Day 36

Midnight around Chicago

All I wanted now was to get back on the highway, but it was 80 miles away. We did make it though, miraculously. In Rockford, Illinois, we got back on I-90 and were on the Northwest Tollway into Chicago. By the time we made it into the city the rain had let up a bit but not completely.

It was about 11:30 p.m. when we were driving by the fogged in skyscrapers of Chicago. I would have liked to have seen the city instead of fog, but I figure there was really not one day on this trip that it rained all day. There was not a day that we were trapped inside somewhere all day because of rain, which is pretty remarkable when you think about it.

There were actually traffic jams at midnight because they closed all the lanes except one on this road. We stayed on I-90, but took a wrong turn onto I-94 south of the city. There were so many lane splittings that I had a feeling this was going to happen somewhere. This road looped south of Gary, Indiana, and intersected back with I-90 before going on to Detroit, so it was not a problem.

Indiana & Ohio

Now we were on the Indiana Toll Road, I-90 and I-80 east, which was a 150 mile express to Ohio. By now, we decided to drive through the night all the way home. Just keep driving till we make it home. Now that we decided this, we did a little planning as far as driving and sleeping schedules, and when we should switch. Today, I drove through all of South Dakota, then Andy took over through all of Iowa until Dubuque, then I took over.

This road skirted the Michigan line and since it was dark out I can’t report any unusual sights. Unfortunately, we lost another hour in Indiana making it now 3 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. This was actually good because these are the longest hours of the night and it felt good being able to move ahead toward the more reasonable hours like 6 or 7 a.m. Andy was sleeping hard since Gary, Indiana, and I was glad because I wanted him to be rested when we switched. I really wasn’t that tired. You’d think my bloodshot eyes would keep me from seeing, but I really was fine and feeling good.

We switched just inside the Ohio line. The toll on the Indiana Turnpike was only $4.65, much better than Pennsylvania. In Ohio, we got off the Indiana toll road and onto the Ohio Turnpike. This was 240 miles and cost $4.95, even cheaper! I slept for a bit and missed Toledo and the southern end of Cleveland. I guess I missed the entire state, not something I’ll lose sleep over.

The final dawn

When I woke up, the sun was out but it was very hazy and foggy, making it look like the aftermath of a nuclear war or something—rather bleak. We weren’t far from the I-80 turnoff. I didn’t want to continue on the Pennsylvania Turnpike because it’s expensive, so we went the northern route. We took I-80 which goes east to State College.

Once in Pennsylvania, it was lighter out and we were in the mountains again. This road was quite beautiful, lined with ferns growing under thick forest. It was nice to see the tame Appalachian Mountains once again after the being in the ruggedness of the Rockies, Sierras, and Cascades for so long.

We got off this highway at exit 23 around 11 a.m. We were north of State College and took PA 144 southeast through Milesburg, Bellefonte, and Pleasant Gap, each located in a valley and separated by a high ridge. We got gas, switched driving for the last time, and picked up US 322 south into Harrisburg. This road parallels the Juniata River which empties into the Susquehanna River, which we followed to Harrisburg.

We arrived in the Harrisburg area around 12:45 p.m. and I was getting very anxious to get home. Now it was smooth sailing all the way to King of Prussia on the turnpike.

We got home around 2:15 in the afternoon after traveling 1,650 miles straight from South Dakota in 28 hours. We both were looking pretty bad and needed a shower and a good night’s sleep in a nice soft bed.