I am just curious, does anyone have any meets planned for 2017? I forsee myself not being able to attend many of them (probably two at the most), so I want to see what people have in mind so I can pick wisely. ;)
I will update the top post periodically with meets and the link to the thread for them.
UPDATED LIST AS OF 2/25:
NYC Outer Borough Meet (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=18933.msg2178355#msg2178355) (David G)
Binghamton, NY (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=18933.msg2178403#msg2178403) (Josh)
Portsmouth, NH (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=18933.msg2179899#msg2179899) (Doug)
Milwaukee (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=19106.0) (David F)
Boston (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=19056.0)
I-69 upgrades in Southwest KY (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=18933.msg2204678#msg2204678%5B/url) (H.B.)
Meets with dates attached to them, in order:
Toledo (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=18933.msg2186632#msg2186632) (Dan/Sean) - late Summer or early Fall
Ashtabula County, OH (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=18933.msg2186569#msg2186569) (Doug) - early 2017
Saratoga Springs, NY Dinner Gathering (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=19565.0) (Adam) - March 10th
Orlando or Jacksonville (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=18933.msg2186583#msg2186583) (Alex) - February, March, or April
New River Gorge Meet (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=18933.msg2187405#msg2187405) (H.B) - April 1st
Jefferson Highway Conference in Denison, TX (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=19537.0) - April 28th and 29th (David B)
Jackson/Vicksburg (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=19474.0) - May 13th (Cody)
Kankakee, IL (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=19088.0) - May 27th (Brandon)
South Adirondacks (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=18950.0) - July 8th (Josh)
Alaska (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=15740.0) Meet (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=18996.0) - Summer 2017 (Steve A)
Twin Cities (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=19019.0) - August 5th (Adam)
North Alabama Covered Bridges Meet (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=18933.msg2178388#msg2178388) — late October or early November (Cody)
I'm figuring I'll probably host something. The possibilities I'm considering are a Pocono/Lehigh Valley Road Meet in Pennsylvania or a New York City Outer Borough Road Meet that would focus on the various bridge reconstruction projects around the city (Goethals, Bayonne, Belt Parkway).
I keep saying I want to do a Lexington/Central Kentucky meet, but I'm not really sure what it would cover.
The new flyover ramp from US 60 east (Versailles Road) to KY 4 North will be done, the KY 922 Newtown Pike extension will be more or less done, and the new I-75 exit and connector road from KY 32 to US 62 in Scott County will be nearly done, so there's really not a lot to see. And again, it may be because I've been going to Lexington all my life (I was born in a hospital there) but I don't think there's very much existing highway infrastructure there that's of interest.
Elsewhere in my area, I can't really think of anything meetworthy. I'm not familiar enough with Cincinnati or Louisville to host a meet in those locations, and there's nothing going on in the Charleston or Huntington areas to warrant a return to those areas. I also don't think there's enough new to merit Pikeville III. And the Mountain Parkway work is just one long grade and drain project; certainly not anything on which to center a meet.
As for meets I'd like to attend, my personal situation has improved to the point where I should be able to attend a few meets, but nothing on the scale as I did a few years ago. Personally, I'd be interested in a potential Pittsburgh meet. Ideally, any meet I would attend would afford the chance to visit several new counties or clinch some roads. For instance, I'm using the Birmingham meet to fill in three Alabama holes and clinch all of US 411, both splits of US 45, and the entirety of US 45 in Tennessee, and if time permits, all of US 43 in Tennessee as well.
I've traveled exhaustively in the northeast, eastern seaboard, mid-Atlantic and Ohio Valley, so I'd love an opportunity to travel and attend meets in areas with which I'm more unfamiliar -- the southeast, deep south, midwest/upper midwest and near southwest. One can look at my mob-rule.com page and see where my missing areas are located.
So, much like Cody, I'd like to know what's in the pipeline so I can start looking ahead.
Quote from: hbelkins on September 30, 2016, 10:57:57 AM
I keep saying I want to do a Lexington/Central Kentucky meet, but I'm not really sure what it would cover.
The new flyover ramp from US 60 east (Versailles Road) to KY 4 North will be done, the KY 922 Newtown Pike extension will be more or less done, and the new I-75 exit and connector road from KY 32 to US 62 in Scott County will be nearly done, so there's really not a lot to see. And again, it may be because I've been going to Lexington all my life (I was born in a hospital there) but I don't think there's very much existing highway infrastructure there that's of interest.
Elsewhere in my area, I can't really think of anything meetworthy. I'm not familiar enough with Cincinnati or Louisville to host a meet in those locations, and there's nothing going on in the Charleston or Huntington areas to warrant a return to those areas. I also don't think there's enough new to merit Pikeville III. And the Mountain Parkway work is just one long grade and drain project; certainly not anything on which to center a meet.
I have some US route clinching to do in Lexington proper (US 27, at least). Plus, I need to somehow get the holes in Kentucky I need to fill up. so a Lexington meet would be nice!
New Circle Road would be interesting to explore for some people that haven't been to the area. I am not very familiar with Lexington, but there is also viewing the I-75 bridge over the Kentucky River from down below which would be interesting to a lot of people. There is also Paris Pike which is a neat road going out of Lexington. Not sure what sort of vantage points there could be for New Circle Road and Paris Pike, but those are some options, in addition to what you mentioned.
Louisville would really be a nice place for a meet since the downtown bridge project should be finished and the East End Bridge should be close to being done.
Quote from: hbelkins on September 30, 2016, 10:57:57 AM
As for meets I'd like to attend, my personal situation has improved to the point where I should be able to attend a few meets, but nothing on the scale as I did a few years ago. Personally, I'd be interested in a potential Pittsburgh meet. Ideally, any meet I would attend would afford the chance to visit several new counties or clinch some roads. For instance, I'm using the Birmingham meet to fill in three Alabama holes and clinch all of US 411, both splits of US 45, and the entirety of US 45 in Tennessee, and if time permits, all of US 43 in Tennessee as well.
I've traveled exhaustively in the northeast, eastern seaboard, mid-Atlantic and Ohio Valley, so I'd love an opportunity to travel and attend meets in areas with which I'm more unfamiliar -- the southeast, deep south, midwest/upper midwest and near southwest. One can look at my mob-rule.com page and see where my missing areas are located.
So, much like Cody, I'd like to know what's in the pipeline so I can start looking ahead.
As for me, I have been to the northeast and the upper midwest quite a bit. I would like to attend meets west of the Mississippi River.
I should also mention that next year I am thinking of hosting a Covered Bridges meet in north Alabama. Most of the bridges are in Blount County, AL which is between Huntsville and Birmingham. I am eyeing that one for fall 2017.
I'm considering hosting my first meet in Binghamton. Focus would be the I-81/86/NY 17 interchange project. Also considering the SE Adirondacks as a possibility, with a focus on unique bridges (namely the Hadley Bow Bridge).
Quote from: dgolub on September 30, 2016, 08:45:25 AM
I'm figuring I'll probably host something. The possibilities I'm considering are a Pocono/Lehigh Valley Road Meet in Pennsylvania or a New York City Outer Borough Road Meet that would focus on the various bridge reconstruction projects around the city (Goethals, Bayonne, Belt Parkway).
There's a good chance I'd be at either one of those if my schedule matches up. If it's outer boroughs, I could probably stay with someone if the carpool location is in the eastern part of the City.
Quote from: hbelkins on September 30, 2016, 10:57:57 AM
I keep saying I want to do a Lexington/Central Kentucky meet, but I'm not really sure what it would cover.
The new flyover ramp from US 60 east (Versailles Road) to KY 4 North will be done, the KY 922 Newtown Pike extension will be more or less done, and the new I-75 exit and connector road from KY 32 to US 62 in Scott County will be nearly done, so there's really not a lot to see. And again, it may be because I've been going to Lexington all my life (I was born in a hospital there) but I don't think there's very much existing highway infrastructure there that's of interest.
I might be able to get to a Kentucky meet if it matches up with my schedule. Yeah, it's far, but I'm going to Alabama next weekend and that's further. :-D
I'd definitely be up for a Pittsburgh meet if someone closer than me is able to host. Have the lunch at Primanti Bros. and plan a snack/restroom stop at Sheetz.
I'm giving strong thought to hosting a Kankakee, Illinois meet. I have a few things to see and a place to meet for lunch.
Quote from: cl94 on September 30, 2016, 11:59:21 AM
I'm considering hosting my first meet in Binghamton. Focus would be the I-81/86/NY 17 interchange project. Also considering the SE Adirondacks as a possibility, with a focus on unique bridges (namely the Hadley Bow Bridge).
Heh. For a minute there, I thought you were planning on doing all of that in one meet.
Quote from: Rothman on September 30, 2016, 02:05:56 PM
Quote from: cl94 on September 30, 2016, 11:59:21 AM
I'm considering hosting my first meet in Binghamton. Focus would be the I-81/86/NY 17 interchange project. Also considering the SE Adirondacks as a possibility, with a focus on unique bridges (namely the Hadley Bow Bridge).
Heh. For a minute there, I thought you were planning on doing all of that in one meet.
Hell no. I might be crazy, but that would be a bit long.
Quote from: Rothman on September 30, 2016, 02:05:56 PM
Quote from: cl94 on September 30, 2016, 11:59:21 AM
I'm considering hosting my first meet in Binghamton. Focus would be the I-81/86/NY 17 interchange project. Also considering the SE Adirondacks as a possibility, with a focus on unique bridges (namely the Hadley Bow Bridge).
Heh. For a minute there, I thought you were planning on doing all of that in one meet.
I think the Southeast Adirondacks one would be a lot more interesting.
Quote from: Roadgeek Adam on September 30, 2016, 02:48:18 PM
Quote from: Rothman on September 30, 2016, 02:05:56 PM
Quote from: cl94 on September 30, 2016, 11:59:21 AM
I'm considering hosting my first meet in Binghamton. Focus would be the I-81/86/NY 17 interchange project. Also considering the SE Adirondacks as a possibility, with a focus on unique bridges (namely the Hadley Bow Bridge).
Heh. For a minute there, I thought you were planning on doing all of that in one meet.
I think the Southeast Adirondacks one would be a lot more interesting.
I thought so as well, but the problem is getting people there and making sure it doesn't conflict with festivals that will draw in a bunch of tourists and make the place impassable. My thought for that one would be to have it centered around Glens Falls/Lake George with stuff in Warren, Washington and Saratoga Counties. Plenty of stuff in that area to fill a few hours.
The Great Alaskan Adventure is next year. Fairbanks road meet and Dalton Highway trip. Some of us are coming partway or all the way cross-country (pick a country) for it.
Quote from: cl94 on September 30, 2016, 11:59:21 AM
I'm considering hosting my first meet in Binghamton. Focus would be the I-81/86/NY 17 interchange project. Also considering the SE Adirondacks as a possibility, with a focus on unique bridges (namely the Hadley Bow Bridge).
I'd definitely be interested in both of those.
Quote from: cl94 on September 30, 2016, 03:32:37 PM
Quote from: Roadgeek Adam on September 30, 2016, 02:48:18 PM
Quote from: Rothman on September 30, 2016, 02:05:56 PM
Quote from: cl94 on September 30, 2016, 11:59:21 AM
I'm considering hosting my first meet in Binghamton. Focus would be the I-81/86/NY 17 interchange project. Also considering the SE Adirondacks as a possibility, with a focus on unique bridges (namely the Hadley Bow Bridge).
