Traveling North, Tips Please

In less than two weeks, I will be joining 3000+ folks who will be attending the 2006 Desiring God National Conference, Above All Earthly Powers: The Supremacy of God in a Postmodern World. Not only with this be my first Desiring God conference, but this will be the first time I have ever traveled north of my current residence in Louisville, Kentucky (I'm a bama boy who's roamed the South). With that said, I was wondering if anyone who lives in Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, or Wisconsin have any traveling tips for me to consider and check out. If you want to know what specifically I am looking for, there are two things on the top of my mind: unique places to stop and great places to photograph. I will be driving and traveling solo, so I will have the flexibility to stop and take some back roads as well. Last year, Dan and I did a backpackin'/photographic trip during the Fall, and I am hoping that the before and after days would prove to be this years version of capturing some good photos as well. On the way up, I plan on going through St. Louis, Kansas City, and Des Moines (I-64 route). On the way back, I am currently planning an excursion up to the tip of Minnesota and work my way around Lake Superior and Lake Michigan, and down through Wisconsin, Chicago area, and Indy (I-65 route). Anyway, if you live or have toured around these areas and know of some great places for me to check out or photograph, please comment or email me. You can find my email in the "my profile" section. Also, in case you are wondering, I hope to do a little live-picture-blogging like I did for the T4G Conference. It appears that those photos were helpful for those who could not attend the conference and read Challies live-blogging posts. We'll see if I can get some good photos from the conference as well. Anyway, thanks for your help.