What is a good half way stopping point between Chicago and Austin
 

Hello - we'll be moving my son to Austin in late May. The entire trip is supposed to be between 17 and 18 hours so we plan to split it into 2 days. What is a reasonable half-way/stopping point for day one? we could drive anywhere between 10 and 12 hours fairly easily. Thanks

We haven't driven this exact route but have driven pretty darn close to it several times. Depending on which route and how far you want to push it the first day, I'd suggest 2 possibilities:

1) If you're doing I57, I55 to Memphis then I40, I30 to Dallas then I35 to Austin, suggest West Memphis, Ark. - don't have to deal with traffic into Memphis itself and there are lots of the usual chains where I55 meets I40. If time permits, you could push it to Little Rock.

2) If you going via I55 to St Louis then I44 to Okla. City, then I35 to Austin, Tulsa or Okla. City would work fine.