Heh. For a minute there, I thought you were planning on doing all of that in one meet.
I think the Southeast Adirondacks one would be a lot more interesting.
I thought so as well, but the problem is getting people there and making sure it doesn't conflict with festivals that will draw in a bunch of tourists and make the place impassable. My thought for that one would be to have it centered around Glens Falls/Lake George with stuff in Warren, Washington and Saratoga Counties. Plenty of stuff in that area to fill a few hours.
April/May would probably have the least amount of traffic while still having decent weather.
Quote from: vdeane on October 01, 2016, 12:03:15 AM
Quote from: cl94 on September 30, 2016, 03:32:37 PM
Quote from: Roadgeek Adam on September 30, 2016, 02:48:18 PM
Quote from: Rothman on September 30, 2016, 02:05:56 PM
Quote from: cl94 on September 30, 2016, 11:59:21 AM
I'm considering hosting my first meet in Binghamton. Focus would be the I-81/86/NY 17 interchange project. Also considering the SE Adirondacks as a possibility, with a focus on unique bridges (namely the Hadley Bow Bridge).
Heh. For a minute there, I thought you were planning on doing all of that in one meet.
I think the Southeast Adirondacks one would be a lot more interesting.
I thought so as well, but the problem is getting people there and making sure it doesn't conflict with festivals that will draw in a bunch of tourists and make the place impassable. My thought for that one would be to have it centered around Glens Falls/Lake George with stuff in Warren, Washington and Saratoga Counties. Plenty of stuff in that area to fill a few hours.
April/May would probably have the least amount of traffic while still having decent weather.
I was thinking early to mid-June. Guarantees there won't be snow and those of us in college/grad school will be able to get there with little problem, but the tourist season isn't in full swing. April is too early if it's a bad winter (having grown up there, winters can be much worse than Albany) and May is busy on my end.
I think I can hit the Pittsburgh meet on my way to Cedar Point. I'll have to see if it's in the summer so that I can work with it. I can also do the Poconos if I have any reason to go to Scranton, which hasn't happened yet.
Great American Eclipse meet (Everywhere along the path) :sombrero:
</sarcasm>
If I do something, perhaps something in La Crosse and possibly do a trip along the river in either direction.
I don't plan on hosting any meets until 2018 when I am considering another Memphis meet since I-269 should be finished by then, also in 2019 is when I plan on doing possibly 2 central PA meets, one back in York County, the other may be around Seilinsgrove since the Central Susquehanna Valley Exp construction should be in full swing. As for meets next year, I would be up for anything in KY, otherwise not sure, especially since Steph and I may be going back out to the southwest in July. As for Alaska, not in the cards until at least the next decade for me.
I'm considering a SE Minnesota meet focusing on the new bridges being finished in Winona and La Crosse. That probably depends on if I can find enough other things to fill it out. Rochester, though tempting is probably too far away to include it in this meet.
I see Scott already thought of this before I did. I'm out. :sombrero:
I do kind of have the itch to host something again though, so maybe I'll evaluate some Twin Cities options and go from there. Maybe a St. Paul meet, although I also wanted to let someone else host a MN meet if they wanted to.
I'd consider a Twin Cities meet, but it would be dependent on when(if?) we make it out to Minnesota next summer. Timing would without a question be sometime in July or early August.
Quote from: SSOWorld on October 01, 2016, 07:34:40 AM
Great American Eclipse meet (Everywhere along the path) :sombrero:
</sarcasm>
You'd have to drive pretty fast...
Wonder where people will be watching it. It's a Monday so not everyone has the opportunity. I'm thinking Kentucky but probably still need Tuesday off.
Quote from: Alps on October 01, 2016, 11:52:32 AM
Quote from: SSOWorld on October 01, 2016, 07:34:40 AM
Great American Eclipse meet (Everywhere along the path) :sombrero:
</sarcasm>
You'd have to drive pretty fast...
Wonder where people will be watching it. It's a Monday so not everyone has the opportunity. I'm thinking Kentucky but probably still need Tuesday off.
I've set myself up for Grand Island, NE.
Quote from: Alps on October 01, 2016, 11:52:32 AM
Quote from: SSOWorld on October 01, 2016, 07:34:40 AM
Great American Eclipse meet (Everywhere along the path) :sombrero:
</sarcasm>
You'd have to drive pretty fast...
Wonder where people will be watching it. It's a Monday so not everyone has the opportunity. I'm thinking Kentucky but probably still need Tuesday off.
Ground Zero for best viewing anywhere is supposed to be around Hopkinsville. That's about five hours from me.
Quote from: hbelkins on October 01, 2016, 01:28:12 PM
Quote from: Alps on October 01, 2016, 11:52:32 AM
Quote from: SSOWorld on October 01, 2016, 07:34:40 AM
Great American Eclipse meet (Everywhere along the path) :sombrero:
</sarcasm>
You'd have to drive pretty fast...
Wonder where people will be watching it. It's a Monday so not everyone has the opportunity. I'm thinking Kentucky but probably still need Tuesday off.
Ground Zero for best viewing anywhere is supposed to be around Hopkinsville. That's about five hours from me.
Which will probably be chock full of people who booked plans well in advance.
Quote from: SSOWorld on October 01, 2016, 01:55:58 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on October 01, 2016, 01:28:12 PM
Ground Zero for best viewing anywhere is supposed to be around Hopkinsville. That's about five hours from me.
Which will probably be chock full of people who booked plans well in advance.
Yep, but it's only about 90 minutes or so from both Paducah and Nashville, and less than two hours from Bowling Green. My guess is that there will be plenty of accommodations in those cities, and then it would be an easy drive to just park in a Walmart parking lot or someplace to watch it.
The viewing is supposed to be very good in my area of middle TN, I am a little over an hour from Hopkinsville, even my dad is considering coming down from PA to witness this.
I am thinking of doing my solar eclipse viewing near Sparta, TN.
Hotels are already getting booked up around Hopkinsville.
Depending on time of day, I could easily make a day trip out of this.
Echoing something Cody said upthread, I too would love to see some meets west of the Mississippi River. Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas and certain areas of Missouri would be very attractive. And although it's east of the river, the state of Mississippi is another place I'd love to see more of.
Quote from: hbelkins on October 02, 2016, 04:51:37 PM
Echoing something Cody said upthread, I too would love to see some meets west of the Mississippi River. Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas and certain areas of Missouri would be very attractive. And although it's east of the river, the state of Mississippi is another place I'd love to see more of.
There is enough stuff in the Jackson/Vicksburg area to warrant a meet there. My wife's family is from there, so I have had the chance to explore a bit there.
I would love to do a Mississippi meet. I found that when I did US 61, MS was the state I wish I had more time in.
Quote from: hbelkins on October 02, 2016, 04:51:37 PM
Depending on time of day, I could easily make a day trip out of this.
Echoing something Cody said upthread, I too would love to see some meets west of the Mississippi River. Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas and certain areas of Missouri would be very attractive. And although it's east of the river, the state of Mississippi is another place I'd love to see more of.
Eastern Arkansas could be tied into Memphis or SE Missouri
NW Arkansas could be tied to SW Missouri.
Texarkana could be part of an Ark-La-Tex
You could almost spend a day just on AR 7.
At one point Jeremy talked about a NW Arkansas meet. That would be a good meet to have with all of the construction going on in the area.
Quote from: codyg1985 on October 06, 2016, 07:18:18 AM
At one point Jeremy talked about a NW Arkansas meet. That would be a good meet to have with all of the construction going on in the area.
We've not talked about it much lately. I'll have to touch base with him next week and see if he has any ideas. Future 49 should be 2 lanes from Bentonville to Bella Vista by then.
With new bridge projects completed or under construction, I may host a meet that revisits Portsmouth, NH and dips into the northeastern bits of Massachusetts. We'll see if this holds any water in 2017.
I have updated the first post with a list of meets I have seen mentioned here so far.
Quote from: codyg1985 on October 11, 2016, 01:30:38 PM
I have updated the first post with a list of meets I have seen mentioned here so far.
Thanks for doing that! Looks like there's a pretty good list that's been started.
I intend to narrow down a date for a potential Twin Cities (MN) meet in the near future. Will mostly likely be July...possibly the 1st weekend of August, but more likely mid or late July. It will depend very heavily on what my wife and I need to do that month at the college.
Quote from: froggie on October 12, 2016, 10:26:44 AM
I intend to narrow down a date for a potential Twin Cities (MN) meet in the near future. Will mostly likely be July...possibly the 1st weekend of August, but more likely mid or late July. It will depend very heavily on what my wife and I need to do that month at the college.
That's cool. I believe Patrick Lilja was also talking about the possibility of hosting something in the Twin Cities. :)
I intend to coordinate with him and Monte, and probably get their assistance with scouting since I likely won't get a chance to.
It seems to me that the Atlanta area is ripe for another meet, as I hear reports of all sorts of construction going on there. I'm not sure if we have any Atlanta-area members here on this forum or not. Logical choices to host such a meet are Jim Georges (FreewayJim) and Steve Williams (The Georgia Road Geek) but Jim has never really embraced the concept of meets and I don't know if Steve would be willing to do so.
Quote from: hbelkins on October 16, 2016, 06:24:59 PM
It seems to me that the Atlanta area is ripe for another meet, as I hear reports of all sorts of construction going on there. I'm not sure if we have any Atlanta-area members here on this forum or not. Logical choices to host such a meet are Jim Georges (FreewayJim) and Steve Williams (The Georgia Road Geek) but Jim has never really embraced the concept of meets and I don't know if Steve would be willing to do so.
I wished we could recruit someone to host a meet there. I would be willing to if I was more familiar with the area.
An Atlanta meet could be interesting. While I just went through there a week ago, since it's closer than Birmingham I could still do a trip there in a reasonable amount of time mostly on new roads.
Quote from: vdeane on October 17, 2016, 01:12:09 PM
An Atlanta meet could be interesting. While I just went through there a week ago, since it's closer than Birmingham I could still do a trip there in a reasonable amount of time mostly on new roads.
It would also give me an excuse to go to a game at the new Braves stadium (Suntrust Park) that opens next year.
I think there have been two Atlanta meets. I missed the first one, which happened around 2004 or 2005, I believe. However, I went to the one in 2008. I don't remember who hosted it.
IIRC, it was Adam Prince.
Quote from: froggie on October 18, 2016, 03:11:23 PM
IIRC, it was Adam Prince.
I thought he was heavily involved, but wasn't sure.
I threw the idea of an Atlanta meet out there on the Peach State Roads Facebook group. Maybe someone there will take the idea and run with it.
Quote from: hbelkins on October 18, 2016, 04:58:24 PM
Quote from: froggie on October 18, 2016, 03:11:23 PM
IIRC, it was Adam Prince.
I thought he was heavily involved, but wasn't sure.
Correct - both were tied to hockey games. We also did an informal dinner in 2009 when a group of us went down for a hockey game.
