Give me some random freeway directions.

Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS)
#1

I thought this would be a mindless, weird thing to do. Give me directions to some place you often drive to. Your favorite store, or vacation spot, or whatever. It can be across town, or across the country. (It doesn’t have to be freeway directions - surface streets are fine too.)

I’ll start: To get to Swain’s Art Store, in downtown Glendale California. (If you are coming from the Sunland/Burbank area.)

Take the 210 freeway heading East. Get on the 2 freeway, get off on the Mountain offramp. You’ll see Glendale College on your right. Get to the bottom of the hill (it’s a steep hill). Turn Left on Glendale Blvd. Keep on driving and driving. You’ll pass by (I think) GlenOaks, where Whole Foods (formerly Mrs. Gooch’s) is. Keep driving. You’ll pass over the freeway bridge, which is the 134 freeway. After you pass that, you’ll see a shopping area to your right. There’s a Rite Aid (or there should be) a Von’s (or there was last time I went) and Swain’s Art Store. It’s a great store.

When you leave Swains, go all the way to the back (past Vons) and take the back way out (off onto Doran Ave.). Trying to pull out into Glendale Blvd. traffic is a big hassle. Take Doran and then turn back onto Glendale Blvd. from it.

There now. Who is next!

#2

Well, to get from Box Hill in Melbourne out onto the Geelong road (without and etag) heading to Geelong:
Turn onto the Eastern freeway inbound. Tootle along until it turns into Alexandra parade, and cruise around the back of the university onto Elizabeth street.

At the roundabout with the kamakaze trams, take a half-right and go along the back of the queen vic market. At the roundabout opposite the car park at the market, turn right, and then cruise down until the railway bridge. Take the first left, which will take you behind docklands stadium.

Then it’s just a matter of turning right onto the Westgate freeway going over the Westgate bridge and down the Geelong road. (Which they’re still doing roadworks on, so watch for the speed limit changes every 100 metres!)

#3

To get to my school from my off-campus apartment:
Leave the parking lot and take a right. Take a right off Dartmouth onto Horsepen, but be careful of the people who somehow don’t connect that the right lane is a “right turn only” lane, despite the copious amounts of signage to that effect, until they’re about to plow into a parked car past the turn. Follow Horsepen down to the intersection where it takes a sudden ninety-degree turn to the left. It looks like a straight road you’re about to turn into, but in reality it’s Glenside on your right and Horsepen on your left. So technically you’re following Horsepen, but that gets confusing since in order to do that you have to stop at a traffic light and take a left turn.
Take your left turn and hie yourself into the left turn lane to get onto Three Chopt. The signage that declares this to be the direction to go in for the school is there, but tiny. After a while it becomes organic. When the light changes, meander along in the slow-moving line and don’t worry about running the yellow light just as it’s about to turn red. Everyone else does.
Get in the LEFT lane. Yes, I know you’re going to be turning right. Trust me on this one. A block up, wait patiently at the eternal red light at Patterson. After you’re released you’ll see the wisdom of being in the left lane, as the right is now clogged with people trying to get into the insanely designed Village parking lot so they can get their daily Ukrop’s fix. The right lane merges into the left just beyond the Village; people actually know how to merge here (go figure) so this isn’t a problem.
Take a right on Boatwright and be VERY wary of The Snake. Most people don’t really connect Boatwright Road and Snake Road while they’re at this school. It’s a VERY steep, VERY curvy road snaking down a hill onto campus. Given the insanity which seizes most college students when they drive, I am absolutely stunned that I managed to go four years at this school without ever seeing an accident.

There ya go. You’re on the campus. Now drive around for an hour trying to find parking that’s reasonably near your desired destination. Lather, rinse, repeat.

#4

Let’s drive to uni with me!

First thing: remember you’re driving on the left-hand side of the road. The easiest way to tell is to check on which side of the car the steering wheel is.

We’re leaving at 7:00am to get to a 8:00am lecture. Coming from Leach Highway, take Manning Road. Watch out for all those Curtin uni students in the right lane. They want to turn right and will block Manning Road up for at least 100 metres. Zip into the left land. Possibly flip them the bird as we go by.

