August 22nd- We left Spring Grove at noon after I had made one final Japanese beetle sweep. I really hate those eating machines.
Drove out to Woodstock, Illinois, to pick up Il-47. While taking the detour on Queen Anne Road, we came upon the first of two times we encountered water on the road today. The Midwest has really been getting hit by rain these past two weeks. There was about six inches of water on the road, so proceeded slowly through it.
Took Il-47 to Il-176 and went west to Marengo. About half way there, I noticed the pavement was wet, and about 400 yards later, we found a really big stretch of inundated roadway. We went slowly, but some eastbound motorists made wakes. I was a bit worried about the brakes, but they were ok.
Marengo has a great restaurant/tavern where you can play NTN called Cruisin' on State. It has lots of automobile memorabilia and delicious food.
Until today, I had only ever come across a road covered with water in White Pines State Park in Illinois.
In Marengo, we picked up US-20 and stayed on it for the rest of the day. US-20 is now called the US Grant Memorial Highway in Illinois. It bypasses both Belvedere and Rockford to the south and is four lane. It runs along with I-39 part of the way around Rockford.
We stopped at the Freeport/Stevenson Visitors Center east of Freeport. It is in a new building and a great place to cool off and stretch your legs while getting information about the area.
The four lane bypass around Freeport has always had signs up saying that it was a stretch where they tested new types of road surfacing. It was all torn up. Perhaps the new surfacing didn't work, or, they are putting in a new top. Or perhaps it will be part of the new US-20 fourlane to Galena.
Personally, I wouldn't mind the new bypass as from Freeport to Galena, US-20 is two lane with lots and lots of traffic and TRUCKS. If they built the bypass and kept the original road, that would be great.
About a half mile west of where Freeport Business US-20 and the current bypass join back together, there are two round barns on either side of the road. The one on the south side is in bad shape.
I should mention that one of Illinois' top NTN sites. Jumpin' Joe's, is located on Freeport's west end in a bowling alley.
I'll Continue with Day 1... --RoadDog
RoadDog's RoadLog Blog: Being my travels down those great two lane highways of this nation as well as news I learn about them from media sources. Since I'm also very interested in historic preservation, there will be a lot of that as well.
The Shamrock Court Motel in Sullivan, Missouri. It can be yours for $125,000. Lots of possibilities. Actually, now you're too late. Missouri's Roamin' Rich bought it.
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