Alps' Roads Special - Starved Rock Road Meet

This was a relatively impromptu weekend for me, but the Starved Rock meet promised to cover a lot of interesting ground I hadn't explored before, so out to Chicago I flew for a quick weekend. I left Chicago on IL 43 south and used US 30 and IL 83 to circle around to US 6 for a long drive west. I eventually got to IL 178 and drove that to its dangling southern end and started bridge hopping for the morning on IL 251,IL 71, IL 26, IL 18, and IL 29, in a large circle back to US 6 once more. I headed up to I-80, saw some more of IL 71, and drove into Starved Rock State Park for the meet. After taking a look around, we went up IL 178 to I-80 and its frontage road for a stop at the AASHO Test Loop, where we poised on the crumbling concrete:

Jason Ilyes, Jason Risner, A. J. Bertin, Chris and Nathan Tarr, Cody Goodman (codyg1985), Eric Stuve (okroads), moi, Scott Onson, and our host Brandon Gorte, from left to right. This group then headed back west to I-39 south and up IL 351 to the I&M Canal for our next stop, before heading west on US 6 into Peru for a third stop on the north side of the IL 251 bridge. We didn't cross there, though, but at the next bridge west on IL 89, then west on IL 71 to the infamous I-180 before returning to where we started. Post-meet, whatever car I joined headed down IL 251 to IL 17 for another Illinois River bridge, then south on IL 29 to the ghost IL 6 interchange on the north side of Peoria. We poked around Peoria on I-74, IL 40, and IL 8-116, then returned north via IL 29 to US 150 and, well, my notes cut out after that, but we did return!
From Peru the next morning, I clinched IL 351, LaSalle CR 34 west of Ottawa, and IL 71. From there I rummaged around US 34 to IL 31 all the way north and then down IL 25 to Aurora. I stayed on US 34 east into Chicago and up to Addison St. to catch my inaugural game at Wrigley Field and get the certificate for such. And that was about it, as I just headed straight back to Midway Airport postgame. Okay, not straight back, since I did drive Lake Shore Drive down to its former alignment first. But that was it, a quick weekend of people, sights, and - most importantly for you - roads and bridges. And I'd do it all again.

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