Utica NY Road Enthusiast Meet III - New Date: July 18, 2020

[Alps]

Good morning, everyone.  One of the things I've been thinking about the last few days since posting the itinerary is how are we going to pull this off with 15-20 attendees with little to no carpooling due to nCoViD-19.  There are two or three ideas that I've been playing through in my head, but there's one in particular that I want to get your thoughts on.  For those of you who attended the Providence, RI meet that A.J. Bertin hosted a little over a year ago, it was "city meet" format which, long story short, is more of a create your own tour, go at your own pace meet.  So, instead of having the traditional tour with a convoy of a dozen-plus cars, we would break up after lunch and do whatever we wanted.  That may mean following the original plan, checking other things out in the area (route clinches, photo ops), what have you.  There are a number things that were a part of the 2015 meet and also perhaps non-road interests that are out there.  Before I start to put together a final plan, I wanted to see what your thoughts are on this.

I know a few people were planning on lunch only, so they would be doing just that. I'm hoping that there is a formal tour component to this because I'm interested in seeing both these bridges and the people who are seeing them with me. It's something I floated to AJ before last year's first City Meet: have an "official tour" but allow people to do something else as well.

[74/171FAN]

If I come, I was planning to do get there as early in the morning as possible, do as much of the itinerary as possible, do lunch and the walking part, and then start to head out.

[hbelkins]

Do lunch, then an "at your own pace" tour. Provide detailed directions, and then let people see the intended sights on their own schedule. Some might decide to do the tour in reverse of what was originally planned.

I had a hybrid idea of sorts for the New River Gorge meet I planned a few years ago but was unable to attend due to illness. We were going to gather at the NRG visitors center and then people were free to explore on their own, at their own preferred pace. Lunch was going to be an "on your own" affair with no formal gathering, and then the group was going to reconvene at a designated time and place in Beckley for an organized tour along the East Beckley Bypass and the Coalfields Expressway.

If you did a planned lunch and then a self-guided tour, you'd get both the roads aspect of it and the fellowship aspect of it. And people should still feel free to carpool if they so desire, or not if they so desire. Let people make their own choices.

Or perhaps stagger departure times on the tour. Three cars leave at a certain time, then three more leave 10 minutes later, but follow the same itinerary.

[baugh17]

Alright, folks...the final meet itinerary is now up!

NewYorkRoutes.net/misc/uticameet20.docx

We will be sticking with the original plan.  How we go about the tour will be discussed/determined prior to leaving the park.  If anything else should change between now and next weekend, I will let you know.  Right now, the weather for next Saturday appears to be on the hot side...High around 90°F with a risk of thunderstorms (Remember snow was flying on the originally scheduled May 9 date).  But we'll get a better idea as the week progresses.

I don't have a solid count, but it looks like we'll have between 15-20 people at the meet.  If you haven't already, please let me know if you are going to be attending so I have a number to work with for next Saturday.

Any questions or concerns?  Please let me know.  Don't forget your masks, and I'm looking forward to seeing all of you next weekend for what I think is going to be a great meet.

[74/171FAN]

Right now I plan on attending in some form.  I will wait until the NY-NJ-CT quarantine update to make it official, but I think that PA will be left off the list for at least this week. 

I am unsure if that will be the case by the NJ Meet on August 1st.

[oscar]

Please count me out for this meet. I think I can technically comply with the quarantine rules, unless Virginia or Michigan are added to the restricted list. But I'd be forcing things, to try to attend so soon after I've returned from a cross-country (and back) road trip.

[cu2010]

Count me in. Looking forward to (finally!) meeting a lot of you folks... for once everything should work out.

Still debating whether to drive down Friday evening and get a hotel in Utica, or day trip on Saturday.

[okroads]

Seeing as Ohio's now on the naughty list, I'm officially out. I hope those who are able to go have a good time.

[74/171FAN]

Right now I plan on attending in some form.  I will wait until the NY-NJ-CT quarantine update to make it official, but I think that PA will be left off the list for at least this week. 