I did throw out an idea for a Boston meet on another thread. A lot of interest is in for it, since the last one was 12 years ago. I'm not sure if it's still definite, but it's probable because a couple of people on the forum live in the area.
I am now thinking about doing on in Milwaukee this year if there is at least some interest.
I like that there could be four meets in the Western Great Lakes region next year.
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on November 02, 2016, 10:27:24 PM
I like that there could be four meets in the Western Great Lakes region next year.
What's the fourth one in addition to Twin Cities, Milwaukee, and Kankakee?
Quote from: A.J. Bertin on November 03, 2016, 01:12:36 AM
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on November 02, 2016, 10:27:24 PM
I like that there could be four meets in the Western Great Lakes region next year.
What's the fourth one in addition to Twin Cities, Milwaukee, and Kankakee?
Scott Onson proposed a La Crosse meet if conditions break the right way.
A thought for the members in western Canada: How about a meet focusing on active projects in a city out there, such as the ones discussed in the Western Canada Road Projects (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=18478.0) thread? Calgary and Regina might be possibilities, depending on the likely state of bypass construction by next summer.
I would be a "very unlikely" to host or attend, since I've spent way too much time in western Canada lately, and will be dialing back on my road-tripping in general. But this could work for those of us out there.
Quote from: oscar on November 03, 2016, 09:57:50 PM
A thought for the members in western Canada: How about a meet focusing on active projects in a city out there, such as the ones discussed in the Western Canada Road Projects (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=18478.0) thread? Calgary and Regina might be possibilities, depending on the likely state of bypass construction by next summer.
Western Canada is a place that I desperately want to get to sooner or later. If someone were to host a meet there at some point, I would see what I can do to attend it.
I'm unfortunately starting to think that a road trip to and from Alaska is too much of a pipe dream to be realistic.
At Birmingham, Alex mentioned the possibility of doing a Florida meet.
I'm anxiously awaiting details on that one. If I had to pick three "long-distance" meets for next year, Florida and Twin Cities would be the two front-runners out of what's already been announced. That would leave a third TBD option.
Quote from: A.J. Bertin on November 03, 2016, 10:40:41 PM
Quote from: oscar on November 03, 2016, 09:57:50 PM
A thought for the members in western Canada: How about a meet focusing on active projects in a city out there, such as the ones discussed in the Western Canada Road Projects (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=18478.0) thread? Calgary and Regina might be possibilities, depending on the likely state of bypass construction by next summer.
Western Canada is a place that I desperately want to get to sooner or later. If someone were to host a meet there at some point, I would see what I can do to attend it.
I'm unfortunately starting to think that a road trip to and from Alaska is too much of a pipe dream to be realistic.
Western Canada sounds like a fun meet idea. Maybe mix with a stop at the West Edmonton Mall? There's someplace I've always wanted to try to get to.
Unfortunately, I think I concur about Alaska at this time.
Quote from: Brandon on November 04, 2016, 02:18:50 PM
Western Canada sounds like a fun meet idea. Maybe mix with a stop at the West Edmonton Mall? There's someplace I've always wanted to try to get to.
I would love that. I should clarify... I have been to Vancouver before - but nowhere else in western Canada.
Quote from: Brandon on November 04, 2016, 02:18:50 PM
Unfortunately, I think I concur about Alaska at this time.
Maybe the Alaska trip will be more realistic in a few years... probably not in 2017 though. My husband and I are starting to ponder a trip to Europe in '17.
I agree with Western Canada being one I'd love to attend (if it falls at a time I can go, like early to mid-August).
I, too am seeing Alaska as unrealistic for 2017 (I have been all along - recent events in family and a change in fiscal responsibility have aggravated it). My AZ via TX trip may be the last long driving trip I do for the foreseeable future.
Given that my carpool partners are out, that means I'm out as far as Alaska goes as well (unless there's someone else to economically carpool with, though 2017 isn't the best for me either; perhaps a second meet a few years down the road for those of us who want to drive out there but don't find it feasible at this time?). Now Milwaukee is in the lead for me. Not sure what my second overnight meet would be; possibly Pittsburg, but Florida could be a contender as well if I could make the logistics work (the trip would be to Key West via I-95 and back via I-75, I-65, and I-71, so considerably longer than just driving to the meet and back).
You know, a Florida meet that matches up with my spring break would be great...
Another possibility for a meet that I would like to throw would be in Ashtabula County, Ohio. I've thought about it earlier in the year, thinking about it again. I'd expect it to be somewhat bridge heavy.
Quote from: Dougtone on November 12, 2016, 06:57:50 AM
Another possibility for a meet that I would like to throw would be in Ashtabula County, Ohio. I've thought about it earlier in the year, thinking about it again. I'd expect it to be somewhat bridge heavy.
I'd be in. Close enough to my parents that I wouldn't have to pay for a hotel, either.
Quote from: cl94 on November 05, 2016, 11:45:27 PM
You know, a Florida meet that matches up with my spring break would be great...
I need to get going on this as we are already into mid-November. Was thinking February, March or April is a good time frame, but realize that people need a good amount of heads up time to replan trips, get time off from work, etc. Presidents Day Weekend would incorporate a day off for some, but is getting close to the three month window. Plus if it gets too far into April, temps will be pushing the upper 80s.
I am thinking Orlando is a good place to have one given the number of projects ongoing from Wekiva Parkway to the Ultimate I-4. Jacksonville also has a number of projects and several noteworthy bridges, but is too far for me to do scouting trips easily.
Jacksonville would be more likely and logistically easier for me (and potentially much cheaper - my cousin lives there). It would also fit in well with the idea of driving to Key West (one thought I had was to do Florida "right" by going as far south as one can drive in the continental US; that said, it make the trip substantially longer).
I could make Ashtabula County. It's in daytrip range of my parents and would allow me to clinch NY 5 (as well as US 20's portion in NY).
I haven't seen much mentioned about a central Great Lakes meet for 2017, and some discussion at the Battle Creek meet today got me thinking, and this is one I am very interested in taking on (possibly with Sean Lyons)...
There has been a bevy of construction in the Toledo vicinity in past 3-5 years, and still in progress, including:
* Widening of 30 miles of I-75 from the southern I-475 interchange southward to Findlay
* Reconstruction of the I-75/I-280 interchange to eliminate left exits/entrances
* Reconstruction of the I-475/US 23 interchange, along with new tie-in ramps to US 20/OH 120, eliminating left exits/entrances
* Reconstruction of the northern I-75/I-475 interchange
2017 would be a good opportunity for a southern Toledo meet (since the US 24 corridor meet was in Maumee, probably with a base in Perrysburg or Rossford). Since Brandon is doing Kankakee in the spring, I was thinking Toledo might be a possibility for late summer or early fall of 2017.
Quote from: Alex on November 12, 2016, 09:16:57 AM
Presidents Day Weekend would incorporate a day off for some, but is getting close to the three month window.
That would actually be perfect for me as I have both Monday and Tuesday off. Other than that, the week of St. Patrick's Day would be perfect as well.
As noted in that thread, I've decided on 8/5 for the Twin Cities meet.
Quote from: Dougtone on November 12, 2016, 06:57:50 AM
Another possibility for a meet that I would like to throw would be in Ashtabula County, Ohio. I've thought about it earlier in the year, thinking about it again. I'd expect it to be somewhat bridge heavy.
I would consider this one.
After having been back to the New River Gorge Bridge, and having driven down under it on Fayette Station Road (CR 82) for the first time, I'm thinking it might be a decent centerpiece for a meet.
Early thoughts are to gather at the visitor's center, organize carpools, drive down into the New River Gorge and stop for photos at several spots, then go back to the visitor's center. Everyone would then reconvene in Beckley, where we could check out construction of the new East Beckley bypass, then head out to the short portion of the Coalfields Expressway that's now open. I'm not sure if there's anything else in the Beckley area that would lend itself to a meet, but I think this would be workable.
Preferred dates would be sometime in March or early April, after the time changed but before everything has leafed out so as to give maximum visibility; or the last weekend in October, while DST is still in effect to give more daylight in the evening but most of the leaves have fallen and the leaf-peepers won't be there.
Quote from: Alex on November 12, 2016, 09:16:57 AM
Quote from: cl94 on November 05, 2016, 11:45:27 PM
You know, a Florida meet that matches up with my spring break would be great...
I need to get going on this as we are already into mid-November. Was thinking February, March or April is a good time frame, but realize that people need a good amount of heads up time to replan trips, get time off from work, etc. Presidents Day Weekend would incorporate a day off for some, but is getting close to the three month window. Plus if it gets too far into April, temps will be pushing the upper 80s.
I am thinking Orlando is a good place to have one given the number of projects ongoing from Wekiva Parkway to the Ultimate I-4. Jacksonville also has a number of projects and several noteworthy bridges, but is too far for me to do scouting trips easily.
An Orlando one would be a lot of fun. I took note that one can fly down to there and back in February for about $200 from Chicago.
Quote from: hbelkins on November 16, 2016, 08:19:43 PM
After having been back to the New River Gorge Bridge, and having driven down under it on Fayette Station Road (CR 82) for the first time, I'm thinking it might be a decent centerpiece for a meet.
Early thoughts are to gather at the visitor's center, organize carpools, drive down into the New River Gorge and stop for photos at several spots, then go back to the visitor's center. Everyone would then reconvene in Beckley, where we could check out construction of the new East Beckley bypass, then head out to the short portion of the Coalfields Expressway that's now open. I'm not sure if there's anything else in the Beckley area that would lend itself to a meet, but I think this would be workable.
Preferred dates would be sometime in March or early April, after the time changed but before everything has leafed out so as to give maximum visibility; or the last weekend in October, while DST is still in effect to give more daylight in the evening but most of the leaves have fallen and the leaf-peepers won't be there.
Just have it during bridge day for the experience.
Would hotels be very expensive during Bridge Day or something? I'm considering going down for that one if it happens and wouldn't want to be priced out.
Quote from: CanesFan27 on November 18, 2016, 12:08:29 PM
Just have it during bridge day for the experience.
I wouldn't fight the crowd or the traffic for it. Besides, not only do they completely close the bridge and no longer run two-way traffic in the southbound lane (as they did the two times I've been), but I think they close Fayette Station too, which would negate the whole focal point of the meet (to go down to the river level and see the bridge from below.)
And did I mention that I hate crowds and heavy traffic?
Quote from: vdeane on November 18, 2016, 12:39:07 PM
Would hotels be very expensive during Bridge Day or something? I'm considering going down for that one if it happens and wouldn't want to be priced out.
Yes. I"m told if there are even any rooms to be found in Beckley, they're marked up tremendously.
New River Gorge is close enough that I could do it on any weekend, so I'd definitely be in.
I have updated the list above with dates and new meets. I have separated the list between meets that have potential dates picked from those that don't. I have also linked each meet to their respective thread or post in this thread.
Quote from: codyg1985 on November 19, 2016, 09:57:20 AM
I have updated the list above with dates and new meets. I have separated the list between meets that have potential dates picked from those that don't. I have also linked each meet to their respective thread or post in this thread.
The list looks great! Thanks for updating it.
I wonder if Pittsburgh is still on the table.
I'm thinking about putting together a meet in the Brunswick and Mecklenburg County areas of Virginia at some point in the future. Probably not until at least 2018, since my 2017 plate is already pretty full.
