2024 Road Trip Plans

[Rothman]

South Dakota...Mines?

[jlam]

South Dakota...Mines?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Dakota_School_of_Mines_and_Technology

[D-Dey65]

The usual. Day trips to various parts of Florida (St. Augustine, the Big Bend, Ocala National Forest and surrounding communities, and others), as well as Folkson, Georgia and vicinity, and hopefully one to the New York Tri-State area without the need to anticipate a death in the family.

[MATraveler128]

As of now, I plan to pick up a friend from college in June so I'll be going to Charlotte and stay a night there and then we will drive down to the Tampa/St. Petersburg area in Florida. Possibly stop and visit Tallahassee as well as Charleston and Savannah. I also want to possibly include St. Augustine, but that might be a bit expensive.

Well looks like this trip is a bit out of our budget, so we've opted to take a road trip to Kentucky instead, so we'll instead go from Charlotte to either Lexington or Frankfort. This will be my first visit to the Bluegrass State and I'll be doing some county clinching there.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

Heading to Louisiana next month for the New Orleans Roadmeet and birthday party up in Baton Rouge for my uncle.
Assuming there is no ice & snow on the "backroads" of Kentucky, I plan to go back to work on my consecutive route number list, then go through Eastern Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi before reaching Louisiana.

If my budget will allow for it, I want to combine traveling Skyline Dr/Blue Ridge Parkway with attending A.J.'s City meet in Charlotte.

Otherwise, I'll memorize I-70 between Columbus and Indy as I plot out my roadmeet for Indianapolis.

[ozarkman417]

-Ouachita Mountains, AR to see the total solar eclipse.

-GA/NC Blue Ridge Mountains + Atlanta after school is over. This will be the first time I have entered North Carolina (state #33).

-Kansas City to see the Phillies (one of my friends is a native to Philly) in late August.

-Pending the release of the NFL schedule, a road trip to see the Eagles. This would most likely be to Dallas, knowing they have to play an away game against the Cowboys at some point. Much like with NC, I have not yet been to Texas.

[Road Hog]

Or you could've driven to KC this past year to see the Eagles beat the Chiefs at Arrowhead the Monday night before Thanksgiving. Your next chance will be in 2031.

[jlam]

Or you could've driven to KC this past year to see the Eagles beat the Chiefs at Arrowhead the Monday night before Thanksgiving. Your next chance will be in 2031.

2025

[kphoger]

Or you could've driven to KC this past year to see the Eagles beat the Chiefs at Arrowhead the Monday night before Thanksgiving. Your next chance will be in 2031.

2025

Ah, but see, the Chiefs are going to win that one, so it doesn't count. 

[Hunty2022]

My Luray Caverns trip has been postponed to an unknown date.

On the brighter side, I have a possible trip to Manassas planned on the 20th.

[jlam]

A road trip this summer is in the works for me. It'll be a massive loop in the Northwestern United States. I'll visit the University of Wyoming and Montana State. After touring the latter, I will head west to Portland, Oregon, see family, and return home via I-84 and I-80. Remember that this trip is very preliminary and might not happen at all.

My next medium-distance road trip will be downstate to Crested Butte and Mt. Princeton this spring. No new terrain there.

[US 89]

So, this year...

At least two trips to Atlanta - one to visit my parents and some family friends, another for a friend's wedding. I've done these drives so many times that I basically have driven every possible route, but I'll see if I can find some new mileage in Georgia's massive state highway system somewhere.

Solar eclipse trip in April. Still figuring out details of how this is going to look, but I have a hotel in Shreveport the night before.

There's the possibility of a long road trip to Boston and Maine this summer, which I of course would love to do, but I might fly instead because I don't know if I'll have the time for that kind of drive...

Also have a possible drive to Oklahoma in the works too, if I have enough money and my July is free enough otherwise...

[webny99]

There's the possibility of a long road trip to Boston and Maine this summer, which I of course would love to do, but I might fly instead because I don't know if I'll have the time for that kind of drive...

Maine is a grand and somewhat unique location for a road trip within the US. Would certainly recommend, even if you fly into somewhere nearby (such as Boston) and drive from there.

[JayhawkCO]

I plan on driving every road on Adak Island, and then we're stopping in Washington on the way back home and going to do the Cascade Loop.

[ozarkman417]

Or you could've driven to KC this past year to see the Eagles beat the Chiefs at Arrowhead the Monday night before Thanksgiving. Your next chance will be in 2031.

Technically true, however... this was a Super Bowl "rematch" game. Tickets were going for some $350 a piece IIRC. Having done a trip to see the Cardinals face the Phillies not to long beforehand... I just didn't have the money for that.

