Ice Storm


 
LMichaels

LMichaels

TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
Well today we were supposed to get together and celebrate my dad's birthday who turned 94 yesterday at my brother's in Mundelein IL. Well we took it as far as Belvidere and decided it was just too dangerous. I had no qualms of our Rav4 AWD not making it there but ice has been accumulating at an alarming rate all day, on top of snow and temps are supposed to drop. So we took the safer way. Since even the main state hwy (IL State Rt 20) was covered in thick ice despite the efforts of the plow trucks. And it was bound to get worse. Couple that with falling temps, more ice and darkness along with the unavoidable inebriated drivers and figured no way. Our safety just wasn't worth it
 
The worst has not gotten here yet, it’s been just warm enough to keep it mostly rain, we shall see how this plays out overnight, glad I have enough of pretty much everything so, I don’t have to go anywhere or do anything for the weekend!
My Dad used to say “4 WD will get you to Go but doesn’t do much to say Whoa!”
 
Lynn Dollar said:
4 wheel drive , 2 wheel drive ....... ice does not care , its all the same.
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<scratches head> Well.... all wheel drive and 4 wheel drive (no, they are NOT the same thing....) do help you to get moving faster in slick conditions, but do little, if anything, to help you slow down. This leads to a false sense of security. Me, I use 2wd to get into trouble, and 4wd to get out.

"Repeat after me: 4wd does not make me immune to the laws of physics."
 
Believe me I know the mantra of AWD/4WD VERY well and have totally preached this to my wife as well. Explaining to her it's not a panacea or an excuse to drive badly in bad conditions. I will say that the little RAV hybrid was VERY sure footed and very secure. Once in a safe area I actually for fun tried to get it into trouble but it was REALLY hard to do so. It really did behave like a little mountain goat. We had thought of going back and getting the larger heavier Highlander with AWD but having now driven both honestly the little RAV gave up nothing to the Highlander and if anything thanks to the more judicious control of it having an electric motor on the rear axle controlled by computer, along with all the latest in high tech drive management if I had chosen to go on I do think it would have been as good a choice in vehicles as I could have made.
Having owned true truck based 4wd vehicles in the past (and truly appreciating and enjoying them) I have to say that for inclement weather these 2 Toyota vehicles give up nothing and if anything are FAR better suited to it
 
Better safe than sorry. And as others have basically said, 4WD/AWD doesn't help you stop or turn too much. I'm not sure if I'd prefer what you have, or what we have (34 and rainy all day). Granted, ours is safer, but it ain't no fun to look at.
 
LMichaels said:
Since even the main state hwy (IL State Rt 20) was covered in thick ice despite the efforts of the plow trucks.
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Larry, since you made good decisions and returned home safely I don't feel at all guilty about busting your chops for misidentifying US-20 and vastly overstating its importance.;)
 
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Yeah I did. I totally screwed the pooch on that one. And I know it's one of the oldest and longest US Routes (many call it Stagecoach Trail). Totaly slapping my head on that one. But, it is a very important hwy here. You have to know that. It's the main rd in and out of SE Rockford to and from Belvidere. When I go to NE burbs like Mundelein or Grays Lake it's also the main way I have until Marengo, where I have to pick up 23 to 176. Otherwise if I try to use 90 to 294 I add something like 35 miles to those trips!
My buddy up in Spring Grove told me they had much the same issue, but in the actual suburbs my dad and nephew said it was nowhere near as bad as we got hit, closer to WI and further out.
It was a weird weather wise. We started out with pretty hefty snow, than freezing rain and temps climbing into mid 30s
And then of course the township crews come by the house and use a plow throwing that icy slush onto the end of our drive making an ice ledge. I really hate those guys. When we moved here I used to marvel at how much care they took when plowing. Their truck(s) had a "wing" they would extend out when passing a driveway to prevent that huge wall of snow. Now they just come blasting down the street sometimes even tearing up the lawn. It's like they enjoy making it as difficult as possible.
 
You made the right choice for sure Larry. After reading the conditions you stated I went and turned the thermostat up a couple degrees.:giggle:
 
LMichaels said:
Yeah I did. I totally screwed the pooch on that one. And I know it's one of the oldest and longest US Routes (many call it Stagecoach Trail).
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Yep, the longest road in the country as it runs from coast to coast and I think I've driven it over the years from Melrose Park to I-35, which is just a drop in the bucket compared to its overall length. Going eastbound from Galena on a Sunday afternoon is an exercise in extreme patience!

