Re a detour through canada...
it sounds strange doesn't it? but Route 80, is the major road from NYC (well actually it start in NJ) heads west. I-80 has to dip south, round the lake erie, starting just about at the edge of that lake, which is near the NY/Pennsylvania boarder, before ohio,as does route 90!
a 40 or so mile detour,(north) on picturesque road and you are in Niagara NY, and then you can cross over into canada, and travel along the north edge of the lake on a road that also heads back south, and bring you to detroit.
its one of those geographic surprizes.. if you are in downtown detroit, and travel south, what would be the next country you enter? most people guess mexico, or some south american country, but the answer is canada!
a penisula of land on the northern edge of the lake, slips under detroit.. once you are in detroit, a few miles on another interstate road, you meet back up with I-80 which works its way back north..
There is US interstate system of road..with even numbers tend to be east west, odd numbers tend to be north south that criss cross the country.
the interstate Routes, (10, 20,(30?), 40, (50?), 60, 80, and 90) are the big east/west ones. they start in the south with 10(and i don't know if all the numbers are used,) and end in new england with 90
I-80 takes you (i know this one best!) from NJ to SF, CA.
I-90 from Boston to (Seattle? Portland Oregon?) but as i say, the great lakes cause the northen edge of US to take a dip..(and I-80 and I-90 share the same road for a while)
Running north and south, I 95 is the major road in NY area, it goes from Maine to Florida...and I-5 is in California, (going from mexico boarder north to at least seattle (i think it meet up with the old road, 99, which is called the Alaskan Highway, and runs along the coast from seattle, to alaska (the route might change names in Canada) but if you were driving, you'd basicly stay on the same road.. and except for the customs house/immigration stops, would be unaware of the boarders..
we US's tend to forget what a good neighbor we have in canada, and our border with canada is one of the largest unpatroled, and largely un fenced borders in the world! in some places, in northern montana and the dakota's, farms straddle the boarder, and farms cross back and forth freely as the plow there fields!
another feature of the system, are ring roads around major cities...so DC, NY and Boston all have routes I-495 (three digits indicates a ring or spur road)
there is a ring road round chicago too (I-480?) i am unsure of the number, because last time i traveled thro chicago, it was undergoing a major overhaul, and i didn't take the ring road.
what is really nice, is the major US road heading East, (near the lakes) and many heading north, link up with roads just as nice in canada. i don't know if those road always existed, or if the canadians just were kind enough to build in response to our system.
