Driving to Airventure

[robert l]

This is my first time posting and I'm also new to the group so it's very possible I'm doing something wrong. But hey, I can take criticism ! Last year we drove from S.C. to Airventure, not bad but still it's a L O N G trip. Do any of y'all know of a good way to get around Chicago? I know with most cities the time of day or night will have a lot to do with how well the traffic flows so I am wondering if anyone here has some personal experience. Anything to make the experience less stressful. Any advice, ideas, suggestions or smart remarks are welcome.
Thanks,
Bob

[1600vw]

This is so easy its almost funny..All you do is AVOID Chicago all together. If it was me coming up from SC I would not take that route. Go through Indy then head east on route 72 I believe it is. It's been a long time. IMHO take this route and have a very good trip. This is the route I take out of Central Illinois.

6250

[1600vw]

Well heck, That pic shows squat. Let me try this again.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Rockford,+Illinois/South+Carolina/@37.7896299,-89.5845768,6z/data=!4m15!4m14!1m5!1m1!1s0x8808b9cdfd0300db:0xaca d897828f6780!2m2!1d-89.0939952!2d42.2711311!1m5!1m1!1s0x88f8a5697931d1 e3:0xb9ffa132f505179e!2m2!1d-81.1637245!2d33.836081!3e0!5i1

[DaleB]

Yeah... go around it. I don't know that there IS a good time to go through Chicago, unless you want to do it late at night.

[1600vw]

What you will save in toll roads alone you can go out for a nice lunch. Have a fun and enjoyable trip. Life goes by so fast, soak in every second like a very nice sip of wine.

[wyoranch]

This is so easy its almost funny..All you do is AVOID Chicago all together. If it was me coming up from SC I would not take that route. Go through Indy then head east on route 72 I believe it is. It's been a long time. IMHO take this route and have a very good trip. This is the route I take out of Central Illinois.

6250
i second that fact about going around Chicago. I am not the sharpest crayon, and I made that mistake TWICE. It seemed like it took as long to get through there as the other 1100 miles. It was a parking lot at both 2 pm and 2 am.
rick

[martymayes]

Robert, timing is the key. Plan your trip so you'll go through Chicago between 2 - 4 am. Otherwise, you'll have to add as much as 150 miles to your trip.

The only time that backfired was the sloskosh yr, the freeway system in metro Chicago serves a secondary duty as drainage ditches. Water was 3-4 feet deep in places and it takes 2-4 hrs to drain.

[martymayes]

and screw the toll boths, I just drive right through the in the pass lane. Perhaps my camper owes a lot of fees cause they can't photo the tag on my truck and I've never gotten a bill.

[1600vw]

Robert, timing is the key. Plan your trip so you'll go through Chicago between 2 - 4 am. Otherwise, you'll have to add as much as 150 miles to your trip.

The only time that backfired was the sloskosh yr, the freeway system in metro Chicago serves a secondary duty as drainage ditches. Water was 3-4 feet deep in places and it takes 2-4 hrs to drain.

It may just be me. But I would much prefer to drive an extra 150 miles of open road then deal with miles and miles and miles of stop and go traffic. Even if each trip or route are the exact same time of travel by the time you arrive. But again maybe this is just me.

[1600vw]

and screw the toll boths, I just drive right through the in the pass lane. Perhaps my camper owes a lot of fees cause they can't photo the tag on my truck and I've never gotten a bill.

In every state I have lived the camper or anything in tow must have a registration and placard in the form of a plate displayed on the rear. But I too have driven the pass lane by "accident" and never heard a word from anyone.

[Cary]

It's been about 25 years since I last drove through the Chicago area, which means either that I've grown smarter or I have no need to put up with big city traffic. Maybe both. When I lived near there at Rantoul (Chanute AFB) almost 50 years ago, the traffic was awful, about what Denver is now, so I can't imagine what it must be like now. I'd avoid it at all costs.

You've gotten some pretty good advice, which is to change your routing. Good guess that to do so won't add all that much to your time or mileage (Mapquest is your friend). For instance, using Charleston as your start, if you plug in a stop at Normal, IL, your routing will be less than 100 miles farther and supposedly slightly over an hour longer--but you'll avoid Chicago altogether.

Or the better alternative, like many of us do: FLY! Much easier, much faster, and an adventure unto itself. Dodging Chicago again, my poky little airplane would do it in 7 flight hours, which is about what it takes me from my homedrome to OSH, a 3 leg, 2 enroute stop flight, a decent day of flying compared to 2 hard days of driving or maybe 3, depending on the weather and how tired I'm getting.

