there. Festivals, museums, websites, contests and on and on.  One of my roadie friends (Thanks Sara N) heard I was writing this article and told me about ArtScape. Every summer in Baltimore, the American Visionary Art Museum hosts the Artscape Festival, which includes a parade of Art Cars. Incidentally Louisville, KY also holds a car event every August at the Louisville Arts Museum. And there are more; big and small, all across the continent.

Many of the cars at these festivals are fabulous engineering feats of circuitry. They are colorful and creative, intricately detailed. Some are painted or covered in lights. Others are sculptures (I found a pic of one that was a red high heel and one that was a shark) and still more are covered in glued on objects like brightly colored bottle caps, rubber ducks,  singing lobsters, happy meal toys, and pens, etc. For example, the “Sashimi Tabernacle Choir” lobsters actually sync to the Bohemian Rhapsody (See it here on You Tube). Check out “Art Car Central” for more.

Julie, Tacky Treasure blogger explains it this way. “Art car artists take the concept of a car as an extension of oneself to its illogical extreme…and they do it all to show the world who they are. And how I admire them for that.”

Still interested in more? Best I can tell, the art car guru out there is a guy named Harrod Blank, author of four art car books, numerous videos, websites etc. The National Automobile Museum in Reno NV invited Blank to curate an exhibition on the history of art cars and mutant vehicles at Burning Man called “Mutant Rides.” (Sept 15 2011 – June 21 2012). He is also is working on building a museum for art cars in Douglas AZ called Art Car World.

Just be sure you have a few minutes to surf freely; it’s easy to get caught up in the fascination factor of it all. So if you are late for work, don’t blame me; you have been warned.

And there you have it; a quick tutorial on car art, a true Windshield Wonder. Check back next week when we take on another one; those wild, wacky roadside attractions like the “World’s Largest Ball of Yarn” or “Tin Can Annie”.

Until then, send me some pics of crazy things you see outside your car window…. Layne wants to know what she is missing out there.

(Pics from Google Images and the websites mentioned in the story.)

It reminded me of a time 20 years ago when I drove home from Tennessee in a rented Metallic Green Pontiac Grand Am ( that new slick body style from the early 90′s) with a Christmas wreath and bow I had tied on the front. I don’t know why I did it, it just seemed fun and witty, an expression of me. People were pointing and honking and it was all great fun and well frankly, it kept me awake and vigilant through a snowy ride home.

I love to see creativity on the road, meticulous CAR ART, witty vanity plates and those crazy giant roadside attractions you see on the pre-interstate “off the beaten path” roads. So that’s why this month, we’re focusing on those fabulously wacky “Windshield Wonders“. We hope to update you on some of the fun, funky things you can see just on the other side of the window. I believe these artists, “mobile muses” (my new term) should be applauded for taking the time to show us something we might not otherwise have experienced.

If you’ve got some pics of strange or witty things you see on the road, send them on in and we will include them in our feature this month.

Check back Monday for the first in our “Windshield Wonders” series; “CAR ART of the Funky, Funny Kind.” See You Then!

(pics from Google Images and Drive Steady)

Hwy 2A between Lawson Road and Port Union Road as my favourite as it was done in 1997 as a resurfacing project with SMA by MIller Paving and to this day is in excellent condition. It is a full depth asphalr pavement on top of granulars formerly built by the MTO and transferred over to Metrotransportation (now City of Toronto) in 1997 as well. I was fortunate to work as project manager with many dedicated staff and our material testing consultant Dr. John Emery of JEGEl at the time to come up with an excellent rehabilitation method of milling and replacing with 50mm of HS HL-8 and 40mm of SMA.

Code: OHMPA