LAKE FOREST, Ill. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Wednesday was expected to be the busiest day on Illinois toll roads during this Thanksgiving week, with some 1.8 million cars and trucks on the road — and drivers from all over the Midwest stopped by the Lake Forest Oasis.
As cars whizzed by underneath, drivers at various points of their holiday journey stopped for food and bathroom breaks at the oasis. Cheryl, from Milwaukee, packed well for her trip to see grandkids in Cleveland.
“Bringing Wisconsin kringle, because that’s a special treat, and we’re bringing snacks,” she said. “But otherwise, I don’t have to cook.”
Brian, from Winthrop Harbor, and his family are visiting his parents for the first time since they moved to Missouri.
“They always come up here for the holidays, so we just wanted to go somewhere different,” he said. “[We] heard Branson has a really nice Christmas display down there, so we’re going to go check it out.”
For Diane, from Green Bay, no trip to a relative’s house was in the cards. Instead, she was headed to Detroit to watch the Packers play the Lions.
“We are going to the game,” she said. “We actually took everything along for a turkey dinner, so after the game, we’re going to go back to our hotel and have a turkey dinner.”
Diane added that they opted for sliced turkey instead of traveling with an entire bird.
She wasn’t the only one driving to a football game this holiday weekend. Ross, from Lawrenceburg, Tenn., stopped in Osceola on his way to Milwaukee to see family and then they’ll head to Ann Arbor, Mich., for the Michigan-Ohio State game. He said he’ll be the only one driving.
“Just trust myself. I don’t trust other drivers,” he said. “You’ve got to stay looking everywhere. I’m a very nervous driver.”
The Illinois Tollway has suspended most of its construction to help with that.
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