MikeH / August 30, 2005 11:35 AM

What car?

daruma / August 30, 2005 11:36 AM

LaPorte Indiana! My country home...wild animals, cheap gas, casino, outlet shopping, and lower tax.

jen / August 30, 2005 11:44 AM

when i did own a vehicle, i often found myself in kenosha or near there, partaking of outlet bargains at j.crew and banana republic.

it was either that, or traveling 5 hours south to visit my fam in good ol' belleville, illinois.

christy / August 30, 2005 11:49 AM

in a world that has wars over resources i've just contributed to depleting

Sabrosa / August 30, 2005 11:49 AM

My old college town, Charleston, IL. A boring ride 3 hours south is amusing when you're smoking a j and when you get there, so many nooks and crannies of that 10,000 population town remind of the most fun years of my life.

NotSoHealthy / August 30, 2005 12:04 PM

Refusing to drive 5 hours until Shiek Bush is out of office.

waleeta / August 30, 2005 12:23 PM

New York City

Crawford, Texas, to join ranks

and

LA. Why not?

Cinnamon / August 30, 2005 12:37 PM

Usually Columbus, OH or Dover, OH to see family.

And the best part is that it takes less than a tank of gas to get there in Sparky, our Toyota Prius.

kerry / August 30, 2005 12:39 PM

Usually Evanston or Lincolnwood. Man, that's boring. Ideally I would end up in Sayner, WI each time, but it's a 6.5 hour trip and I'm just not patient enough to go up more than once a year.

JP / August 30, 2005 12:40 PM

What car? What am I a millionaire? First "tapas" now fancy car rides. I thought this was a webiste for poor city people? Suddenly I feel as though I can't relate. : (

miss ellen / August 30, 2005 12:47 PM

sadly, i'm one of the awful commuters right now; i'm driving to oakbrook everyday, so that counts as out of town. it's out of my town, that is.

counting the days till this project wraps (although, we don't quite know when that'll be).

i can't remember the last time i took a road trip. i guess to visit my nephew in iowa city. that works.

wakpuma / August 30, 2005 12:49 PM

I drive to a place where poeple don't turn every question or conversation into a political statement

MC High Life / August 30, 2005 12:53 PM

Miss ellen is a horrible person! Look how much she hates the environment by driving a car!

For those of you taking some type of "moral high road" by not driving becasue of Iraq or Bush or whatever, give me a break. Plenty of people need cars for work, school and dozen of other reasons. My parents live about six hours away from me. Am I to never visit them because of some "stand" I should be taking?

"Gee, mom, I'd love for you to spend time with your first grandchild but until Bush is gone, you're out of luck. Don't worry, it will only be three more years and babies aren't any fun anyway."

waleeta / August 30, 2005 12:54 PM

JP -

I can't afford tapas all the time or own a car either, but I am fantasizing... you can hitch a ride with me and my hopeful imagination...

Garry Giggles / August 30, 2005 1:09 PM

I drive to a secret time wormhole (portal) that only I know about. I access it via an existing hole in a chain link fence, it's pretty obvious. From there I'm free to visit various time periods, sometimes I take my friends or my cousin but there are three rules to always keep in mind when time traveling, one: never bring anything back, two: never leave anything there, and three: don't change anything. So far I've done pretty good on lottos and stuff which helps offset these crazy gas prices LOL! It's about a four hour drive.

ivy / August 30, 2005 1:38 PM

Where would I end up?

My guess is in a podunk county jail with pending charges of grand theft auto, reckless use of an automobile and driving without a license. ;-)

madachode / August 30, 2005 1:46 PM

to my mom's house to give her a good ole fashioned beat down with a rubber hose.

miss ellen / August 30, 2005 2:24 PM

hey MC High Life, sorry for my tone...

i meant "awful commuters" for the sheer fact of time spent in a car. i will spare all the economic arguments, i just much prefer riding the El downtown everyday; reading a paper or book during my morning/evening ride.

i've had my car for just under 6 years & i've yet to crack 30K on my miles. i'm just not much of a car person, save for running for groceries & visiting family and friends.

Kevin / August 30, 2005 2:33 PM

The state of Denial

MC High Life / August 30, 2005 2:41 PM

Miss Ellen: I'm not a car person either (take the L to work). I was just trying to point out that people shouldn't feel guilty about driving a car, especially if they have to for work. Taking the L is great and all but sometimes the convenience of a car is a wonderful thing...like for getting groceries.

