Wild and Crazy ride

As mentioned in the previous post, we had to go pick up our kids in Indiana yesterday. What an interesting experience it became. It always involves driving through Chicago which is always the x factor in any of our trips. We never know how much time it is going to take to travel through there. We left a little later than we originally wanted to and ended up getting stuck in the construction zone on the Dan Ryan expressway (for those of you not familiar with Chicago lingo, that is the exiting expressway to the south--I80/94).
After sitting in that for about 30-45 minutes it was great to finally get moving again after getting through that zone. We weren't going 10 minutes until we came around a bend and saw up ahead a parking lot on the interstate--all five East bound lanes at a standstill. Thinking, of course, that it was an accident and the traffic would probably move again momentarily we got down in it. BIG MISTAKE. We should have taken that last exit at Torrence Ave. They were just shutting the entrance ramp (onto the interstate) so we could have backed up it like many others were doing and maybe we should have, using hindsight.
After listening on the radio (which we should have been doing anyway) we found out that the freeway up ahead had been flooded out and the road was closed and traffic was being diverted. There was no communication to tell us those things on the over head reader boards. There was nothing. There were no warnings. So there we sat.
Three hours and two miles later, Calumet Ave. and Hammond Indiana never looked so good. By this time we really needed a break. During the traffic jam we would rejoice when we got to see a different piece of concrete. We got a good look at the brand new "Welcome to Indiana" sign. We spent some time in both Illinois and Indiana at the same time as our van sat on the state line for a few minutes. I decided that I wont take a bathroom and freely moving traffic for granted any more. It made Chicago rush hour traffic look good.
We finally pulled into Michigan city at 4:30pm, making a usually two hour trip into an 8 hr nightmare.
On the way back we were able to pass by the flooded spot as three of the five Westbound lanes were open and the water was up to the top of the concrete lane divider in two spots. One definitely would not have wanted to drive through it. What a mess. You really see how much we depend on our major interstate systems.