AARoads Forum

Hello!

It's getting to be time to come up with a date for the Denver meet. I'm really going to work on planning it out in the next week or two so that we can get this more or less firmed up.

Please pick the dates that work for you and we'll go from there. I'm unable to really leave town from the first of the year to about a week into May, so I can't do it before any of these dates. If there's demand to do it after those dates, that's likely possible.

Thanks!

Thinking back to earlier this year when I stayed in Denver in mid-May and came out of my motel to find several inches of snow on my car, later is probably better than earlier. Odds are all weekends in May will have good weather, but there's always that weird, late-season winter storm that can hit into May. Also, if you plan activities in the mountains, the later the better.

There is no way that I can accurately gauge my possibilities this far in advance.  If I can attend, I surely will. 

Of the dates offered, I note that later dates seem to be more popular.  This makes sense to me.

I have not yet voted, and will not until I have a firm reason to (which will almost certainly be months after the poll has closed).

However; in general, for long distance travel, I favor the meets that are scheduled closest to the summer solstice.

Longer hours of daylight = greater opportunities for extended highway travel.  For me, that is a big plus.

I personally am leaning toward Memorial Day weekend and that is mainly because I would have a paid day off with Memorial Day on top of my usual Thurs\ Fri\ Saturday off and would just take a personal day on Sunday, this is a 2 day drive there and back for me, otherwise I may not be able to go, Steph and I are still in planning stages for a return trip to Albuquerque, NM in July and if that happens, I doubt I would be able to make another multi-day trip accross the great plains in May, on top of one I would be taking in mid July but I am still keeping this on the back burner. ;-)

I voted for the last three dates because grad school.

Doing it on Memorial Day weekend would make it easier in terms of getting enough days off work, but other than that I am good for any of these dates.

Memorial Day weekend would be cool but flight prices would be sky high, wouldn't they? I don't fly very often, so I don't know how much of a difference the price would be from that weekend to other weekends close to it.


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Another con for Memorial Day weekend would be the increase in traffic that those that drive to the meet, and maybe for everyone touring during the meet, would have to endure.

Quote from: Laura on October 20, 2014, 10:25:14 AM
Memorial Day weekend would be cool but flight prices would be sky high, wouldn't they?

Meh. Flying is cheating. If I'm going to attend a meet west of the Mississippi I'm going to earn it by driving there.

AMEN Anthony!! :-)

Quote from: Duke87 on October 20, 2014, 07:03:59 PM

Quote from: Laura on October 20, 2014, 10:25:14 AM
Memorial Day weekend would be cool but flight prices would be sky high, wouldn't they?

Meh. Flying is cheating. If I'm going to attend a meet west of the Mississippi I'm going to earn it by driving there.

Perhaps amusingly, I'm considering flying to the Denver meet!

Quote from: Duke87 on October 20, 2014, 07:03:59 PM

Quote from: Laura on October 20, 2014, 10:25:14 AM
Memorial Day weekend would be cool but flight prices would be sky high, wouldn't they?

Meh. Flying is cheating. If I'm going to attend a meet west of the Mississippi I'm going to earn it by driving there.

Flying gets you there much faster so that you can maximize your time in that area instead of spending days getting there and back.

Keep in mind that during this time period, especially from Memorial Day thru the end of May, many high schools (Colorado high schools generally have a schedule skewed earlier in the year) and colleges have graduation. For us, this translates into more expensive flights, hotels, and more crowded restaurants, especially on weekends.

I'm unable to make anything on Memorial Day weekend, but the other weekends will remain open.

Quote from: Alps on October 21, 2014, 01:17:12 AM

Quote from: Duke87 on October 20, 2014, 07:03:59 PM

Quote from: Laura on October 20, 2014, 10:25:14 AM
Memorial Day weekend would be cool but flight prices would be sky high, wouldn't they?

Meh. Flying is cheating. If I'm going to attend a meet west of the Mississippi I'm going to earn it by driving there.

Flying gets you there much faster so that you can maximize your time in that area instead of spending days getting there and back.

But driving there and back is half the fun!  :bigass:

As for me, I am going to make a real trip out of it and visit some friends in the area, so I will probably be in the area for at least a week or so.

