The Road North

[dmiller]

The Road North

( my trip back to Minney-soda, from Indiana)

5:50 AM -- wake up call. Hit the snooze button, only to be interrupted from semi-sleep 10 minutes later, and decide to get up.

6:30 AM -- car is already packed, a 1/ 2 gallon thermos of coffee ready (half a pot of coffee already drunk) -- with the rest put into insulated coffee mugs secured liberally around the driver’s seat within easy reach.

Time to roll.

The first 55 miles are all two lane highway (yuck!), but not so bad at this early AM hour.

I did have to pass one old guy on his tractor at Cory, Indiana. Looked in my rear view, and he pulled off to the coffee-shop parking lot I just passed.

Why is he driving a tractor, and not a car?????

I reach Terre Haute, Indiana (my birthplace), and decide that I have to *use the facilities*. Am back on the road within 5 minutes. Despite the two-lane road, I made it in good time, justifying the stop.

I have a 500 mile thermos, but a 200 mile bladder. Somehow I forgot about the coffee drunk at home, while packing the car. :(

From Terre Haute north, it is a four lane divided highway (65 mph) for 50 miles or so.. Everyone else was going 75 mph to 80. Who was I to argue?? I went with what flow of traffic there was, and set the standard at times myself. :D

Made it to Interstate 74 west, and once on the *big road*, I was able to finally put the *hammer down*.

Danville, Illinois -- then Champaign/ Urbana, then Bloomington/ Normal all came and went, and then I heard on the CB (once I was on I-39 north) ---

“Cops playing around Paw Paw -- one in the middle, and two chasing cars.

Grrrrrr!!!

Paw Paw is south of Rockford, Illinois, and the state troopers had one in the median clocking peoples speed, and 2 other cars up ahead to pull those folks over.

I heard that, and backed off (just in time) to see one of the chase cars pull some poor soul over.

Half a mile down the road -- I see the other one waiting, and they got someone else instead of me.

I breezed by at a safe, sane 65 per - escaping the wrath of Illinois!!

I-39 will load you off to the Wisconsin Tollway, and when I got there, traffic was backed up for a coupla miles.

Partly because they were doing construction, and mostly because some joker tried to take a mobile home through the turnstiles, and it didn’t fit!!

Once through the tollway, speeds of 90+ mph were not uncommon, and I began to smile.

Cruising past Madison, Wisconsin (home of more activists than you can shake a stick at), I saw 3 cars (one was a neon green Geo), with the folks driving dressed in deer outfits, and a *strawman* in blaze orange strapped to the top of their car..

It is deer hunting season up here, and they were protesting by putting the *hunter* on top of the car, and protecting *animal rights*, whereas most hunters put the deer they have shot up there, and take them home for meat for the winter.

I figured it was in bad taste, since there was a tradgedy up here in the same area, last year, where a Hmoung (sp?) hunter hunted humans, and 6 folks lost their lives as a result.

I gave a one fingured salute, and kept on driving.

There were a coupla spots on the highway that lent itself to driving at will --and I did.

Even at 90 to 100 mph, my subaru still got close to 30 mpg. :D

I made it home in record time. 10.5 hours for 750 miles

The road North -------------------

:) :) :)

Edited November 27, 2005 by dmiller

[moony3424]

Cruising past Madison, Wisconsin (home of more activists than you can shake a stick at),

This happens to be where I was born and raised, which is why I became a southerner when I came of age y'all.