Manning Road is long, but at this time in the morning it’s quite quiet. Motor along at 70kmh, but look out for the change down to 60kmh before we reach the Kwinana Freeway.

The Freeway is very wide and has a 100kmh speed limit. These two things are only of academic interest on as we putter along at 10kmh behind a 30 metre long truck. The Freeway is always chockers at peak hour so we refrain from impatience. Turn the MD player up. Sing along loudly to Radio Song and Come Sail Away. Ignore at the people in other cars who titter and point at you. Wave regally to them if you must.

We’re heading - ever so slowly - to the Mounts Bay Road exit. There are 6 lanes of traffic exiting so it’s important to get in the left lane early. Mounts Bay road is a nice scenic drive. It wends along the the Mt Eliza escarpment of Kings Park (hence “Mount”) and hugs the Swan River (hence “Bay”). It’s travelled by uni students at this time of the morning. Look out for someone we know so we can join forces and hog both lanes with our cars. It’s easy to speed along Mounts Bay and the cops know it. So we stick at a steady 65kmh.

Finally, uni is in sight. Turn left onto Hackett Drive to follow the river bank. Look for parking. There’s about 1 student parking bay for every 10 students, but this early in the morning they are plentiful.

#5

“When you get to the Schlossen Cutoff - get out of your car and cut off your Schlossen.” -from an old Tonight Show bit

Anyway - to get to my office from my apartment:

From the entrance to the complex, turn right onto Shady Grove Road and proceed to the first stop light. Turn left and proceed approximately 4 miles to the intersection of US 301 and Parham Road. Turn right onto Parham Road and proceed approximately 4 miles to Interstate 95. Take Interstate 95 South to the Franklin Street exit. Turn left off the exit ramp and proceed straight into Parking Lot 28. My building (the James Monroe Building) is the 25 story one that you are now parked at the foot of. I’m on the 17th floor. Come on up and say “hi.”

#6

Okay, we’re gonna go home from here at work.

When you leave the parking lot, turn left and then take a right at the light. We’re not going by the geek store, so stay on Neil all the way to Lincoln. Go up Lincoln, past the university, until the light after University (yes, yes, the university is not on University avenue - neither does Springfield Avenue go to Springfield.) Take a right, then a left at the stop sign. Home is about 3/4 of the way down, on the left.

#7

Here’s how you can get to my house in either of 2 ways, and you make your choice depending on traffic. The assumption is that you’re on I-95 coming to Jacksonville. Take I-295 to exit 4, go south almost 5 miles. Turn just before the Taco Bell. Drive till you have to turn left, turn left, then take the first right and go to the end of the road. Our house has the brown roof.

-OR-

Take exit 3, go south till you come to the Winn-Dixie, then turn right. Go to the light just before the railroad track and turn left. Stay on that road till it turns right and crosses the tracks - it’s about 4.5 miles, I think. Then go to the light and take a right. At the next light, you’ll want to be in the center lane, and you’ll cross into the shopping center parking lot. Exit behind the Taco Bell, and finish like above.

Wipe your feet before coming in.

#8

Lock your workstation and head out the back door so as not to be noticed. Make sure you parked in the back lot so you don’t have to circle the building with people looking out of the office windows at you.

Get on I-494, head east. You’ll want to do this before rush hour, 'cos it’s a standstill any time after 4 pm, and it’s gonna be maybe an hour before you get out of the state. 494 curves north at the southeast corner of the metro area.

Turn right on I-94, cruise a couple hours until you near Tomah, Wisconsin. Keep right and merge onto I-90; I-94 continues to Milwaukee and it’ll get you there, but an hour or two later. Spend another few hours going down I-90.

Cross the Illinois border, pay $.40 at four tollways, exit at appropriate street. Harass various ChiDopers for a weekend. Head back on Sunday.

