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I believe we will need an alterntive with the Ryan and other roads under construction. I've heard that the Ryan is good southbound, early in the morning. How early Thursday morning are you talking about?
We could stop for breakfast in Indy and meet up with Rich and maybe Lowell or other members that are coming from the west, If we needed to be in Indy for breakfast at 9:00am I would need to be on the road from M.P. at 5:00am. We may need 1 fuel stop between Chicago and Indy.
Another alternitive is to get to the Cracker Barrel in Merrillville earlier. It opens at 6:00 am, and do what we normally do, just earlier. We could leave the Cracker Barrel at 7:00am and still meet up with Rich and the others in Indy by about 9:00am. Merrillville time is the same as our time and Indy is an hour ahead.
If we're early enough we could visit the Air Museum on the way or arrive early enough to unwind at the Hampton before dinner. Check-in time is 3:00 pm.