Anything come out of doing one in Florida during Presidents' Day Weekend.....hell I'd possibly be down for doing it as that's my "spring break".
Quote from: dgolub on September 30, 2016, 08:45:25 AM
I'm figuring I'll probably host something. The possibilities I'm considering are a Pocono/Lehigh Valley Road Meet in Pennsylvania or a New York City Outer Borough Road Meet that would focus on the various bridge reconstruction projects around the city (Goethals, Bayonne, Belt Parkway).
Not sure if you've decided on which yet, but I noticed today that the Pocono/Lehigh Valley meet could, dovetail VERY nicely with my planned clinches in Sullivan County next year; there's a couple routes that I couldn't fit into the planned trip but which could fit into a trip to the meet, depending on the meet location (I did the hypothetical driving directions for the I-80/I-380 junction).
Somebody needs to do a meet somewhere in Texas.
Quote from: hbelkins on December 24, 2016, 09:22:03 PM
Somebody needs to do a meet somewhere in Texas.
I know of an abandoned bridge outside Texarkana ;)
Otherwise, my knowledge of Texas isn't in-depth enough to put anything together.
HOWEVER: in April, there's the Jefferson Highway Meeting in Dennison. Usually lectures, dinner, and a field trip or two. This year, we took a bus from Carthage to Lamar along the JH, then a driving tour from Carthage to Noel :)
Updated list with firm date for Kankakee Meet.
Quote from: US71 on December 24, 2016, 10:05:34 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on December 24, 2016, 09:22:03 PM
Somebody needs to do a meet somewhere in Texas.
I know of an abandoned bridge outside Texarkana ;)
Otherwise, my knowledge of Texas isn't in-depth enough to put anything together.
HOWEVER: in April, there's the Jefferson Highway Meeting in Dennison. Usually lectures, dinner, and a field trip or two. This year, we took a bus from Carthage to Lamar along the JH, then a driving tour from Carthage to Noel :)
There's quite a bit of material in DFW right now. Project Pegasus, I-635 express lanes, TX 183 reconstruction...I could go on for hours.
What I'd like to know is... are there any meets that are on this list that should be removed from the list? (For instance, I think H.B. was saying that it's pretty unlikely that he's going to be doing anything in Lexington this year.)
Quote from: A.J. Bertin on January 06, 2017, 02:20:26 AM
What I'd like to know is... are there any meets that are on this list that should be removed from the list? (For instance, I think H.B. was saying that it's pretty unlikely that he's going to be doing anything in Lexington this year.)
I still have it in the back of my mind.
Quote from: noelbotevera on January 05, 2017, 07:40:57 PM
Quote from: US71 on December 24, 2016, 10:05:34 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on December 24, 2016, 09:22:03 PM
Somebody needs to do a meet somewhere in Texas.
I know of an abandoned bridge outside Texarkana ;)
Otherwise, my knowledge of Texas isn't in-depth enough to put anything together.
HOWEVER: in April, there's the Jefferson Highway Meeting in Dennison. Usually lectures, dinner, and a field trip or two. This year, we took a bus from Carthage to Lamar along the JH, then a driving tour from Carthage to Noel :)
There's quite a bit of material in DFW right now. Project Pegasus, I-635 express lanes, TX 183 reconstruction...I could go on for hours.
DFW would need to be a two day meet, at least. Or multiple meets over several years. There is just that much stuff going on.
I've always been struck by the fact that the largest state in the lower 48 has had such a dearth of meets. I only know of one Texas meet, that being one that Gene VanDusseldorp hosted six years ago in the DFW area. It only had three attendees, and one of them got lost between lunch and the first stop on the tour.
I would try to swing a Texas meet if my schedule matched up. It's one of those places I have never been and the prospect of legally driving 85 is quite exciting.
Texas sounds interesting. I could probably do it in three days each way (same as Mississippi, but the days would be longer (8-9 hours/day instead of 6-8)), with a whopping nine new states. Or make it four more relaxing days each way and not do any other meets with hotels.
Quote from: A.J. Bertin on January 06, 2017, 02:20:26 AM
What I'd like to know is... are there any meets that are on this list that should be removed from the list? (For instance, I think H.B. was saying that it's pretty unlikely that he's going to be doing anything in Lexington this year.)
I'm curious too.
I'm still planning to do an Adirondacks meet. Can't set the date until I get a spring schedule, but it'll probably be the third or fourth weekend of June.
Kankakee and Minneapolis will likely be my two long-distance meets. Thanks to TRB points, the amount I will spend on hotels will be minimal. If there ends up being another one in New England or Metro New York, I could probably make those as well.
QuoteI've always been struck by the fact that the largest state in the lower 48 has had such a dearth of meets.
Lack of forum (and pre-forum MTR) regulars who live there may have played a factor...
Quote from: codyg1985 on January 06, 2017, 11:31:00 AM
Quote from: noelbotevera on January 05, 2017, 07:40:57 PM
Quote from: US71 on December 24, 2016, 10:05:34 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on December 24, 2016, 09:22:03 PM
Somebody needs to do a meet somewhere in Texas.
I know of an abandoned bridge outside Texarkana ;)
Otherwise, my knowledge of Texas isn't in-depth enough to put anything together.
HOWEVER: in April, there's the Jefferson Highway Meeting in Dennison. Usually lectures, dinner, and a field trip or two. This year, we took a bus from Carthage to Lamar along the JH, then a driving tour from Carthage to Noel :)
There's quite a bit of material in DFW right now. Project Pegasus, I-635 express lanes, TX 183 reconstruction...I could go on for hours.
DFW would need to be a two day meet, at least. Or multiple meets over several years. There is just that much stuff going on.
yes, how it used be done multiple meets over various years featuring various areas each time.
I'm not being rude in writing this, but where does everyone's love of roadmeets come from? I've been to several over the years, and while I admit that they are fun, it seems like it's simple enough to check out road projects on one's own.
I find that I have way more flexibility to take photographs of something without dragging 15 people behind me. Again, not being rude, I just don't fully understand it.
Quote from: AsphaltPlanet on January 07, 2017, 06:10:53 PM
I'm not being rude in writing this, but where does everyone's love of roadmeets come from? I've been to several over the years, and while I admit that they are fun, it seems like it's simple enough to check out road projects on one's own.
I find that I have way more flexibility to take photographs of something without dragging 15 people behind me. Again, not being rude, I just don't fully understand it.
I do agree here with with your opinion, but there are opportunities to meet with others and talk many topics - not forgetting roads. Meets should be done, but it's up to the individual traveler to which they want to meet-up or to just do a photo-tour or whatever they do. I do think that there seems to be a road meet every month nowadays and I just pick-and-choose based on ability to get free and on budget. I don't try to make every meet because they're too far and it costs money.
Thank the Internet. :-D
Quote from: AsphaltPlanet on January 07, 2017, 06:10:53 PM
I'm not being rude in writing this, but where does everyone's love of roadmeets come from? I've been to several over the years, and while I admit that they are fun, it seems like it's simple enough to check out road projects on one's own.
I find that I have way more flexibility to take photographs of something without dragging 15 people behind me. Again, not being rude, I just don't fully understand it.
I like people more than roads. YMMV.
^ Yeah, I get that too. It just seems easier to have people to visit with closer to home, rather than traveling halfway across the country to a roadmeet just to see people. I guess your mileage varies.
I shouldn't have written my first post, people can do whatever they like, it's not for me to decide, it's just always seemed to me that road meets are setup poorly. For me, if I've driven for a day to check out a project, I want to check out a project because I like photographing roads. If I had wanted to go out with my friends I would have stayed home and done that instead.
Though, I do awknowledgd thst I know have several close friends who I have met through online road forums, so I can see the value in doing that, we just never really did it through meets per se.
Quote from: AsphaltPlanet on January 07, 2017, 06:10:53 PM
I'm not being rude in writing this, but where does everyone's love of roadmeets come from? I've been to several over the years, and while I admit that they are fun, it seems like it's simple enough to check out road projects on one's own.
I find that I have way more flexibility to take photographs of something without dragging 15 people behind me. Again, not being rude, I just don't fully understand it.
The best friends I have made in my adult years have come from the roadgeek community. These are some very awesome people. I try to attend as many road meets as I can for various reasons. The two biggest reasons are 1) the awesome people I get to see at the meets whom I don't get to see very often otherwise, 2) getting to explore different areas that I otherwise would have no reason to visit, and 3) clinching a whole bunch of counties and highways to and from the road meet (assuming I drive to the meet instead of fly there - which, I never fly anyway).
I don't have that many close friends who live in my area, so anytime I have an excuse to go hang out with my friends I've met through the roadgeek community, I'm going to jump on that chance. Not everyone feels the same way as I do about this, and that's perfectly fine. Different people have different desires, interests, and motivations. Just because someone is a roadgeek doesn't necessarily mean that he or she wants to attend road meets and discuss their hobby with others who share it.
I totally agree with what people have said about the social aspect. Basically, meets and TRB are my only real chances to socialize with other transportation-inclined people. While I work/study in a civil engineering department, it's mainly a work relationship and there's a bit of a language and culture barrier.
Road meets started as a way for people who shared a hobby and found each other on the internet to meet each other IRL. They've evolved organically from that now that large numbers of us already know each other well IRL, but they do still serve their original purpose sometimes whenever a newcomer shows up.
While some of the comments above do have merit, especially A.J.'s about meets giving an excuse to go somewhere you might not otherwise, to me it seems that the social aspect of these meets has gone a bit overboard. There are pre-meet meals, post-meet meals, post-meet activities, etc. Not being a particularly social person, I usually skip out on those, especially post-meet activities if I'm leaving town and want to make decent progress on the road before it gets dark.
Quote from: AsphaltPlanet on January 07, 2017, 06:10:53 PM
I'm not being rude in writing this, but where does everyone's love of roadmeets come from? I've been to several over the years, and while I admit that they are fun, it seems like it's simple enough to check out road projects on one's own.
I find that I have way more flexibility to take photographs of something without dragging 15 people behind me. Again, not being rude, I just don't fully understand it.
I fully understand, but the meets are good for meeting people in person who you've only spoken to on-line. The Birmingham meet was an excuse for me to go to Alabama for the first time in 20-something years. I did some exploring on my own before and after the meet, including revisiting a couple stops we just grazed over.
Pre-meet and post-meet are an opportunity to relax and get to know people a little better. Admittedly, they are not everyone's cup of tea. I'm not an overly social person, but around fellow road enthusiasts, I find myself relaxing a bit more. But it's ones personal prerogative.
Quote from: hbelkins on January 09, 2017, 12:59:14 PM
While some of the comments above do have merit, especially A.J.'s about meets giving an excuse to go somewhere you might not otherwise, to me it seems that the social aspect of these meets has gone a bit overboard. There are pre-meet meals, post-meet meals, post-meet activities, etc. Not being a particularly social person, I usually skip out on those, especially post-meet activities if I'm leaving town and want to make decent progress on the road before it gets dark.
It's not overboard at all, IMO. People in the area love seeing each other. I would gladly share Friday night, Saturday lunch and dinner, and Sunday morning if I was in the area.