NotSoHealthy / August 30, 2005 2:49 PM

Who can afford to drive??? Buck Fush!!

vit / August 30, 2005 2:53 PM

what car? on the occasions I do rent one I usually find myself in the 'new jersey of the midwest', northwest indiana ;) ... but usually I take the south-shore, I've only driven a car 5 times in the past year, I think I might be losing my touch.

bam / August 30, 2005 3:01 PM

Cooke City and Silver Gate Montana via Cody WY and the sunlight basin route up to the beartooth highyway. Around 20-25 hours driving time depending on how much time is wasted at Wall Drug. And then you stop in at the Beartooth Cafe for the finest beer selection in the US above 10,000 ft. The last best place indeed!

jgs / August 30, 2005 3:35 PM

wiskhansin fer some brats and squeakers, berghoff's rootbeer, frozen custard and concrete parks.

dat's good stuff dere.

madachode / August 30, 2005 3:49 PM

08.30.05, 02:49 PM — NotSoHealthy said:

Who can afford to drive??? Buck Fush!!

Hmmm so the europeans should blame bush for high gas prices too? they've been paying 5-7 $$$ for years

NotSoHealthy / August 30, 2005 4:10 PM

Don't get me started, the europeans get free health care for their $5-7. And to make it worse gas in Iraq is only $.25 a gallon. But to answer the question if I could afford to go I would second LaPorte, PINE LAKE BABY!

Paula / August 30, 2005 4:14 PM

Usually when I have a free weekend day my husband and I will drive up to Richmond, IL (near the Wis. border) to poke around in the antique/junque shops and then take backroads home and look for farmstands or a small town restaurant or pub. We just discovered Wilmongton, IL (past Joliet on historic Route 66) and it also has some nice antique shops and The Launching Pad drive in with the Gemini Giant - an old 'giant man' made up to lool like an astronaut.

roderick / August 30, 2005 4:18 PM

Usually Ikea.

My parent's house in the near SW burbs.

Champaign/Urbana, IL.

But seriously, Ikea trumps all.

Baltimore / August 30, 2005 4:20 PM

I get in my hot pink Hummer, that I affectionately called Hamas Pink Jihadie Hotie,
and head fo Lincoln Park( which is out of town for me) while drank'n a fifth ah sump'n sump'n" and while nice and drunk, I run over dem lovely pink preppies, leaving behind my own flava Tapas for the alley rats!

So is the next question going to have to do with the Cubs?
Gapers Block must be on the CIA payroll trying to keep our minds off this WAR they got going!

paul / August 30, 2005 4:32 PM

Wisconsin's always good, and so is Southern Indiana to the closest National Forest and some nice trees.

Although, now I'm afraid my car will be egged or worse by the proletariat as I drive past those poor souls at the bus stop.

Actually, my car's been broken for more than a year, and I haven't fixed it because I don't need it. Now the cost of the broken part is about half the cost of filling the tank.

9 / August 30, 2005 4:40 PM

Montreal . . .the canadian dollar is what is all about people . . . combined with crazy french canadiens, beer steins that are power washed so that you don't taste soap suds as you wash down anice cold one, incredible music and a great drive through the canadien wilderness . . .one of the best roadtrips of the summer with two of the most fun girls in chitown!!!

amy / August 30, 2005 4:49 PM

Last 2 times I drove in the last 2 years were to Louisville for the Derby and Alpine for a concert. Renting a car a couple times a year is the way to go. Then you do some major grocery shopping and IKEA tripping.

Lacey / August 30, 2005 5:46 PM

When I really want to get out of town, it's on a plane. But my last few road trips (including the one I'm taking this weekend) I've been to St. Clair, Michigan on the other side of Detroit (the in-laws live there). Not glamorous, but the air is fresh and it's really pretty.

Nuxrs / August 30, 2005 6:02 PM

I second Champaign/Urbana.....I'll shave my facial hair and pretend to be a freshman again. a bitter, bitter freshman.

Baltimore: We all know about the war. Not every question has to be about the war. If you're that concerned with the war, why are you surfing the internet instead of making the world a better place for all us Cub fans?

Justin / August 30, 2005 6:28 PM

My great-grandfather owned land in Lake Geneva, on North Lake Beach, sold posthumously by my grandmother's estranged sisters to a realtor who persuaded them the property was worthless.