#9

To get from my parent’s house to Crossgates Mall in Albany:
Take a left out of the trailer park and then take a right at the intersection that has a Yield sign around the corner. Go straight until you reach a stop sign and take a left. Keep going for a few miles, the road will dead-end intersect with Route 9, take a left. Keep going down Route 9 through the towns of Kinderhook and Valatie, past the House of History, the high school, and three red lights. Then you’ll go under a train trestle that has “I know what Natske did last summer” and “Natske hates this bridge” spray-painted on it by teenage vandals who dislike the town’s 21-year-old mayor, or maybe they’re just teasing him, I really don’t know but that’s been up there since he got elected a couple of years ago. It turns into a 4-lane just past the bridge, but there’s never any traffic so it really doesn’t matter which lane you take. Go past a pull-off rest stop and under another overpass and right past the overpass is the on-ramp for I-90 West. Get on the interstate and keep going for about 10, maybe 15 miles. Get off at exit 2. Get in the third lane from the left when the exit widens to 4 lanes at the stop light. Take a left and be in the left lane on this road (Fuller, I think it is). There’s another stop light right there, but don’t wait at it, take a left through a little curvy exit road that’s right there and merge into traffic. Keep going until you see a sign that says Crossgates Mall. Take a right. This road is a big loop past a trucking company’s lot, then it ends at a stop sign, take another right. Go straight until you hit another stop - I forget whether it’s a yield sign, a stop sign or a light, because I haven’t been there in a year - anyway take a right because it’s easier and then take the next available left turn to get into the Crossgates parking lot.
Good luck finding a space!

#10

As you exit the Jacksonville (IL) Correctional Center, take a left on Rt. 36. Go about a mile to I-72 east. Follow 1-72 to I-55 north, which wraps around Springfiled. Head North on I-72 to exit 250A on the west side of Joliet. Take I-80 east to IL53 and turn left. About a mile up the road, turn right on Washington Street then a quick left on to IL171.

Joliet State Prison is just a couple of miles up the road. You can let yourself in, the door’s unlocked.

#11

OTHER POSTERS IN THIS THREAD (FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY) SAY THINGS LIKE:
“I-494”
“I-72”
“I-55”
“I-295”
“US 301”

THE OP (FROM SOCAL) USES TERMS LIKE:
“the 210”
“the 134”

I just think it’s funny how people in SoCal seem to be the only ones in the US who use “the” to designate freeways and highways. :slight_smile:

Here’s mine:

To get from San Diego, CA to Sacramento, CA, just take “the 5” until you get over the Tehachapi Mts., where it immediately becomes just “5”.

As an alternate route, you can take “the 101” until you get past San Luis Obispo, where it becomes just “101”.

As you were…

#12

Actually, the cutoff is Slauson Blvd…it is a MAIN street in Southern California, and I’ll use that in my directions how to get from where I live now to the house I grew up in…

[ul]
[li]From Roscoe Blvd. take the 405 south.[/li][li]Continue over the Sepulveda Pass.[/li][li]Hi Opal! :smiley: [/li][li]Take the Slauson Cutoff[/li][li]Don’t cut off your Slauson :rolleyes: [/li][li]Turn right at the bottom of the hill[/li][li]Drive east about 4 miles until you come to Fairfax.[/li][li]Turn right on Fairfax.[/li][li]Turn left on the first street you come to - Condon Ave.[/li][li]Make the turn to the right.[/li][li]The house I grew up in is about 2/3 of the way down on the left hand side.[/li][/ul]

#13

This is how you get to my friend’s house in Davis from my house in El Cerrito.

Head South on Colusa Ave. for about a block and a half. Take a right on Rockway. Take a right after 1 block (the street ends anyway) onto Ashbury. Quick left onto Central. Go down Central a mile or so and get on the onramp for 80 East. There’s a bridge toll of $2 after several miles (maybe 10). Drive for approx. 45 minutes. Take the 113 exit to Woodland (I forget if that’s 113 north or south). Take the third exit off of 113 – the exit is called something like ‘Road 37’ and it also has another name that’s an actual name. Regardless, it’s the third exit off 113. Bear right off the offramp. You’re now on some road or other (it’ll be the one with the name that the 113 exit was named after), heading roughly eastward. Take a right on F street (I think it’s F street, it’s the one before the overpass, after you pass the big field on the right). Go a block or two until you see the sign for the apartment complex on the left, Park-something-or-other. Turn left into the parking lot at the sign. Continue straight to the end of the lot, take a right. Continue till you get to the other part of the lot, park. Walk to the apartment. Call on your cell and tell him you’re here.

