Day 5 – Chicago, IL to Springfield, MO

Topping Off
I think I’m finally getting good at these fuel-stop photos. I’m somewhat impressed with this above shot… I’m not too proud to say it!

Day 5: I was able to leave the snowy north! There was no additional snow over night and I was able to dig the car out and finally continue my trip back. Thank you again for putting up with me, Dave and April!

fuel stop 4
I stopped for gas about 100 miles south of Chicago. There was snow on the sides of the road the whole way but none in the lanes. Pretty decent conditions. The roads were either dry or just barely damp. As I pulled away from this fuel stop, the snow started.

mortal peril
10 miles after the gas stop, I came close to mortal peril. The snow suddenly started sticking on the lanes. I got to a small town where the freeway widened to 3 lanes and only 1 of those lanes was not solid white. I nearly spun twice going over bridges. I tried to stay calm and relaxed, but it was damn difficult. So much snow! So many trucks!

I then came up to a Caddy going about 35 with his hazards on, just cruising in the far right. Like a fool, I was trying to keep up with traffic. Dur. Not anymore! I pulled in right behind the Caddy and threw on my hazards and convoyed with him until the conditions improved about 10 miles later. No additional drama was had. I then passed and waved in a friendly manner. Thank you, Caddy! You probably saved my bacon. And I never saw snow again.

Sun!!!
It was the happiest fuel stop ever. SUN!!!!!! No heavy jacket! yay. very yay.

choices
Wow. There’s 5 flavors? How shall I choose? This was taken just before getting to Springfield, MO, along with the photo at the top of this post.

sunset
Driving through Missouri Hill Country at sunset, you get to see a lot of them. I think I saw an even dozen. And each was different. The last was very pink, but I couldn’t pull my camera due to traffic. This one will do. I think it was number 6.

clean
I stopped in Springfield and checked into a Holiday Inn. I then asked – before seeing my room – where the nearest coin-op carwash was. 2 blocks away? I drove straight there rather than to my room. $5 worth of quarters later, the road salt and muck was gone. I’ll go to another one in Albuquerque and really make sure the underbelly is clean, but this is much better for now.

and then I unpacked the car. And then I ate dinner. =)

lobby
Lobby? Is that what you’d call this? It’s the center of the hotel I’m staying at. It’s a POSH place. I don’t really need anything this posh. I just picked it cause it had a huge parking lot with a nice, secluded area for me to park in and hide from door dings.

Surfs up!
Plush Sharka wasted no time hopping into the hotel fountain for a quick couple of waves.

my room
My room is also pretty posh. If only the Uglydolls would let me sleep on the bed…. the hopping and gambling makes it hard to sleep. And yes, that is a phaser on the coffee table.

Next stop: somewhere farther west!

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  • Sarah says:

    99 monkeys hopping on the bed?

  • Dave says:

    Why were you driving so fast? Did I not teach you anything?!

  • Sam says:

    I’m glad you’re clear of the snow and slippery roads. I was worried about that.

  • Jams says:

    Phaser on stun?

  • Leave a Reply to Dave