The year 2009 was a great year for "roadgeeking".

In January, Mary and I took a trip to Nashville. While Mary was in class, I drove all over the Nashville area to do some "roadgeeking" and visited several celebrity gravesites (including, but not limited to, Chet Atlkins, Jerry Reed, and Keith Whitley).

# OF NEW COUNTIES "CLINCHED": 13 in Tennessee and 1 in Kentucky.
INTERSTATES "CLINCHED": I-440.
ADDITIONAL INTERSTATE SECTIONS DRIVEN: I-24, I-40, and I-65 in Tennessee, plus the first 2 miles of I-65 in south central Kentucky.
"ROADGEEK-CAM!!!" Videos.

In May, during the week of Memorial Day, Mary and I drove down to central Florida, then headed north to hit Waycross, Savannah, and Charleston before heading back home via Columbia and Augusta.

# OF NEW COUNTIES "CLINCHED": 1 in Florida, 6 in Georgia, and 11 in South Carolina.
INTERSTATES "CLINCHED": I-4, all of I-20 and I-95 in Georgia, I-516, and I-526.
ADDITIONAL INTERSTATE SECTIONS DRIVEN: I-20, I-26, and I-95 in South Carolina.
"ROADGEEK-CAM!!!" Videos.

In June, we headed up to Greensboro, North Carolina to the last Southeast Regional Toastmasters conference. I dubbed it the "TRC (Toastmasters, Roads, and Counties) Roadtrip".

# OF NEW COUNTIES "CLINCHED": 3 in North Carolina and 1 in Georgia on the way back.
ADDITIONAL INTERSTATE SECTIONS DRIVEN: I-77, I-40, and the northwestern section of I-485 in North Carolina.
"ROADGEEK-CAM!!!" Videos.

In August, I took a weekend roadtrip to Huntsville, Alabama, for the Huntsville Hamfest (and "roadgeeking", of course). I dubbed this particular trip "Rockets, Radios, and ROADS!!!".

# OF NEW COUNTIES "CLINCHED": 1 in Georgia, 9 in Alabama, and 2 in Tennessee.
INTERSTATES "CLINCHED": I-565 and I-759.
ADDITIONAL INTERSTATE SECTIONS DRIVEN: I-59 and I-65 in Alabama, plus the southernmost part of I-65 in Tennessee.
"ROADGEEK-CAM!!!" Videos.

In October, the final roadtrip of the year before Christmas was through Middle and Eastern Georgia plus a slice of South Carolina. No new Interstates were "clinched" or driven, but I did "clinch" 5 more Georgia Counties and 2 more South Carolina counties before coming back to GRG HQ via Athens (with a stop at The Varsity for dinner). Once I crossed into Elbert County, Georgia, from Abbeville County, South Carolina, I had "clinched" all Georgia counties located on or north of I-20. (Sorry, no "ROADGEEK-CAM!!!" from this particular trip.)

Finally, it was back to central Florida for a Christmas visit with Mary's family.

During 2009, I have "clinched" a total of 55 more counties in seven (7) states and added a lot more Interstate mileage under my belt. Next year, I look forward to more roadtrips and "clinch" even more Interstates and counties... and visit more interesting places in the process. Hopefully, sometime next year, I can sneak in a trip to Augusta to "clinch" I-520 (including the new South Carolina portion), thus giving me a "100% clinch" of all Georgia Interstates.

And finally, I have a dream. That dream is to someday create and produce a "reality" series called "Roadgeeks", which would feature the world's various and sundry highways and byways from the travels and unique perspective of self-proclaimed roadgeeks such as myself. Perhaps A&E, Discovery, History, TLC, or The Travel Channel may be interested in such a series. Would you watch such a series? Please feel free to share your thoughts.

That's it for now. Thank you all for reading my blogs, listening to "GRG On BTR", watching "ROADGEEK-CAM!!!", and may you and yours have a very safe and Happy New Year. See y'all down the road in 2010!

        

 

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