17-Dec-2025 -- While I currently reside in Central Illinois, on this mid-December Wednesday, I spent more time in Chicagoland than downstate, playing the role of “airport shuttle” for four friends, three who left Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD) throughout the midafternoon hours, and one who arrived at ORD in the evening. Sounding like a fun, albeit brief, social trip up to the city and a nice break from work, I happily obliged to take this role. Furthering my excitement was the presence of 42°N, 88°W, a somewhat simple confluence almost within plane sight of O'Hare that would be easy to snag on the fly. I had been meaning to check this one off, and my built-in break to kill between my two orders of airport business provided a perfect time to jet over there and acquaint myself with this point.

The drive up to the Windy City was very ordinary. Other than the seemingly omnipresent construction that plagues the interchange of Interstates 294, 290, and 88, there were no major headaches, traffic or otherwise. After I dropped the three departers off at ORD during the early afternoon, it was time to make the seemingly short jaunt over to the confluence. 42°N, 88°W lies just 5.1 miles (8.1 km) west-northwest of the dropoff for O’Hare’s Terminal 1, but in between the two locales is a slice of runways, taxiways, service roads, and airport facilities that accounts for a small part of the 7600 acres that make up the sixth-busiest airport in the world. Accordingly, it ended up being a pretty indirect drive over there–11 miles (18 km) that took nearly 40 minutes in the busy weekday traffic of America’s third most populous metro area.

I opted to avoid the tolled I-90, so my approach from the east utilized suburban arterials chock-full of stoplights, slow traffic, and fresh potholes emerging from a remarkably cold and snowy start to winter. It was free, but Jiminy Christmas (or should I say, Jiminy December 17th), it was slow. Adding to the headache was my transection of the eastern side of Elk Grove Village, which happens to be today’s confluence town. Elk Grove Village is a Chicago suburb in Cook County that is very much a tale of two cities–the village’s territory east of Tonne Road plays home to the largest industrial park in the United States (which apparently was the sponsor of the 2018 Bahamas Bowl). Driving across this unsightly but very economically important swath of Chicagoland was, to put it lightly, a slog, with semi trucks and rough railroad crossings further contributing to the already lethargic commute. As luck would have it though, this confluence lies in the western portion of Elk Grove Village, which is your typical midcentury quiet Midwest suburb where most of the village’s 32,000 residents live, no doubt predominantly a bedroom community for the industrial park as well as the many other economic centers of the region (e.g., Rosemont, O’Hare, and, of course, the Chicago Loop). Crossing Tonne almost felt akin to driving into a different universe, as despite not leaving city limits, I was suddenly surrounded by quaint ranch-style houses, manicured (albeit seasonably snowy) lawns with trees abound, winding suburban streets, and a number of parks and playgrounds. It was through this comparatively quiet setting that I wound my way toward my unique destination.

I approached the confluence’s exact neighborhood from the east on Reverend Morrison Boulevard before turning left at a four-way stop onto Brantwood Avenue, the road on which one can find this specific geographic centrality. Wanting to get a bit of a walk in amid a long day in the car, I actually stopped about a third of a mile (450 m) short of the confluence and street parked at the junction of Brantwood and Eden Drive. As it was a quiescent day, and my final destination was located on a streetside in a humdrum subdivision, today’s confluence trek was about as unstressful as it comes, as it was remarkably easy to blend in with the locals out for afternoon walks–in my short jaunt, I passed numerous others jogging, walking their dogs, etc. Enjoying the neighborhood stroll, it took me no more than five minutes or so to dwindle my GPS app to roughly all zeroes. Standing right at 4:00 PM on the north shoulder of Brantwood just west of its junction with Carlisle Ave, my 25th overall and third Prairie State confluence was a success! This was my second time intentionally standing on the 42nd North parallel (the first being a good bit west of here in Nebraska) and my third time doing as such (and third month in a row!) on the 88th West meridian (visits two degrees south downstate and one degree north in Wisconsin preceded this one for a nice suite of Fall 2025 88°W visits).

The stretch of sidewalk that 42°N 88°W lies on sits between houses 70 and 74 on Brantwood–somewhat unbelievably, this is one of three adjacent confluences that all find themselves on a roadside in a subdivision! In fact, my prior two confluencing adventures happened to feature the other two points in this unique trio–the aforementioned 43°N 88°W in suburban Milwaukee as well as its western neighbor 43°N 89°W in a small lakeside community east of Madison. It seems that midcentury Midwest developers may have a flair for the geographic oddity! In another interesting coincidence (though not nearly as shocking considering the region and the season), all three of those visits now featured one my favorite natural phenomena–snow on the ground! It had been a snowy start to the winter season–nearby ORD had already recorded a whopping 17.3 inches (44 cm) of snow on the season, with 13 of the previous 21 days reporting snow. These conditions combined with an associated cold snap (14 of those days failed to break the freezing mark) allowed for a still-snowy scene three weeks after the first flakes fell. Luckily today’s ambient weather conditions were dry (along with the sidewalks, driveways, and streets) under an overcast sky. Temperatures were on the manageable side as well, around 40°F (~4°C)--actually a tad above average for early winter and certainly a welcome change, as the city had just dipped below 0°F (-18°C) three nights before. This above-freezing weather made the snowpack rather measly, only a half inch (1 cm) or so of muddy slush (and none in areas of tree drippage), but still gave the neighborhood a rather cheerful feel this holiday season!

While I took in the scene and began attending to the standard confluence duties (trying not to look too odd to Elk Grove Villagers), my otherwise quiet requisite photoshoot was interrupted by a stop-and-go FedEx truck undoubtedly fulfilling a myriad of holiday wishes. Not a big deal at all, but I had to get a kick out of the parallels to my Maryland confluence visit just short of a year ago, where a mail carrier was surely a tad confused by our prancing around the front wall of a similarly suburban apartment building. In any case, they cleared out in due time, and I was able to finish my shots and return to my car. Good timing, too, as although it was hardly even 4PM, the already gloomy sky was rapidly dimming toward dusk–being near the northeast corner of a time zone (from a US frame of reference at least) really shows its true colors (or lack thereof) just four days before the winter solstice!

Still a few hours from picking up my good friend from ORD, I decided to take a 2-minute drive west to the Elk Grove Village public library to tie some loose ends with work–I am a huge fan of public libraries, and this one certainly doesn’t disappoint. When I emerged a couple hours later to true darkness, I was treated to a tremendous Christmas light display in the village’s town square. Early winter is already my favorite time of year, and seeing this snow-covered light show put me in the mood to blast Christmas songs as I bounded my way east toward O’Hare. Once picking her up, my friend and I decided to stop for dinner at the Chicagoland staple Portillo’s (about the only tourist-like thing I did in my day-long Windy City adventure). We got some classic Chicago cuisine–an Italian beef (shaved beef, spicy peppers, and beef gravy on an Italian roll) and a Chicago-style hot dog (a frank on a poppy roll topped with tomatoes, sport peppers, relish, and mustard), all without ketchup of course. While the food is obviously better at local joints and not a chain, this meal was quick, certainly hit the spot, and provided great fuel for a long drive back to central Illinois. Driving back, we reflected on the whirlwind that was 2025. This year was, unfortunately, a tumultuous year for many, and it made us try to appreciate the little things a little more. A fun day with great friends, another confluence, good food, and a wonderful holiday light show was a great way to wrap up a year of adventures, and we looked forward to a hopeful and successful 2026 for all, esoteric geographic hobbies and beyond.

On to 2026!