Cary

[vaflier]

If you do not have a plane or pilots certificate you may be able to hitch a ride with someone flying there through the EAA ride share program. It sure beats driving even if it is a long flight. Camping under the wing is great. Until the storms roll in. Then its hang on for the ride !!!!.

[MNWORD]

Robert, we come up from Savannah every year with our 28ft travel trailer. We have an Illinois Toll Pass for our vehicle and we take the 294 toll roads around Chicago. We come up 16 to 75 thru ATL then north out of BNA to South Bend then the 294 toll road west bound and then around Chicago to Milwaukee then to OSH. We make it a 2 day trip and it is long but worth it. Note do not go through Chicago and use the the Skyway with an RV... did it once..... never again. It can be busy, but the toll pass makes life easy on the roads.

mike w
779745

[martymayes]

In every state I have lived the camper or anything in tow must have a registration and placard in the form of a plate displayed on the rear. But I too have driven the pass lane by "accident" and never heard a word from anyone.

I have a plate displayed on the rear. I got it off an old trailer at the junkyard. I use it on all my trailers, has DZUS fasteners for quick change.... :)





Marty "just leave the law breaking to me" Mayes
(with apologies to Ron W.)

[robert l]

Thanks guys, real good info here and thanks for the quick response. We would love to fly in but neither of us owns a plane so we would have to rent. OUCH ! We did rent a 172 out of Camden, S.C in 2015 for Sun N Fun. The guy gave us a break because my buddy used that same plane for most of his instrument training and has all but finished his commercial as well. But the FBO doesn't have a rental anymore. I'm all for taking a different route but my buddy gets a little anal when he's away from home. LOL We drove last year and on the way back to S.C. we hit a lot of road work that put us at a crawl. I thought my friend was going to get out of the truck and run. Seriously !!!
Thanks, Bob

[CHICAGORANDY]

Lifelong Chicagoan here - come north however you choose and take the I294 toll road north into Wisconsin. Avoid the Chicago road system 7-10am and 3:00-6:00 pm and you'll pretty much breeze through.

For you toll scofflaws - shame on ya' folks - there is a sign after EVERY toll plaza and open road tolling underpass that says just go online and you have 7 days to pay the toll. Don't cheat my State and I won't cheat yours.

[robert l]

Thanks ChicagoRandy, if we make it this year I will try to work out the times you mentioned. Also, do you know if a temporary pass can be purchased for the toll roads? It would be nice to just zip though and not get a ticket in the mail. lol
Thanks, Bob
PS, So, the best times would be between about 11:00 am to 2:00 pm?

[FlyingRon]

I've just gone through Chicago (Dan Ryan?) and just chose times to do it that would avoid rushes. Now that they have an EasyPass-compatible toll, I don't worry about it. Used to be you'd hit all those 40 cent tolls.

There's a singing group out of Madison that lists the history of Wisconsin and talks about Merriwether Lewis and Kimberly Clark exploring the area looking for the "bubbler" of youth. They knew they had strayed too far south when their indian guides stopped periodically to throw 40 cents into the bushes.

[biggles1998]

I found this a handy site when I came to the tolls on my planning last year.. http://www.illinoistollway.com/tolls-and-i-pass/toll-information/rates-by-toll-plaza

[CHICAGORANDY]

You can buy an I-Pas online at https://www.illinoistollway.com/tolling-information/about-ipass

You WILL save 50% on all tolls and it can be in your hands in a few weeks.

[robert l]

I did check with the, https://www.illinoistollway.com/toll...on/about-ipass (https://www.illinoistollway.com/tolling-information/about-ipass) and got some good info. They said to get the pass about a month in advance, it cost $30.00 and is good in Indiana also. I figure I would be paying that in tolls anyway, in route plus the return trip and not having to stop at the cash booths !!!
Bob

[CHICAGORANDY]

Here is a map where the I-Pass and EZ Pass operate:

http://www.e-zpassiag.com/about-e-zpass/85-map

[Bill Greenwood]

Cary, cant believe you were at Rantoul, Chanute. I was there for tech school late 69. A really depressing place. My best day was when I found out that if you had an A average in your field of training, mine was mechanic, that you got to leave 2 weeks early. So I, who was a C student mostly in college studied every spare moment and too good believe I got to leave 2 weeks early. I used to go 50 miles south on the train to Champaign and Univ of Illinois on free weekends to see some normal people and try to stay sane. I had just come from that idealic type of college environment 3 months before. and Chanute was about as opposite as could be. I just felt like it was a waste of time and didnt have anyone there that I had anything in common with. I dont know what it would have been like if we'd have been in a war like 1942, but there was nothing to feel patriotic nor optimistic about Vietnam at that late date. My only objective was to get out of there. I was sleepy everyday and had a low grade fever, had to eat asprins, but coulnt take time off to go to doctor. When I got home I went to my doctor who said I had the worst case of mono he had ever seen. He diagnosed me even before the lab test result came in, and it took me 4 months to recover.
I never went to Vietnam, so never shot anyone or was shot at, but lots of people were not so lucky.