Geez, those were some terribly non-specific directions. Oh well, it’ll still get you there.

#14

“see that sign down there, no not that one the one behind that one, yeah that one, you turn left at that sign then go about half a mile, well maybe 3/4 a mile, MYRNA! HOW FAR IS DOWN TO THAT CUT-OFF OVER TO THE OTHER ROAD?..OK THANKS, its about 3/4 mile to the cut-off. Now once you get on the cut-off you are going to drive a ways but when you think your coming the end and are gettin ready to turn you don’t, when you get to the end of the cut off you take a little jog to the right then it goes on another ways, after you take that little jog and go on down to the…”

#15

Here’s how I drove from my place of work in Fullerton to the job headhunters in Westwood last week:

  1. Get on the 91 freeway going west
    (yeah, I said “the 91”, you have a problem with that?)

  2. Drive west on the 91 until you get to the 110.

  3. Wave to Opal, take the 91 transition to the 110 south, then switch to the 405 west transition.

  4. Go northwest on the 405.

  5. Get off at Wilshire Blvd. and go east.

  6. After you go past the Fderal Building, turn right.

  7. Find a place to park, then enter the AB Building across the street.

  8. Go up to the 10th floor, go to room 1040, and ask them “haven’t you found a job for me yet?!”

:wink:

#16

This will get you from my work to my home.

Turn right out of the east exit of the parking lot onto Aviation Blvd. Take Aviation to the 105 and go east. After about three exits you’ll want to cut south on the 110 and take that down to 91. Then 91 east to 605. 605 south to South Street, go right from the off-ramp, left on Palo Verde, left on Candlewood, and go almost to the end of Candlewood. My house is the one with the gilded statue of Baal in the front yard.

#17

This is how to get to out of my driveway.

Pull out of garage…back out 20 feet and turn left or right.
There youve done it!!

CAUTION: AVOID 4 right or left turns in a row…then you will have to start over.

#18

I give these directions to visitors to my work facility all the time-

From Northbound 101, take the Fairview exit. Continue over the overpass, which curves to the left toward the ocean.

Take your first right on Hollister.

(From Southbound, take the Los Carneros exit and go to your second right at Hartley, and then follow directions below from Firestone. Or call me for explicit details. :wink: )

Take your second left on Hartley.

Take an immediate right, it is very immediate, on Firestone.

Take your third left on Burns, at the control tower.

Burns dead-ends in to Cook, which we’re located on. Take a right on Cook, and you’ll see parking along the right and the walkway to the lobby.

Now, don’t forget you have to sign in, and I may have to strip search you. :slight_smile:

#19

Ok, from my house to my parent house -
[ul] Take the #1 east till you get to Regina
Head north on the #11
East on the #15
North on the #10
East on the #5
North on the other #10
Take yer first right.
Take yer second left.
Take yer second right.
It’s the 4 property in. [/ul]

All told - about 12 hours.

#20

Ok, mind your Ks now.

Left on Tusitala, right on Kapili, left on Cleghorn, right on Kapuni, left on Kuhio, right on Kapahulu, left on Kalakaua, left on Poni Moi, right on Diamond Head (enjoy the view), right on Kahala, left on Kealaolu, right on Kalaianaole (enjoy the spectacular view) (hey look, Sea Life Park, that’s where the wholphin lives) (hey, see that McDonalds? Hilary Clinton ate there, if you like fast food stop for a bite there, if not keep an eye out plenty good eats ahead), left on Kailua, straight on to the Pali, (enjoy the hairpin turn and the best view so far), right on the Nuuanu Pali Dr, (if it’s august stop and eat some guavas from the trees), stop in the lot for awhile, look off the cliff, lean into the wind, get back into the bar go back down the road you just came up, right on the Pali (watch the split, stay on the Pali), get on H1 going east (make sure you’re in the far left line at the right time or else get tossed into downtown), take the King St. exit, on to King, straight across to Harding, right onto Kapahulu, right on Ala Wai, left on Kanekapolei, left on Kuhio, left on Kaiulani, right on Tusitala, and left back home.

Now all anxiety has been released and I’m feeling good. Provided I was smart enough to not go out during rush hour.

P.S. lots of Ks huh?