Quote from: hbelkins on January 09, 2017, 12:59:14 PM
While some of the comments above do have merit, especially A.J.'s about meets giving an excuse to go somewhere you might not otherwise, to me it seems that the social aspect of these meets has gone a bit overboard. There are pre-meet meals, post-meet meals, post-meet activities, etc. Not being a particularly social person, I usually skip out on those, especially post-meet activities if I'm leaving town and want to make decent progress on the road before it gets dark.
The problem I've had over the last couple of years or so is when the meet tours last way beyond what (at least, what I consider) a reasonable tour length would be. I generally don't like it when the meets become day-long affairs, but it depends on the situation (including whether or not I have my own car) and who's there. If we meet up for lunch and the tour starts, say, around 1:00, I'm usually wanting things to wrap up around 5. If it goes too much beyond 5:30 or 6, I start to become impatient and want it to be done.
As far as the social aspect of meets going "overboard" is concerned, I don't necessarily agree with that. Some road geeks really enjoy the extra social time. To each his (or her) own. If you're not interested, no one is forcing you to participate. For me personally, sometimes I will participate and sometimes I won't. It depends on timing, who all is there, how withdrawn I'm wanting to be (yes... I tend to be introverted), and if there's anything in particular I want to see on my own in the area while there's still daylight. A lot of times (especially if I'm staying at a hotel by myself) I would rather go and relax at the hotel and get have quiet time to myself than go out with a big group. Again... it all depends on many factors.
Quote from: A.J. Bertin on January 09, 2017, 10:21:23 PM
The problem I've had over the last couple of years or so is when the meet tours last way beyond what (at least, what I consider) a reasonable tour length would be. I generally don't like it when the meets become day-long affairs, but it depends on the situation (including whether or not I have my own car) and who's there. If we meet up for lunch and the tour starts, say, around 1:00, I'm usually wanting things to wrap up around 5. If it goes too much beyond 5:30 or 6, I start to become impatient and want it to be done.
I'm with you there. Most of the early meets started out only as lunch and a couple of hours or so of touring. Like you, I tend to get fidgety the later it gets in the day, especially if I have a motel reservation a couple of hours away and don't want to be driving in the dark.
If I do a New River Gorge Bridge/Beckley meet, I'm probably going to do it in two separate segments. Meet at the the welcome center at 10 a.m., divide up into groups, and go down into the gorge at your own pace without scheduled stops. Then lunch on your own and reconvene at around 1:30 or 2 for the other parts (most likely only the East Beckley Bypass construction and the Coalfields Expressway stub, unless I can some up with something else nearby to see.)
I agree. I think 5-6 hours is pushing it for a group tour. I plan to keep my Adirondacks meet down to 4ish hours or less (again, date coming once I get a schedule).
A Texas meet sounds like fun!
While I am probably not in the business of hosting many more road meets in the future (although I do have a handful of meets that I still want to host, including one in 2017), I do like to try to make it to a handful of meets during the year. Often times it is a good reason to catch up with familiar faces or to check out areas that I may not normally get to see. More so than a meet, I do like the opportunities to just get together with a couple of friends in the road hobby and drive around for the day with a more flexible agenda.
As for meet tours, I agree, if you make a group tour too long, some people start to become disengaged if the tour is too long. In some cases for some meets I've hosted (such as Buffalo 2008), I've broken up the tours into two parts for people who decide to skip out after the first tour is done, giving the attendee more flexibility. In other instances, like in Bennington, Portsmouth and Watertown, I was afforded a smaller or more compact number of things to show on a tour, thus making the tour a little shorter.
Quote from: Dougtone on January 10, 2017, 06:31:14 PM
...I am probably not in the business of hosting many more road meets in the future...
Aww... no? That's a bummer. :(
Quote from: Dougtone on January 10, 2017, 06:31:14 PM
As for meet tours, I agree, if you make a group tour too long, some people start to become disengaged if the tour is too long. In some cases for some meets I've hosted (such as Buffalo 2008), I've broken up the tours into two parts for people who decide to skip out after the first tour is done, giving the attendee more flexibility.
I like the idea of having flexibility like that in a meet. I know sometimes the host will include an option after the main tour is done to show interested attendees some other things in the evening. Usually when that option is presented, I decline.
Quote from: hbelkins on January 10, 2017, 12:02:22 PM
Quote from: A.J. Bertin on January 09, 2017, 10:21:23 PM
The problem I've had over the last couple of years or so is when the meet tours last way beyond what (at least, what I consider) a reasonable tour length would be. I generally don't like it when the meets become day-long affairs, but it depends on the situation (including whether or not I have my own car) and who's there. If we meet up for lunch and the tour starts, say, around 1:00, I'm usually wanting things to wrap up around 5. If it goes too much beyond 5:30 or 6, I start to become impatient and want it to be done.
I'm with you there. Most of the early meets started out only as lunch and a couple of hours or so of touring. Like you, I tend to get fidgety the later it gets in the day, especially if I have a motel reservation a couple of hours away and don't want to be driving in the dark.
Usually I prefer to stay overnight in the same general area around where the meet is based - on the night after the meet is over. Part of this preference stems from my desire to avoid much driving after dark, and spending the night in the city where the meet is based gives me the opportunity to "experience" that city in a different way. I posted something a while back (I think on AARoads) where I mentioned one reason I love staying at hotels in all sorts of different cities. Another advantage for me of staying overnight in the same town as the meet is that I could get some much-needed alone time relaxing (not driving) after being in a group with lots of other people for several hours in a day.
Quote from: hbelkins on January 10, 2017, 12:02:22 PM
If I do a New River Gorge Bridge/Beckley meet, I'm probably going to do it in two separate segments. Meet at the the welcome center at 10 a.m., divide up into groups, and go down into the gorge at your own pace without scheduled stops. Then lunch on your own and reconvene at around 1:30 or 2 for the other parts....
Sounds like an interesting way of organizing the meet! I'm not sure I will attend this meet - but I like your idea!
Quote from: A.J. Bertin on January 10, 2017, 10:05:05 PM
That's not necessarily a bad thing. Other people want to host meets in this part of the country these days, so I want to see them do so successfully. I'm still open to hosting meets and am looking at Ashtabula this fall, maybe something in New England again at some point down the road.
Quote from: Dougtone on January 10, 2017, 06:31:14 PM
...I am probably not in the business of hosting many more road meets in the future...
Aww... no? That's a bummer. :(
Quote from: Dougtone on January 10, 2017, 06:31:14 PM
As for meet tours, I agree, if you make a group tour too long, some people start to become disengaged if the tour is too long. In some cases for some meets I've hosted (such as Buffalo 2008), I've broken up the tours into two parts for people who decide to skip out after the first tour is done, giving the attendee more flexibility.
I like the idea of having flexibility like that in a meet. I know sometimes the host will include an option after the main tour is done to show interested attendees some other things in the evening. Usually when that option is presented, I decline.
I would like to request that for those of you that have proposed having a meet in this thread, respond whether or not you are still planning on hosting those meets and/or provide more details about the meet.
I see some of you have done that already.
Quote from: codyg1985 on January 11, 2017, 07:13:10 AM
I would like to request that for those of you that have proposed having a meet in this thread, respond whether or not you are still planning on hosting those meets and/or provide more details about the meet.
I'm still planning on doing one of the two possibilities that I had floated at some point this year. I'm leaning toward NYC-area bridge construction for now because Pennsylvania will be easier for me to scout out some time next year once I've moved out of the city and purchased a car.
Quote from: codyg1985 on January 11, 2017, 07:13:10 AM
I would like to request that for those of you that have proposed having a meet in this thread, respond whether or not you are still planning on hosting those meets and/or provide more details about the meet.
I see some of you have done that already.
Since Lexington is so close by, I am going to keep that one in my back pocket since I could always put something together if or when I determine there's enough to see on a meet tour.
Sometimes meets can jump up out of the blue, and sometimes you can have them on ice for months or years. For the 2013 Ashland/Huntington Tri-State meet, I had scouted that one out well in advance. I actually had the basics of the tour worked out two or three years in advance of the meet and always had doing it in the back of my mind. Once work started on the Ironton-Russell Bridge, it was easy to put a tour together. The hard part was finding a restaurant, but Fat Patty's worked out pretty well.
But the Pikeville meet I did that fall was about as close to "out-of-the-blue" as could be. My wife was gone for a few days, I got bored and decided to drive up there to check out some of the construction and it hit me, "Hey, it would be easy to put together a meet centered on this." This was in late August/early September; the meet was in October.
If I do put together a New River Gorge/Beckley meet, I will have to find the opportunity to go back up there and scout it out before I pull the trigger on it. But I do know that I want to do it after the time changes (to give more daylight later in the day) but before everything leafs out and blooms so visibility will be good.
Quote from: dgolub on January 11, 2017, 09:38:43 AM
Quote from: codyg1985 on January 11, 2017, 07:13:10 AM
I would like to request that for those of you that have proposed having a meet in this thread, respond whether or not you are still planning on hosting those meets and/or provide more details about the meet.
I'm still planning on doing one of the two possibilities that I had floated at some point this year. I'm leaning toward NYC-area bridge construction for now because Pennsylvania will be easier for me to scout out some time next year once I've moved out of the city and purchased a car.
I could probably scout the Lehigh Valley for you if necessary within the next year. Though for clinching purposes NYC-area interstates should be a higher priority.
Quote from: 74/171FAN on January 11, 2017, 04:51:59 PM
Quote from: dgolub on January 11, 2017, 09:38:43 AM
Quote from: codyg1985 on January 11, 2017, 07:13:10 AM
I would like to request that for those of you that have proposed having a meet in this thread, respond whether or not you are still planning on hosting those meets and/or provide more details about the meet.
I'm still planning on doing one of the two possibilities that I had floated at some point this year. I'm leaning toward NYC-area bridge construction for now because Pennsylvania will be easier for me to scout out some time next year once I've moved out of the city and purchased a car.
I could probably scout the Lehigh Valley for you if necessary within the next year. Though for clinching purposes NYC-area interstates should be a higher priority.
Depending on when a NYC meet is, I could probably stay with family for free. That would obviously be preferable and I could use the opportunity to clinch the last couple things I need on Long Island.
Quote from: 74/171FAN on January 11, 2017, 04:51:59 PM
Quote from: dgolub on January 11, 2017, 09:38:43 AM
Quote from: codyg1985 on January 11, 2017, 07:13:10 AM
I would like to request that for those of you that have proposed having a meet in this thread, respond whether or not you are still planning on hosting those meets and/or provide more details about the meet.
I'm still planning on doing one of the two possibilities that I had floated at some point this year. I'm leaning toward NYC-area bridge construction for now because Pennsylvania will be easier for me to scout out some time next year once I've moved out of the city and purchased a car.
I could probably scout the Lehigh Valley for you if necessary within the next year. Though for clinching purposes NYC-area interstates should be a higher priority.
What do you still need to clinch? I could see whether or not it fits into the route.
Quote from: dgolub on January 11, 2017, 05:47:49 PM
Quote from: 74/171FAN on January 11, 2017, 04:51:59 PM
Quote from: dgolub on January 11, 2017, 09:38:43 AM
Quote from: codyg1985 on January 11, 2017, 07:13:10 AM
I would like to request that for those of you that have proposed having a meet in this thread, respond whether or not you are still planning on hosting those meets and/or provide more details about the meet.