[Bill Greenwood]

P S, I dont know much about driving through Chicago, but when I was at Chanute it just after all the fires and killings in Chicago.

[Gil]

I used to live in SW Michigan and also western New York, so I have a lot of experience going through or around Chicago to get home to Wisconsin. I did buy an I-Pass a few years ago... put $50 down, ten bucks is security deposit and the rest on account to pay tolls. Might save as much as an hour.

My tactic is to listen to the traffic reports when I am still 50 miles away, and make a decision to go through or around, based on traffic. Lots of stations give them. I usually listen to AM 780, which gives "traffic and weather on the 8s." If it is moving OK, I prefer going through downtown and the Skyway. It seems more direct. But it is also more likely to have congestion. Otherwise I-294 will take you around and most often is moving, with occasional slow downs at toll collections and exit or entrance ramps. This is why the I-Pass is so worth it, you don't have to slow for tolls.

Also, the navigation app WAZE is incredibly helpful to advise you of slow downs ahead, alternate routes, where police are, accidents in your path, etc.

[robert l]

Thanks for the map Chicago Randy, I'll be going through N.C. Tn. Ky. In and Ill. so it will come in handy. I have thought about down loading the WAZE app but I don't travel much for work anymore and my town only has one Caution light, so I get around pretty well without it. LOL

[CHICAGORANDY]

Happy to help - I've lived in this city on the S/W side near Midway Airport for 68 years....so far -lol....... and I too turn on talk radio before deciding on a 'thru the Loop' or 'out west to the Tollway' to get North. Thru the Loop is the shortest distance and free but most times is a traffic mess of frustration. I typically go out of my way to the Tollway on I55 west just to save the grief. It costs a little more in gas and of course the tolls but I'm willing to pay for the peace of mind and body.

[Bob Willman]

If you like an interesting diversion, drive to Ludington, Michigan on the shore of lake Michigan and take the SS Badger ferry across the lake to Manitowoc, Wisconsin. It is the last coal fired, steam powered ferry in the country. It takes 4 hours to cross the lake and really avoids all of Chicago and Illinois. It is a very relaxing trip.

www.ssbadger.com

[Gil]

We take the Badger usually two or three times a year, and it really is a pleasant trip and nice to avoid Chicago traffic. It is not inexpensive, however, and while it saves you driving and grief, it does not save you time. You have to be there before it sails and wait for your vehicle afterwards.

[dc8jet]

I drive in every year from Detroit. I take I-94 thru Michigan. When you get into Indiana it connects to I-80. I take that to I-355 which runs along the western edge of Chicago. It ends at West Lake Cook Road. Turn right and take that back to I-94 which in that location is north of Chicago. It works pretty well for me. I will say that I-80 is crowded. I-355 is not bad but it is a toll road. If you do have to drive thru Chicago on I-94 stay in the express lanes they seem to move faster.

[robert l]

Lots of good info. I'm going to check it all out on mapquest.
Thanks
Bob

[Eastburn]

Coming from the South to avoid Chicago & Milwaukee. Take I-74W to Bloomington. Take I-55N& I-39N. Take I-39N to Rockford IL. Take I-90N to Madison Wis. Take State Route 151 Northeast from Madison. Take Route 151to FonDuLac Wis. take Route 41N to Oshkosh.

[Cary]

Cary, cant believe you were at Rantoul, Chanute. I was there for tech school late 69. A really depressing place. My best day was when I found out that if you had an A average in your field of training, mine was mechanic, that you got to leave 2 weeks early. So I, who was a C student mostly in college studied every spare moment and too good believe I got to leave 2 weeks early. I used to go 50 miles south on the train to Champaign and Univ of Illinois on free weekends to see some normal people and try to stay sane. I had just come from that idealic type of college environment 3 months before. and Chanute was about as opposite as could be. I just felt like it was a waste of time and didnt have anyone there that I had anything in common with. I dont know what it would have been like if we'd have been in a war like 1942, but there was nothing to feel patriotic nor optimistic about Vietnam at that late date. My only objective was to get out of there. I was sleepy everyday and had a low grade fever, had to eat asprins, but coulnt take time off to go to doctor. When I got home I went to my doctor who said I had the worst case of mono he had ever seen. He diagnosed me even before the lab test result came in, and it took me 4 months to recover.
I never went to Vietnam, so never shot anyone or was shot at, but lots of people were not so lucky.

