About Driving for Work

I don't like to fly, so I drive if the trip is 7 hours or less.
I know that some people (maybe many) that I work with think I'm crazy, but here are some of the reasons:

I hate to fly (already said that)
I don't mind driving, almost like driving
I can travel on my schedule instead of the airlines. When I'm done with some engagement, I can get in the car and leave, instead of worrying about getting to the airport, and then sitting around in the airport waiting on the airline to get ready to go (maybe on time, maybe not).
If I fly, I miss all the neat stuff, like driving along I80 and looking out at the original Union Pacific railroad, driving through the historic Council Bluffs Iowa, crossing the Mississippi, and the Might Mo.

I remember people who used to fly from Pittsburgh to Columbus. Dumb.. you could drive in less time. They just liked to be big shots and earn flyer points. I don't have much respect for those people by the way.

December 5, 2007.. I'm now in Chicago. I wrote the above on December 3 in Omaha. Yesterday AM in Omaha, I got a call that the seminar I was to work in Omaha and St. Louis had been cancelled. So I finished up some conference calls from the hotel room, checked out and headed for home back across I80.

On the east side of Moline, I had another conf. call due at 4PM. I had seen a rest area 45 minutes before and noted the distance to the next rest area and so I thought it might work out where I could do the conference call from the rest area. I pulled into the rest area at 3:55. Went to the bathroom and got a cup of coffee and back in the car in time for the conference call.

Back on the road, I called a colleague to talk about the results of the conf. call and learned that he was running a class in Chicago that I typically help him with. I told him I'd come to Chicago and help. I hung up the phone and realized I was right in the middle of an intechange and my GPS unit was telling me to change course, but I couldn't get it all figured out, took a guess onto a ramp and discovered I had just left I80 and was now on I88 East. So I took the next exit, and found a place to park. I cancelled my hotel reservation in Merrilville, IN, and made one for the Palmer House in Chicago. Enter the new address on the GPS and guess what route I was supposed to be on? I 88 E. I took the right exit after all.

So I head down I88 for a while and I have about a 1/4 of a tank of gas. I think I should get some gas before I get into the Chicago area, and its now about 6PM with a snowy 2 hour drive ahead of me so I figure I might as well get something to eat. Subway would be great. So I decide I'll look for an exit with gas and a Subway. Next exit, guess what? Both. I get off, and get a sandwich and fuel and get back onto I88. In about 3 or 4 miles, I enter the Ronald Reagan Tollway. Now very limited fuel and food all the way to Chicago. So I am praising God for providing for me all the way along this trip. Thank Lord God!

More on why driving is better.. Today I'm in Chicago and its snowing like crazy. I'll bet O'Hare is very very backed up, if not closed. But I can drive out of here if I want to. It might be miserable driving, but I can get there.