[frankenroad]

The only significant road trip I have planned for this year is a trip to Long Island for my niece's wedding in September.

I am still debating my route.  The wedding is at the eastern end of Long Island (Shelter Island, to be exact), so one of the options I am looking at is driving to either Bridgeport or New London and taking the ferry, to avoid the NYC area.  It looks like the ferry toll is about $70-80, but I'm willing to pay a little more to be more relaxed.

Because of the timing of certain family events, and the fact that I'm not as young as I used to be (and will be driving solo), I am planning to make the trip in 2 days (it's over750 miles), with a stop somewhere in central to eastern PA.  I will probably take 80 even though its a little longer than 70/76/81/78. 

Would be interested in others' thoughts re the ferry option.

[webny99]

The only significant road trip I have planned for this year is a trip to Long Island for my niece's wedding in September.

I am still debating my route.  The wedding is at the eastern end of Long Island (Shelter Island, to be exact), so one of the options I am looking at is driving to either Bridgeport or New London and taking the ferry, to avoid the NYC area.  It looks like the ferry toll is about $70-80, but I'm willing to pay a little more to be more relaxed.

Because of the timing of certain family events, and the fact that I'm not as young as I used to be (and will be driving solo), I am planning to make the trip in 2 days (it's over750 miles), with a stop somewhere in central to eastern PA.  I will probably take 80 even though its a little longer than 70/76/81/78. 

Would be interested in others' thoughts re the ferry option.

Southern CT along the I-95 corridor can be as bad or arguably worse than Long Island for congestion. If you want to avoid that, the New London ferry option would make sense as you could take I-84 to avoid the NYC and environs entirely and then drop south via CT 9. The New London ferry would also get you considerably closer to Shelter Island once you reach LI. The Bridgeport ferry would put you past the worst congestion on LI but you'd still have to drive almost 2 hours on a good day, and most of it on backroads since you'd be too far north to take I-495.

I can't comment on either of the ferries specifically, but probably worth a shot if you have already been to Long Island and/or want to try something different.

[vdeane]

The only significant road trip I have planned for this year is a trip to Long Island for my niece's wedding in September.

I am still debating my route.  The wedding is at the eastern end of Long Island (Shelter Island, to be exact), so one of the options I am looking at is driving to either Bridgeport or New London and taking the ferry, to avoid the NYC area.  It looks like the ferry toll is about $70-80, but I'm willing to pay a little more to be more relaxed.

Because of the timing of certain family events, and the fact that I'm not as young as I used to be (and will be driving solo), I am planning to make the trip in 2 days (it's over750 miles), with a stop somewhere in central to eastern PA.  I will probably take 80 even though its a little longer than 70/76/81/78. 

Would be interested in others' thoughts re the ferry option.

Southern CT along the I-95 corridor can be as bad or arguably worse than Long Island for congestion. If you want to avoid that, the New London ferry option would make sense as you could take I-84 to avoid the NYC and environs entirely and then drop south via CT 9. The New London ferry would also get you considerably closer to Shelter Island once you reach LI. The Bridgeport ferry would put you past the worst congestion on LI but you'd still have to drive almost 2 hours on a good day, and most of it on backroads since you'd be too far north to take I-495.

I can't comment on either of the ferries specifically, but probably worth a shot if you have already been to Long Island and/or want to try something different.

The trouble is you have to get to LI.  NYC traffic is no picnic, even outside of rush hour.  And I-84 can have its fair share of congestion too; there really isn't a way through this part of the country that is always good, just stuff that can be bad at varying times, so it's a question of what things will be like when you're traveling and picking your poison.  Would you rather deal with stop and go in the city followed by faster moving in LI, or congested but mostly moving in CT?  Are you traveling morning, midday, PM rush, weekday, weekend?  Checking the Google Maps "typical traffic" data and doing some mock driving directions for varying routes at a similar time/day of week to when you would leave can inform planning a lot.

[webny99]

The trouble is you have to get to LI.  NYC traffic is no picnic, even outside of rush hour.  And I-84 can have its fair share of congestion too; there really isn't a way through this part of the country that is always good, just stuff that can be bad at varying times, so it's a question of what things will be like when you're traveling and picking your poison.  Would you rather deal with stop and go in the city followed by faster moving in LI, or congested but mostly moving in CT?  Are you traveling morning, midday, PM rush, weekday, weekend?  Checking the Google Maps "typical traffic" data and doing some mock driving directions for varying routes at a similar time/day of week to when you would leave can inform planning a lot.

