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Now that my cancer surgery is behind me, H and I are talking more about what route we're going to take for our move to the Boston area.

Before I start, I need to preface it with, we will have our dog with us, so lots of things people might recommend to us, we won't be able to do because he won't be allowed.

Here's the plan - head north out of LA on I-15 to Salt Lake City; we've been on I-15 between LA and where I-15 and I-70 connect, but have not been further north on I-15 (when we drove between Chicago and LA, we took the route that took us through Denver, then across Nebraska, Iowa and IL, so we're not interested in that route again, although it would save us 400 miles). Once we're north of SLC, we'll head up through Grand Teton National Park, then Yellowstone National Park. We'll do a night in Cody, WY, then spend two days on the road between there and Chicago after getting over to I-90 from Cody. We've done I-90 between Yellowstone and Chicago before, but it was 30 years ago! We did the Badlands, Black Hills, Mt. Rushmore, Devil's Tower, etc. So we won't feel cheated if we have to drive past these places this go around due to the dog.

And of course we'll have to make the obligatory stop at Wall Drug!

As we drive through Grand Teton National Park, are there any really short detours we should know about that are worth the extra minutes? Or will we just enjoy the view of the Grand Tetons off to our left from route 191? Maybe pick up lunch in Jackson and find a picnic area that's off 191.

Any other tips for driving through this part of the country during mid-summer?

Oh, is seeing the Great Salt Lake worth it? I'm not interested in taking the time to find a place to go swim in it.

You are DRIVING from LA to BOSTON???

Girl, y’all be careful and have a great trip!!!

What a fun trip!!!!
I think you will be surprised how any parks and trails allow dogs on leash.
Will you be in Sturgis during or around the bike rally? That would be fun to witness.
Be safe!

A memory from my trip to the Badlands, etc.: on the East side of the Missouri, there'a Lewis and Clark site. We visited and took a walk on the standard path. At one end of the path there was a sign warning against rattlesnakes on the path; no such sign appeared at the other end. I asked about it. The answer was something like 'Sometimes rattlers swim across the river.' That may be true, but if rattlers are a risk in one spot, they're a risk 50 yards away in the same type of country....

Yellowstone ... I can't believe how many people get out of their cars to take photos of the small animals, like bear cubs, buffalo....

In any case, I-90 through Chicago is a mess because they've shutdown 2 lanes going East (and maybe going West, too). We went through it few weeks ago, and instead of doing our usual 50 miles in our first hour, we did about 20, and it wasn't rush hour, and at 10 AM on a Saturday morning with no day game, there was no event traffic, either.

If you take I-90 (and I think it'll be more fun than I-80 or I-70), take I-294 South to I-80 - it's more miles, more tolls, but it's likely to be a lot faster.

[This message edited by SI Staff at 4:24 PM, Wednesday, June 28th]

If it were me, I would spend an extra day or two in Utah. Arches National Park is pretty amazing along with Dinosaur National Monument.

I second what sisoon advised about avoiding Chicagoland. Sent you a DM with something that may help your route planning!

@Whatsright - yes, driving the whole way - we have to since we have our dog. We are shipping one car, so we are driving just one and not split up between two cars.

@tushnurse - had to look up when the bike rally is. No, we expect to be in Boston by mid-to-late July. Since I need to get out there sooner rather than later to get my health care established, we can't take as long getting out there as we had initially thought.

@sisoon - when we did the I-90 trip 30 years ago, we did the Lewis and Clark site. I don't remember any rattlesnake signs (we see enough of those in CA), and if they had been there, and I had seen a sign like that, I likely would have turned around! Our kids were about four and six at the time and I wouldn't have risked them mistakenly startling one!!! I do remember from 30 years ago, people stopping their cars in the middle of the road to get pictures of wildlife - that won't be us; we'll be the ones cursing them from our car as they slow down traffic. I read this morning that once again, another tourist has gone off trail to dip their toe in a hydrothermal area. The astounding stupidity of people baffles me.

Regarding avoiding Chicago, we may not be able to; we are staying in Lake County with friends for a couple of nights, and I'm trying to get an appt. with my former therapist in IL, whose only office is now in the Loop, on the day we leave IL so we can drive downtown, then head out from there. If for some reason that doesn't work, I'm sure we'll be taking 294 to 80. I think we still have our toll transponders from when we lived there! Where on 90 are the lane closures?

@vomitousmass - We've done both Zion and Bryce in Utah already, and it will be hot as Hades in July. We missed our opportunity to do the other Utah national parks this spring when the weather would have been better.

Officially, 2 lanes closed for 6.5 miles between Montrose and Ogden until 11/30/23. If you look at the real-time traffic maps, more than 6.5 miles are shown either in black or red.

There's no good way to get to and through the Loop now, so ... grin and bear it?

As far as getting downtown, how about the alternate route of taking Peterson over to LSD? I used to do that fairly often. And again, this would be in the middle of the day.

Wish I was going with you. Sounds like a fun trip.

How about taking the southern route. I-10, I-15, I-40 to Nashville, then northeast to Boston. It will save you all the tolls especially here in NY and MA.

