2016 Meets

[Duke87]

The other primary issue is that since many of our core meet-going members are largely clustered in the same general region, it's difficult for them to have time/money to go to a lot of meets located outside the Northeast.

The power of population density. Roadgeeks are more densely clustered where people are more densely clustered.

But yes, time is an issue as well. For me (and I'm sure for a lot of people) anywhere that I need more than 5-6 hours to get to will require I take a day off from work to be there Saturday at noon.

Simple geography also means being located in the northeast puts me further away from a lot of things than might be ideal. From where I live, to get to the vast majority of the US, I have to begin my journey heading in a direction that uses only 60 degrees of the compass between 220 and 280 degrees azimuth. Every other direction either would involve driving into the ocean, or only get me to other places in the Northeast. Realistically if you live somewhere like Cincinnati or Nashville, you are more centrally located and have more ground within easy range.

[vdeane]

On the other hand, covering the same territory again in a few years is good for those of us who have only in the last couple of years been able to attend a ton of meets.  Even now I'm still not in a position to go out of daytrip range more than a few times a year.

[Duke87]

This is true. The first meet I ever attended (Highland NY, 2009) was held in an area that had hosted another meet a few years prior. But it focused on two brand new things, so people who had attended the previous meet had reason to return. It seems to me to be another animal entirely to go and host a meet where one has been held before but not much has really changed in the intervening years.


Anyways, with regards to next year, my level of interest is at follows:
Halifax - I don't care what it takes if this happens I'm going. It's mandatory.
Toronto - eh, maybe. Depends on when and what's on the tour.
Albany/Capital region - Too close to home to say no although whether I attend both days or only one is an open question.
Tuxedo - too hilarious not to. Must attend in fancy clothes for the lulz.
Tappan Zee - I'll be there
Cincinnati - as with the Cincy meet a couple years ago, I won't be going because I've been there before and can't justify making that long a trip for a destination that isn't new to me.
Central PA - Attendance likely but not guaranteed

[codyg1985]

I am not sure if the OP is making edits to the original post, but due to yet another delay with the I-22/65 interchange, I am going to have to delay the meet once again to the Fall. I am hoping that by then everything is wrapped up.

As for meets to attend next year, I am probably going to go to less of them due to vacation time constraints as well as potential trips out west. I may be attending maybe the top three or four, at the most. Here are mine in priority order:

1) Birmingham Meet (duh)
2) Duluth Meet
3) Louisiana (south represent!!)
4) Tappan Zee
5) Toronto
6) Tuxedo
7) St Louis
8) Cincinnati
9) Corridor H
10) Albany
11) Halifax
12) Central PA
13) Chambersburg
14) North Illinois
15) NE Wisconsin

 

[dgolub]

I'm definitely doing Tappan Zee, Tuxedo, and Albany.  I'll probably do Central Pennsylvania as long as I can make the logistics work out.

[froggie]

Has there been a Louisiana meet since I left in '08?

As for me, it depends in part on timing and whether I have higher priorities elsewhere.  Albany's a fair chance.  Tappan Zee's possible.  Everything else is doubtful.

[vdeane]

My plans for next year are Tuxedo, Tappan Zee, Albany, Halifax, Corridor H, Toronto, and possibly Cincinnati.

Speaking of Albany, since the day 2 tour is notably shorter than the day 1 tour, I'm thinking of doing it as an evening bonus tour instead, possibly merging some of it into the main tour.  It would make for a longer day though.

[SSOWorld]

Has there been a Louisiana meet since I left in '08?

As for me, it depends in part on timing and whether I have higher priorities elsewhere.  Albany's a fair chance.  Tappan Zee's possible.  Everything else is doubtful.

One was planned in 2013 for Shreveport, but never happened.

Re my interests - Definite on Chicago, optimistic on Duluth, doubtful on St Louis, Cincy, others are definitely out of the question.

NOTE: Updated OP to reflect additional meet plans

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Thanks. My plan was that I wasn't going to add things to the list until it went from "I'm thinking about hosting this" to "I AM hosting this" but it's all good.

[A.J. Bertin]

As for meets to attend next year, I am probably going to go to less of them due to vacation time constraints as well as potential trips out west. I may be attending maybe the top three or four, at the most. Here are mine in priority order:

1) Birmingham Meet (duh)
2) Duluth Meet
3) Louisiana (south represent!!)
4) Tappan Zee
5) Toronto
6) Tuxedo
7) St Louis
8) Cincinnati
9) Corridor H
10) Albany
11) Halifax
12) Central PA
13) Chambersburg
14) North Illinois
15) NE Wisconsin 

Here's my list in what I think is my priority order:

1) Duluth
2) Birmingham
3) Corridor H
4) Central PA
5) North Illinois
6) NE Wisconsin - I haven't heard about this meet yet. Who announced it?
7) Louisiana
8) Toronto

I'm pretty sure I'm not going to get to all of those meets, but I'd certainly love to try. I don't really have any interest in St. Louis or Cincinnati because I've been to meets in both of those cities in the past two years and don't need to go again this soon. Same with Tappan Zee. As fun as that would be, I don't really feel the desire to go to another NYC-area meet anytime soon. Albany or Halifax (especially Halifax) could be very fun but also very unlikely given what's already in my top 8.