I'm still planning on doing one of the two possibilities that I had floated at some point this year. I'm leaning toward NYC-area bridge construction for now because Pennsylvania will be easier for me to scout out some time next year once I've moved out of the city and purchased a car.
I could probably scout the Lehigh Valley for you if necessary within the next year. Though for clinching purposes NYC-area interstates should be a higher priority.
What do you still need to clinch? I could see whether or not it fits into the route.
I maybe should have mentioned pretty much everything that is not I-78, I-95/NJTP, I-287 from NJ 208 to the NJ/NY line, and most of I-87 between I-95 and the Saw Mill River Pkwy. :-D
I think your route will be fine either way.
Keeping La Crosse my back pocket as well. (Won't happen this year) - since I've got a work schedule that won't permit much time off. I also will offer the highwayman394 the opportunity as well (keeping in mind Minneapolis and Kankakee).
Quote from: SSOWorld on January 11, 2017, 09:14:57 PM
Keeping La Crosse my back pocket as well. (Won't happen this year)
La Crosse is another meet I am quite interested in attending. I'm actually kinda relieved you're not thinking about this year for that one - because there are already a lot of meets for 2017 being discussed that I want to attend.
Right now I have 2 central PA meets on the back burner but plan to do one of them next year and another the following year and I may do another Memphis area meet sometime next year after I-269 opens up.
Quote from: jpi on January 14, 2017, 03:39:38 PM
Right now I have 2 central PA meets on the back burner but plan to do one of them next year and another the following year and I may do another Memphis area meet sometime next year after I-269 opens up.
Yeah, I had Tennessee's interstates all clinched until 269 opened and was signed.
I'm also out of the question. The closest meets to me are four hours away (Binghamton and New York City), and we don't have the time for those two.
Quote from: hbelkins on January 14, 2017, 09:41:18 PM
Quote from: jpi on January 14, 2017, 03:39:38 PM
Right now I have 2 central PA meets on the back burner but plan to do one of them next year and another the following year and I may do another Memphis area meet sometime next year after I-269 opens up.
Yeah, I had Tennessee's interstates all clinched until 269 opened and was signed.
Is it signed? I was through there a few months ago and it wasn't, unless I was in the wrong neighborhood?
Quote from: US71 on January 15, 2017, 12:06:41 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on January 14, 2017, 09:41:18 PM
Quote from: jpi on January 14, 2017, 03:39:38 PM
Right now I have 2 central PA meets on the back burner but plan to do one of them next year and another the following year and I may do another Memphis area meet sometime next year after I-269 opens up.
Yeah, I had Tennessee's interstates all clinched until 269 opened and was signed.
Is it signed? I was through there a few months ago and it wasn't, unless I was in the wrong neighborhood?
I'm not sure. I thought portions were signed in both states.
Memphis sounds interesting. I suppose the meet I'm most curious about that this point is Milwaukee; we haven't heard anything since it was posted and it doesn't have a date range yet. It's one of the ones I'm looking at when planning my long-range trips for this year.
Updated list to reflect official date for Adirondacks Meet and new events for Saratoga Springs and the Jefferson Highway Conference in Denison, TX.
I am tentatively planning, weather permitting, to go to West Virginia next weekend to scout a New River Gorge Bridge/Beckley area meet. I'm tentatively looking at March 25 or April 1 to do this meet if I can find enough access points to the portion of the East Beckley bypass that's under construction to allow us to see it.
Also, I'm giving some thought to doing something centering on the I-69 improvements to the Purchase Parkway. Lunch would probably be at Patti's 1880s Settlement near Land Between The Lakes (famous pork chops; I've never eaten there but have heard great things about it.) Sites would include the I-24 interchange reconstruction, the new diamond interchange that replaced an old toll booth cloverleaf, and the reconstruction at the Mayfield bypass where the Purchase exits itself.
At this point it's looking like I'm definitely attending at least three road meets this year. I'm definitely on for Jackson/Vicksburg, Kankakee, and Twin Cities.
If Doug hosts Ashtabula County OH in the fall (he mentioned that as a possible time frame on Facebook), I will definitely try to attend that. Someone (I think David Feryance) talked about the possibility of a Milwaukee meet - which I would be interested in also. However, the amount of travel it's looking like I'll do this year is reaching a limit - so I'm not sure I'd be able to attend Milwaukee given these other meets and a couple of trips that my husband and I will be taking this summer.
I was very interested in the Pittsburgh meet that someone mentioned several months ago, but I've heard nothing about that, so that looks like an unlikely possibility at this point. Has anyone heard anything recently about Pittsburgh, or is it safe to assume that's off the table now?
I'm assuming Pittsburgh isn't happening at this point.
My current list is Mississippi, Southern Adirondacks, Twin Cities, NYC (or Poconos, though I expect it will be NYC), and Ashtabula County. There is also a compelling case to be made for New River Gorge, which would certainly be scenic, but I'd probably have to choose between that and Mississippi due to money, vacation time, and mileage (especially since I have to buy out my car lease in the next five months).
Yeah, Pittsburgh would be interesting, but I'll assume it isn't happening at this point. My list includes Jackson/Vicksburg, Kankakee (I suppose I should attend my own meet :spin:), Southern Adirondacks, and the Twin Cities. I'll have to see about Ashtabula when it is announced.
Quote from: vdeane on February 11, 2017, 12:37:14 AM
New River Gorge
Weather permitting, I'm going to Beckley next weekend to scout. I already know what the NRG Bridge portion of the tour will entail (but I want to make a slight tweak to the route I drove down into the gorge back in the fall) but I need to find out the best places to access construction of the East Beckley bypass.
Unfortunately there is no good way to access the graded-but-not-paved portion of the Coalfields Expressway beyond the current end of the route, so seeing that won't be an option.
You'd really only lose one vacation day if you came to NRG. It's an easy day's drive from Albany (88-81-80-99/220-68-79-19 is probably the route I'd use, although Google says 9:30 via the Thruway/287/78/81/etc.) so could drive down on Friday, do the meet on Saturday, and drive home on Sunday.
Who'd be hosting Pittsburgh?
Quote from: A.J. Bertin on February 10, 2017, 06:24:04 PM
At this point it's looking like I'm definitely attending at least three road meets this year. I'm definitely on for Jackson/Vicksburg, Kankakee, and Twin Cities.
If Doug hosts Ashtabula County OH in the fall (he mentioned that as a possible time frame on Facebook), I will definitely try to attend that. Someone (I think David Feryance) talked about the possibility of a Milwaukee meet - which I would be interested in also. However, the amount of travel it's looking like I'll do this year is reaching a limit - so I'm not sure I'd be able to attend Milwaukee given these other meets and a couple of trips that my husband and I will be taking this summer.
I was very interested in the Pittsburgh meet that someone mentioned several months ago, but I've heard nothing about that, so that looks like an unlikely possibility at this point. Has anyone heard anything recently about Pittsburgh, or is it safe to assume that's off the table now?
*shakes my head* yall need to go back and read. There was never talk of one actually happening. Just wish casting by the usual suspects
My list is New River Gorge or bust. I'm interested in NYC, which is closer, but I haven't explored much of West Virginia yet. It's five hours away from me, so I bet I can do this within a weekend. I'll need to convince my dad.
Another conflict I'm having is that I might be going out to Cedar Point/Disney World with a classmate in summertime (June to be exact), so I'd probably need three weeks of leeway between the meet and that trip. My brother is also going off to college, so late spring and early summer are off the table.
Quote from: hbelkins on February 11, 2017, 11:40:11 AM
Quote from: vdeane on February 11, 2017, 12:37:14 AM
New River Gorge
Weather permitting, I'm going to Beckley next weekend to scout. I already know what the NRG Bridge portion of the tour will entail (but I want to make a slight tweak to the route I drove down into the gorge back in the fall) but I need to find out the best places to access construction of the East Beckley bypass.
Unfortunately there is no good way to access the graded-but-not-paved portion of the Coalfields Expressway beyond the current end of the route, so seeing that won't be an option.
You'd really only lose one vacation day if you came to NRG. It's an easy day's drive from Albany (88-81-80-99/220-68-79-19 is probably the route I'd use, although Google says 9:30 via the Thruway/287/78/81/etc.) so could drive down on Friday, do the meet on Saturday, and drive home on Sunday.
There's still hotel costs/mileage; I have to worry about buying out my car lease, so I don't want to overdo it (probably end of April, since I want to have it bought out before driving to Mississippi). Plus I tend to clinch new stuff when driving to meets (and don't have the energy to drive for 9.5 hours and then go to work the next day). That said, if the meet were in the fall, I'd be extremely likely to go, since it interests me more than Ashtabula County (which I'm interested in mainly as an excuse to clinch some stuff in western NY). The stuff I'd be likely to clinch would also fill in some gaps from the trip to/from Mississippi.
Of course, I might just decide that New River Gorge is more sane than doing both Mississippi and Twin Cities in the same year, though I'd see fewer new states that way.
There are issues with doing NRG in the fall. First is the crowds that come to see the foliage, and the rafters who take advantage of water releases from dams to enjoy the higher water levels in the New and Gauley rivers. This is prime tourist season in the area, and hotel rates often reflect that. And there's the necessity to work around Bridge Day.
Then there's the issue of visibility. It's best after all the leaves have fallen, which usually doesn't happen until very late October or later. And trying to do something after that is made more difficult by the time change, when you lose an hour of daylight in the afternoon.
Plus, I don't know when the next segment of the East Beckley Bypass will be completed. When I was last there, back in the fall, it appeared that the base coat of asphalt was in place north of WV 41, and signage had been installed. If that project gets finished during the summer, that's one less thing to see after the bridge in what is an already-limited menu.
So spring is the best option, and I'm leaning toward either March 25 or April 1, possibly April 8. April 16 is out of the question, as that's Easter weekend, and the following weekend is also out as I have work obligations both Friday the 21st and Saturday the 22nd. After that, you're getting to the point where things are starting to leaf out and that hampers visibility, and it gets closer to other announced meet dates.
Quote from: vdeane on February 11, 2017, 05:17:50 PM
There's still hotel costs/mileage; I have to worry about buying out my car lease, so I don't want to overdo it
I would check the terms of your lease agreement. From what I've been told there are no penalties for going over the allotted mileage if you buy the car when the lease is up.
Pretty sure that's the case. Even so, I prefer to not go too overboard with stuff in advance of the buyout. I'm hoping to buy the lease out outright, instead of taking out a loan, and I don't think I could do that with both meets. I do remember I was originally intending to do New River Gorge when the meets were discussed last fall, so there's that. Plus there's the possibility of Memphis sometime in the next couple years, and if that meet happens, I could see many of the states I would have seen in a Mississippi meet. And I've traditionally (at least since living in Albany) taken some kind of multi-day roadtrip in the March/April timeframe, and it would be nice to continue that tradition. I guess I'm leaning to New River Gorge at the moment.
Quote from: CanesFan27 on February 11, 2017, 12:57:14 PM
Quote from: A.J. Bertin on February 10, 2017, 06:24:04 PM
At this point it's looking like I'm definitely attending at least three road meets this year. I'm definitely on for Jackson/Vicksburg, Kankakee, and Twin Cities.
