Visalia, CA to Chicago IL in late Sept/Early Oct

[jazierae]

Why are you planning to go all the way down to Fort Worth and Dallas? That doesn't make any sense to me.

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, we are going to TX to visit family for 3 days. I understand it adds 300miles, but that is where we are going, so I am trying to strategize the best route with that stop.

[Midwest Michael]

Sorry, I missed that (and I suspect GLC did too.)

That being the case, from Dallas, going to Chicago via Memphis makes perfect sense, and would be a better choice than going back up to OK City and St. Louis.

[glc]

Okay, gotcha - now, exactly where in Texas and exactly where in Chicago, please? I don't need street coordinates, just neighborhood or suburb.

I didn't miss it - your reply had not posted yet while I was posting.

I can give you best advice with those 2 details.

[jazierae]

No worries. Thanks for your input.

What do you think of the alternative to Memphis, by going back up to the east of Tulsa to get onto the I-44 through St. Louis and then the I-55? Given that I am headed to the north of Chicago (Jefferson Park), it looks like the I-55 is much preferable.

[jazierae]

Okay, gotcha - now, exactly where in Texas and exactly where in Chicago, please? I don't need street coordinates, just neighborhood or suburb.

Headed via Heath, TX (75032) to arrive in Jefferson Park, IL (60646). I look forward to hearing your take.

[glc]

Thank you!

Okay - from Visalia to Heath you have 2 options. The fastest will take you 3 days, and that's CA-99/CA-58/I-40 to Amarillo, US-287 to Decatur, US-380 to Denton, I-35E/I-635/US-80 to TX-460/740 into Heath. US-287 is multilane and near freeway quality all the way. You should be looking at overnight stops around Flagstaff and Amarillo.

You can cut out the higher elevations by going farther south which will add about 100 miles - CA-99/CA-58/US-395/I-15/I-215/I-10/I-20/I-30/US-80/TX-460/740. However, this will tangle you up in more metro areas.

From Heath to Chicago, take TX-549 to I-30/I-40/I-55/I-57. Then you have 2 choices - the least hassle way will involve considerable tolls (looks like about 9 bucks cash), the IL Tollway soaks you hard with a trailer, they charge medium truck rates. This would be I-80 east (there is no I-57/I-294 interchange yet) to I-294 (toll) north to I-90 east to the Avondale or Lawrence exit.

The only other reasonable alternate is right through the middle of the city - I-57/I-94/I-90 to the Lawrence or Central exit. I wouldn't do this anywhere near rush hour.

This is a 2 day drive with an overnight around Blytheville AR or Sikeston MO.