I am unsure if that will be the case by the NJ Meet on August 1st.

I should be in for sure now. Pennsylvania is officially still off the list.  (Delaware is now off the list with Ohio, Minnesota, New Mexico, and Wisconsin added.)

[oscar]

Seeing as Ohio's now on the naughty list, I'm officially out. I hope those who are able to go have a good time.

On the return leg of the road trip I've just completed, I spent the night in Ohio, as well as Minnesota and Wisconsin which were also just added to the shit list. That seals the deal on my "no go".

New York, etc. should find a way to stabilize the shit list. Constant changes, relying on moving averages, make it hard to plan visits to those states.

[okroads]

Seeing as Ohio's now on the naughty list, I'm officially out. I hope those who are able to go have a good time.

On the return leg of the road trip I've just completed, I spent the night in Ohio, as well as Minnesota and Wisconsin which were also just added to the shit list. That seals the deal on my "no go".

New York, etc. should find a way to stabilize the shit list. Constant changes, relying on moving averages, make it hard to plan visits to those states.

I've figured out that they update the list every Tuesday morning.

[vdeane]

Four new states: Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
https://www.syracuse.com/coronavirus/2020/07/4-more-states-added-new-york-coronavirus-quarantine-list.html

If you need to pass through the state on the way, that's fine, as long as it's of a "limited duration".  It's a bit vague about what that means and the example given for that is less than 24 hours, but I'd recommend not staying overnight or doing significant exploring out of the car prior to entering New York.

Also worth noting that the forms are now mandatory, subject to a $2000 fine and mandatory quarantine.
https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/covid-19-travel-advisory?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2Iv855fN6gIV1MDICh2gsQchEAAYASAAEgKsHvD_BwE

New York, etc. should find a way to stabilize the shit list. Constant changes, relying on moving averages, make it hard to plan visits to those states.

I'm not sure if it's intended or not, but I'm sure that if pointed out, this would be considered a feature and not a bug.  While the quarantine is only required for states with those specific metrics, I'm sure the state isn't exactly thrilled about travelers from states at risk of meeting those metrics even if they don't currently.

[cl94]

New York's list is better than most of the others because it uses current case counts. Updated every Tuesday, more than a certain % of tests positive or too high of a per-capita case rate and you're on the list. Better than New Hampshire, which just set an arbitrary "you can come in if you're from New England", disregarding the fact that Boston and Rhode Island are worse than the rest of the Northeast. Or Florida, which STILL has a mandatory quarantine for people from NY, NJ, and CT.

I certainly agree that the constant shifts are annoying. I'm trying to think about a late summer/early fall vacation and there's little I can do until I'm certain the states I'm planning to visit are not on the s--- list. But with conditions changing so quickly, you need something that adjusts to the changes.

[74/171FAN]

Better than New Hampshire, which just set an arbitrary "you can come in if you're from New England", disregarding the fact that Boston and Rhode Island are worse than the rest of the Northeast.

Right now Pittsburgh is the main reason PA is even somewhat close to the quarantine list.  Philly is still having its share of cases, but Pittsburgh is creaming even them right now.

[froggie]

Vermont also uses active cases and updates weekly (in our case, Friday), but takes it one step further and goes to a county-level of detail for Northeastern states.  Anything beyond Ohio, West Virginia, and Virginia must quarantine here regardless, but travel to/from those states and closer is unrestricted as long as the origin or destination county have an active case load of 400 cases per 1 million population.

Both Oneida and Herkimer Counties are above that threshold, though, so as I noted above I wasn't planning on attending even if I wasn't working Saturday.

[webny99]

I've figured out that they update the list every Tuesday morning.

New York's list is better than most of the others because it uses current case counts. Updated every Tuesday, more than a certain % of tests positive or too high of a per-capita case rate and you're on the list.

Thanks for the info. Good to know for those of us considering travel in some form or fashion.