If Doug hosts Ashtabula County OH in the fall (he mentioned that as a possible time frame on Facebook), I will definitely try to attend that. Someone (I think David Feryance) talked about the possibility of a Milwaukee meet - which I would be interested in also. However, the amount of travel it's looking like I'll do this year is reaching a limit - so I'm not sure I'd be able to attend Milwaukee given these other meets and a couple of trips that my husband and I will be taking this summer.
I was very interested in the Pittsburgh meet that someone mentioned several months ago, but I've heard nothing about that, so that looks like an unlikely possibility at this point. Has anyone heard anything recently about Pittsburgh, or is it safe to assume that's off the table now?
*shakes my head* yall need to go back and read. There was never talk of one actually happening. Just wish casting by the usual suspects
I've been trying to make a Pittsbu meet happen for a few years now. I've poked people but they haven't really activated. I don't have enough ground knowledge to make it happen.
Quote from: Alps on February 12, 2017, 08:32:05 PM
Quote from: CanesFan27 on February 11, 2017, 12:57:14 PM
Quote from: A.J. Bertin on February 10, 2017, 06:24:04 PM
At this point it's looking like I'm definitely attending at least three road meets this year. I'm definitely on for Jackson/Vicksburg, Kankakee, and Twin Cities.
If Doug hosts Ashtabula County OH in the fall (he mentioned that as a possible time frame on Facebook), I will definitely try to attend that. Someone (I think David Feryance) talked about the possibility of a Milwaukee meet - which I would be interested in also. However, the amount of travel it's looking like I'll do this year is reaching a limit - so I'm not sure I'd be able to attend Milwaukee given these other meets and a couple of trips that my husband and I will be taking this summer.
I was very interested in the Pittsburgh meet that someone mentioned several months ago, but I've heard nothing about that, so that looks like an unlikely possibility at this point. Has anyone heard anything recently about Pittsburgh, or is it safe to assume that's off the table now?
*shakes my head* yall need to go back and read. There was never talk of one actually happening. Just wish casting by the usual suspects
I've been trying to make a Pittsbu meet happen for a few years now. I've poked people but they haven't really activated. I don't have enough ground knowledge to make it happen.
Is there anyone out that way who could do some scouting for us? I'd love one, but I'm too far away to do anything about it.
Quote from: Alps on February 12, 2017, 08:32:05 PM
Quote from: CanesFan27 on February 11, 2017, 12:57:14 PM
Quote from: A.J. Bertin on February 10, 2017, 06:24:04 PM
At this point it's looking like I'm definitely attending at least three road meets this year. I'm definitely on for Jackson/Vicksburg, Kankakee, and Twin Cities.
If Doug hosts Ashtabula County OH in the fall (he mentioned that as a possible time frame on Facebook), I will definitely try to attend that. Someone (I think David Feryance) talked about the possibility of a Milwaukee meet - which I would be interested in also. However, the amount of travel it's looking like I'll do this year is reaching a limit - so I'm not sure I'd be able to attend Milwaukee given these other meets and a couple of trips that my husband and I will be taking this summer.
I was very interested in the Pittsburgh meet that someone mentioned several months ago, but I've heard nothing about that, so that looks like an unlikely possibility at this point. Has anyone heard anything recently about Pittsburgh, or is it safe to assume that's off the table now?
*shakes my head* yall need to go back and read. There was never talk of one actually happening. Just wish casting by the usual suspects
I've been trying to make a Pittsbu meet happen for a few years now. I've poked people but they haven't really activated. I don't have enough ground knowledge to make it happen.
At this point, I am in the same boat as you on this one. I still have not been west of Bedford.
Quote from: cl94 on February 12, 2017, 08:36:43 PM
Quote from: Alps on February 12, 2017, 08:32:05 PM
Quote from: CanesFan27 on February 11, 2017, 12:57:14 PM
Quote from: A.J. Bertin on February 10, 2017, 06:24:04 PM
At this point it's looking like I'm definitely attending at least three road meets this year. I'm definitely on for Jackson/Vicksburg, Kankakee, and Twin Cities.
If Doug hosts Ashtabula County OH in the fall (he mentioned that as a possible time frame on Facebook), I will definitely try to attend that. Someone (I think David Feryance) talked about the possibility of a Milwaukee meet - which I would be interested in also. However, the amount of travel it's looking like I'll do this year is reaching a limit - so I'm not sure I'd be able to attend Milwaukee given these other meets and a couple of trips that my husband and I will be taking this summer.
I was very interested in the Pittsburgh meet that someone mentioned several months ago, but I've heard nothing about that, so that looks like an unlikely possibility at this point. Has anyone heard anything recently about Pittsburgh, or is it safe to assume that's off the table now?
*shakes my head* yall need to go back and read. There was never talk of one actually happening. Just wish casting by the usual suspects
I've been trying to make a Pittsbu meet happen for a few years now. I've poked people but they haven't really activated. I don't have enough ground knowledge to make it happen.
Is there anyone out that way who could do some scouting for us? I'd love one, but I'm too far away to do anything about it.
It took me fifteen minutes to give two sample itineraries in that thread. With kids I can't just go up and say hey I am going home for a weekend, let's have a meet like i used to 10-15 years ago.
I'm not really sure who in that area would be able to, and interested in, scouting a Pittsburgh meet. First person who comes to my mind is Brian Powell (known as bitmapped here) in Morgantown, WV, but he might not be interested. Ed Szuba is now an OTR truck driver and rarely gets any family time when he's home, so he's not a possibility.
Quote from: CanesFan27 on February 12, 2017, 09:06:55 PM
It took me fifteen minutes to give two sample itineraries in that thread. With kids I can't just go up and say hey I am going home for a weekend, let's have a meet like i used to 10-15 years ago.
It's easy to throw together a sample itinerary, but it takes some scouting to make sure things are in good order. If you're looking at construction projects, things on the ground can change rapidly. I'd scouted the Charleston, WV meet at least three times, including once just a handful of weeks prior to the meet. Turns out things had changed on the US 35 construction project between my last scouting trip and meet day, and the crews were working on Saturday to get the road ready to open the next week.
We've had some bad results with people hosting meets in areas with which they're not intimately familiar.
Quote from: hbelkins on February 12, 2017, 09:34:20 PM
I'm not really sure who in that area would be able to, and interested in, scouting a Pittsburgh meet. First person who comes to my mind is Brian Powell (known as bitmapped here) in Morgantown, WV, but he might not be interested. Ed Szuba is now an OTR truck driver and rarely gets any family time when he's home, so he's not a possibility.
Quote from: CanesFan27 on February 12, 2017, 09:06:55 PM
It took me fifteen minutes to give two sample itineraries in that thread. With kids I can't just go up and say hey I am going home for a weekend, let's have a meet like i used to 10-15 years ago.
It's easy to throw together a sample itinerary, but it takes some scouting to make sure things are in good order. If you're looking at construction projects, things on the ground can change rapidly. I'd scouted the Charleston, WV meet at least three times, including once just a handful of weeks prior to the meet. Turns out things had changed on the US 35 construction project between my last scouting trip and meet day, and the crews were working on Saturday to get the road ready to open the next week.
We've had some bad results with people hosting meets in areas with which they're not intimately familiar.
Scouting for a meet - now there's a No Crap! The Magazine exclusive.
The itineraries I gave were samples thrown out there for someone to have a meet and scout for themselves.
Quote from: cl94 on February 12, 2017, 08:36:43 PM
Quote from: Alps on February 12, 2017, 08:32:05 PM
Quote from: CanesFan27 on February 11, 2017, 12:57:14 PM
Quote from: A.J. Bertin on February 10, 2017, 06:24:04 PM
At this point it's looking like I'm definitely attending at least three road meets this year. I'm definitely on for Jackson/Vicksburg, Kankakee, and Twin Cities.
If Doug hosts Ashtabula County OH in the fall (he mentioned that as a possible time frame on Facebook), I will definitely try to attend that. Someone (I think David Feryance) talked about the possibility of a Milwaukee meet - which I would be interested in also. However, the amount of travel it's looking like I'll do this year is reaching a limit - so I'm not sure I'd be able to attend Milwaukee given these other meets and a couple of trips that my husband and I will be taking this summer.
I was very interested in the Pittsburgh meet that someone mentioned several months ago, but I've heard nothing about that, so that looks like an unlikely possibility at this point. Has anyone heard anything recently about Pittsburgh, or is it safe to assume that's off the table now?
*shakes my head* yall need to go back and read. There was never talk of one actually happening. Just wish casting by the usual suspects
I've been trying to make a Pittsbu meet happen for a few years now. I've poked people but they haven't really activated. I don't have enough ground knowledge to make it happen.
Is there anyone out that way who could do some scouting for us? I'd love one, but I'm too far away to do anything about it.
I could, but the problem is that we got to pay for a lot of things this year. I'll be able to drive in 2020, so I guess it might happen then...but then again, which 16 year old hosts a road meet?
Quote from: CanesFan27 on February 12, 2017, 09:44:15 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on February 12, 2017, 09:34:20 PM
I'm not really sure who in that area would be able to, and interested in, scouting a Pittsburgh meet. First person who comes to my mind is Brian Powell (known as bitmapped here) in Morgantown, WV, but he might not be interested. Ed Szuba is now an OTR truck driver and rarely gets any family time when he's home, so he's not a possibility.
Quote from: CanesFan27 on February 12, 2017, 09:06:55 PM
It took me fifteen minutes to give two sample itineraries in that thread. With kids I can't just go up and say hey I am going home for a weekend, let's have a meet like i used to 10-15 years ago.
It's easy to throw together a sample itinerary, but it takes some scouting to make sure things are in good order. If you're looking at construction projects, things on the ground can change rapidly. I'd scouted the Charleston, WV meet at least three times, including once just a handful of weeks prior to the meet. Turns out things had changed on the US 35 construction project between my last scouting trip and meet day, and the crews were working on Saturday to get the road ready to open the next week.
We've had some bad results with people hosting meets in areas with which they're not intimately familiar.
Scouting for a meet - now there's a No Crap! The Magazine exclusive.
The itineraries I gave were samples thrown out there for someone to have a meet and scout for themselves.
That was kinda my point, although perhaps clumsily expressed. It will still take someone in the area to go scout the area and be able to do so fairly close to the meeting date to ensure the itinerary is good, especially since so many hosts now prepare routes to ensure no one gets lost and people find their way from one stop to the next. And the issue with doing something in Pittsburgh or SWPA in general seems to be finding someone to do it.
Update for me: I can go to New River Gorge, but this disqualifies me to going to Cedar Point/Walt Disney World (with a classmate).
I'm siding with New River Gorge, as I can do CP/WDW whenever I want. I am still on the fence between the three, because all three I've never been to before. Besides, CP/WDW may not happen because of finance problems my classmate's family has (college debt, loans, mortgage, the usual).
If there's a pre meet, I'd say I can attend. My route to get to NRG involves me going through NRG itself (81-70-68 (clinched! and i see the sidling hill cut!) 79-US 19). I'm not sure if I should take Corridor H or I-68 to I-79, because I haven't seen the cut, but Corridor H is new and is also very scenic. I haven't seen both.
