Thanksgiving plan

[mattlistener]

o Saturday morning, pick up Enterprise car. They cut $90 off their discount price for a 9-day rental to match my USAA[1] discount on the same rental with Avis, and also changed the mileage from "pay per mile over 2000" to "unlimited". Yay!

o Drive toward Chicago until we have to stop. Should we go through upstate NY? Or Connecticut then Pennsylvania? I'm soliciting recommendations.

o Sunday, arrive in Chicago. Take my step-father's aunt Nancy[2] to dinner.

o Sunday-Tuesday nights stay with Mike H, a member of the group-apartment I put together when I moved off campus. Hopefully visit also with Jenny (another of that group), Josh, and Katherine the Red-Headed Eep. Show Brandi around Hyde Park and reminisce about college. Eat at Giordano's. Walk by the lake. Be bummed that I couldn't get there in time for Too Much Light's Sunday performance.

o Wednesday, drive to Detroit. Meet Brandi's family. Stay in hotel. Thursday, explore neighborhood, reminisce about Brandi's growing up years. Thanksgiving with family, stay in hotel. Hard to predict how family stuff will go, but recent contacts bode well.

o Friday-Saturday nights, Niagara Falls. Stay in $28/night hotel acquired through hotwire.com. Observe monstrous amounts of water shredding into fog as it plummets unceasingly off a cliff. Factory Outlets, IMAX theater. Process Detroit.

o Sunday morning, drive home!

Total distance: 2015 miles plus side-trips. $1.50/gal highway gas, guessing 32 mpg vehicle, means ~$95 spent on gas. Ouch.

---

[1] My dad was a Navy pilot.

[2] She who, among other things, gave me a place to stay for a month when my first romantic relationship blew up horribly, rendering my dorm uninhabitable at the end of my 2nd year.

Comments

do the mileage

[cthulhia]

since I grew up near a thruway exit, I of course recommend that. I know there's mini-geocaches in rest areas along the way.

I'm not sure how the mileage compares, or whether the I-80 route is hilly enough to cost more in gas mileage as well (but might be prettier).

Maybe try driving out on one route and back on the other?

Re: do the mileage

[mattlistener.livejournal.com]

The mileage is pretty similar between 90 and 80. Traffic (Saturday) and other concerns may be weightier.

We're definitely coming back through upstate NY, since we're stopping over at Niagara Falls. The question may be how far south do we go for our trip west.

[queue.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's the first time I've heard anyone have anything positive to say about Enterprise.

I gave you my opinion about route, right? I definitely recommend 90. I think it's less stressful, I like the scenery better, and you won't run out of gas many many miles from anything in the middle of Pennsylvania.

[mattlistener.livejournal.com]

Really. Our experience with Enterprise has been consistently good.

Marek recommended 80, so I'm trying to balance what I'm receiving. Lower stress, higher scenery sounds appealing -- plus 90 is the route mapquest picks.

The Voice of Experience Sez:

[bethr.livejournal.com]

Having done this trip many many times (grew up in Michigan---parents permanently interred there):

Upstate New York -------> Niagara Falls -------> Ontario ---------> Bridge to Michigan -------> take southernmost east-west highway to Chicago (you will have to at some point dip into Ohio or Indiana, though, I think).

You do not want to do this in one day. Really. It's 820 miles from Cambridge to E. Lansing, and another 4-5 hours on to Chicago. Stay on the Canadian side of the Falls the first night out. Cheaper, better. You can--- ahem---cash in those two $50s and get a fallsview room at the Canadian Niagara Sheraton, plus dinner.

Re: The Voice of Experience Sez:

[ceo]

I highly recommend the Ontario route. It's more interesting and a bit shorter distance-wise. QEW to ON 403 to ON 401. Once over the Ambassador Bridge, get on I-94 and stay on it. It'll eventually dip into Indiana and merge with I-90, and head up the Skyway into Chicago.

I've done this from Boston in a day, solo. I don't recommend it unless you really like driving (which I do).

