Trip from Mich to Minn - need some help
 

In May I will be taking a trip from Flint, MI to Backus, MN

Rand McNally's trip maker program suggests going down through Chicago and up through St. Paul, but we wanted to go up through the Upper Peninsula.

A recent development has us seriously considering the Chicago route.

What I need help with is from folks along the route, especially around Chicago, is some road information.

What's the construction like around Chicago.

What route is better/faster - The skyway or I-94

Same for the St. Paul area.


Thanks in advance.

Oh god, take the Skyway! Do not let anyone tell you otherwise! The Dan Ryan (90/94 south of The Loop) is under major construction and is absolutely snarled. You may want to take the Skyway to Lake Shore Drive, then take Congress to rejoin The Kennedy (90/94 north of the Loop). That route might save you an hour. Seriously.

I was in Minneapolis two weeks ago, and there wasn't any major construction that I saw on any of the roads, but I only went from the airport to downtown and then to Eden Prairie.

Thanks, Jazz.

We'll take that into account while planning the route through Chicago.

Can you come back by going through the UP? It should be ok there in late spring/summer. It is a great place to visit and relax in. It is like a totally different state than the rest of Michigan.

It does take a long time to drive to Wisconsin from Flint by going through the UP however.

(sorry it took a long time to reply, but I was off-line for the past three weeks.)

Our plan is to come back through the UP.

We are stopping in Duluth for a day and then going to Baraga State park for a few days.

Any one up for a meetup??

We will leave Flint on May 2 and travel through Chicago that day. We should hit the Windy City around lunchtime if anyone is available let me know. The plan so far is to hit something around Navy Pier.

After that we should be in the St. Paul/Minneapolis area near dinner time.

Anyone up for a beer or such, let me know.

If you're planning to hit Navy Pier anyway, I'd definitely get off the SkyWay and onto Lakeshore at the first opportunity. Lakeshore is so much faster than the highways because of all the construction. If you can take the time, I'd wander through Gehry's Millennium Park or the Lincoln Park Zoo. Both are free and wonderful.

(We live in Kzoo, but head down to Chicago with fair frequency.)