Right, that's why I suggested I-84 as an option that largely avoids the NYC area. I-84 in eastern western CT is basically NYC/Hartford exurbia and can be slow at times, but congestion-wise I would still way rather that than have to deal with NYC proper and then slog all the way down LI - as long as one is OK with the ferry component.

[vdeane]

The trouble is you have to get to LI.  NYC traffic is no picnic, even outside of rush hour.  And I-84 can have its fair share of congestion too; there really isn't a way through this part of the country that is always good, just stuff that can be bad at varying times, so it's a question of what things will be like when you're traveling and picking your poison.  Would you rather deal with stop and go in the city followed by faster moving in LI, or congested but mostly moving in CT?  Are you traveling morning, midday, PM rush, weekday, weekend?  Checking the Google Maps "typical traffic" data and doing some mock driving directions for varying routes at a similar time/day of week to when you would leave can inform planning a lot.

Right, that's why I suggested I-84 as an option that largely avoids the NYC area. I-84 in eastern CT is basically NYC/Hartford exurbia and can be slow at times, but congestion-wise I would still way rather that than have to deal with NYC proper and then slog all the way down LI - as long as one is OK with the ferry component.

Wasn't talking about eastern CT.  The stretch from the NY/CT line to I-691 is no fun on Friday afternoons.  Going to Newburgh is also a ton of extra miles, though I-684 can help with that (depending on when you get there, of course).

[webny99]

The trouble is you have to get to LI.  NYC traffic is no picnic, even outside of rush hour.  And I-84 can have its fair share of congestion too; there really isn't a way through this part of the country that is always good, just stuff that can be bad at varying times, so it's a question of what things will be like when you're traveling and picking your poison.  Would you rather deal with stop and go in the city followed by faster moving in LI, or congested but mostly moving in CT?  Are you traveling morning, midday, PM rush, weekday, weekend?  Checking the Google Maps "typical traffic" data and doing some mock driving directions for varying routes at a similar time/day of week to when you would leave can inform planning a lot.

Right, that's why I suggested I-84 as an option that largely avoids the NYC area. I-84 in eastern CT is basically NYC/Hartford exurbia and can be slow at times, but congestion-wise I would still way rather that than have to deal with NYC proper and then slog all the way down LI - as long as one is OK with the ferry component.

Wasn't talking about eastern CT.  The stretch from the NY/CT line to I-691 is no fun on Friday afternoons.  Going to Newburgh is also a ton of extra miles, though I-684 can help with that (depending on when you get there, of course).

Whoops, my brain auto-associated CT with east but I meant western CT.

[frankenroad]

The only significant road trip I have planned for this year is a trip to Long Island for my niece's wedding in September.

I am still debating my route.  The wedding is at the eastern end of Long Island (Shelter Island, to be exact), so one of the options I am looking at is driving to either Bridgeport or New London and taking the ferry, to avoid the NYC area.  It looks like the ferry toll is about $70-80, but I'm willing to pay a little more to be more relaxed.

Because of the timing of certain family events, and the fact that I'm not as young as I used to be (and will be driving solo), I am planning to make the trip in 2 days (it's over750 miles), with a stop somewhere in central to eastern PA.  I will probably take 80 even though its a little longer than 70/76/81/78. 

Would be interested in others' thoughts re the ferry option.

Southern CT along the I-95 corridor can be as bad or arguably worse than Long Island for congestion. If you want to avoid that, the New London ferry option would make sense as you could take I-84 to avoid the NYC and environs entirely and then drop south via CT 9. The New London ferry would also get you considerably closer to Shelter Island once you reach LI. The Bridgeport ferry would put you past the worst congestion on LI but you'd still have to drive almost 2 hours on a good day, and most of it on backroads since you'd be too far north to take I-495.

I can't comment on either of the ferries specifically, but probably worth a shot if you have already been to Long Island and/or want to try something different.

I was actually thinking about the 84 option.  I was not worried so much about congestion on LI as going through the city.  FWIW, this trip will be on Thursday, Sept 12 with the return on Monday the 16th or Tuesday the 17th.

Checking Google Maps on a similar Thursday is a good idea, too.

[1995hoo]

Regarding 2024 road trip plans, aside from my usual fairly regular business travel to New York (via Amtrak), we have a trip to Florida planned to visit relatives for which we will fly down to Fort Lauderdale and rent a Tesla (this year a Model 3 instead of the Model Y we tried last year). Then in the summer our anniversary falls on a weekend, so we're considering a trip to the Omni Bedford Springs in Pennsylvania. That trip would present the typical conundrum of finding a new route through very familiar territory. I think I might use some sort of route involving US-30, as I have never taken said road from Breezewood west to Bedford. Our next-door neighbor regularly travels up to State College to visit relatives; she says she always uses US-30 there to avoid the toll and that it's a decent road, so all the more reason to check it out.

