Today was another long day of driving. We were still on new territory and adding new states to our travel list. After the long stretches of western driving, this route seemed downright crowded. We were both tired, so we kept stops to a minimum, and I didn’t take any photos.
We added a new state to our travels, Wisconsin. Technically, I’d only flown into the Indianapolis airport on the way to somewhere else, so I guess you could say that Indiana was new to me.
Having braved I-294 around Chicago a couple of weeks ago, we decided to avoid it on this trip. There was construction, cross-merging traffic, and stand-still traffic. Instead, we headed south through Bloomingdale, Champaign, and Urbana. It added more miles to our trip, but saved time in the long run (no pun intended.)
The basics…
- Mileage
- Today – 626 miles
- Trip total – 2,379 miles
- States covered
- Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana
Observations:
- In general, people who drive Cadillacs are assholes. Just about every one that we saw on the road acted as if they were entitled. There was speeding, tailgating, and generally rude driving. It got to where I started cringing each time I saw one.
- Our motel was about a mile from the Mall of America. The interstate passed within view, and it is, indeed, massive. It would be fun to visit, but I’m not making a trip back this way just for a mall.
- Western Wisconsin is beautiful, with rolling farmland and dairies. They’ve got to get all that cheese from somewhere.
- I’d never heard of the Wisconsin Dells as a tourist destination until today. There is a five mile stretch of the Wisconsin River that runs through some great scenery.
I saw billboards for tour boats of just about any variety along the river (jet boat tours, and even “ghost boat” tours, whatever those are.)In addition to the natural area, a collection of attractions has built up in the area. The region claims to be the “Waterpark Capital of the World.” The billboards remind me of Pigeon Forge. That’s not a good thing.
- Laura pointed out that we have driving by lots of university towns. As we passed by she would mention friends and former students who either attended or worked there.
- There are a heck of a lot of windmills in Southern Illinois. Along the interstate they loom over housing developments and farms like oversized lawn ornaments.
- The cats are still doing well. I wonder if they will remember Greenville as home.
- We crossed one more timezone into Eastern time. We’re now in the same time zone as home.
Tomorrow I can press the “Home” button on my GPS.
I have been both directions on that interstate from Rockford down to Bloomington. The first time I went South, the segment from LaSalle to Bloomington was not complete, so we were on the old US Highway. Mid August, no air-conditioning, and they had manured the corn fields. The next time we were going north, and the interstate was finished, making for a much more pleasant trip. However I missed going through those little Illinois farm towns.
The tri-state around Chicago was a route we only braved once. Going to and from Madison for drum Corps. They were of course paving on it, as they always are. It is definitely not an experience I would want to repeat.