Community Forums

sasdau · 05-07-2021, 07:20 AM

Good Morning Fellow RVers. My husband and I will leave NC on May 13th headed for Mundelein, IL to visit our son after not seeing him for nearly a year. This will be our first long haul trip on our Forest River FR3 30DS Motor home. Needless to say this thought keeps us up at night and we are over the top stressed about this trip only because we have never left our home base for more than 4 hours away on our motorhome. This IL trip is 932 miles from home. We will drive the first day for 6-7 hours to Ohio where we will camp in a campground for the night. We will proceed to our final destination the next day where we have reservations for 9 days in a nature preserve in Palatine, IL...closest campground to Mundelein, IL. We bought the motor home in October 2020 for the sole reason of being able to visit our son on our own terms and in our own home and taking our two dogs along with us. I am asking for help in planning our route to keep us away from as much semi truck travel as possible...if there is even such a thing!??? I respect these truckers so very much and appreciate what they do each and every day they are on the road! I appreciate THEIR comfort level in driving big rigs like this! My sister and I drove our son to IL from Raleigh, NC to Mundelein, IL on January 5, 2019 on a Penske 16 foot box truck and took his car along too. My sister and I flew back to NC from IL after dropping off the rental truck in IL. I just remember how terrified I was with all of the semi trucks that zoomed by us so fast. That's the number one thing that sticks out in my mind as we near our departure date. My husband and I will take turns driving the motor home to Illinois. I have a Garmin 785 GPS for our motor home. There are two routes listed and I am just not sure which one to choose. Can anyone give me any suggestions??? I just wish we were not dreading the trip so badly. Any words of encouragement would be so appreciated as well! And prayers! Thank you!

rk911 · 05-07-2021, 06:47 PM

regardless which route you choose you're gonna end up on ome or more of these roads...I-80, I-94,I-294. 80/94 thru indiana has one toll in illinois, 294 is a toll road. all theee plus I-65 has LOTS pf truck traffic. even if you take surface streets besides taking lonher than forever you'll still encounter trucks albeit slower moving trucks. keep up with traffic and you'll be fine.

you can blow thru the illinois toll booths..they are not staffed. you'll have 14-days to pay online.

iowaone · 05-07-2021, 08:06 PM

I go to that area once or twice a year from Clayton near Raleigh. I am posting some screenshots that highlights the route I would take It keeps you of some of the more heavy truck traffic on I70 and I65. But as has been mentioned there is not really any way to avoid some Chicago traffic. It doesn’t bother me much anything more but I am sure it will cause you a little distress. Timing there is everything. Miss morning and afternoon rush hour. On freeways with three lanes or more avoid the right hand lane. That helps avoid all the traffic merging on and off. Don’t worry if you are going slow 55 to 65.

iowaone · 05-07-2021, 08:07 PM

iowaone · 05-07-2021, 08:08 PM

iowaone · 05-07-2021, 08:11 PM

On the West Virginia turnpike stay far right in the wide load lane. It gives you more room the other lanes are very narrow

iowaone · 05-07-2021, 08:15 PM

You might want to get a NC Ipass before you go. It works I all the roads you wine using and saves you dollars Illinois. I just keep on the motor home windshield even when pulling a toad. Saves time in West Virginia

iowaone · 05-07-2021, 08:16 PM

Have a good trip. It is a beautiful drive except through the City.

iowaone · 05-07-2021, 08:35 PM

Sorry wrong photo

twogypsies · 05-07-2021, 08:39 PM

I'd stay away as far as possible from the southern Chicago area mess. (We lived very close to Mundelein & traveled many times to family in St. Louis.)

865 miles - I-40, I-74, I-77, I-65 to Charleston, WV.

Then 35 to Chillicothe to Dayton, OH.
I-75 a short distance to I-70 west to I-65 at Indianapolis
I-65 to Remington, IN, Exit 220. Take 14 west to St. Anne & 10/1/17 to Kankakee, IL
Then 113 to I-55 north
I-55 to I-355 to Palatine

That way you avoid a lot of the immediate Chicago lakeshore traffic.

Of course, you can avoid a lot of interstate trucking by taking secondary roads - if you have plenty of time.

iowaone · 05-07-2021, 08:48 PM

This a good route too

rk911 · 05-08-2021, 05:56 AM

I-355 us a toll road. and some of us locals call 355! the ‘Illinois Auto Bahn’ because many drivers treat speed limits as mere suggestions. lots of truck traffic on 355. trucks headed to the western ‘burbs jump off I-55 onto 355. the OP cannot avoid the trucks and traffic but hitting the area between 10a-2p weekdays or on weekends will help minimize it.

sasdau · 05-08-2021, 06:25 AM

These comments from you are so very helpful to us. I can't thank you enough for taking the time to respond back! Now if I could just hire a driver for us! LOL! This will be a true test to see if we decide to keep the motorhome or not after this trip! We so want it to work out for us as owning a motor home has been a dream of ours since we retired in 2018! Thank you again so very much! I am printing off these comments and taking them along in our log book! Deborah and Charlie

KenZ71 · 05-08-2021, 07:42 AM

I too bought an RV for me & my dogs.

Sounds like new driver jitters. By chance has any one given you a couple hours of ride along time for tips and tricks?

Some of the best tips I received;:

Only line up passenger OR driver side with lane markers. Not both. If you try both you will quickly wear yourself out correcting side to side and look like a drunk driver weaving.

Goto home depot or lowes and buy a bunch of their buckets and set them up in a large empty parking lot (school on weekend, large church on weekday). The buckets can be imaginary cars to avoid while turning, backing, etc. Also useful for getting to know blindspots & reference points. You can always return the buckets when done.

Enjoy the adventure!