Quote from: codyg1985 on October 21, 2014, 06:56:10 AM

Quote from: Alps on October 21, 2014, 01:17:12 AM

Quote from: Duke87 on October 20, 2014, 07:03:59 PM

Quote from: Laura on October 20, 2014, 10:25:14 AM
Memorial Day weekend would be cool but flight prices would be sky high, wouldn't they?

Meh. Flying is cheating. If I'm going to attend a meet west of the Mississippi I'm going to earn it by driving there.

Flying gets you there much faster so that you can maximize your time in that area instead of spending days getting there and back.

But driving there and back is half the fun!  :bigass:

As for me, I am going to make a real trip out of it and visit some friends in the area, so I will probably be in the area for at least a week or so.

It really depends what one's road priorities are for the trip. Since I've only done one mostly cross country trip, there's still plenty of territory for me to cover if I drove to Denver. If I wanted to maximize the amount of time in Denver and Colorado, I could fly there and have more time to drive there. Also, if there are other travel goals (visiting friends or being a tourist) that also plays a role.

As for me, I could go either way at this point, but the difference would be the amount of time I would have to do it since Mike can only take five days off in a row. If we drove, we would make our trip mid-week to mid-week (say, Wednesday to Tuesday), with a max time of 7.5 days if we left the evening before. If we flew, we could take advantage of having an extra weekend (say, Friday night to Sunday) and have a 9.5 day trip.

Quote from: Alps on October 21, 2014, 01:17:12 AM

Quote from: Duke87 on October 20, 2014, 07:03:59 PM

Quote from: Laura on October 20, 2014, 10:25:14 AM
Memorial Day weekend would be cool but flight prices would be sky high, wouldn't they?

Meh. Flying is cheating. If I'm going to attend a meet west of the Mississippi I'm going to earn it by driving there.

Flying gets you there much faster so that you can maximize your time in that area instead of spending days getting there and back.

This statement presumes that "getting there and back" is not itself of interest. Plenty of roads between here and there that I haven't been on.

Besides, flying is an inherently unpleasant experience even when it's done right. Meanwhile the airline industry and the department of homeland security seem to conspire to make it even more unpleasant in any way they possibly can.

Quote from: Duke87 on October 22, 2014, 01:02:49 AM

Quote from: Alps on October 21, 2014, 01:17:12 AM

Quote from: Duke87 on October 20, 2014, 07:03:59 PM

Quote from: Laura on October 20, 2014, 10:25:14 AM
Memorial Day weekend would be cool but flight prices would be sky high, wouldn't they?

Meh. Flying is cheating. If I'm going to attend a meet west of the Mississippi I'm going to earn it by driving there.

Flying gets you there much faster so that you can maximize your time in that area instead of spending days getting there and back.

This statement presumes that "getting there and back" is not itself of interest. Plenty of roads between here and there that I haven't been on.

Besides, flying is an inherently unpleasant experience even when it's done right. Meanwhile the airline industry and the department of homeland security seem to conspire to make it even more unpleasant in any way they possibly can.

I still regret not driving to the NYC meet, if only because I was stuck in a center seat between two obese people from Newark all the way to Denver. Flying sucks balls.

I might fly to Denver for this meet though because it's a short flight and I've already driven the entire Idaho, Wyoming, and Nebraska Panhandle highway systems, which sort of boxes me in.

Quote from: Duke87 on October 22, 2014, 01:02:49 AM

Quote from: Alps on October 21, 2014, 01:17:12 AM

Quote from: Duke87 on October 20, 2014, 07:03:59 PM

Quote from: Laura on October 20, 2014, 10:25:14 AM
Memorial Day weekend would be cool but flight prices would be sky high, wouldn't they?

Meh. Flying is cheating. If I'm going to attend a meet west of the Mississippi I'm going to earn it by driving there.

Flying gets you there much faster so that you can maximize your time in that area instead of spending days getting there and back.

This statement presumes that "getting there and back" is not itself of interest. Plenty of roads between here and there that I haven't been on.

Besides, flying is an inherently unpleasant experience even when it's done right. Meanwhile the airline industry and the department of homeland security seem to conspire to make it even more unpleasant in any way they possibly can.

The only way I would even consider flying is if I am on a really short time crunch or if the meet is on the west coast. If I would have been able to make the Merritt Parkway meet, I would have flown to that due to time constraints, but I generally love to drive there, even if it takes longer. Plus, flying plus renting a car is more expensive for me than just driving there since Huntsville's airport costs an arm and a leg to fly out of.