I'd drive there and lay on the grass by the beach, where thin girls slide beneath the fence to the sand, and daydream about passing a few years in a cottage, long enough to tend bar in a lake-side restaurant. I would grow a beard and wear sandals as long as the weather permitted, wave to the locals, grin at tourists.

Mary Washington / August 30, 2005 9:11 PM

My friend Hazel Allen and I head to the dope-ass beaches at the Indiana National Lakeshore. No lifeguards, few people, big fat sand dunes, and dogs rein supreme. Weekdays only! Word!

HuckleCat / August 30, 2005 9:37 PM

When I get in my rental car on Friday, I'll be driving to St. Louis. Mmmm Donut Drive-in...

Wendy / August 30, 2005 9:47 PM

When I get in my car and drive out of town I end up... um, at work.

matt / August 30, 2005 10:12 PM

Australia.

YAJ / August 30, 2005 10:50 PM

Carbondale. Had to drive there and back for work and just got back. That is a looong drive. Next week's work destination: Champaign. And I'll go to Peoria and Rockford before the month is over. Aren't you glad you don't have my job?

Leelah / August 30, 2005 11:00 PM

I love to drive.

I love road trips.

But if I'm driving out of town, it's generally to Cincinnati to visit my parents. Boring...

mike-ts / August 30, 2005 11:36 PM

SW Airlines has a really big sale to Florida right now. Why drive a great distance when flying is still so cheap? I'm sick of driving, period. I did what I believe is my last long drive, to Virginia, last summer. When that cousin moves to New England, he'd better get me plane tickets if he wants me to come up.

Maybe it was the oppressive heat, or the strain of being under a powerful, windy rainstorm that seemed to loom overhead at the same speed I was driving, all the way to the Appalachians. Or maybe I'm just too darn old. But it kicked me enough to make me shudder at the thought of another 14 hour drive. From now on it's the plane or the train.

Okay, I give - I'll drive to the Mars Cheese Castle before Christmas. Happy?

My political statement - a Mars Cheese Castle ham & cheese sandwich in every pot! And forget bland cheese, government issued Toblerone for everyone!

Loir / August 31, 2005 7:34 AM

I used to love a roadtrip, but I'll tell you, adding three kids is a big buzzkill.

I have to think long and hard about whether the joy of the destination is worth the agony of the journey.

An Ipod with lots of books on it, and the happy music, has made a world of difference, and once the two year old is a four year old and can follow a storyline, we're going to be golden.

We drive down to Washington IL to visit the old folks whenever we can, 3 or so times a year. NW Iowa once, and beautiful Sleeping Bear Dunes MI at least once. Next year we will take the ferry from Milwaukee to Ludington and see how that goes. Has anyone done that?

Mike / August 31, 2005 9:08 AM

No, but I want to try it because I go to Ludington every summer and fall. An hour in the car each way instead of five would be great, and I'd love to skip the Skyway/Hammond/Gary portion of the trip. The Badger's supposed to be pretty nice, amenity-wise.

Ann VanMoxie / August 31, 2005 9:11 AM

Kenosha. No, really. They have kringle. They have Kewpie Lunch. They have a Chik-fil-A.

Did I mention kringle?

elena / August 31, 2005 9:36 AM

I'm renting a car this weekend so I can see things not reachable by el -- or by bus, for that matter. I'm going to Pullman, then to Starved Rock. I'd also like to visit Bishop Hill. Anybody been there? I'm currently interested in midwest versions of utopia, so I'm trying to visit the ones close by. Oh, and I may also go to Dat Donut. Different kind of utopia.
If you go down to St Louis in December or January, by the way, you can drive along Hwy. 100 (Great River Road) and watch the bald eagles, expecially at the locks and dams near Alton. It's worth the trip. And yes, you can also bike along that road.

dave carr / September 2, 2005 10:00 PM

I drive to a small bakery about 35 miles away for a jelly doughnut I am told I cannot come home without. Sausage rolls and fresh bread complete my purchases; they are unparalled in contemporary society. And I listen to an old 1940's radio show of Boston Blackie. One there, and one back.

Life IS sweet.

jonnn / March 8, 2008 12:42 PM

I'm going to drive south until someone asked me what that thing on the front of my truck is.I have a snow plow. Them thats where I'm liveing the rest of my life. This damn snow sucs like really sics.