Way back is simple, I-64 to I-81. Only reason is to stop by White Sulphur Springs and check out the Greenbrier fallout shelter. I've heard that I-64 and I-81 in western parts of VA is scenic, so bonus points I guess?
Quote from: noelbotevera on February 14, 2017, 07:58:21 PM
Update for me: I can go to New River Gorge, but this disqualifies me to going to Cedar Point/Walt Disney World (with a classmate).
I'm siding with New River Gorge, as I can do CP/WDW whenever I want. I am still on the fence between the three, because all three I've never been to before. Besides, CP/WDW may not happen because of finance problems my classmate's family has (college debt, loans, mortgage, the usual).
If there's a pre meet, I'd say I can attend. My route to get to NRG involves me going through NRG itself (81-70-68 (clinched! and i see the sidling hill cut!) 79-US 19). I'm not sure if I should take Corridor H or I-68 to I-79, because I haven't seen the cut, but Corridor H is new and is also very scenic. I haven't seen both.
Way back is simple, I-64 to I-81. Only reason is to stop by White Sulphur Springs and check out the Greenbrier fallout shelter. I've heard that I-64 and I-81 in western parts of VA is scenic, so bonus points I guess?
Do whatever you want. There's no reason to tell us about it. Just let meet hosts know if you're going or not.
Quote from: noelbotevera on February 14, 2017, 07:58:21 PM
If there's a pre meet, I'd say I can attend. My route to get to NRG involves me going through NRG itself (81-70-68 (clinched! and i see the sidling hill cut!) 79-US 19). I'm not sure if I should take Corridor H or I-68 to I-79, because I haven't seen the cut, but Corridor H is new and is also very scenic. I haven't seen both.
At the Corridor H Road Meet last year, we clinched Corridor H going west and then came back east via the Maryland portion of I-68. Both were very scenic, so whichever you do I don't think you'll be disappointed. That said, I'm inclined to think that Corridor H is the more spectacular of the two. If you want to preview what's in store for you, I have the entire length of Corridor H photologged on my web site. Unfortunately, the I-68 photos only cover the easternmost few miles because it was raining for the rest of the trip that day.
Quote from: noelbotevera on February 14, 2017, 07:58:21 PM
Update for me: I can go to New River Gorge, but this disqualifies me to going to Cedar Point/Walt Disney World (with a classmate).
I'm siding with New River Gorge, as I can do CP/WDW whenever I want. I am still on the fence between the three, because all three I've never been to before. Besides, CP/WDW may not happen because of finance problems my classmate's family has (college debt, loans, mortgage, the usual).
If there's a pre meet, I'd say I can attend. My route to get to NRG involves me going through NRG itself (81-70-68 (clinched! and i see the sidling hill cut!) 79-US 19). I'm not sure if I should take Corridor H or I-68 to I-79, because I haven't seen the cut, but Corridor H is new and is also very scenic. I haven't seen both.
Way back is simple, I-64 to I-81. Only reason is to stop by White Sulphur Springs and check out the Greenbrier fallout shelter. I've heard that I-64 and I-81 in western parts of VA is scenic, so bonus points I guess?
You may want to wait until you see the itinerary and times I'm planning before you commit. Details forthcoming after I go to Beckley this weekend to do final scouting. But in my mind, I have something a little different planned than the usual meet.
Quote from: Alps on February 15, 2017, 12:13:33 AM
Quote from: noelbotevera on February 14, 2017, 07:58:21 PM
Update for me: I can go to New River Gorge, but this disqualifies me to going to Cedar Point/Walt Disney World (with a classmate).
I'm siding with New River Gorge, as I can do CP/WDW whenever I want. I am still on the fence between the three, because all three I've never been to before. Besides, CP/WDW may not happen because of finance problems my classmate's family has (college debt, loans, mortgage, the usual).
If there's a pre meet, I'd say I can attend. My route to get to NRG involves me going through NRG itself (81-70-68 (clinched! and i see the sidling hill cut!) 79-US 19). I'm not sure if I should take Corridor H or I-68 to I-79, because I haven't seen the cut, but Corridor H is new and is also very scenic. I haven't seen both.
Way back is simple, I-64 to I-81. Only reason is to stop by White Sulphur Springs and check out the Greenbrier fallout shelter. I've heard that I-64 and I-81 in western parts of VA is scenic, so bonus points I guess?
Do whatever you want. There's no reason to tell us about it. Just let meet hosts know if you're going or not.
The kid's only 12 years old. Give him a break.
Quote from: A.J. Bertin on February 16, 2017, 06:32:09 AM
Quote from: Alps on February 15, 2017, 12:13:33 AM
Quote from: noelbotevera on February 14, 2017, 07:58:21 PM
Update for me: I can go to New River Gorge, but this disqualifies me to going to Cedar Point/Walt Disney World (with a classmate).
I'm siding with New River Gorge, as I can do CP/WDW whenever I want. I am still on the fence between the three, because all three I've never been to before. Besides, CP/WDW may not happen because of finance problems my classmate's family has (college debt, loans, mortgage, the usual).
If there's a pre meet, I'd say I can attend. My route to get to NRG involves me going through NRG itself (81-70-68 (clinched! and i see the sidling hill cut!) 79-US 19). I'm not sure if I should take Corridor H or I-68 to I-79, because I haven't seen the cut, but Corridor H is new and is also very scenic. I haven't seen both.
Way back is simple, I-64 to I-81. Only reason is to stop by White Sulphur Springs and check out the Greenbrier fallout shelter. I've heard that I-64 and I-81 in western parts of VA is scenic, so bonus points I guess?
Do whatever you want. There's no reason to tell us about it. Just let meet hosts know if you're going or not.
The kid's only 12 years old. Give him a break.
Nah, I know what Alps is saying. I just didn't want to make a pointless thread in Road Trips, so I just consolidated it here.
I'm just still on the fence with the route....either pick Corridor H and miss out on Sideling Hill Cut, or vice versa?
Quote from: noelbotevera on February 16, 2017, 03:24:13 PM
Quote from: A.J. Bertin on February 16, 2017, 06:32:09 AM
Quote from: Alps on February 15, 2017, 12:13:33 AM
Quote from: noelbotevera on February 14, 2017, 07:58:21 PM
Update for me: I can go to New River Gorge, but this disqualifies me to going to Cedar Point/Walt Disney World (with a classmate).
I'm siding with New River Gorge, as I can do CP/WDW whenever I want. I am still on the fence between the three, because all three I've never been to before. Besides, CP/WDW may not happen because of finance problems my classmate's family has (college debt, loans, mortgage, the usual).
If there's a pre meet, I'd say I can attend. My route to get to NRG involves me going through NRG itself (81-70-68 (clinched! and i see the sidling hill cut!) 79-US 19). I'm not sure if I should take Corridor H or I-68 to I-79, because I haven't seen the cut, but Corridor H is new and is also very scenic. I haven't seen both.
Way back is simple, I-64 to I-81. Only reason is to stop by White Sulphur Springs and check out the Greenbrier fallout shelter. I've heard that I-64 and I-81 in western parts of VA is scenic, so bonus points I guess?
Do whatever you want. There's no reason to tell us about it. Just let meet hosts know if you're going or not.
The kid's only 12 years old. Give him a break.
Nah, I know what Alps is saying. I just didn't want to make a pointless thread in Road Trips, so I just consolidated it here.
I'm just still on the fence with the route....either pick Corridor H and miss out on Sideling Hill Cut, or vice versa?
Go one way, and back the other. Come to the meet via Corridor H, and go back home via I-68. Or vice versa. But it's probably going to be pretty much dark when you are traveling anyway so you won't get to see much. Plan is for the meet tour to start promptly at 10 a.m. from the New River Gorge visitors center.
Quote from: A.J. Bertin on February 16, 2017, 06:32:09 AM
Quote from: Alps on February 15, 2017, 12:13:33 AM
Quote from: noelbotevera on February 14, 2017, 07:58:21 PM
Update for me: I can go to New River Gorge, but this disqualifies me to going to Cedar Point/Walt Disney World (with a classmate).
I'm siding with New River Gorge, as I can do CP/WDW whenever I want. I am still on the fence between the three, because all three I've never been to before. Besides, CP/WDW may not happen because of finance problems my classmate's family has (college debt, loans, mortgage, the usual).
If there's a pre meet, I'd say I can attend. My route to get to NRG involves me going through NRG itself (81-70-68 (clinched! and i see the sidling hill cut!) 79-US 19). I'm not sure if I should take Corridor H or I-68 to I-79, because I haven't seen the cut, but Corridor H is new and is also very scenic. I haven't seen both.
Way back is simple, I-64 to I-81. Only reason is to stop by White Sulphur Springs and check out the Greenbrier fallout shelter. I've heard that I-64 and I-81 in western parts of VA is scenic, so bonus points I guess?
Do whatever you want. There's no reason to tell us about it. Just let meet hosts know if you're going or not.
The kid's only 12 years old. Give him a break.
Plus a lot of us also post about our travel plans in both meet threads and the road trips board.
Quote from: hbelkins on February 16, 2017, 04:59:47 PM
Quote from: noelbotevera on February 16, 2017, 03:24:13 PM
Quote from: A.J. Bertin on February 16, 2017, 06:32:09 AM
Quote from: Alps on February 15, 2017, 12:13:33 AM
Quote from: noelbotevera on February 14, 2017, 07:58:21 PM
Update for me: I can go to New River Gorge, but this disqualifies me to going to Cedar Point/Walt Disney World (with a classmate).
I'm siding with New River Gorge, as I can do CP/WDW whenever I want. I am still on the fence between the three, because all three I've never been to before. Besides, CP/WDW may not happen because of finance problems my classmate's family has (college debt, loans, mortgage, the usual).
If there's a pre meet, I'd say I can attend. My route to get to NRG involves me going through NRG itself (81-70-68 (clinched! and i see the sidling hill cut!) 79-US 19). I'm not sure if I should take Corridor H or I-68 to I-79, because I haven't seen the cut, but Corridor H is new and is also very scenic. I haven't seen both.
Way back is simple, I-64 to I-81. Only reason is to stop by White Sulphur Springs and check out the Greenbrier fallout shelter. I've heard that I-64 and I-81 in western parts of VA is scenic, so bonus points I guess?
Do whatever you want. There's no reason to tell us about it. Just let meet hosts know if you're going or not.
The kid's only 12 years old. Give him a break.
Nah, I know what Alps is saying. I just didn't want to make a pointless thread in Road Trips, so I just consolidated it here.
I'm just still on the fence with the route....either pick Corridor H and miss out on Sideling Hill Cut, or vice versa?
Go one way, and back the other. Come to the meet via Corridor H, and go back home via I-68. Or vice versa. But it's probably going to be pretty much dark when you are traveling anyway so you won't get to see much. Plan is for the meet tour to start promptly at 10 a.m. from the New River Gorge visitors center.
Problem with that is that my dad and I want to see the Greenbrier, so I can choose only one. I can knock off two things: Corridor H + WV Turnpike, or Sideling Hill + WV Turnpike....
Updated thread to reflect the final date for H.B's New River Gorge meet.