<p>Daughter and I are making plans for a spring break trip to colleges in the midwest. I'd appreciate any comments on whether this is a reasonable travel schedule:</p>
<p>Sunday - fly to Dayton, drive to Earlham (Dayton:Richmond 45 minutes?)
Monday = Earlham, Richmond Indiana
Tuesday - drive from Richmond to Galesburg Illinois (5 hours?)
Wednesday - visit Knox College in morning, drive to Beloit, Wisc. in afternoon (2 and a half hours?)
Thursday - visit Beloit
Friday - drive to Chicago, see Lake Forest College in the afternoon (approx. 2 hours from Beloit to Chicago?)
Saturday, Fly home</p>
<p>Daughter is hoping to arrange an overnight in the dorm at both Earlham and Beloit. If your child has done an overnight, what time do you usually pick them up in the morning?
Thanks!</p>
<p>It really depends on what transpires. When S did his college visits, he spent more time at some of the schools when opportunities arose. If your D stays overnight with a student with an interesting 9AM class that she is invited to watch, that could change the pick up time. Also it depends on the schedule of the student host. If she has an early class that your D does not want to visit, she will probably want to have you pick her up as her host goes on to class as she should leave the room with the host. If the host has a late class, and doesn't get up till noon (unlikely scenario), then it's whatever time your D wants to wake up, get dressed, bid adieu and thank the sleeping host. Usually 9 is the time for a first class on a week day for underclassmen from what I have seen.</p>
<p>All your travel times look reasonable to me, the Midwesterner. The weather COULD be bad at that time of year, with snow still blowing, but most likely not.</p>
<p>Token, Yes, the weather is a concern. I haven't driven in snow or ice for 20 years! Guess we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed. :)</p>
<p>Thanks everyone. The school she most wants to do an overnight at is Earlham and I know she would also like to sit in on a class or two or talk with some teachers there if possible. I would like her to do an overnight at Beloit. She is not thrilled with either Lake Forest or Knox so those will probably be just campus tours and could fall off the visit schedule if things get pressed for time, or we decided to go elsewhere.</p>
<p>Carolyn....when is your spring break? Check to see that the schools are having tours. Some schools with March breaks (if that is when you are having YOUR break) will not be having tours. Does this mean that when I'm in CA you will be in the midwest? We're doing our CA college trip (plans to be posted here when finalized) beginning April 16.</p>
<p>Thumper, We'll be going March 27-April 2. All of the schools on our list are open that week. So, I will be here in April - hope we can at least meet to say hello! :)</p>
<p>Carolyn, D's surgeon is moving her surgery,we think. If so -we'll be leaving the 11th of March. We will hit Grinnell, Cornell College, Knox and Lake Forest on this trip and knowing D's quick trigger-maybe a few more (keep driving, Dad). If so, we'll swing south and hit Hanover College, and maybe stop by Rhodes again just for a just a "drive-by". The rest are not "visits", they are "stealth visits".</p>
<p>Gosh, Curmudgeon, wish we could just tag along with you - surely you could throw in Beloit and Knox for us along the way. :) I'd really like to have my husband come with us so he could handle the driving but my 14 year old son says there is no way is he going to spend HIS spring break looking at colleges in the midwest (although he did kindly "volunteer" to stay home alone for the week while the three of us went.)</p>
<p>I'm anxious to hear how your daughter's surgery goes - looks like my D. will be having her surgery in early July now.</p>
<p>Dig, I'd like to fit in Wittenberg but there's no direct flight from San Diego so we'll probably be getting in late in the afternoon on a Sunday. </p>
<p>Frankly, I'm starting to have a bit of college visit burn out - and so is my daughter.</p>
<p>Hope you enjoy Lake Forest. I live about 15 mins away from it and that place is gorgeous. The weather here should be warming up this week as well! ("warm" as in 40 degrees or more)</p>
<p>Carolyn, No reason you couldn't go hang out at Wittenberg on a Sunday pm; get a feel for the student body & campus. Maybe even stay in Dayton. Then drive to Earlham in am. Just an idea...</p>
<p>Carolyn, There are two ways to get from Beloit to Lake Forest College.</p>
<p>I would recommend taking 81 to Lake Geneva Wis, and then US 12, and WI 50 to I94. You can mapquest it, or I can send you the instructions.</p>
<p>Beloit is near I90, and Lake forest is off of I94/294. You can connect the two near O'Hare, but it can be a pain and the traffic can be brutal!!</p>
<p>Thanks Meredes - I'd just done a mapquest last night and scratched my head when it seemed to suggest going through Lake Geneva. Now it makes sense.</p>
<p>I was thinking of possibly flying out of Midland instead of Ohare - I have had too many delays at OHare and would like to avoid it if I can. Milwaukee might be another good way to go - I'll check that out.</p>
<p>Double check your watch against local time before heading to your appointment at Earlham. That small part of the world is on *Eastern STANDARD time * year round. I must be dense, but it took me quite a while to figure out what that meant. In practical terms, they are on east coast time in the winter, and then they are on Central time in the spring/summer. While the rest of the country is springing forward and falling back they don't change their clocks!! We visited in the summer and I read and re-read their letter and finally had to ask at the hotel desk, "What time is it????" My wife and I LOVED Earlham, but unfortunately the student did not. :)</p>
<p>Carolyn--Lake Geneva is a summer resort spot, you can stop and have lunch there if you want.</p>
<p>Where are you staying in the Chicago area? If you are staying up by Lake Forest, then Milwaukee would be a good alternative.</p>
<p>Midway can be a major pain. I personally hate the airport, but my husband loves it.
It just depends on which airline you are flying. If you are flying Southwest, then you need to get there really early!!! Also it can be a pain to get to Midway. For a first timer like yourself, I would take 294 to 55 (W) and then get off on Cicero. You can take 94 to downtown and get on 55 (E) but it depends on the time of day. If you mapquest it, don't go by the time to get there. I live 16 miles from downtown and it can take me an hour to get there. Did I mention the traffic here?</p>
<p>The thing to remember about O'Hare, if they say that you are going to take off at 3:00, that really means you will be on the plane and possibly leaving the gate. They pad the time on flights out of O'Hare because you can wait at the gate until the tower clears the plane. American and United seem to have the best on-time departures. No data here, just my personal experience!!</p>
<p>Also, if you are leaving on Saturday, both airports will be busy. We have a rolling spring break here for the different suburbs, catholic schools, public etc.
So there will be alot of people coming and going.</p>
<p>One last tip--I see you are from Cali--be prepared to pay alot of tolls!!! My dad lives in SoCal and he is always suprised when he visits and has to pay a buck to go a couple of miles.</p>