Welcome back. Thanks for your good threads and thoughts, both on and off the forum.

I'm in a tough spot as far as bugging out goes, but I have given it thought. I'm in Chicago on the north side, but my best retreat location is with family in rural southern Indiana. Chances are good that in many cases, heading immediately south would be an impossibility. I'd probably have to head west or northwest initially, then work my way south and back east. It would not be pretty, as I have small kids, so sheltering-in-place would be extended as long as possible, but I'd have to preserve enough resources to take with us for what might be a very long journey.

My guess is that if a large-scale disaster were to occur, traffic would flow for about 10 minutes, then every major and semi-major road out of town would be littered with wrecked and stalled cars. I figure unless it's a substantial NBC attack, I'd probably be best served by staying put for an initial period of a couple days then heading out. I'm more prepared than most here and wouldn't be as inclined to panic and run.

To answer your question specifically, I'd be driving a Honda CR-V 4WD (w/ a roofrack and carrier to be added shortly to hold my camping gear). If I had a straight shot, it would be roughly 200 miles, 4.5 hours. If I had to jog west, it could end up being another 50 miles and potentially an additional day or more.