the idea of making a multidimensional inaugural tour of the new year is not new
back in 98 for example
as in 19&98
i spent new years week traveling united states highway 98 from end to end
beginning on the atlantic at palm beach & culminating on the mississippi river near natchez
& the highlight of that tour was the short stretch between homosassa & chiefland florida where united states highways 19&98 run in tandem
& where the year 1998 was thus emblazoned for 60 miles of roadway in double escutcheons
for those who had eyes to see it
in fact right thru the crystal river area where i am presently situated
& which i discovered & adopted at that time
as one of my favorite wintering spots & oracular seats
& until now these 2 highways did this right here
for me
practically to maximum possible perfection
for i had not yet found a single highway number to match my year
as i have indeed done for the first time now this week
but the 2004 inaugural run was so totally cosmic i must tell you the whole story if i possibly can
new years eve began to descend upon my coast to coast dash even as i myself was already beginning to ascend donner summit
i hadnt yet actually conceived the journey as an inaugural tour
but was simply thinking in terms of
wouldnt it be nice if i could overtake the new year for a change
by crossing a time zone boundary eastbound in the 11th hour
rather than being overtaken by it as usual at the stroke of midnight
but i had nothing more grandiose in mind than that
i mean besides a high speed new years run across the continent
the snow level & i reached cisco grove on the west slope of the sierra at about the same time
& when traffic slowed to a crawl & the warning lights started flashing
snow chains or 4 wheel drive required
& i realized i was no less emprisoned in california than i had recently been in new mexico
so i turned around at the first no turns sign
& headed for tehachapi pass on new years day
in driving rain that was not only horizontal but perpendicular to my route as well
the only alternative
half the length of california away
clearly i was not going to set any transcontinental speed record this time
but again
moving fast
so highlites only
the marquee on the arbys roast beef at roswell nm reads
aliens welcome
but i did reach nmtx as reported by friday night
& i must have had a great dream on it that i dont remember
because somewhere around brownfield it dawned on me that yes there must be a highway 2004 somewhere in the usa i might include in my inaugural trip
in fact i reasoned it would have to be somewhere in texas or louisiana or pennsylvania
where route numbers in 4 digits are fairly routine
or else some obscure county route perhaps almost anywhere else
but i even imagined i recalled having seen a 2004 once in texas
which proved to be true
for at abilene
the first available library stop
i was able to verify texas farm road 2004 does indeed run between freeport & texas city
& tho i wouldnt normally have thought to revisit the petroleum coast of texas
i was just in time to veer off down highway 36
for my second major detour of this supposed beeline
there was no hesitation
i knew i had to do it
& do it end to end
i even knew i had to do route 36 end to end also
for a preliminary & preparatory exercise
since cosmo ironically 36 runs nowhere but from abilene to freeport
& tho a few extra miles were necessary to do the full yard
you can bet i did do it
especially as 36 plus 2004 makes the complementary 2040 besides
& theres lots more
perhaps for another time
but i must cut to the chase
route 2004 begins near freeport
with a prison
which i figured simply represented my emprisonment in california on new years day
so no problem
hahaha
then it runs thru shopping malls & coastal flats for about 49 miles on the odometer
& since i drove it at night i didnt see much
except
the one great highlight
indeed there was no other great illumination anywhere on the road
a bp mega refinery
i kid you not
thats bp as in you know what
quite a beauty of its kind too
in fact it was the grandest such thing i have ever seen
so i have to figure 2004 is going to be a year of magnificent refinement at boundarypoint
mmm
now i am soon going to be bounced from my computer again
so i will have to end this story there
& without even mentioning a real multipoint yet
& tho you see i am no longer there but already here
but rest assured your one remaining bp try pointing unit is still very much at large & in the field
of course it was nowheres near the record solo crossing
however impressed i may be with myself & with it
the difficulty of course is not so much driving fast as it is staying awake
for example i once hitchhiked from california to new york in 55 hours
the cannonball express
a race with 2 drivers per car
once made it from new york to los angeles i think in 37 hours & change
but even if my crossing itself wasnt so fast but merely has to be reported as fast as possible
i would like to think both the crossing & the report were as thorough as possible under the circumstances
beeps
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