Genoa Illinois, PLEASE HELP......URGENT!

[live4christp1]

My dad's brother is in very bad health and it isn't looking good. Leaving this afternoon to drive him up there to see him. DH leaves for 2 weeks of annual training with the National Guard Saturday so he can't go. It will be myself, my dad and the kids. Driving from Tennessee. If it gets to late and we need to stop.......need suggestions for good safe areas.

Never been any further north than Fort Knox Kentucky except by plane so this is a whole new adventure.

Thanks!
Cristy

 

[mrsv98]

My dad's brother is in very bad health and it isn't looking good. Leaving this afternoon to drive him up there to see him. DH leaves for 2 weeks of annual training with the National Guard Saturday so he can't go. It will be myself, my dad and the kids. Driving from Tennessee. If it gets to late and we need to stop.......need suggestions for good safe areas.

Never been any further north than Fort Knox Kentucky except by plane so this is a whole new adventure.

Thanks!
Cristy

Where are you in Tenn and how long can you drive? If I were driving it, I would avoid IN and go through IL via route 57. You could stop in Champaign IL for the night. It is a college town so lots of hotels/motels. You would then have a 4 hour-ish drive to finish tomorrow morning.

This is my best advice with the info you gave, more detail and we can help more. Prayers for your uncle and for a safe drive.

 

[live4christp1]

We are about an hour and a half from (Chattanooga area) Nashville. Mapquest estimated it at 10 hours & 49 minutes. The mapquest directions show I-24 West to 1-57 North then I-74 West to Peoria. After that I-55 Nto I-39 North and the final Interstate is I-88 East. Does that sound like the route you mentioned?.....I don't think so as it looks like it goes right through Indiana on the map.

Thanks for the help. We can't leave until 4:30 EST I'm a night owl but I don't think I'm going to be able to drive it all the way through.

 

[mrsv98]

We are about an hour and a half from (Chattanooga area) Nashville. Mapquest estimated it at 10 hours & 49 minutes. The mapquest directions show I-24 West to 1-57 North then I-74 West to Peoria. After that I-55 Nto I-39 North and the final Interstate is I-88 East. Does that sound like the route you mentioned?.....I don't think so as it looks like it goes right through Indiana on the map.

Thanks for the help. We can't leave until 4:30 EST I'm a night owl but I don't think I'm going to be able to drive it all the way through.

Well, 57 is in IL. If you were going through IN it would be 65. We have driven to and from WDW many times and are familiar with the route. 24 to 57 is good. You won't go all the way west to Peoria so my idea of Champaign is still ok. It would probably take you 7 hours to get in that area/ Also, by going up 57 you avoid major urban areas and traffic. Good luck!

 

[live4christp1]

Well, 57 is in IL. If you were going through IN it would be 65. We have driven to and from WDW many times and are familiar with the route. 24 to 57 is good. You won't go all the way west to Peoria so my idea of Champaign is still ok. It would probably take you 7 hours to get in that area/ Also, by going up 57 you avoid major urban areas and traffic. Good luck!

Thanks!

Really nervous as dad might end up staying up there and that means the kids and I will have to drive all the way back by ourselves......they will have to be back in order to go to school Monday.

 

[chamonix]

That's a great route, if you re worried about safe areas, on those roads in Illinois you'll be driving through mainly rural areas and smallish towns as stopping points. Champaign is good, as is Marion IL for safe hotel areas near the interstate. On 39 the kids might like seeing all the windmills, the interstate goes right through a huge wind farm.

 

[live4christp1]

That's a great route, if you re worried about safe areas, on those roads in Illinois you'll be driving through mainly rural areas and smallish towns as stopping points. Champaign is good, as is Marion IL for safe hotel areas near the interstate. On 39 the kids might like seeing all the windmills, the interstate goes right through a huge wind farm.

Thanks!

 

[daughtersrus]

If you go the route you listed, you will only be on I55 for a short time while going around Bloomington. Bloomington is a college town (IL State Univ) so there are a lot of hotels. Most of the students are moving in this coming week. Once you pass Bloomington heading north, there really aren't any big cities.

I39/I51 will take you all the way north to I88. There are often a lot of police officers on 39/51 on bridges so keep your eyes open if you're speeding.

The only thing that I will add is that I88 is a toll road. Since you're not from IL or one of the states with toll road agreement, be sure that you do not go through the "IPASS Only" lanes. You will need to pay cash.

Genoa is just north of DeKalb (also a college town with Northern IL Univ) so finding a hotel in that area shouldn't be too difficult.

I wish you and your family the best!

 

[live4christp1]

How far is Genoa from Chicago? Dad seems to think he is at a hospital in Chicago. I have the address to their home which is in Genoa.

 

[mrsv98]

How far is Genoa from Chicago? Dad seems to think he is at a hospital in Chicago. I have the address to their home which is in Genoa.

Genoa is 60 miles northwest of the city. If I were you, I would hope and pray he is in Genoa or even Rockford and NOT the city. This weekend is the Air and Water show plus the Sox are in town...add in all the construction traffic and you have a very difficult driving situation. Let us know where he is as soon as you find out and we can get you there with the least amount of headache.

