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The main purpose of my Tuesday, 07/11/2017, drive: finally meet OC,SHer MICHAEL H in person. Now living in New Mexico, his home state is Iowa. About a year ago, we’d planned to meet when he was in Iowa seeing family, but a tornado outbreak blew away that opportunity. Then, earlier this year, I planned to see him & his family in NM, staying with them a few days during 1 of my 2017 road trips; but, health issues & finances thwarted those, at least for now. Fast forward to just recently, when he notified me he’d be in Iowa again & would like to meet, if we could get it set.

While my part-time independent contractor job has drawbacks (namely in terms of Medicaid & a lack of “extra” money), it has 1 undeniable, wonderful perk: schedule flexibility. The ability to alter my hours this week allowed me to take Tuesday “off” so I could drive my 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis LS to Moline IL to see him. We opted for an early afternoon lunch, initially meeting at a local mall to decide from there. As I contemplated my route, I realized a quick, beeline-type drive was needed to get to Moline. But then, I could take my time going back, taking advantage of my location to drive some scenic roads.

I left the house where I sleep ~10:40a, dropped some mailings off at the post office, then went to Burlington IL to get gas. It took me a bit longer to get there due to the closure of a section of Plank Rd for road construction. I left the gas station ~11:35a, taking the following roads to Moline IL, arriving at the SouthPark Mall ~1:35p:
Plank Rd W
Peace Rd
IL 64 W
I-39 S
I-88 W
I-80/-74 SE
I-280 W
I-74 NE.

The last section of that trip was a bit more harrowing than it needed to be. While I’d checked aerial views online before leaving & had a good idea of where I needed to go at the end of my time on I-88 W, signage for roads not quite labeled the way I was expecting caused a bit of panic. Luckily, I had enough time to eyeball where each path was going & ultimately chose the correct exit to take I-80/I-74 SE towards I-280. However, construction & detour signs along that corridor made me think I-280 would not be a viable route to I-74 N into Moline. That concern was quickly erased when I easily entered I-280 W.

Michael & I arrived in Moline about the same time, with him parking ~15 minutes before me. Prior to leaving, I’d also researched mom’n’pop establishments in Moline, but didn’t really see any in the area we planned to meet. I did, however, note a Denny’s on or near the mall property. We opted to eat there, a place I hadn’t been to in a very long time. We left his rental car at the meeting location & drove my car to Denny’s, where we had a good lunch & chatted for 2+ hours.
(OC,SHer MICHAEL H standing next to my 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis LS)

As we drove back to his rental car & prepared to leave, I decided to alter my path to IL 84. Leaving the SouthPark Mall area ~4:15p, I followed Michael up I-74 NE.
(approaching the I-74 bridge over the Mississippi River, Moline IL)

(on the I-74 bridge over the Mississippi River, Moline IL)

(looking east out at the Mississippi River from the I-74 bridge, approaching IA)

At I-80, Michael went west & I headed east. While I crossed the mighty Mississippi River, I figured the long way might take me ~4 hours to do, & I was about right.
(below 2 photos: on I-80 E, actually driving south at this juncture, looking west out at the Mississippi River, approaching IL from IA)

From I-80 E, my long path back:

IL 84 N
(sign at the entrance of IL 84 from the exit ramp off I-80)

US 30 E
(leaving US 30 to turn onto IL 78; in the distance, to the left of the yellow-black arrow sign, is a marker for the Lincoln Highway)

IL 78 N (with a side stop at Fair Haven)
(leaving IL 78 to take US 52 & IL 64 back east)

US 52 E (brief stop in Lanark IL)
IL RT 64 E (brief stop in Oregon IL)
Peace Rd
Plank Rd E.

I took these last 2 rainbow photos just after entering Plank Rd, east of IL 23, where Peace Rd ends:

After stopping at the same Burlington IL gas station, I scooted over to IL RT 72 to take that to US 20 into my home town, where I arrived ~8:15p. FYI: between gas stops at the bookends of this day’s drive, my 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis LS managed 29.13 mpg.

A note about the brief stop at Fair Haven: as I drove up IL 78, I knew the home of a friend who died June 2011 (a month before my 2011 road trip, causing it to be my “Coast-to-Coast” journey) was just off that road. I didn’t even need to know the street name; I knew it when I approached it. I slowed down & found myself turning right onto the road. I knew he wouldn’t be there (death has a way of doing that), but for some inexplicable reason, I had to drive by it. Though it seemed empty, I’m glad I did.

The day was a whirlwind of fun: quick interstate beeline drive to Moline IL, finally meeting OC,SHer MICHAEL H in person, long-scenic drive back via old 2-lane roads with a side trip to see a late friend’s home, “just missing” several friends on the way back, wishing life didn’t change or get in the way as much & people didn’t lose touch as much as we do, remembering why I really need to be “home” (on the road) more often to see people & explore, learning I need to make a more conscious effort to actually STOP at places, learning I need to take pics galore [the 11 OC,SH original pics you see in this post are the cream of the 15 I took…] & enjoying late-night thunderstorms.

Now, with this additional day road trip drive behind me, I need to find a way to broach the subject of revisiting remote work capability with my boss. While new health issues (a lung “speck” may be cancer) & finances wiped out (by, of all things, new tires for my 2003 MGM LS), long 2017 road trips aren’t a possibility … yet. However, I’d like the ability to drive during the day & work in the late afternoon & evenings so I can explore more of my home state while I can. If that happens, I will document those adventures here.