2400 mile roadTrip - May 2012 (Hartford-Chicago-Wisconsin-Detroit-ElkCountry-Hfd)

[arjithin]

Few weeks before I asked suggestions about what to do on my road trip from Hartford, CT to Chicago and Detroit (Connecticut to Chicago/Detroit). I completed my trip over the last memorial weekend. Here are some photos and a small writeup.

Background & Planning:
Its been more than year since I took a 1000 mile+ road trip and I was looking for multiple options. A long weekend with 2 days of leave is planned. Three locations were considered
1. Florida - 1200 miles one side -Ruled out as our host in Florida was not available for Memorial weekend
2. Smoky mountains, TN - Ruled out as the friend who was supposed to join us there wasnt available
3. Chicago & Detroit - Everyone was available and decided to spend 2 days in Chicago and 1 day in Detroit. 2 days for travelling.



We bought a new portable dvd player for my 3.5 yr daughter. Baked some food, stocked up snacks & water and thats it, we are ready !!!

Used GasBuddy.com - Find Low Gas Prices in the USA and Canada to identify the lowest price gas stations en route.

Car selection:
Since this was a road trip, I wanted a drivers car. My 2007 CRV will take rest for a week. Booked a luxury car with Budget car rental ($250 all inclusive for a week) and a premium car from Enterprise ($190 all inclusive for a week) as backup.
Called up Budget 3 hrs prior to rental and they said they have a Hyundai Genesis sedan, An Infinity G25x and a volvo S60. Chose the Genesis due to its size ( I have a mini house to carry !!!). Its bigger than full size car, has a 15+ cu ft trunk, and the 333 hp 3.8L V6 engine is the biggest and most powerful among them. It has got better mpg ratings as well. So the selection was very easy. Asked the agent to "hide" the car for me and I collected the car in 2 hrs from the local airport.







The cool white LED lighting is very bright and pleasant. I already ordered LED bulbs for my CRV interior lights seeing this car.


Look at the rear legroom, driver seat is adjusted for me (6 feet 2 inch) and the passenger seat is kept all the way up.


Some other observations after driving 2400 miles
1. The 7 speaker music system is not upto the mark
2. Manual gear shift is confusing because shifting to lower gear is towards the front of the car.
3. The dash mileage display is off by 3-4 mpg many times.
4. In the manual mode, gear shift lag is very evident, sometimes even waiting a second before shifting
5. The torque/passing power even in 8th gear is amazing. Just a tap in gas pedal will pull the car ahead like crazy.

Day 1: May 25th 2012 Friday. (Hartford, CT to Clarion PA; 430 miles and 7.5 hrs)
Worked from home. Since the next weekend is a long weekend, Friday is an early close for us ( 2 PM). Started the drive around 3 PM. It took almost 2 hrs to cover the first 70 miles in Connecticut ( I84 east) due to the long weekend rush. But once I crossed over to NY, traffic was less and the same trend continued in PA. Finally reached clarion, PA at 10:30 PM. Had a good sleep in a motel.


Day 2: Clarion, PA to Wauken, IL - 550 miles, 9:30 hrs)
prepared some rice for us for lunch ( we carry a rice cooker, portable electric stove and a small pressure cooker always. We cannot survive with outside food for more than a day and my daughter is very particular about having rice for lunch and dinner). Started at 9 AM with around 550 miles to cover for the day.

I took US route 30 in Ohio and Indiana instead of the typical Interstate 80 route to see rural Ohio and Indiana. Took detours from the highway very frequently to small pocket roads to see farms. Saw lot of farms/barns/dairy farms and a huger wind power farm (Blue Creek Wind Farm). Route 30 is very deserted with a car in every 5-10 mts. Got a speeding Jeep Cherokee for company for more than 100 miles who was going constantly 80mph+ in a 55 mph road. I let him drive 1-1.5 miles in front of me in the never ending straight roads and used him as an indicator to see if any cops are there and try some short bursts of testing Genesis. wow..what a car !!!
Below picture will give an idea about how open US route 30 is


Ohio on the other side is a complete nightmare to drivers. You go 5mph above the speedlimit, you will get a ticket. I spotted 24 patrol cars in the first 90 mts of my drive in Ohio.

