How about a challenge to have every rest area/overlook on an interstate in the USA have a driveby letterbox. It would sure help break up the stops. How many in your state have not been planted?

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Every rest area on an interstate in USA have a drive-by box

This is a wonderful idea.... when we first started boxing we were very surprised that a rest area by us had a letterbox, and we have been scouting others to plant at.

I like this challenge! I could have all of I-80 in Illinois done no problem by the end of Feb. 2007. Always on this road and always stopping at the rest stops.

The Traveling Dudeks

Fun challenge! I got a rest area box just after Christmas and it was a fun break! However, that same boxer (you know who you are, *coughzoemommacough* ;-)) has got most of the ones on my regular route to visit my mom.

However, I have a few ideas..... ;-))

Mama Fox

I was just about to post a question asking how to find them along the rest stops? We travel between Rochester and Albany frequently and with the kids and the dog, usually stop at least once.

Where do I go to find the clues if there are any?

vicki

Use the Trip Planner function. It will let you select the route you take and then you can scroll through those looking for rest areas.:

http://www.atlasquest.com/lboxes/search.html?gTypeId=7

It would be helpful if they were labeled somehow to help indicate that they were at a rest stop. I have seen several called I-270 Overlook etc. Then when I do a trip planner and see that type of name it lets me know for sure it is a rest area. By the way I-270 is not on the choices! It is main Interstate from Frederick to Washington DC. Can we fix that GT?

There are actually two welcome centers in my county. One is already done by another. My daughter has one to plant at the other if we ever have a sunny day while in that direction. I have four five more that are on semi-regular trips that are targeted!

Kudos to "Flat tire" who planted a few rest stops this summer. I was able to get two of those boxes that had a state theme!

When I was home on Christmas vacation, I placed a box at the Kentucky/Tennesee line. I have a rest stop (actually one on each side of the road) close to one of my boxes that when I go to check on it, I'm going to plant there. I had already decided when I placed the first reststop box, that I would do a series of these over time. I will hit the rest areas on I-20 from South Carolina to Alabama and then some during my travels with work. Guess I need to start keeping a few boxes in my car, eh?

By definition, 270 is a spur road. Interstates only have two digit numbers, with 1-9 before them meaning something else (ie, 1 = side route starting at interstate, does not meet back up with another interstate, 2 = loop, returns to the road is started from, etc). So there is nothing to "fix", sorry.

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By definition, 270 is a spur road.

Technically, by definition, 270 is a loop because its 3 digit number starts with an even number. If it started with an odd number, then it would be a spur.

From Wikipedia:

A spur route is one that deviates from its parent and does not end at another Interstate; it is given an odd first digit. A loop route is one that returns to its parent; it is given an even first digit

TG

I only used 'spur' as in not a "real" interstate but some sort of interecting route that falls under the federal interstate system. So technically it is a 'spur' but not a 'Spur'... *grin*

Sorry I had to get technical. :) I guess that is just another of my Monk moments. Oh wait....that discussion is on a different board!

TG

It acts more like a spur. It goes from Frederick MD to the DC Beltway. I-70 that it spurs off of goes from Frederick to Baltimore at that point.

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There are a bunch near us placed by a trucker ... flat tire.

Loved the one at the I-85 SC Welcome Center so much that we did one for the I-77 WC in NC in Charlotte. (Imitation is a form of compliment, don't ya think?) The NC Welcome Center is so well maintained that we had to hide it in the woods instead of in the area we had originally planned. It wouldn't have lasted long if we had put it there. Maybe now that we have a GPS, we could use that to HELP define where the Rest Area is along the interstate. We would never use GPS as the only clue.
Chickadee

The Elba Onions have created a great series of rest stop letterboxes on the NY Thruway.

And I've got a few, too, but not in NY.

http://www.atlasquest.com/lboxes/showboxinfo.html?gBoxId=8086
http://www.atlasquest.com/lboxes/showboxinfo.html?gBoxId=8137

Lisascenic

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It would be helpful if they were labeled somehow to help indicate that they were at a rest stop.

Probably the easiest way to list JUST boxes at rest areas is to use the trip planner with a 5-mile distance search, but also search for the term "rest area" in the clues. (Use the quotes, too, otherwise it'll return clues with the words rest and/or area which isn't what you want.) It may not be perfect since a rest area box may not actually use that term in the clues or a non-rest area box does use the term, but for the most part it's pretty accurate at listing just the rest area boxes along a route.

A search of active rest area boxes along I-95 brings up eight boxes listed on Atlas Quest: http://www.atlasquest.com/lboxes/results.html?gTypeId=7;gSort=6;gClue=%22rest+area%22;gRoute=2,13849,14008

Oh, be patient with those clue searches. Clue searches can be a lot slower than a typical search since the index usually needs to be loaded from disk and the size of the index is rather large. As a result, those searches could take a minute or longer to get back to you.

-- Ryan

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By the way I-270 is not on the choices! It is main Interstate from Frederick to Washington DC. Can we fix that GT?

Oh, I forgot to reply to this part. AQ only supports the Interstates with one and two-digit numbers (1-99). There are WAY too many three-digit numbers to support them all, most of them aren't long enough to make a decent route out of, and there's additional logistical problems since three-digit routes are often reused across the country. (For instance, I know there's an I-405 in Los Angeles, Portland, AND Seattle--all completely unrelated to each other. And those are just the ones I know about!)

