Talk of The Villages Florida - Driving back down to the Villages from Illinois on 10/25. Travel advice needed. Atl?

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- - Driving back down to the Villages from Illinois on 10/25. Travel advice needed. Atl? (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/travel-forum-119/driving-back-down-villages-illinois-10-25-travel-advice-needed-atl-353789/)

Quote:

Originally Posted by centralillinois (Post 2379973)

I always try to leave central Illinois late on a Saturday morning, stop a little north of Atlanta for the night, and go through Atlanta on Sunday morning. I go through the middle of the city, never around the bi-pass.

Works for me too.

You will never find a happy medium navigating that trip...
We are Snowbirds from northern Wisconsin for the last 16 years now and it NEVER gets better.

It's a 2 day drive for us because we travel with our 2 dogs and I'm here to say that they are better behaved than I am by far when we go thru Atlanta, absolutely hate that drive.
Stalled traffic for hours, fatal accidents on the road, dead Pitbulls in the ditches, you name it we have seen it.

However...Our 2024 major traveling concern now is the horrific motels we are encountering along the way that we have stayed at . Filthy dirty rooms, sticky floors, no towels or soap, nasty bedding and absolutely no coffee offered in the morning. $135 per night because we travel with our dogs, major rip-off !!
It does no good to complain either because they threaten to throw you out and you will end up sleeping in your car at the rest stops...which we have also done on more then one occasion.

So before we embark on yet another trek north to Wisconsin we will be investing in a small RV which we can feel safer driving in, comes with a bathroom and refrigerator for sandwiches, clean towels and bedding and most importantly...my own coffee pot !!! And then we can finally say ADIOUS to all the crappy motels along the way !

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bitsee (Post 2380358)

What cities and motels have you stayed in that were subpar?

Quote:

Originally Posted by kschwi (Post 2380363)

What cities and motels have you stayed in that were subpar?

The last decent hotel/motel we stayed at was The Westin in Puerta Vallarta, Mexico almost 40 years ago.

Motels aren't what they were back in the day and they're more like airline travel now vs the 60's, IMHO.

We drove a class A RV from Lansing, Michigan down I75 and down I65. I agree if you go the Atlanta route traveling in am or on Sunday morning is more sane. We did the Sunday morning early.
Going down I65 is a longer route, but usually less crazy. Avoid rush hour in the big cities though.

82 is a nice road

82 from Tifton Ga to Montgomery, Al is a nice road to take

For those of you who travel through Alabama, where is a good safe place to stay the night south of Nashville off of 65?