"So...why are we going to Pittsburgh?" -- First time at Kennywood, 6-17-06

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RatherGoodBear said:
I still can't figure out how many Stu's were there.

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Just two: Stu L. (Charles's roommate) and Stu A. (the former roommate of both). Note to self: include dramatis personae with all future TRs. ;)

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I don't know which part of getting to Kennywood I liked better-- the sign showing the FOUR left turns at various angles or the 5-way intersection that didn't have the "arrow" pointing the correct way.

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If it weren't for the poor resolution on my camera phone and the fact that I couldn't react quickly enough to get a clear shot on the fly, that four-way left sign would easily taken Jack the Rabbit's place as the cell phone background. I'm confident that's the nuttiest road sign I've ever seen -- and I'm from New Jersey, for God's sake!

Ahhh, the Burgh burbs are full of those 4 left turns..

There is straight left, slightly left, left left, and then kinda left...

Don't get me started on the rights. :)

It's more confusing than trying to play that imposter DDR game where the arrows are pointing southwest, southeast, etc, instead of up, down, left, and right. ;)

-Tina

*** Edited 7/7/2006 10:17:11 AM UTC by coasterqueenTRN***

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Nitro Dave said:
If it weren't for the poor resolution on my camera phone and the fact that I couldn't react quickly enough to get a clear shot on the fly, that four-way left sign would easily taken Jack the Rabbit's place as the cell phone background. I'm confident that's the nuttiest road sign I've ever seen -- and I'm from New Jersey, for God's sake!

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ANYONE who knows about NJ driving and the nature and function (disfunction?) of jug-handles *had* to be laughing as hard as I was over this...thanks! :)

"FOUR left turns, usually I'd get a ticket for making ONE!"... ;)

When I was growing up there we refered to ourselves as "Pittsburghers".

Gator, there are actually two jughandles (that I'm aware of) in the Pittsburgh area. Which is even WORSE if you don't know about them, because you're not expecting them...

Me and my friend love Kennywood so much that we drove in 03' the three-and-1/2 hours from Maryland and back in one day. Getting there is the easy part with the arrows. It's the getting back part that can be difficult. As RGB said, that turnoff for the bridge comes up FAST. In 01' me and some co-workers went, and missed the turn at the convenience store on the way back, and wound up in a particularly scary neighborhood. We turned around quickly.

You didn't mention Noah's Ark in your report. You can't go to KW and skip Noah's Ark, a walkthrough attraction that just about violates most of OSHA's safety rules:) If you did miss it, don't forget it the next time!

Ok, you've got me stumped ... I assume you mean closer to the city, so you're talking about the one on 51 up to Mt. Washington ... what's #2? There's a bunch being put in out 22 east of the city, but those are barely Pittsburgh ...

Ha, yea, I forgot about that sign in Regent. I think Amazing Race or Survivor or one of those shows should send all their contestants into Pittsburgh without a map, and make them get to 5 places ... 2 of which don't actually exist anymore ;)

So no one's ever gotten directions through Pittsburgh by landmarks which don't exist anymore? "It's easy! Go past where Islay's used to be, take the wide left, not the hard left, go straight at the first intersection, but then you have to go right at the next one because the road actually turns to the right, and a new road goes straight, then go past what used to be Forbes Quad and ... "

gator, you need a "navi-gator" for your trip ;)

^ You volunteering? ;)

Hehe, I'm never supposed to use the word "volunteer", that's reserved for the Rocky-Toppers...speaking of which, is this the year Phil Fulmer is finally going to concede BEFORE the Gator game? :)

Impulsive, I think that's pretty universal, or at least state-wide here in PA.

We get the rural version around here, where a man with a Pennsylvania Dutch accent gives directions but his landmarks are where someone's barn used to be before it burned down, or the tree that got blown down in that storm 40 years ago. I say it was an oak, but Jakey says it was a maple...

My personal favorite is a local coal region one... "Take the first right then go through 3 red lights, then go till you can't go anymore..."

^LMAO! That sounds like the directions I got going to Williams Grove the first time.

Then it was like "So there IS a park in there isn't there?"

-Tina

Heh, I didn't know that RGB, thought it was only Western PA... I like the rural touch on it though!

Hey, no associating me with ANYTHING that has to do with the U of Tenn ... might as well call me a Penn State fan! What an insult! ;)

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Impulse-ive said:
Ok, you've got me stumped ... I assume you mean closer to the city, so you're talking about the one on 51 up to Mt. Washington ... what's #2? There's a bunch being put in out 22 east of the city, but those are barely Pittsburgh ...

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Yeah, I don't count the ones on 22 East. The other one I was thinking about is on McKnight road, as you get up towards North Hills Village (whatever the heck it's called these days)

Actually, there's another near Century III Mall, I think on 885 but I'm blanking on the exact road now.

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GregLeg said:

Actually, there's another near Century III Mall, I think on 885 but I'm blanking on the exact road now.

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Yes, it is on 885. It was a result of poor planning and the original developer's unwillingness to construct left turn lanes from 885 to the entrance into the mall. So, if you want to access the mall coming from Clairton/Jefferson on 885, you pass up the entrance to the mall, go to the jughandle, and either go straight across and go into the mall area the back way, or turn around and go back to the entrance that you previously passed...

There is a partial jughandle on Route 51 in Elizabeth at Roberts Hollow Road next to Sylvester & Tweety's Restaurant.

"That bridge" with the mulitude of exits near Sandcastle is the Glenwood Bridge. That interchange is crazy even for Pittsburghers.

The Homestead High Level AKA Grays Bridge is the one that connects Squirrel Hill to Homestead... with the big mall complex beneath it. Too bad they tore down Chiodo's bar on the Homestead side, I miss the front end of the trolley car propped against it. Most folks exit at Squirrel Hill and take this route. It would be a pain reduced to single lane, though.

The 3rd option would be Swissvale exit, and cross the Rankin Bridge. Probably the best option if the Homestead bridge is U/C, but there's a ton of stop signs through Swissvale.

Jughandles? I can think of 2 on McKnight Road alone... one at Nelson Run inbound, one at Northway Mall/McIntryre Rd outbound.