So there won't be any three-digit Interstates supported anytime soon.

-- Ryan

I've been very busy planting on Interstates all over the United States. It has been so fun planting while on the road. My main objective was to get a letterbox on as many interstates as possible, in as many states as possible. I'm working on getting to every rest stop in the US!

Flat Tire

There are two in West Virginia with boxes. That could change soon. I have three-four planned by the end of spring.

My 100th box was at a rest area. I had printed it from the 5 mile trip planner. The title was You Gotta Guess and only listed the nearest town. There were some clues that my wife was able to get right away as being at a rest stop on I-81.

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Technically, by definition, 270 is a loop because its 3 digit number starts with an even number.

That's the I-270 here in Columbus, OH. I didn't know there was another one somewhere out there!

There are a ton out there, especially the 2 (loop) variety. Here is your useless number filler taken from a website, and why Ryan can't really support this. There is not more than one of each number per state, but as you can see, there are a lot duplicate numbers overall. For example, I-270 exists separately in Ohio, Maryland, Colorado and Missori/Illinois (Kansas City).

___________________

I-H-1: 201
I-5: 105(x2) 205(x2) 305 405(x3) 505 605 705 805
I-10: 110(x5) 210(x2) 310 410 510 610(x2) 710 910
I-15: 115 215(x3) 315 515
I-16: 516
I-20: 220(x2) 520 820
I-24: 124
I-25: 225
I-26: 126 526
I-29: 129 229(x2)
I-30: 430 530 630
I-35: 135 235(x3) 335 435 535 635(x2)
I-38: 238
I-40: 140 240(x3) 440(x3) 540(x2) 640
I-44: 244 444
I-45: 345
I-55: 155(x2) 255 355
I-59: 359 459 759
I-64: 164 264(x2) 464 564 664
I-65: 165 265(x2) 465 565 865
I-69: 469
I-70: 170 270(x4) 370 470(x3) 670(x2)
I-71: 271 471
I-72: 172
I-74: 474
I-75: 175 275(x4) 375(x2) 475(x3) 575 675(x3)
I-76: 176 276 376 476 676
I-77: 277(x2)
I-78: 278 478 678 878
I-79: 279 579
I-80: 180(x4) 280(x4) 380(x3) 480(x2) 580 680(x3) 780 880 980
I-81: 181 381 481 581
I-82: 182
I-83: 283
I-84: 184 384 684
I-85: 185(x2) 285 385 485 585 985
I-87: 287 587 787
I-89: 189
I-90: 190(x4) 290(x3) 390 490(x2) 590 690 790 890 990
I-91: 291(x2) 391 691
I-93: 293 393
I-94: 194(x2) 294 394 494 694 794 894
I-95: 195(x6) 295(x7) 395(x5) 495(x5) 595(x2) 695(x3) 795 895(x2)
I-96: 196 296 496 696

... err, 270 is in St. Louis, not Kansas City (before anyone points that out)...

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I'm working on getting to every rest stop in the US!

Flat Tire

And I'm a Pro!

Flat Tire

I love this idea and so enjoyed having some quickies to do on a road trip out to Portland, OR last year. I've also been thinking on my own of placing some at rest stops in Colorado. I spend 2 hours scouting a rest area in Eastern CO looking and when I finally figured out where I was going to put it, someone had pulled over to park - and probably to take a nap, so I wasn't able to plant it.

The clues are a link to LbNA, but this one is also a rest stop box and I have
http://www.atlasquest.com/lboxes/showboxinfo.html?gBoxId=16246

Colorado has some great historical text/photos on signage along its highwas (federal and state). This website is still in progress, but I'm wondering how many other states do this that might be good places to get ideas, find actual rest areas, incorporate into boxes, etc. http://www.coloradohistory.org/RIPsigns/index.asp

If there's some energy around an actual Rest Stop challenge and putting that in the title, I'm game - not only to place more, but to edit clues to make 'em easier to find as such.

Did ya'll know that 2006 was the 50th anniversary of the Eisenhower Insterstate Highway System?
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/homepage.cfm

Next steps for such a challenge?
preboxed

The titles should readily identify it as a rest area. Something ingenious like I-81 Rest Area. The town and state it is closest to would be enough for me. However, some may like the mile marker or the fact that it is a welcome center.

In looking at several rest areas it is not easy to find a spot unless there is a trail or woods. Then again most have some type of guard rail that would work for a magnetic box. Will work on the 22 in West Virginia with any help as offered. Only 20 to go!

little late on this discussion but i have 2 LBs at a local Rest Area
Hwy 23/74 West located between Waynesville and Sylva, NC

they are not named for the Rest Area though

dixie

I am rally excited about this idea! I love to travel in my car. The only thing I would like to see listed is if there are bathrooms at that rest stop because I will have to figure these out for my kids to use the facilities and they are not all loaded with luxuries unfortunalty. Nothing like telling the kids that we have to get out to hunt for a LB but y'all have to hold it for the next rest stop *evil giggle*

Cuyamaca Poppy