[baugh17]

So some of you are making your way to central New York if you're not here already.  It looks like we'll have around 18 attendees tomorrow.   Weather forecast hasn't changed except there's now no threat of rain.  I will probably leave the house between 10:30-11  tomorrow morning and be at the park around 11:15.  Tour logistics will be discussed tomorrow before we leave the park.  With that said, I hope you all have a safe trip out and I'm looking forward to seeing all of you tomorrow.

[cu2010]

Just got home after a long day. I admit that I was super nervous driving down, as I had never really done one of these before (save the small mini-meet Val and I did in Potsdam a few years back) and usually aren't good with meeting new people, but you guys welcomed me with open arms, and I'm glad I went. It was a nice meet despite the 90 degree weather, and save from getting lost a couple of times, it all worked out. Hopefully it won't be another 10 years before I can attend another one.

Of course, I have a nice sunburn now, murdered what I hope was a raccoon and not someone's cat on US11 (it was super dark, couldn't really see, and it was gone when I turned around to see what it was), and my bad knee finally gave out about 5 miles from home. Guess something had to go wrong in order to make it a good day!

Thanks for hosting, Mark. Hope to see you folks again in the very near future. As mentioned at the meet, I'm looking to possibly host another meet in the underrepresented North Country next year (centered around Plattsburgh), so perhaps I'll see you then.

[baugh17]

Thank you to those who made it out to the meet today.  We ended up with 16 attendees including who I think is the youngest road meet attendee ever.  It was great to see everyone and I hope you all arrive back to your homes safely.  I am hoping to post some pictures from the meet on a dedicated section of NewYorkRoutes.net in the next couple of weeks.

[Brandon]

Four new states: Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
https://www.syracuse.com/coronavirus/2020/07/4-more-states-added-new-york-coronavirus-quarantine-list.html

If you need to pass through the state on the way, that's fine, as long as it's of a "limited duration".  It's a bit vague about what that means and the example given for that is less than 24 hours, but I'd recommend not staying overnight or doing significant exploring out of the car prior to entering New York.

Also worth noting that the forms are now mandatory, subject to a $2000 fine and mandatory quarantine.
https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/covid-19-travel-advisory?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2Iv855fN6gIV1MDICh2gsQchEAAYASAAEgKsHvD_BwE

New York, etc. should find a way to stabilize the shit list. Constant changes, relying on moving averages, make it hard to plan visits to those states.

I'm not sure if it's intended or not, but I'm sure that if pointed out, this would be considered a feature and not a bug.  While the quarantine is only required for states with those specific metrics, I'm sure the state isn't exactly thrilled about travelers from states at risk of meeting those metrics even if they don't currently.

I filled out the form before flying on July 17th.  It said to save a screenshot to show the person at the airport.  I did the next best thing, and I printed it out.  I get to Buffalo-Niagara International Airport, along with 20 other passengers on the plane (yeah, a really packed crowd on a 737-700), and go to hand my form to the lady there from the Erie County Health Department at a table set up for this.  She looks up at me, sort of surprised that I even acknowledged her, the table, and the executive order, and merely said thanks (with a bit of surprise in her voice) without even looking at the form.  None of the 20 other people even so much as looked twice.  I have this strange feeling that I could've ignored Cuomo, flew in, walked past the table, and no one would've given two rats' asses about it.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Minnesota is now off the list, too little too late I guess.

[bandit957]

Minnesota is now off the list, too little too late I guess.

I can't believe Minnesota was on the list in the first place. Minnesota is one of the best states at controlling the pandemic right now.

[vdeane]

Maryland is now on the list.  Lucky for several people that the meet happened when it did, but they're now going to have to wait and see if Maryland gets lucky enough to leave the list for the Morris County meet.

[SSOWorld]

Maryland is now on the list.  Lucky for several people that the meet happened when it did, but they're now going to have to wait and see if Maryland gets lucky enough to leave the list for the Morris County meet.

They can day trip it there.

[baugh17]

In case you missed it, or for those of you not on Facebook, I have added a page to my website with photos and highlights from last weekend's meet.  Enjoy!

http://newyorkroutes.net/uticameet2020/