I-90, Mass Pike… What’s That?
Whenever we travel on the roads here, I keep noticing things.
Road numbers.
Road names.
Signs.
Words I’ve never heard before.
On our drive from Boston towards New York, one kept catching my attention:
MASS PIKE.
What exactly is a Mass Pike?
I had to find out. 😄
Apparently, Mass Pike is simply the informal name for the Massachusetts Turnpike — the Massachusetts section of I-90.
So…
I-90.
Mass Pike.
Massachusetts Turnpike.
Three ways of talking about the same road.
And then I noticed the little pilgrim hat on the sign.
Apparently, even that little hat has a history. The Mass Pike logo evolved into the pilgrim hat, and the present plain-hat version replaced an earlier version that had an arrow through it.
I was beginning to feel that I needed a degree in American road signs. 😄
But then came another surprise.
The Mass Pike is the major I-90 route across Massachusetts.
And I-90 itself is the longest Interstate highway in the United States, stretching all the way from Boston to Seattle.
So there we were, simply driving from Boston towards New York…
…and underneath us was a road that could take us all the way to Seattle.
Apparently, I should pay more attention when I’m travelling. 😄
And there was still more:
EZPass.
Toll.
Pay by Plate.
No Cash.
We came to America to meet our children and see a little of their world.
But somewhere along the way, the learning started going both ways.
Now we’re learning from them. One Mass Pike, one I-90 and one strange road sign at a time. 😄
Maybe that’s another joy of growing older.
You never stop being a student.
WORDSOUPS 