Re: The Voice of Experience Sez:

[mattlistener.livejournal.com]

Thanks! And oh yeah, we're budgeting to get to Chicago on the afternoon of the second day without killing ourselves.

That's three differently-recommended routes now. Hm...

Re: The Voice of Experience Sez:

[bethr.livejournal.com]

If you take the Ontario route, you'll have the side perk of passing billboards advertising tourism in Cuba...

[golux-org.livejournal.com]

My impression of the routes:

I-90 through upstate NY (segment from Albany to Buffalo) is long, monotonous, straight, fast, direct, and restful driving. But boring.

I like the route from Buffalo to Detroit through Canada. It's nice getting the extra bonus hours of Canada exposure, and seeing the multitude of little things that are different. So given a choice, I prefer travel on the north shore instead of south shore of Lake Erie.

I-88 from Albany to Binghamton is scenic, very easy driving, but has almost no gas stations. View of mountains, without them ever becoming a nuisance. I think it's one my favorite stretches of highway in the country, certainly in the northeast.

NY-17 is a highway that connects from Binghamton to Erie PA, where it rejoins I-90. I recall that section as being more mountainous, but worth the trip. Sections were being converted to Interstate standards, and I think the whole thing is slated to become I-86 eventually. There are a few pockets where NY-17 becomes city driving, like near Elmira, which can bog down somewhat.

(With some quick research, I found the section from Corning to I-90 has already been converted to I-86, leaving just 50-60 miles of NY-17 west of Binghamton, which is mostly freeway already.)

If you go the southern (I-80) route, you might consider I-90 to Albany, I-88 to Binghamton, I-81 south through eastern PA to I-80. That entirely avoids the CT/NYC/NJ traffic.

I-80/90 through western Ohio and Indiana is flat farmland, wide expanse, interesting for the first hour, little to see. It's quite a shock in comparison to the MA landscape, and definitely worth noting for that effect. But I think the same effect can be found on the north side, the section of Ontario on 401 near London feels about the same to me (and it's right across Lake Erie, so no surprise).

I can't recall the western PA section of I-80, or eastern Ohio on I-80 or I-90 (close but separate), clearly enough to give commentary.

It's nice to see different things going in each direction. Since you're going to Niagara on the way back, that suggests the southern route westbound, then the northern route eastbound.

For the southern route, I'd go for either the 90/88/NY-17/86/90 path (unless the NY-17 road conditions look unfavorable), or the 90/88/81/80 path (unless it's too much longer than the other options -- I have no idea how the driving distance compares).

For the northern route, I'd say 401/403/QEW to Niagara, 90 back.

While checking out the status of the I-86 conversion, here are some links I found about I-86/NY-17:

http://www.nycroads.com/roads/I-86_NY/
http://www.i-86ny.com/
http://www.angelfire.com/ny4/expwy/qw/qw/linksqw.htm

[zmook.livejournal.com]

I am somewhat surprised to hear southern Ontario described as
"more interesting". I suppose it is, from a subtle cultural perspective -- you get to have Tim Horton's at your gas stops and whatnot -- but don't expect too much from the scenery in November.

Actually, I'd say that what's on the radio will be your most interesting difference. CBC Radio One from Toronto is at 99.1 and will be available from Rochester west (broadcasting off the CN Tower, I believe) -- but if you have any interest in pop music (or advertising, I suppose) don't forget to check out some commercial stations, too. A surprising fraction will be stuff you've never heard before.

If you're not in a hurry, the southern tier expressway through New York State is much prettier than the Thruway. Ithaca, in particular, is a beautiful town, and Watkins Glen also has a nifty waterfall. I don't know how any of this compares to the Pennsylvania route.

Which way did he go, George?

[foolcat.livejournal.com]

If I was you, I'd definitly avoid the Penn route,it takes you through
some REALLY scary tunnels through the mountains at the W.Virginia border, only to wind you up in Wheeling. Which is not a place fit to drive in.