Finally reached my friends house Waukegan, IL (50 miles north of Chicago) by 6:30 PM.


Day 3: Chicago local sightseeing.

It was a 102 degree day, so we started late to avoid heat. visited down town and came back by 10 PM.







Day 4 : Waukegan, IL, to Wisconsin to Detroit, MI ( ~400 miles)

Started by noon, visited my friend in Wisconsin and then started the long drive to Detroit. On the way we stopped at Indiana dunes national park to beat the heat. Reached Detroit by 11:30 PM. checked into Marriot and slept.



Day 5: Detroit ( Ford factory tour, The Henry ford museum, downtown Detroit)

First we covered the Rouge factory where F150s are built. I have been to the Harley factory in PA earlier, this is much bigger. Then we came back to The Henry Ford.

Wow..what a museum, this is the best museum I ever been. I planned only 4 hrs for the museum which pretty soon I realized as very short. There are many other threads on the museum here, so I am not explaining it again. Can upload more photos if readers are interested.

By 5:30 we started our drive towards Detroit down town. I heard about Detroit having not many Japanese vehicles, but its very true. Surprised that I saw only 1 CRV, 1 accord and 2 Camry in my 1.5 days in Detroit.

Finally reached sterling heights (30 miles north of Detroit) by 6:30 PM.

[arjithin]

Day 6: Return journey - 800 miles

Woke up by 6 AM and started driving back by 7 AM. Plan was to reach home by 8:30 PM. First it was the never ending roadworks in Indiana and Ohio which slowed us down, but then I spotted the Elk country scenic route in a PA rest area and immediately convinced my wife to take a detour even-though it will delay us by another 1 hr.
I am very glad I took that detour. 100 miles of winding/climbing single lane roads with 55 mph speed limit and very rare traffic. This is where Genesis found its home !!!. Pushed the car into manual mode and it was pure fun. Late braking, quick acceleration, Hard cornering, road hugging etc etc. ( Dont get me wrong - I wasnt doing anything risky or illegal, my wife was on the passenger side enjoying it, the 55 mph limit was helping me to accelerate/corner hard). In Connecticut, we have 55 mph limit in the 4 lane interstates, but in this area 55 mph is on a hilly road due to the low traffic.

For any one who are going through the I80 in PA, I strongly suggest you take this route. It will add 30miles and 1 hr to your total trip, but its totally worth. If you are travelling eastbound, take exit 101 to PA 255 to PA 555 to PA120 to US202 finally back to I80 @ exit 178. Dont miss it.

Finally reached home at 9:30 PM.






















After the trip:
returned the car on next day morning. Best mpg was 29.5, worst was 26 (both downtown and Elk county), average was 28.1. Thats a very good mileage for a car with a 3.8L engine & 330 hp and bigger than a full size car.
total cost for petrol/gas - $290. Returned the car in the morning on my way to office. I am in love with this car. My CRV feels like an old crap now :(

My 3.5 year daughter was very supportive, never made any issues in the car seat. Once I drive around 4.25 hrs non stop.

Some funny pictures:

She is a pet doll!!



Saw these truck on truck many times during the trip





The biggest turn offs of driving, truck(s) going at 60 mph is overtaken by another truck at 61 mph.

[suhaas307]

Note From Team-BHP Support-Staff: Thread moved from Assembly Line to Travelogues section. Thank you for your wonderful contribution!

[rajeev k]

Thanks for those fantastic pictures. Some narration on the experience with the Genesis is expected.

[gajadonga]

Thank you arjithin for a nice travelogue.
Went through the google maps where you have traveled.
Trucks at 60mph is quite ok.In Indian roads trucks overtake at 20kms/hr.
Genesis seems to be a good car.Enjoyed the pictures of Elk County.

[GTO]

Superb write-up! I stopped by for two reasons (am otherwise not a frequent visitor to the Travelogues section):

1. Hyundai Genesis. I absolutely love what Hyundai's done with the Genesis. It's built for luxury, comfort & quality, and delivers on those parameters without compromise. Consumer Reports - the only other automotive media I trust - ranked the Genesis over competing Lexus & Acura. That's saying a lot. Sure, it's not a driver's car like the BMWs, but hey, 99% of the owners of expensive cars prefer comfort over handling. Plus, the Genesis has proven to be infinitely more reliable than the Germans.

