Now it is finally time to summarize the Chicago/NW Indiana Meet Trip that also included a stop in Lexington, KY, to meet YouTubers Paul and Morgan.
Day 1 (Harrisburg, PA, to Perrysburg, OH)-June 23, 2022
I actually started this trip at about 11:30 PM on June 22 as I realized that I was in a state that I was not going to fall back to sleep. I started by taking US 322 WB to I-99 SB to PA 453 NB so that I could finally clinch PA 729. After clinching PA 729, I took US 219 NB back to US 322 WB. From there, I generally followed US 322 WB (ultimately finishing a full clinch of it) to Cleveland, OH, with quite a few loops to clinch other PA routes along the way (including a stop at the PennDOT Sign Garden at the US 6/US 19/US 322 intersection at PA 102 in Meadville).
After looping around Cleveland for a few hours, I finished the day by driving west to Perrysburg via US 20. I also looped around the Toledo area to clinch I-475 (OH), I-280 (OH) (which has an amazing cable-stayed bridge near its northern end), OH 420, and OH 795 before finishing the day.
Clinched: PA 729, US 322 (OH/PA-full clinch), PA 950, PA 830, PA 257, PA 157, PA 338, PA 102, PA 618, OH 175, OH 633, OH 10, I-490 (OH), US 6 ALT (Rocky River, OH), I-475 (OH), I-280 (OH), OH 420, OH 795
New Mileage: PA 36, PA 949, PA 208, US 62 (PA), PA 38, PA 8, US 6 (OH, PA), US 19 (PA), PA 98, PA 18, PA 285, OH 283, US 20 (OH), I-90 (OH), I-271 (OH), OH 43, OH 2, OH 58, OH 113, OH 57, OH 301, I-480 (OH), OH 252, OH 254, OH 60, OH 99, OH 547, OH 19, OH 105, US 23 (OH), I-75 (OH), OH 163, OH 51, OH 65, OH 25
Day 2 (Perrysburg, OH, to Monee, IL)-June 24, 2022
On this day, I generally followed US 20 WB from Toledo to Chicago with detours to clinch the northern sections of US 33, US 35, and US 421, and clinch US 20 BUS (South Bend, IN). Once I got to Stony Island Ave on US 12/US 20, I followed Stony Island Ave to I-94 WB to I-57 SB (which had lane closures for construction despite being Friday afternoon) to US 30 EB to IL 50 SB to my hotel in Monee.
Clinched: US 20 (IN), IN 127, IN 727, IN 827, IN 4 (Goshen), US 20 BUS (South Bend, IN), IN 520, IN 249, IN 152, IN 312
New Mileage: US 20 (IL, OH), OH 25, OH 120, OH 108, US 127 (OH), OH 576, OH 49, IN 120, IN 13, IN 15, US 33 (IN), IN 39, US 35 (IN), US 421 (IN), US 12 (IL/IN), IN 149, US 41 (IL/IN), US 6 BUS (Highland, IN), IN 912, I-94 (IL), I-57 (IL), US 30 (IL), IL 50
Day 3 (Monee, IL, to Lexington, KY)-June 25, 2022-June 26, 2022 (at 8 AM EST)
I started this morning by clinching IL 394 and taking I-94 WB into Downtown Chicago. Then I took I-290 WB to its western terminus at I-90 on the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway. I took I-90 EB back to downtown (with a quick clinch of I-190 along the way) as the rains began to pick up. I quickly then took I-55 NB to US 41 SB to the Calumet Beach Park where I helped an organization pick up trash in the area during the downpour while waiting for the meet to begin.
After the meet itself featured the differences between Indiana and Illinois, and featured an odd neighborhood in industrial NW Indiana called Markton, I looped around NW Indiana a bit before taking I-65 SB towards Louisville with clinching the I-465 loop around Indianapolis and I-865 since I-65 is still closed in Downtown Indianapolis. Anyway, I eventually exited off of I-65 SB onto US 31 SB at the Clark Memorial Bridge to get into Louisville proper. After some looping around to finish my full clinch of I-64 that I could not get last September due to a closure, I generally followed US 60 EB to Lexington including a brief walk-clinch due to a closure in Frankfort just before KY 420.
