Ok, Who Closed the Road?
Aug. 16th, 2003 08:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
billroperAnd at 12:30, we set off for Rensselaer, Indiana to meet Barry.
Somewhere south of 95th St. on the Tri-State, we entered purgatory. Mile after mile of stop and go traffic for no apparent reason. (There was a construction zone on the Tri-State. Normally, the traffic gets better after you leave the construction zone. This traffic got worse.)
We got off at 159th St. (U.S. 6) to try to go via overland routes. This was also completely bollixed and included freight trains. We got back on I-94 and rejoined the mess, now on I-80, and found the signs announcing the construction about 2.5 miles into Indiana. We got past that and traffic opened up.
Normally, it takes us an hour to get from Des Plaines to Merrillville. This trip, it took us more than twice that. I took over driving from Gretchen and moved at the (high) speed of traffic down toward Rensselaer where Barry had been waiting since 2:00 PM. After getting off at the wrong exit, we finally got there around 4:00. *gleep*
Fortunately, Barry is a patient sort and had been working out a medley while waiting. I look forward to hearing it. We transferred the gear and headed back north with him to the first exit we'd gotten off at which had actual food, as opposed to the exit he was waiting at which had a Shell station and nothing else.
It was a good chat and a good dinner. We sent Barry back to Sally and headed back north, picking a better set of surface streets to dodge the (assumed) mess going back the other way and made the trip in about 2.5 hours.
Meanwhile, Barry tells us that he'll be at OVFF this year. Yay! (Sally has a conflict. Boo!)
Somewhere south of 95th St. on the Tri-State, we entered purgatory. Mile after mile of stop and go traffic for no apparent reason. (There was a construction zone on the Tri-State. Normally, the traffic gets better after you leave the construction zone. This traffic got worse.)
We got off at 159th St. (U.S. 6) to try to go via overland routes. This was also completely bollixed and included freight trains. We got back on I-94 and rejoined the mess, now on I-80, and found the signs announcing the construction about 2.5 miles into Indiana. We got past that and traffic opened up.
Normally, it takes us an hour to get from Des Plaines to Merrillville. This trip, it took us more than twice that. I took over driving from Gretchen and moved at the (high) speed of traffic down toward Rensselaer where Barry had been waiting since 2:00 PM. After getting off at the wrong exit, we finally got there around 4:00. *gleep*
Fortunately, Barry is a patient sort and had been working out a medley while waiting. I look forward to hearing it. We transferred the gear and headed back north with him to the first exit we'd gotten off at which had actual food, as opposed to the exit he was waiting at which had a Shell station and nothing else.
It was a good chat and a good dinner. We sent Barry back to Sally and headed back north, picking a better set of surface streets to dodge the (assumed) mess going back the other way and made the trip in about 2.5 hours.
Meanwhile, Barry tells us that he'll be at OVFF this year. Yay! (Sally has a conflict. Boo!)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
I can only explain this once, then I have to go into hiding
Had you given notice of your plans to meet with Barry, the fiends would have been able to set in motion a full plan, which includes setting up paving machines and detours in a combination to lead you to Momence, IL, from which there is no escape.
If the understaffed ICCUC transportation division had not been distracted by a couple going West on I-80 with a broken fuel gauge and no A/C trying to get to Joliet in time for a reception, you'd be in South Bend, IN right now, waiting for the roads to be reopened.
So be glad that even evil conspiracies have budget cuts and staffing problems, just like everyone else.