I drove that route 50 years ago on my way home from overseas. Of course it was in November so it wasn't that hot and I was in a hurry.

How about taking the southern route. I-10, I-15, I-40 to Nashville, then northeast to Boston. It will save you all the tolls especially here in NY and MA.

Meant not to offend anyone here, but driving through Texas and Oklahoma is the last thing I want to do. I'd prefer a route that takes me through as many big mountains as possible. And heading north to Salt Lake City from SoCal gets us out of the worst heat of the country quicker. I grew up in Texas, and I know what it's like to drive through it; that southern route has nothing on the northern route, or the route we've done before that takes us through Las Vegas, to Denver, to Nebraska, Iowa, and Illinois. We don't mind the tolls - we've done 'em before. As it is, it will be unbearably hot once we get into the desert, up until we get into the mountains.

From IL, taking I-90 east is a drive we've done before many times, and many parts of it are beautiful! The only part I've never done is between Syracuse and Lee, MA. So that part will be new to me.

Oooh, that's the nicest part of I-90!

I completely understand. Like I said, I drove that route in November. I was in Memphis in June two years ago and practically melted.

Just remember to follow the signs for I-90 to the MA turnpike when you get to Albany. It'll save you about 10 miles and $5 in tolls.
Don't forget to give me a wave as you go by.

If it wasn't for the required Chicago stop I would say go from CO to St. Louis->Columbus->Boston to stay out of that mess. It's like driving through Baltimore traffic. I would for sure try to exit Chicago in the early Am if possible. 90 to Indiana has always sucked and Chicago rush hour always seems to be be 4am to 10pm.

I envy you this trip. I LOVE road trips. Since cancer, I haven't had a chance to go. But it's on my list of things to do.

I haven't taken many road trips west - always going to the east it seemed. Probably it's because I usually road trip alone and I'm not too sure about cell phone service through Nevada. Utah, etc. I've made so many road trips east through Missouri, lower Illinois, Indianapolis, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York -- to get to Mass. I learned early to NOT go through Pennsylvania to get to Cape Cod, especially in the winter. I-90 through New York was much easier. So therefore I'm not much help since you are taking the northern route. But have fun!

Peterson to LSD ... I hear LSD is a mess, too. Middle of the day doesn't help much. I went South (which is called 'East' on I-94) from Evanston, leaving at 10:15 on a Saturday morning with no day game; it was the worst ride I've ever done to and through the Loop.

On the return trip, we hit our parking space at about 3 PM, using a Jeffrey to LSD route. The only reason I used that route was that traffic came to a stop on I-94 just before the Jeffrey exit. But middle of the day is still awful on I-90/I-94. We've just got more traffic than the roads can handle, and there are a lot of drivers who add ...um... complexity to driving.

Have you thought about making a day of it? Take a train from Lake County to the Loop and be a tourist before or after your appointment? Or do the appointment remotely?

*****

If you're traveling the Eastern tollways, I recommend getting a transponder. It will reduce hassle and speed your trip.

The NY Thruway and Mass Pike use electronic tolling, so they'll bill you without a transponder. the ITR and Ohio 'pikes don't, so you'll have to wait in long lines to get tickets and pay tolls.

Of course, there are often long lines at EZ-Pass only lanes on the ITR because their technology often has trouble reading transponders.

You can pick them up at service plazas in Ohio and at Jewels in Illinois and other places that I don't know about.

[This message edited by SI Staff at 5:03 PM, Friday, June 30th]

Have you thought about making a day of it? Take a train from Lake County to the Loop and be a tourist before or after your appointment? Or do the appointment remotely?

Yes, taking the train in is an option; I'm waiting to hear back from my therapist about which day at which time will work for him. Part of the reason I'm going in person is because he has several of my journals that I wrote 30+ years ago. I reached a point in my life when I wasn't really journaling anymore, and I didn't want anyone in my family to possibly stumble across them and read some very personal stuff, so he volunteered to keep them for me (he'd already read large portions of them as I'd share entries with him after I wrote them). But I wasn't ready to destroy them. When we left the area five years ago, it was post D-Day, and so many things were going on that we didn't really have the opportunity to talk about what to do with them. So I moved cross country without them, then he down-sized his office, putting a lot of stuff in a storage unit, then COVID hit and we haven't been back to the Chicago area since before that. I touch base with him once or twice a year, and I decided I really didn't want him to ship them to me, and he said he was willing to hang onto them until I visited again. So here we are, about to spend a few days in the area, and I want to pick them up.

If you're traveling the Eastern tollways, I recommend getting a transponder.

We still have our I-PASS from our time living in IL. When we'd travel back (before the pandemic), we'd take it with us to use in rental cars so we wouldn't have to pay those exorbitant fees from the rental car companies. And when we'd occasionally rent a car on our visits to Boston before our daughter had a car, we could use it on the Mass Pike. The expiration date on it is 08/31!! I did have to update our credit card information today so that it will be able to automatically replenish when the balance dips below $10. But I think we're good to go with the toll transponders!