Travel from Western Maryland to Galena, IL avoiding traffic? Possible?

[nswef]

We are traveling to Galena, IL this summer and I'd love to avoid Chicago.We don't mind interstates, but want to avoid as much city as possible. How bad is Indianapolis? Bloomington? I know some of you live or travel in the mid west. We've never been farther than South Bend,IN and that was 15 years ago. Traffic here has grown worse so I suspect out there it has, too. Thanks for any help or suggestions. We plan to take 2 days to travel.

[iris lilies]

I’ve driven through Indy on the way to Columbus, Ohio. It wasn’t bad. My general rule is avoid the cities at rush hour. And at night. I depend heavily on my GPS narrator to tell me what lane to stay in, that is a key reason I listen to GPS voice narration.


The cool thing about Chicago now is that when you go through a toll they snap your license plate and you can pay online. I no longer worry about driving through Chicago. The tolls were so stupidly stressful back in the day.

[Tybee]

Smart to avoid Chicago. I would do 70 west to 74 then north from there.
Motels would be cheaper, too. It's beautiful in Ohio!

[nswef]

Thanks Iris Lily and Tybee. I knew this group had some midwest travelers. Iris, do they do EZPass with the transmitter?

[iris lilies]

Thanks Iris Lily and Tybee. I knew this group had some midwest travelers. Iris, do they do EZPass with the transmitter?

Tradd will know what any pass is called.

I didn’t have a pass, we just traveled through Chicago area using what we presumed were toll roads. Then, a couple of days later, I looked up my name to see how much I owed and paid via credit card. (Lookup is name?or license plate?) After I had that account I put a few dollars on it for future trips.

[Tradd]

The Illinois version of the transponder pass is called Ipass. EZ Pass is accepted in IL.

[nswef]

Thanks Tradd. I've put money in there.

[littlebittybobby]

okay----it's good to know summa the new ways technology(lectronics) enable you kids ta just get out and DRIVE! drive and drive and drive and DRIVE! just getting those miles in, and stopping every few hundred to EAT! yup. 'specially through ill-annoy, land o' "honest abe" linkin' ! but yeah---when i thinka the pioneers heading westward in covered wagons over totally unpaved roads without none a that 'lectronic stuff, it completely & totally amazes mee! yup. thankk you & as always--thankk mee.

[nswef]

Thank you all for the suggestions. We took 68, to 70 through Columbus, OH, Indianapolis, IN then stopped for the night in Crawfordsville, IN. On to 74 for Davenport, IA, stayed the night in Eldridge, IA where my husband played 9 holes of golf at Rustic Ridge Golf course, on to Dubuque where where we went up the incline, then to Cuba City, WI for another 9 holes of golf at Cole Acres, then to Worldmark Galena time share. Trip over took us 2 nights, one very long day of driving. Two short days. Coming home we traveled to Bloomington, on 39, the 74 to 70 to Columbus, stayed in Canal Winchester, OH, off on 33 to Parkersburg, WV where we visited my niece and nephew , then home via 50 to 79 to 68 to 70 to home. It was about 1800 miles round trip, not bad construction, decent traffic and exquisite corn fields, big sky views!!! fun for these 75 year olds. We'll be resting for at least 2 or 3 days. Thanks for the advice!!! AND we crossed the Mississippi TWICE!

[Tybee]

Sounds wonderful! I miss the Midwest. So beautiful in the summer.
We used to go to Galena for our anniversary--it was a few hours from where we lived near Chicago.