 

[live4christp1]

Well, I think the hospital starts with a D (not much help)......dad doesn't hear real clear on the phone and when I talked to her last night she was getting bad signal and we got disconnected before we could get to that part. We are going to their house first and meet someone that can help us find our way around. They have 4 grown kids and some young adult grand kids all in the area so hopefully we can recruit a co pilot.

 

[RadioNate]

The route sounds good. I've driven that a zillion times. What ever you do, stay off of I65 in Indiana, it is a construction nightmare.

I took, 74 and I57 in June and while there was construction it wasn't horrid. It is the midwest construction season (the other 'season' is winter) so some is unavoidable.

People have mentioned a lot of good towns to stop in. There are also hotels in the Matoon/Charleston area by Eastern Illinois University.

You'll pass a lot of college areas so there will be stopping points.

I urge you to find out directly where he is. Chicago and Genoa aren't close. Maybe he is in a hospital in DeKalb?

Good luck.

 

[live4christp1]

The route sounds good. I've driven that a zillion times. What ever you do, stay off of I65 in Indiana, it is a construction nightmare.

I took, 74 and I57 in June and while there was construction it wasn't horrid. It is the midwest construction season (the other 'season' is winter) so some is unavoidable.

People have mentioned a lot of good towns to stop in. There are also hotels in the Matoon/Charleston area by Eastern Illinois University.

You'll pass a lot of college areas so there will be stopping points.

I urge you to find out directly where he is. Chicago and Genoa aren't close. Maybe he is in a hospital in DeKalb?

Good luck.

Thanks! We will try and get a hotel for Saturday night in the area near their home. If dad decides to stay when we head home Sunday he will be staying with his brothers family. Any good recommendations for Genoa area hotels?

 

[RadioNate]

Thanks! We will try and get a hotel for Saturday night in the area near their home. If dad decides to stay when we head home Sunday he will be staying with his brothers family. Any good recommendations for Genoa area hotels?

I don't know any in Genoa, it is pretty small but there will be a lot around DeKalb and Sycamore.

I haven't been up that way in awhile.

I wonder if he could be in a Dupage area hospital. That would be considered the Chicago metro area and much closer than a downtown hospital

 

[mrsv98]

Well, I think the hospital starts with a D (not much help)......dad doesn't hear real clear on the phone and when I talked to her last night she was getting bad signal and we got disconnected before we could get to that part. We are going to their house first and meet someone that can help us find our way around. They have 4 grown kids and some young adult grand kids all in the area so hopefully we can recruit a co pilot.

There is a Delnor Community Hospital in Geneva, about 30 miles from Genoa, could that be it? Otherwise RadioNate is right, the Dupage Health system is really good and he might be at one of their hospitals.

 

[cm8]

Well, I think the hospital starts with a D (not much help)......dad doesn't hear real clear on the phone and when I talked to her last night she was getting bad signal and we got disconnected before we could get to that part. We are going to their house first and meet someone that can help us find our way around. They have 4 grown kids and some young adult grand kids all in the area so hopefully we can recruit a co pilot.

sending you thoughts and prayers and strength for your journey today. Please take as many breaks as you need to arrive safely. Hope you are getting some much needed rest to make this trip and not checking the DIS.

 

[Pixie Dust for Me!]

Just north of where I-24 runs into I-57 (i.e., North of Marion, IL), there is HUGE construction traffic! We go to my parents house in Goreville, IL from St. Louis there a lot and the traffic is awful. There have been numerous tractor-trailer accidents there that have closed the highway. If you go this way, you may want to get off at Marion and take the alternate ways around the construction. It will be 2 lane highway if you take the alternate routes, but it's small-town farmland stuff.

K

 

[daughtersrus]

I don't know any in Genoa, it is pretty small but there will be a lot around DeKalb and Sycamore.

I haven't been up that way in awhile.

I wonder if he could be in a Dupage area hospital. That would be considered the Chicago metro area and much closer than a downtown hospital

There's a ton of hospitals in the Chicago area. Could be Central DuPage in Winfield, Good Samaritan in Downers Grove, Copley in Aurora, Delnor in Geneva.

These hospitals are all east of Genoa. Rockford has Swedish American and Rockford Community and those would be north west of Genoa.

 

[live4christp1]

There's a ton of hospitals in the Chicago area. Could be Central DuPage in Winfield, Good Samaritan in Downers Grove, Copley in Aurora, Delnor in Geneva.

These hospitals are all east of Genoa. Rockford has Swedish American and Rockford Community and those would be north west of Genoa.

I think it's Delnor. Getting ready to head home, soon as the kids get in from school and change we will be on the road.




Thanks to you all for all the help, tips, etc. Will post back Monday to let you all know we made it. Praying for safe travel and decent weather.

 

[DenMig]

I am just reading this now, and imagine you are on the road. However, if you need to stop in Champaign there are several hotels off of I-57 where it intersects with I-72 or I-74. I live just south of Champaign in a town called Tolono, so I can vouch that this would be a good place to stop if you need to.