2. USA : Always had a soft-spot for the States after spending 2 years in Boston, and continue to choose it over Europe whenever an international holiday is planned. What I wouldn't give for a driving holiday in America right now.

Thanks for sharing.

[Niks14]

Hi,

Just the thread I was looking for. I will be taking a similar trip from Philadelphia, PA to Chicago, IL in the week of June 18th. I am planning to take I-76, I80/90 via PA, OH, IN and IL. I am looking for Suggestions for places to visit/see en route. I would also appreciate any other route info.

[NinadJoshi]

Good going Arijithin. Thought you said you'd detour to the Ventateshwar Temple in Pittsburgh.

I liked the Genesis when I test drove it 2 years ago. Hyundai is a little shy in pitching it against the Lexus GS and other bigwigs in its segment, but behind the steering wheel one can instantly feel Hyundai is up to something with the Genesis.

I made a quick 3 day circle through Detroit-New York-Boston-Toronto and back to Detroit last weekend. The beautiful PA mountains cleared my head.

Let me know when you are around the next time in DTW.

[bsdbsd]

Nice pictures. Couldn't agree with you more on truck overtaking trucks. This is a known issue in I5 - california sections. In the plains, these TOTs will take anything from 5-10 mins to release the lanes, while you would have been left frustrated with 50mph speeds with no forward visibility.

[arjithin]

Originally Posted by GTO

1. Hyundai Genesis. I absolutely love what Hyundai's done with the Genesis. It's built for luxury, comfort & quality, and delivers on those parameters without compromise. Consumer Reports - the only other automotive media I trust - ranked the Genesis over competing Lexus & Acura. That's saying a lot. Sure, it's not a driver's car like the BMWs, but hey, 99% of the owners of expensive cars prefer comfort over handling. Plus, the Genesis has proven to be infinitely more reliable than the Germans.

GTO, One thing to mention here is that the lack of features..for eg, adaptive cruise control or rain sensing vipers. I dont know if the vehicle I got was a stripped down rental version or not. The car I had just 9000 miles in odo, but the emissions light in the dashboard was on. ride comfort is very good. My family was very energetic and fresh even after the 15 hr drive on the last day, I am sure the story would have been different if I used my CRV for this trip.

Originally Posted by Niks14

Hi,

Just the thread I was looking for. I will be taking a similar trip from Philadelphia, PA to Chicago, IL in the week of June 18th. I am planning to take I-76, I80/90 via PA, OH, IN and IL. I am looking for Suggestions for places to visit/see en route. I would also appreciate any other route info.

I've given most of the info I collected. Be very careful while driving in Ohio. I80 in Indiana and Ohio has lot of road work. Along the route 30 in India, there are small towns with beautiful parks or ponds. We had our lunch/snacks in those parks. You can easily find them in Google maps on your cell phone. Get a printed map from the welcome centers of PA/OH/Indiana, that will help you locate rest areas. Ezpass will work in IN/OH/IL, so if you have one, dont forget it to take it.

Originally Posted by NinadJoshi

Good going Arijithin. Thought you said you'd detour to the Ventateshwar Temple in Pittsburgh.

I made a quick 3 day circle through Detroit-New York-Boston-Toronto and back to Detroit last weekend. The beautiful PA mountains cleared my head.

Let me know when you are around the next time in DTW.

We swapped the temple plan with rural OH/IN detour (route 30). It was worth. On the way I drove into some village and we saw a big diary farm (with 500+ cows). Those people were very amused seeing us, and gave a tour of the place. Dont think I will be coming to Detroit anytime soon, planning to return for good in couple of months.

Detroit-New York-Boston-Toronto-Detroit in 3 days? you should have been driving all the 3 days then??

[mazda4life]

thanks for the travelogue , as an ex-resident of Ohio it feels good to see the roads and the landscape. Isnt the steel sculpture, Aneesh Kapoor's cloud gate at Chicago?