The following is a dashboard video taken on my courier route. I actually get paid to drive this area and listen to music or audiobooks. Unbelievably awesome.
The video is put to music from one of my favorite driving CDs.
Category: Road
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11 Responses to HCW: My Courier Route
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My roadgeeking preferences tend to keep me on interstates, but I must admit that for a two lane road, it appears to be interesting to drive on. Not with some rocket sled, but with a smaller two seater like the Mazda Miata on a nice day or even a small car like an Impreza. So yes, I’d kill for you job, but only on the East Coast. 🙂
BTW, I must admit that I was surprised about the 70 mph speed limit on the road. Around here, you’d have a 55 mph limit at most, and road itself would probably have shoulders…
Maybe after this gig fades, you could become a truck driver? Also, I would appreciate a list of the music you played.
For some reason, I must admit, it’s still hard to picture you as a listener of country music even with the posts referencing it. But then, I don’t know anybody who actively listens to it.
With a couple of exceptions (more evergreens, the height of the mountain visible at about the 7:30 mark), the surroundings are not all that different than what you’ll see in parts of the Northeast, e.g. eastern Pennsylvania, the Catskills in New York State, western Massachusetts, among others. Is this route in a national forest? I thought I saw some brown roadsigns, which are common in national forests.
That’s country music? I’m with Kirk. Who is that?
Neat video, though the video quality is kind of lacking. Have you considered investing in a better camera?
Peter, I’ve jokingly hinted at the availability of such roads to me as a reason for me to stay in New York…
Kirk, he music playing is from The Mike McClure Band from the CD named Foam. A superb driving CD.
David, the speed limit isn’t so much a limit as a challenge. It’s genuinely hard to keep up with the speed limit on that area. One of the things I learned quickly about Arapaho (and Deseret, initially) is that they don’t take the safety precautions I’m used to for shoulders and rails. There’s a spot later in the commute with a bend over 90 degrees with no guard rail.
Peter, not through a National Park, but not far from one.
Raymond, the original video was better, but the camera saves in MOV format and had to be run through a converter (and YouTube degraded it further). I may get a better camera, though. One that doesn’t record in MOV.
With a couple of exceptions (more evergreens, the height of the mountain visible at about the 7:30 mark), the surroundings are not all that different than what you’ll see in parts of the Northeast, e.g. eastern Pennsylvania, the Catskills in New York State, western Massachusetts, among others.
I’ve lived in all those places and also the American West, and I disagree. The mountains, the sky, the scale are all noticeably bigger everywhere in the West, and things are less crowded too. This is a pretty average/typical Western mountain road and it looks to me like the only one in the Northast one that’s as good would be the White Mountains in NH (OK, the Whites might be even a little better). That river also much bigger than you’d typically see on a side road in the East. If you’re comparing a Youtube video to your memories of driving in person that might account for seeing things as similar…videos shrink things, you have to adjust for that.
Generally speaking, the West is best.
Hey, that sky’s not so big!
I know, it’s just a little sliver of my screen!
One of the things I learned quickly about Arapaho (and Deseret, initially) is that they don’t take the safety precautions I’m used to for shoulders and rails.
As I noted, by New York state standards, that road looks like a death trap. Our state highways here tend to be a little bit on the more cautious side, so you’ll see paved shoulders and guardrails galore. Mind you, we have a relatively high gas tax to pay for it, along with the major chunk of the roadway mileage being tolled which ensures a lot of money for rural state highways. In contrast, you guys have low population density and counts, so there just isn’t as much money around to pay for the “nice things”. I suspect things would change if somebody turns the DOT into a victim’s trust…