Then you were probably victimized at 6 a.m. by my presentation on behalf of the legal office. I got saddled with that duty within a few months after my arrival there in April 1968 and did the last one just before I was transferred to Elmendorf AFB in May 1970. Apparently my sick sense of humor made for a somewhat enlivening wake-up for most of the kids, as those who fell asleep found themselves embarrassed by the blankets I would sometimes put over them, as they awakened to the laughs and cheers of the rest of the audience. :)

The most depressing thing about that part of Illinois to me was that if I stood on the roof of the car, I could see for miles. When you've grown up surrounded by the mountains of Wyoming, the pool table flatness of Illinois is a bit disappointing.

I also avoided going to Viet Nam. When it came time to be transferred (Chanute was historically a 2 year post for JAG), JAG Personnel wanted me to go to the Philippines, but we'd just bought a new motorhome and neither Wife 1 nor I had any desire to go there. The alternative I was given was "Southeast Asia", i.e., Viet Nam or Korea, but Alaska was considered "overseas", so I offered that as an alternative. The personnel officer said, "You can't go to Alaska--you only have 2 years left, and that's a 3 year assignment." I said, "How about I donate an extra year to the Air Force?" He said, "You're going to Alaska." That's how I wound up in Anchorage, a much better assignment than either Chanute or anywhere in Southeast Asia.

Cary

[Gil]

The alternative I was given was "Southeast Asia", i.e., Viet Nam or Korea, but Alaska was considered "overseas", so I offered that as an alternative. The personnel officer said, "You can't go to Alaska--you only have 2 years left, and that's a 3 year assignment." I said, "How about I donate an extra year to the Air Force?" He said, "You're going to Alaska." That's how I wound up in Anchorage, a much better assignment than either Chanute or anywhere in Southeast Asia.

Cary

I have never been to Alaska (sad to say) but after a couple of years in Topeka, I volunteered for overseas duty, which, in 1971, meant Southeast Asia. I loved my time in Taiwan, and our missions included quite a variety, such as hurricane relief in the Philippines, long trips from Bangkok to Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, Guam, Okinawa, and of course, Vietnam and Cambodia. I flew 70 combat missions in Vietnam, but 68 of them were pretty routine (if we were shot at during the others, we didn't know it).

Could have served all my time in Topeka, but I was actually influenced by the movie "Patton:" "When your grandkids ask what you did during the war, you don't want to tell them that you shoveled shit in Louisiana." My aircraft commanders were all combat veterans and none of them had any regrets... I had been training for three years as a combat-ready crew member, so I wanted to go off to war.

My wife and infant son were hard to leave behind, but I have no regrets.

[robert l]

Thank all you gentlemen for your service !

[malexander]

Although Chicago isn't on my route from OKC, I have an IPASS. I bought/got it a few years ago to get around Rockford on I-39.

[martymayes]

Although Chicago isn't on my route from OKC, I have an IPASS. I bought/got it a few years ago to get around Rockford on I-39.

Can you sell it? Are they transferable? Just curious......

[FlyingRon]

I don't know about iPass but you don't pay for EZPass, they're "loaned" to you when you have set up an account with one of the issuing toll authorities.

[Gil]

Can you sell it? Are they transferable? Just curious......

I can't imagine why someone would buy it from a private person, since Illinois Tollway just wants a ten dollar deposit for use of it. I often mail mine to my daughter who lives in lower Michigan... discovered you have to wrap it in foil or the trip on the mail truck will garner some tolls.

[CHICAGORANDY]

The I-Pass account is tied to your vehicle(s) - you can register more than one vehicle to a single I-Pass device. I have my SUV and motorcycle tied to mine.

[Gil]

I have our two cars and my children's cars on one account.