Because Illinois is such a "tall" state it hosts some pretty significant and well-known US highways, like 6, 20, 24, 30, 34, 40 and 50 running east-west, 51 going north-south and, of course, 66. And now that I think about it, if I haven't driven 51's entire IL segment I'm pretty darn close...I took it all the way to Memphis back in 2006. But just to and not from, as that would've been a mighty long way down the dusty trail. ;)

I am *seriously* jonesing for a blue highway road trip these days...
 
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Not familair with the term "blue roads." Are those routes that are sad and depresed? Are they roads not allowed to be driven on a Sunday? Are they reffering to the color of the route signage?
 
I remember back in the day before 90/290 was built going out west. My grandparents lived way in the heart of the city near Augusta Blvd and Grand Ave. Actually almost just around the corner from the famous Grand Spaulding Dodge home of Mr. Norm (I actually worked there back in the day). In the spring we would go with grandpa (dad and I) out to Addison where he (grandpa) had a friend who had a farm out there. It was out near Swift Rd. I still remember seeing people out hunting there and steam locomotives running on the track that now crossed Swift Rd south of Army Trail. We went out there to get squab. For those who don't know, that's fledgling pigeons. It would take us nearly 2 hours to get there (a drive that now takes maybe 30 minutes today). We would come back to grandpa's house with the trunk full of bags of pigeons. Burlap sacks actually. We would take them into the basement and there was an assembly line. Grandpa twisted their heads off (literally), to kill them, my dad and I plucked and grandma slit them open to gut them. Then on Sunday after our pasta course we'd get the great treat of roasted squab. Delicious! Those were good days! Not for the pigeons though LOL
 
Frank in Colorado said:
Not familair with the term "blue roads." Are those routes that are sad and depresed? Are they roads not allowed to be driven on a Sunday? Are they reffering to the color of the route signage?
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Back in the pre-Interstate days road maps used blue ink for US highways, hence the terms "blue highways" and "blue roads". Nowadays blue ink is used for the Interstate Highway System as those are the "top dog" roads now, but "blue highway" still means a US highway and it's also sometimes used to refer to state highways as well - basically, major roads that aren't part of the IHS.

I'm a map junkie (GPS? No, MAP!) and love looking at older ones.
 
Brad Olson said:
Back in the pre-Interstate days road maps used blue ink for US highways, hence the terms "blue highways" and "blue roads". Nowadays blue ink is used for the Interstate Highway System as those are the "top dog" roads now, but "blue highway" still means a US highway and it's also sometimes used to refer to state highways as well - basically, major roads that aren't part of the IHS.

I'm a map junkie (GPS? No, MAP!) and love looking at older ones.
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So when you enter Blackhawk Springs Forest Preserve you park in the main lot off Perryville Rd. There is a bridge you walk over which then takes you into the main part of the preserve going west toward Mulford. https://goo.gl/maps/AMbALnjUBkw2ksBs7 This is the photo of it. It appears to be an old RR Bridge. But I cannot find any info on it. Are you aware of what it may be? Another friend says it may actually be part of old Perryville Rd saying it used to twist and turn when you went south of Linden back in the day. Been here since 1992 but it's always been how I see it now.
Know anything about it?
 
I'll try to remember to ask my mom about it, and also ask her if the CV library has a map collection. Is the bridge wide enough for a narrow 2-lane road? I honestly can't remember if Perryville was ever straightened when I was growing up, but that's not conclusive evidence at all.

I wonder if you might be able to ask the county about it. I checked its main page and didn't see a specific link for the forest preserves, so maybe the highway dept. can help:

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If you look at Google Maps you can see there is a slight S curve. I guess it could be about wide enough to pass 2 cars carefully. Another friend of mine used to tell me about an intercity train running from Belvidere to Cherry Valley and on to Rockford and I wondered if this might be a remnant. For a number of years after we moved here Perryville was a chip and seal road. Had more than one windshield get chipped due to flying gravel, and all the tar on the cars. Used to warn my wife not to drive it when it was resurfaced
 
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