Clinched: IL 394, I-290 (IL), I-190 (IL), IN 912, US 6 BUS (Highland, IN), IN 51, I-465 (IN), I-865 (IN), US 31 (KY), I-64 (KY-gives me full clinch), KY 2860, KY 55 BUS (Shelbyville), KY 2268, US 60 BUS (Versailles, KY)
New Mileage: IL 50, IL 1, I-94 (IL), US 6 (IL, IN), IL 83, I-90 (IL), US 20 (IL), IL 53, I-55 (IL), US 41 (IN/IL), IN 130, US 30 (IN), I-65 (IN), IN 26, US 52 (IN), US 421 (IN), US 31 (IN), IN 37, US 36 (IN), IN 67, US 40 (IN), US 60 ALT (Louisville, KY), US 31E (KY), US 150 (KY), KY 864, US 60 (KY), KY 1848, KY 53, KY 55, KY 420, US 421 (KY), KY 1681, US 62 (KY)
Day 4 (Lexington, KY, to Cincinnati, OH)-June 26, 2022 (starting at 8 AM EST)
After finally getting to Lexington, I cleaned up real quick for church before doing a quick lap of KY 4 (New Circle Rd). Then I met up with Paul and Morgan (and the others in Lexington for the weekend) for church and lunch before heading generally north on US 27 to Cincinnati. Once in Cincinnati, I took US 42 NB to OH 4 NB past I-75 so that I could fully clinch OH 561. At US 50, OH 561 becomes OH 32/OH 125, and I followed OH 32 EB to my hotel just east of the I-275 Interchange (and the west end of Corridor D).
I also want to highlight that I got my first milkshake from United Dairy Farmers on this day at the location on KY 9 at KY 1632, and I thought that it was better than Graeter’s.
Clinched: KY 4, US 68 BUS (Paris, KY), KY 982, US 27 BUS (Cynthiana, KY), KY 3016, KY 3149, KY 445, KY 2345, KY 1632, OH 561
New Mileage: US 27 (KY/OH), US 68 (KY), KY 1974, KY 1973, US 460 (KY), KY 32, KY 36, KY 22, KY 177, KY 8, KY 9, US 52 (OH), US 127 (OH), US 42 (OH), OH 4, OH 32, OH 125
Day 5 (Cincinnati, OH, to Harrisburg, PA)-June 27, 2022
On this day, I realized that I had actually gotten pretty sick, but knowing that sleeping made my sniffling worse meant that staying in a hotel Monday Night to rest was not really worth it.
Anyway back to the roads, I started this day by finishing my clinch of OH 32 and ADHS Corridor D by driving it to Athens. Along the way, I looped to clinch OH 137 and OH 349 (with a quick stop at Lake Alma State Park north of Wallston). Once I got east of Athens, I started meandering a bit so that I could clinch OH 690, OH 792, OH 266 (because of some AARoads Forum game you may have heard of), OH 530, OH 565, and OH 536. I had also planned to clinch OH 537, but that road was closed so I followed the detour.
Once crossing OH 7 and the Ohio River, I generally followed WV 7 east to Kingston to finish the clinch of that route, and then looped via WV 72 and US 50 to fully clinch WV 26. I then entered PA to clinch PA 281 and the rest of PA 985 north of US 30 before taking PA 403 NB to PA 756 EB. I followed PA 756 EB to PA 160 to clarify the final status of that intersection before turning around and heading back to US 219. From there, it was just US 219 NB to US 22 EB to I-99 NB to US 322 EB back to Harrisburg just before 1 AM on June 28th. I also stopped at Sheetz along PA 655 for some self-serve ice cream that I think helped my nose a little bit.
Clinched: OH 32, OH 349, OH 690, OH 792, OH 266, OH 530, OH 565, OH 536, WV 7, WV 705, WV 26, PA 281, PA 985
New Mileage: OH 772, OH 124, OH 327, OH 93, OH 160, OH 550, OH 329, OH 377, OH 555, OH 676, OH 60, OH 339, OH 821, OH 145, OH 260, OH 26, OH 800, OH 78, OH 7, WV 2, US 250 (WV), WV 218, US 19 (WV), US 119 (WV), WV 72, PA 653, PA 403