Gentlemen, I am sending you a pm about getting together at Des Moines to caravan to Staton next Thursday. Check your PM's and get with me. Hodgesgi and I are planning on going the I-80 route.(Sorry Rob, I guess we will meet up in Stanton.)
Hey Rusty, on the way to St Louis last week there was nasty (down to one lane open) construction going on south of Chicago on I 80/94. We were nearly parked for over an hour. :rant: It sucked! Traffic was flowing west to east then, but you can't be sure when they will shut down the other side. You might be better off to take I 55 or 57 into downtown Chicago and then pick up I 90 towards Michigan, across the Skyway, then rejoin I 94 east of Chicago around I 65 or so. Have a safe trip. edit; better way to go .......
On the road again Rusty, When I go to Stanton, I take 94 all the way from Minneapolis down around Chicago and up to Grand Rapids. I am not really anywhere near Des Moines, But Kirk takes 80 from Nebraska to Chicago so you might have a convoy with him. Ill be leaving on Sunday afternoon so I can see all the cars get certified, got to make sure they are all on the up and up :laugh: :laugh: especially the G.M products :moonu: :moonu: :moonu: Later Jim
Certification- a spectator sport? I didn't realize that Certification was a spectator sport. Cool! :beer
Rusty, sitting still on the freeway in Chi-town does not sound good, perhaps we should re-evaluate our route.
Steve, OEM got hold of me on Saturday, Would love to meet up with us east of Des Moines about 8 on Thursday. We could hook up with the redneck Yenko going through St. Louis and leave OEM hanging. I am just going north, you name the way we get there! p
The Skyway has been under construction for a couple of summers, down to one lane both directions in some spots. Depending on traffic, it can be as bad as I-80/94. But now that it's Fall, maybe they're done? It's been a couple of months since I've been through there, but eastbound I-80/94 hasn't been a problem. Westbound, I've seen 4 hour delays. :rant: If you've got to go through this area, I highly suggest you consider going further south, taking lesser highways or country roads. Or take the surface streets through Gary. if you dare. Or at least check with the Illinois and Indiana DOTs for the latest conditions on the Interstate. Did all you guys know there's a new option to get around Lake Michigan this year? A new high-speed ferry is operating from Milwaukee to Muskegon. It's quite popular, so you'll likely need reservations. I don't know what their policy is for trailers.
On the way up to spring Stanton, I noticed traffic at a stand still in the west bound lanes...so, on the way home I dropped down to US30 and took it over to I-57. It wasn't too bad, except in a few spots you wanted to be sure you kept moving...sadly, there isn't much for a way around the logjam that is Chi-town. Rusty: no big deal if we don't meet up until Stanton. I was kinda kickin' around takin' I-57 up from the bootheel amyway... o No: ---------------------------- Hillbilly Racing Team "If'n you see green, you'd better git!"
Lake Michigan ferry I recall frying the highways from here to Muskegon to catch the ferry across Lake Michigan years back, only to find out I had mixed up my 12 PM's with 12 AM's again (been a problem my whole life). We wanted to go straight across the Lake and go to the Wisconsin Dells to visit family. Was supposed to be a 2 hour ride. After 4 hours and a zillion beers, we realized we were parallelling the Eastern coast of Wisconsin heading South and ended up in Milwaukee 6 hours later. Interesting trip, but a long drive up to Wisconsin Rapids from Milwaukee. Still was better than driving through/around Chicago. That always sucks.
Hey Rob, Steve and I are talking about running I-70 to St. Louis. You think I-57 is a good way to turn? We were almost thinking of running over to Indy and north like we did for the Martin race.
Yeah, going to Indy & up is "ok", but they ALWAYS have construction there also, and also around Terra Haute there at the Illy/Indy border. I've been every which way a bazillion times, and it always comes back around to Chi-town. I know Chicago blows(!), but it's one of those "shortest distance & straight line" kinda things... Of course, with that said, there'll be the biggest logjam on I-57 & I'll have to drive all night... ---------------------------- Hillbilly Racing Team "If'n you see green, you'd better git!"
We came back thru Indy from SCR7. The only serious construction slow downs we saw was for about 5 miles west of where we got on I-465. Was down to one lane in spots but traffic kept moving. I talked to a guy today from Kalamazoo that said there is construction around 131 and I-94 too. Some of the exits around there are closed, but traffic keeps moving. Got a friend that works with an ARCA team that went to Joliet (Route 66 / Chicagoland Raceway) over the weekend. He went across the Skyway to avoid the I-80/I-94 mess and he said that the Skyway construction was still happening but they kept moving at about 45 mph. Rob is right about parts of US 30. Several small towns with lots of stop lights from I-65 to I-57. Around here there only two seasons. Winter and road construction. o No:
Rusty, I just found out that our animal trainer/baby sitter who will stay with our 12 year old son, cannot be around thursday morning to get him off to school. I wanted to just chain him up with the dog and leave earlier, but his mother says no. Cindy and I may have to leave a little later, like 6am or so. Call me.
Hey Steve, I just talked with one of my friends and he said that there might be some traffic on 80/94, but it should still be moving. He travels on I-80 in Chi-town daily. Mid day is fine, but the closer you get to rush hour, the more problems you have. I will give you a call tomorrow, but I think that I am going to stick with my original plans and meet up with OEM at 8 on Thursday. I just want to get rolling quick that day in case I have any issues (knock on wood!) p
Rusty, that's okay by me, I'll probably go that route also, while following at a safe distance ( 150 miles or so ). You'll be covered pretty well that way.
