Note: This message was originally posted to misc.transport.road on July 26, 2000.
Well, I went on that trip today, and boy am I tired! We left at 8 pm on
Monday and got back at 12:45 am on Wednesday.
Route: From Knob Noster, MO: US 50 east to US 65 north to I-70 east to I-465
north to I-69 north to Ft Wayne, then US 24 east to OH 49 north to M-49
north to US 12 west to I-69 south to I-80/90 west to I-90 west to Chicago
Skyway to I-90/94 west to I-55 north to US 41 north to some city streets to
I-94 west to Madison, then WI 30 west to US 151 south to US 12-18 east to
I-90 west to Albert Lea, MN, then I-35 south to I-435 south to I-70 east to
I-470 south to US 50 east.
Notes:
MO:
US 65 north of Sedalia is a pretty nice road. It's 4 lanes divided north of
the northern MO 765 junction, and the scenery is good. Got caught in a
traffic jam in Columbia. Not too bad, maybe 10 minutes, but it was around
10 pm on a Monday. This was due to construction. Nice bridges on I-70 over
the Missouri.
IL:
I-70 wasn't that bad, except for the fact that the bridges had horrible
bumps at the joints. I'm guessing this is due to construction. It was
dark, so I don't have a clue what central Illinois looks like :P~
IN:
I-70 and 69 were both in rather excellent shape. Indianapolis looks like a
nice town, at least from the freeway in the middle of the night. Speed
limits on freeways was 65 in Indiana, as well as Illinois. That really,
really sucks.
OH:
OH 49 is a pretty nice little drive. The small towns along the route have a
real charm to them.
MI:
Saw an Amish buggy on M-49. Lots of antique malls along US 12. Sign
referring to "Old US 27" in Coldwater. US 27 shields still up on I-69, I
got a pic of one of these. I-69 in horrible shape. Northbound lanes are
being rebuilt, traffic is down to one lane per direction.
IN:
The Indiana Toll Road is vastly overpriced. I paid over $4 to drive from
I-69 to the Illinois border. And it wasn't as good of a road as 69 or 70,
IMO. Not bad scenery along the way either. Got an official Indiana map
from the toll booth.
IL:
Whoever advised me to stay away from the Skyway, I'm glad I didn't take that
advise! The big steel truss alone is worth the $2 tolls. The McDonalds in
the middle of the road is kinda neat too, as it's RIGHT on the road.
I-90/94 (Dan Ryan) is a big mess, with all the express lanes and local
lanes. Traffic wasn't too bad though (approx. 10 am on a Tuesday). The
train in the median was neat. I missed the I-55 exit, so I got off on
Cermak and drove around a bit. The roads in that part of town are in
horrible shape! Worse than some Arkansas dirt roads :P I backtracked down
90/94 and turned around right by Comiskey Park and got back on 90/94
westbound, and didn't miss my exit this time. Saw an END I-55 shield on the
ramp to SB US 41 (Sorry Alex, didn't get a picture. I was a bit nervous on
driving in downtown Chicago for the first time.) Then I headed north on
LSD. LSD is an INCREDIBLE drive! You got the beaches and Lake Michigan on
the right, and the skyscrapers on the left. Then a little further up, you
have all the great architecture on the left. I'm thinking it would be an
awesome drive at night. LSD is limited access in places, but NOWHERE near
I-standards. I got off of LSD at the end (US 14), but somehow got on Bryn
Mawr. After going through the 'hood a little more than I preferred, I went
south on some unknown street until I got on Lincoln (US 41). A few minutes
later, I was on I-94 again. The service area north of IL 60 is pretty
sweet. It's built over the highway. Watching trucks pass mere feet under
you at 70 MPH is a bit unnerving to say the least!
WI:
Got an official WI map from the welcome center. Traffic was backed up in
Milwaukee on 43/94. I expected more tall buildings in Milwaukee, but the
smaller buildings were actually very cool, many of them appearing very old.
I-94 between Milwaukee and Madison is a very nice drive, with many quaint
farms dotting the landscape. Nice rolling hills too. I drove through
Madison, taking WI 30 to US 151. US 151 should be re-routed to the Beltway
and I-39/90/94, and a Business 151 should be commissioned IMO, because the
going was very slow. 39/90/94 from Madison to Portage was absolutely
beautiful, more hills and farms. Also some really cool rock formations.
West of Portage, the scenery wasn't quite as impressive until somewhere
around the 90/94 split, where some pseudo-mountains started popping up on
the horizon. Needless to say, I was very impressed with Wisconsin. What a
beautiful state!
MN: I-90 from the Mississippi River to about 5 miles west of the US 14/61
split was perhaps the most beautiful freeway I've ever been on. It hugs
some bluffs overlooking the Mississippi for a few miles, then turns west and
goes over some deep canyon-like valleys. From there it flattens out a bit.
By the time I got to Rochester, I had been driving for over 21 hours,
without a break of more than 20 minutes, so I decided it was time to let my
sister take over. I went to sleep here, and didn't catch much until Des
Moines. I did wake up enough to see that there was a detour along some
county roads to get from 90 west to 35 south.
IA: Like I said, I slept through much of this trip, and when I woke up, it
was getting dark. So I don't have a lot to say about Iowa at this time :P
I will say that the freeways were pretty good though.
MO: It was dark, and I'd been most of this way before anyway. I-35 was
pretty rough (surprise, it's in MO). I got back to Knob around 12:45 am.
Statistics:
Total mileage: 1757 miles. Time traveled: approximately 28 hours and 45
minutes. States visited: 8. New states: Indiana, Ohio, Michigan,
Wisconsin, Minnesota.
If I left anything out or gave erroneous information, I apologize. I am
VERY tired :-)
Comments?