We got back from our Florida trip this past Saturday night. Flew down on January 6, flew back January 13. We drove the Tesla some 506 miles, including a drive down to the Keys because I had not been there before. We didn't go all the way to Key West (just too far for a single day's roundtrip), so we'll have to go back sometime. Electricity for the EV came to about $53 for the week, which compares favorably to gas at around $3 a gallon.

In terms of things of roadgeek interest, I covered the final segment of Florida's Turnpike that I was missing (two pieces of the Homestead Extension). I noted there are some places where the signs refer to a "Thru Lane" available to SunPass users only (meaning no toll-by-plate in those lanes). I had recalled reading that there was a possibility of express lanes being constructed on the Turnpike, so I wasn't 100% clear on what the "Thru Lanes" were. I therefore avoided them because I was using a SunPass we borrowed from our relatives and I didn't want to incur an additional toll (my brother-in-law strongly dislikes express toll lanes). When we stopped at the Supercharger in Florida City just north of the Turnpike's southern end, I did a Google search and found that there is no additional toll for those lanes, they're just intended for longer-distance drivers. Oh well, now I know for next time. I thought the signage could have been a little clearer as to what the concept was.

In the Keys, we made it down as far as Bahia Honda State Park before turning around. Traffic through Key Largo was heavy on the way back, so I took the Card Sound Bridge instead of staying on US-1. Then I opted for Krome Avenue instead of the Turnpike so as to clinch FL-997. I must say that road is immensely improved since the last time I was on it (it was still a two-lane road then). I was somewhat nonplussed to see that the big yellow sign at the south end of FL-997 said there had been five fatalities on that road so far this year—I couldn't help but wonder whether that actually meant in 2024 (which would be somewhat troubling, seeing as how we were driving it on January 9) or whether it was stale data. A look at Google Street View strongly suggests it's stale data because it said the same thing in July 2022.

Regarding the Tesla, I liked driving it, but my wife and I both decided we preferred the Model Y we drove last year. Normally we would both prefer a sedan over an SUV, but we both found the Model 3 a little hard to get in and out of because the roofline was low enough that we both hit our heads multiple times. I also bumped the inside of the B-pillar with my shoulder and the piece that covers the area where the seatbelt mechanism is popped loose (I jammed it back into place). A Google search reveals this is a common problem with the Model 3.

We may be back down there this spring for our niece's high school graduation. My wife wants me to rent a gas car for that trip just to save time when it comes time to return the vehicle. When we picked up the car this time, they had it charged to 96%, so we stopped at a 250 kW Supercharger in Davie and charged it up to that level. It took 50 minutes to reach that level because charging slows above 80%. For regular daily driving that didn't matter because I let it stop at 80%, but for returning it they treat it like a gas car where you return it at approximately the same level (it was at 93% when we dropped it off).

[JayhawkCO]

I plan on driving every road on Adak Island, and then we're stopping in Washington on the way back home and going to do the Cascade Loop.

Minor change of plans. Still going to Adak, but instead of spending a couple of days in WA, decided to do a little mini trip to Juneau and Ketchikan, so I'll get two of the four legs of AK7 clinched.

[Bruce]

Still writing up plans to go see the eclipse in Dallas with a long round trip from Seattle. If anyone wants to tell me my schedule is unreasonable, now is the time:

Day 1 - Seattle to Boise (long drive day, almost no stops)
Day 2 - Boise to SLC area
Day 3 - SLC to Moab area
Day 4 - Moab area to Denver
Day 5 - Denver and Colorado Springs
Day 6 - Colorado Springs to Santa Fe and Albuquerque
Day 7 - Albuquerque to Oklahoma City
Day 8 - Oklahoma City to Dallas
Day 9 - Eclipse Day (roughly)
Day 10 - Dallas to San Antonio
Day 11 - San Antonio and Austin
Day 12 - Stay in Austin
Day 13 - Austin to Dallas
Day 14 - Dallas again
Day 15 - Dallas to Bentonville via Little Rock
Day 16 - Bentonville to Kansas City via Jefferson
Day 17 - Kansas City to Sioux Falls via Lincoln
Day 18 - Sioux Falls to Rapid City via Pierre
Day 19 - Rapid City to Bozeman
Day 20 - Bozeman to Spokane
Day 21 - Spokane to Seattle