[Bill Greenwood]

Cary, I dont remember any legal lecture upon arriving at Chanute and certainly not one to upset me or put me to sleep. It was just a depressing place. I had just come out of a near ideal situation as a senior in college, in a nice fun town and a 3 hour drive away from home and family. Had friends, great girl friend ,both honor roll members, and when not having to study there was so much fun to do there, and I really liked the intellectual atmosphere of a major university where ideas and learning were respected. I foolishly joined the air force as some idea of my duty, despite having my doctor offer a deferment due to an injury. It was vallid, I could take his offer, wish I had. I also coached the girls intermural football team and we came within one play of winning the league.A challenge but lots of fun. College was fun and smart people were everywhere.
All this time Nam was becoming worse and worse, a major division in our country.My neighbor, two years older, had just come back from a year in Nam with the advice, "dont go". There was no sense of patriotism of fighting Hitler or Tojo. We had our own bad guy in TX with LBJ. And by this time it was obvious to any open minded person that we were not winning in Nam no matter how much we bombed.
Basic training was everything bad that college had good. Such a negative atmosphere, with some really dumb people in charge. First direct racisim that I had seen. No one that you wanted to follow, let alone risk your life for. I did ok physically, actulaly had the 2nd fastest obstacle course time, but the lack of sleep wore me down so that at Chunute I got mono.
It was just so hard to train for something opposite all reason, to take part in a war which by then was obviously wrong, and to do it under those who didnt engender respect. Officer school was offered, might have led to being a pilot, but I just wanted out. I knew that path was not for me, and not the team I felt part of. I did it, but it was waste.

[Cary]

Cary, I dont remember any legal lecture upon arriving at Chanute and certainly not one to upset me or put me to sleep. It was just a depressing place. I had just come out of a near ideal situation as a senior in college, in a nice fun town and a 3 hour drive away from home and family. Had friends, great girl friend ,both honor roll members, and when not having to study there was so much fun to do there, and I really liked the intellectual atmosphere of a major university where ideas and learning were respected. I foolishly joined the air force as some idea of my duty, despite having my doctor offer a deferment due to an injury. It was vallid, I could take his offer, wish I had. I also coached the girls intermural football team and we came within one play of winning the league.A challenge but lots of fun. College was fun and smart people were everywhere.
All this time Nam was becoming worse and worse, a major division in our country.My neighbor, two years older, had just come back from a year in Nam with the advice, "dont go". There was no sense of patriotism of fighting Hitler or Tojo. We had our own bad guy in TX with LBJ. And by this time it was obvious to any open minded person that we were not winning in Nam no matter how much we bombed.
Basic training was everything bad that college had good. Such a negative atmosphere, with some really dumb people in charge. First direct racisim that I had seen. No one that you wanted to follow, let alone risk your life for. I did ok physically, actulaly had the 2nd fastest obstacle course time, but the lack of sleep wore me down so that at Chunute I got mono.
It was just so hard to train for something opposite all reason, to take part in a war which by then was obviously wrong, and to do it under those who didnt engender respect. Officer school was offered, might have led to being a pilot, but I just wanted out. I knew that path was not for me, and not the team I felt part of. I did it, but it was waste.

I can't complain about my USAF "career", although I agree that the hatred that developed around the wind down of Viet Nam was deplorable. I did a lot of growing up--it's always amazing how adult we think we are at age 21 or so, which really we aren't. I learned a lot about myself, about how to relate to others. In the legal area, there were actually some superbly fine people--and some dunces, too, of course, but by and large, good folks. And the coup de grace was that near the end of my time at Elmendorf, I learned to fly!

I had put in my resignation and knew that I was getting out in May 1973, and I also had realized that my new post as Chief of Military Justice for Alaskan Air Command didn't require 40 hours/week. My boss was an ex fighter jock, so I asked him if I could take the time to learn to fly. His answer was perfect, "I don't care where you are, as long as you get your work done." So out of a 5 day week, I spent 2 or 3 really long days at the office and 2 or 3 days at the Aeroclub, learning to fly. My first lesson was on November 29, 1972, and I took my checkride the first week of February 1973. In spite of learning through the Anchorage winter, I don't think I missed more than 1 or 2 lessons the entire time due to weather.

And to keep this relevant to this thread, I first flew to OSH (long before it was called Airventure) in 1979. I've lost track of how many times I've flown in recent years, but I've enjoyed it so much that the last couple of times, I've flown in the Friday before and left the Monday after--mine was the last airplane to leave last year, I think.

Cary

[strangebird]

We come up from Atlanta and take 75 to 24 through Nashville then to I-57 North to Champaign IL then cut over on 74 W to I 39 North to Madison (94) then take US 151 to FonduLac Wi then North to Oshkosh only traffic is Chattanooga and Nashville and not too bad the rest is a easy ride


Some take I65 North out of Nashville through Louisville and Indy to 80-94 and then 294-94 to WI through Miulwaukee but 294 can be tough as well depending on the time

Avoid 80-94 through Indiana I just drove that from Chicago to MI and back it is a nightmare all underconstruction and the trucks are all out there very heavy traffic along that corridor and never go through Chicago