Our Drive West to Belvidere, Illinois

Eric and I have two days to drive 676 miles from Port Clinton, Ohio to Forest City, Iowa.






Our day's drive started
in the rain.







This is one of the flooded fields we pass by as we drive on the south side of Lake Erie. There is a weather alert for possible shoreline flooding today.

We get 8 cents off per gallon

with our Flying J credit card.

$2.65 per gallon for diesel

is a very good price.

Eric is driving west on
the Ohio Turnpike.

A soggy Indiana

welcomes us.

The RVMH Hall of Fame & Museum
in Elkhart, Indiana






Eric and I don't have enough time to stop for a return visit.  That's OK.  The Interstate 90 corridor is one that we travel regularly.  We will visit on a more leisurely drive day.

Indiana has a slower speed limit

for trucks over 13 tons.

The skies clear as we

cross Indiana.

A gas station sign at the

edge of the highway.

It advertises fuel prices
for a nearby gas station.

I get a much better photo of
the Illinois Welcome Sign.

Thornton Quarry is no longer

being mined.

It will be used as a reservoir.

Our route takes us north,

towards Wisconsin.

We have a New York State Thruway issued EZPass tag for automated toll payment.  Signs for the Illinois Tollway don't include EZPass Electronic Toll information.  We stopped at a toll booth and asked the toll taker if our EZPass tag will register on this highway.  It does and I don't have to pull out money for tolls as we drive across Northern Illinois.

We just missed the Tattoo Expo
 at the Navy Pier in Chicago.

The Worth water tower
advertises the Water's
Edge Golf Course.










I checked manta.com and Water's Edge Golf Course is a private business.  Paid advertising from businesses is a great way to increase a municipality's yearly revenue.

Open Road Tolling allows us

to maintain highway speed

instead of slowing to 5 miles

per hour at a toll booth.

Interstate 294 takes us 

west of Chicago toward

Rockford.

Elk Grove Village proudly

displays the silhouette of an

Elk on its water tower.

This building suddenly appears

above the treeline.  

Eric thinks it looks weird

without other structures

nearby.

Illinois has speed restrictions

on trucks, motor homes,

campers & trailers.

One of the many construction

zones we've driven through

today.

This Accident Investigation Site
provides a safe spot for drivers to
exchange insurance information.

Belvidere Oasis
Services







Services stops along the New York State Thruway are called Travel Plazas.

The Belvidere exit has a

 concrete divider because

it's also an on ramp.

The Walmart in Belvidere is listed as allowing overnight RV parking on OvernightRVParking.com.   I called and got permission from the store to park overnight.

Eric and I will continue our drive west to Forest City, Iowa tomorrow morning.