We awoke around 4:30 am, ate our travel breakfast of Raisin Bran and Greek yogurt and got on the road a little after 5 am. Most of the things had been packed in the car in days before, so only items in the cooler to be loaded. We were able to load the car days ahead since we use the 2008 Camry as our daily driver and would be taking the 2018 Camry. This would be the first long drive we had ever taken in it. The car was very comfortable and the advanced safety features were welcome on a three day drive across the country.
We were happy to get through Cincinnati and Indianapolis before much traffic started. Since it is a holiday weekend, we hoped that we would not have the weekday traffic that is typical around the midwestern cities. Mary started the trip by driving while I provided music by connecting an older iPod to her car’s audio system. The drive through Indiana and Illinois was uneventful and with little traffic. I took over driving in Southern Illinois sometime in morning. The car was a pleasure to drive except when I would forget to signal during a lane change and the lane departure alert would sound. It would take some time for me to get used to this safety feature. As expected, traffic around Chicago was heavier but not terrible. Certainly not what we would experience on a weekday. Lunch at a rest stop was a cold cut sandwich and fresh fruit.
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| Mary at the Castle Rock in Wisconsin |
Once we were in Wisconsin, we made a few stops at rest areas and places where there were attractions. It was good to stretch our legs, look for a geocache and admire a giant cow figurine or other roadside stop. One particularly interesting stop on I-90 was at the Castle Rock wayside, a monolith in the Wisconsin Dells area. This large stone outcropping was over 100 feet tall and looked like the turrets on a castle. We walked around it, found the Earthcache for the feature, and then continued our drive to the Super 8 in Eau Clair, Wisconsin on I-94.
Northwest end of Eau Clair is the town of Elk Mound, Wisconsin. Elk Mound is the corporate home of Menard’s, our favorite hardware store/builder supply. The hotel where stayed was just a few yards from Menard’s headquarters and their flagship store.
Since Culver’s Restaurant chain started in Sauk City, Wisconsin, specializing in quality beef and dairy foods, we decided to get cheeseburgers and fried cheese curds from there as carry out. With the resurgence of COVID, we were more comfortable getting the meal as carry out and having it in the hotel room.
The room was a fairly typical Super 8, near the highway, clean and quiet so it suited us just fine.
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