[dgolub]

On the other hand, covering the same territory again in a few years is good for those of us who have only in the last couple of years been able to attend a ton of meets.  Even now I'm still not in a position to go out of daytrip range more than a few times a year.

Yeah, being relatively new (I started going to meets in 2013), I definitely concur.  Also, there is often more in an area than we can cover in one day, so a repeat wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.

[hbelkins]

Simple geography also means being located in the northeast puts me further away from a lot of things than might be ideal. From where I live, to get to the vast majority of the US, I have to begin my journey heading in a direction that uses only 60 degrees of the compass between 220 and 280 degrees azimuth. Every other direction either would involve driving into the ocean, or only get me to other places in the Northeast. Realistically if you live somewhere like Cincinnati or Nashville, you are more centrally located and have more ground within easy range.

And even then, there's not much new ground that can be covered in my case. If I'm going to something in the Northeast (or really, anything northeast of me) I have to take I-79 and I-68. I-79 was OK the first three times I drove it, but now it's something to be endured. And even the scenic wonders of I-68 are starting to get old. There's nothing new or thrilling about US 220/I-99 north of Cumberland. Once Corridor H is done, I will have exhausted all the Appalachian Mountain crossings, even some of the non-expressway ones like US 50, US 250 or US 33.

Going west offers the same lack of newness. I-64 to St. Louis? I-74 or I-65 to Indianapolis? BD,DT.

Plus, avoiding cities is something I prefer to do. Getting caught in traffic on I-75 in Cincinnati? Having to deal with the cluster foxtrot that is Atlanta? I don't think so, Tim. (To quote Al on "Home Improvement.")

Even if I did win the lottery or find a bag with a million dollars in it alongside the road and thus be able to start traveling for pleasure again, I'm running out of stuff to explore on the way to entirely new stuff. With the exception of the island counties in New York and Massachusetts, Maine is the only state left in the northeast where I can visit new counties. The closest states to me that I could conceivably finish off are Missouri and South Carolina.

This is where I need the cargo transporter from "Star Trek." Beam me and my vehicle to Kittery and let me start collecting Maine counties, or beam me to Dallas and I'll drive through the northwestern part of Texas.

[codyg1985]

Unless you fly, no matter were you are, eventually it will get to a point to where you will have to drive through old stuff to get to the new stuff. I-65 north of Alabama, I-40 west of Tennessee, and I-75/81 have become very familiar corridors going north or west, as has I-59 going south.

Is it worth it? Absolutely.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Chicago, NE WI, and St. Louis should be easy enough to reach. I also made overtures for Tuxedo, so I hope that can happen.

I'd love to go to Birmingham and the Louisiana meet too. I've never been to the Deep South before.

[cjk374]

I'd love to go to Birmingham and the Louisiana meet too. I've never been to the Deep South before.

I hope I can put together an interesting enough meet so it doesn't end up in the r00ined road meet thread. 

But most importantly I want y'all to enjoy your trip down here to where you will wanna come back to LA and visit again.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I'd love to go to Birmingham and the Louisiana meet too. I've never been to the Deep South before.

I hope I can put together an interesting enough meet so it doesn't end up in the r00ined road meet thread. 

But most importantly I want y'all to enjoy your trip down here to where you will wanna come back to LA and visit again.

Me too. I know Duluth probably won't be the best meet people have ever been to, but I'm still gonna try my damnedest to make it the best meet people have ever attended.

[Rothman]

I'd love to go to Birmingham and the Louisiana meet too. I've never been to the Deep South before.

I hope I can put together an interesting enough meet so it doesn't end up in the r00ined road meet thread. 

But most importantly I want y'all to enjoy your trip down here to where you will wanna come back to LA and visit again.

Me too. I know Duluth probably won't be the best meet people have ever been to, but I'm still gonna try my damnedest to make it the best meet people have ever attended.

When I lived in Superior, I thought that traffic light over I-35 where I-35/I-535/US 53 met was the most distinctive transportation-related feature of the area.

[Duke87]

I'd forgotten about Corridor H. That one I also have a good shot at attending.

In non-road meet related travel, it is all but decided that at some point next year during baseball season I will be in Texas for a week. My girlfriend and I are also looking at planning a trip to New Orleans but that will be a just the two of us thing and not coordinated with any Louisiana meet. 

[A.J. Bertin]

And even then, there's not much new ground that can be covered in my case. If I'm going to something in the Northeast (or really, anything northeast of me) I have to take I-79 and I-68. I-79 was OK the first three times I drove it, but now it's something to be endured. And even the scenic wonders of I-68 are starting to get old. There's nothing new or thrilling about US 220/I-99 north of Cumberland. Once Corridor H is done, I will have exhausted all the Appalachian Mountain crossings, even some of the non-expressway ones like US 50, US 250 or US 33.

