Day 5 Sept. 8 Rantoul IL to Akron OH, 424 miles

The Heritage Hotel in Rantoul IL was comfortable and inexpensive.  Bill appreciated the room access right next to the car, making unloading the car easier.  The hotel was run by a couple of local retired characters who were most friendly but a tad too quick to offer lots of righteous right wing philosophy that we had little use for.

As we slept, our little Harbor Freight battery charger dutifully pumped up the LaSalle's battery. After a great night's rest, we awoke to a steady rain and much cooler temperatures. Nance especially appreciated not being in a steam bath on the exhaust pipe side of the car. The LaSalle hasn't seen a lot of rain, but the wipers do work (sort of) and the convertible top fits well.  The defroster isn't hooked up. We found we could keep the windshield fog at bay with rags.  Water managed to find its way into the cockpit through the cowl. We endured a slow dripping of water on our legs throughout the day.  Bill was a little concerned about our visibility but we didn't turn on the lights to keep the load off the battery.

We started on US 136 until it morphed into IL 119 and IN 28.  IN 28 was the quintessential farm road, running straight for hours until suddenly jogging right to left as if to correct some ancient surveying error or property dispute.  NO WIND FARMS was the local yard sign issue here, and no wind farms were seen.  The small towns on this route are delightful to pass through.  Not only does the LaSalle get a rest from pounding down the highway, we get to enjoy elaborate  and well preserved architecture. These are towns that still have front porches complete with folks sitting on them.

We played with farm roads and a bit of I-69 to eventually connect us with US 30, formally known as the Lincoln Highway.  This mostly four lane artery is the remnant of the first transcontinental highway, stretching from New York City to San Francisco.  We made good time on US-30 but it was a bit bumpy and hectic, patrolled by packs of feral trucks.  US 30 took us across most of Ohio, passing the Mid-Ohio road racing facility near Mansfield.  We finally packed it in at Akron, our day called on account of darkness.

This was one of our best days, no problems with the LaSalle or either of us.