I initially intended to have a low-key weekend where I stayed home. However, on Thursday night, I started looking at our shared calendar. I realized I wouldn't be able to take a road trip for another month if I did not take one now. Victoria agreed since it had been a while since I took my last road trip that, I could take another one over the weekend.
Deciding to take this road trip was a spur of the moment and impulsive. Right after finishing work on Friday, I scrambled to throw together an itinerary. I had a list of counties within a 6-hour distance of Belleville, so that would be my starting point. Three different areas on my map of remaining counties to visit meet this criterion. When I saw the weather forecast, I decided to go to Indiana.
I've been experimenting around with tactical bags with MOLLE webbing. This allows me to customize how I store stuff and stay more organized. This is actually a diaper bag Victoria got me, but I outfitted it for my trip.
As you can see, there are some MOLLE pouches attached to it.
After I picked up Austin and spent some time with him and Victoria, I hit the road. I first got some supper at Kwik Trip.
I then drove to a rest stop in Illinois, about an hour from my first county.
Another thing I ordered was a small USB light that could easily clip to the dash.
I also got a small blanket that would fit in my diaper bag.
This setup made it really quick to be ready to sleep right away.
I woke up around 4 AM and hit the road.
My first county was Benton County, Indiana.
I topped off with gas and got a breakfast pizza on my way to Warren County, Indiana.
I was soon in Illinois at Vermilion County.
I wasn't in Illinois long before getting to Fountain County, Indiana.
Up next was Vermillion County, Indiana.
I was then immediately back in Illinois for Edgar County.
My last county in Illinois was Clark County.
Now it was time to hit Indiana hard. The remaining counties I visited would all be there.
Some farm equipment passed by as I visited Vigo County.
I soon made it to Clay County.
I took the state highways to Parke County.
Then I took some real back roads to Montgomery County.
The next courthouse was Boone County.
There was a cool buffalo outside of Hendricks County.
I went from the open roads to the big city to visit Marion County in Indianapolis.
I'm more of a fan of the open roads. I wanted to visit the Indiana State Capitol Building and had to fight traffic to find a parking spot.
It seems Indiana doesn't really have any Kwik Trip-like gas stations there. I thought Speedway might come close, but there was nothing in the hot case. I got a packaged sandwich instead.
There was a car show outside the Hamilton County courthouse.
Up next was Tipton County.
Second to last was Clinton County.
Finally, I visited Tippecanoe County.
I realized it was going to be a 5-hour drive home. However, it was already around 4-5 PM, so I needed to head back before it got too late. My GPS took me down some back roads before finally getting to the interstate.
I got home around 10 PM. Everyone was in bed, except someone instantly woke up to greet me.
I am happy with this spur-of-the-moment trip I planned. I got 18 new counties. Fifteen of them were in Indiana, and three were in Illinois. It'll probably be sometime in June when I take my next solo road trip. Then again, in a few weeks, I'll be heading to Texas on a family road trip, which will be fun.