Going west offers the same lack of newness. I-64 to St. Louis? I-74 or I-65 to Indianapolis? BD,DT.

Plus, avoiding cities is something I prefer to do. Getting caught in traffic on I-75 in Cincinnati? Having to deal with the cluster foxtrot that is Atlanta? I don't think so, Tim. (To quote Al on "Home Improvement.")

Even if I did win the lottery or find a bag with a million dollars in it alongside the road and thus be able to start traveling for pleasure again, I'm running out of stuff to explore on the way to entirely new stuff. With the exception of the island counties in New York and Massachusetts, Maine is the only state left in the northeast where I can visit new counties. The closest states to me that I could conceivably finish off are Missouri and South Carolina.

This is where I need the cargo transporter from "Star Trek." Beam me and my vehicle to Kittery and let me start collecting Maine counties, or beam me to Dallas and I'll drive through the northwestern part of Texas.

I understand what you mean about all of this. For me, the same routes leaving Grand Rapids and Michigan in general have gotten pretty old over the years. I'm sick of the drive east on I-96 to south on U.S. 23 to the Ohio Turnpike, I'm sick of the drive west/south on I-196 toward Chicago, and I'm kinda sick of the drive on U.S. 31 and I-65 through Indiana going south. I will say, though, that the nice thing about U.S. 31 now is the bypass of Kokomo which didn't open until a couple years ago or so. That part is still kinda fresh and new, but otherwise that drive is boring.

However, it's the price I pay to get to new territory. One thing I'd like to do at some point is add new counties in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio - especially those counties that are holes which are surrounded by other counties I've collected already. I've got lots of county holes in those states to fill.

For me, though, I like driving through cities and can tolerate some traffic if it's not too bad and as long as I have some warning that a traffic jam is ahead.

I will never run out of things to explore. It's just that the more I drive, the more I have to tolerate old stuff before reaching new stuff. As Cody says, driving on all these familiar roads is absolutely worth it if it means getting to new stuff. I will admit, though, that sometimes I'd love to be beamed with my car to a different part of the country where I can explore new territory without the burden of passing through familiar territory.

[oscar]

Unless you fly, no matter were you are, eventually it will get to a point to where you will have to drive through old stuff to get to the new stuff. I-65 north of Alabama, I-40 west of Tennessee, and I-75/81 have become very familiar corridors going north or west, as has I-59 going south.

For me, even the US routes radiating out of the D.C. area are all-too-familiar territory. So if I have to redo routes I've already done, I might as well use Interstates to get to new stuff more quickly. The Ohio and Pennsylvania turnpikes, I-95 to Miami, and the "Trail of Tolls" up to northern New Jersey, are for me all too familiar, but a necessary evil (though I've not yet exhausted the non-Interstate alternatives between Virginia and south Florida).

I'm still on my fourth and probably last major road trip this year, including the ones to the Lyndonville and Denver meets. It'll probably be a few months before I even start thinking about next year's meets.

[Rothman]

I live near the I-87 / I-90 interchange (Exit 24 on the Thruway).  I have a day's drive before I hit any new real estate and that real estate diminishes with each year and I'll have to continually drive out further before hitting new ground. 

I also used to drive between here and Western Massachusetts each weekend for my first year working out here. 

So, am I tired of the trips west, south and east on the Thruway?  Heck, does a one-legged duck swim in circles?!

Still, as long as I am physically able, I'll head out on the road in search of new places.

[freebrickproductions]

I'm probably going to see about attending the Birmingham Meet. Mostly depends on what college is like though.

[jpi]

I should have a choice of dates nailed down for my central PA meet right around the week after Thanksgiving. The dates will be for April.

[Brandon]

The North Illinois meet has morphed into a South Bend/Elkhart, Indiana meet.  I have the locations to see mapped out, it's just a matter of finding a restaurant.  This is an area very underrepresented for meets (there's only even been a few in Indiana that I know of!).  The meet tour will cross over into Michigan for a bit as well (two of the roads happen to go there).  I figure May/June should be a good time, as long as I can avoid being at the same times as the Duluth and Birmingham meets.

[rawmustard]

The North Illinois meet has morphed into a South Bend/Elkhart, Indiana meet.  I have the locations to see mapped out, it's just a matter of finding a restaurant.  This is an area very underrepresented for meets (there's only even been a few in Indiana that I know of!).  The meet tour will cross over into Michigan for a bit as well (two of the roads happen to go there).  I figure May/June should be a good time, as long as I can avoid being at the same times as the Duluth and Birmingham meets.

I should probably get around and dust off my plans for the US-131 bypass meet (with a couple prominent St. Joseph County bridges thrown in for good measure). It may complement the things going on in Elkhart/South Bend. There's also been murmuring of a Battle Creek meet, and I know just the venue where I want to have that (one of the co-owners was a former over-the-road truck driver who has a passing interest in roads).