Might be thinksnow claimed that territory already.
That’s my thinking on the subject. thinksnow has the Ohio Halloween franchise locked up. And more power to him.
Someone at Anita’s party (danceswithcats, maybe?) was telling me yesterday that there was no good way for us MADs to get there from here. To me, though, it looks long but straightforward:
Take I-70 west from the Baltimore beltway (or I-270 from the DC beltway to I-70) to I-68 west to I-79 south to US 50 west to I-77 north to Marietta.
The jogs south and north on I-79 and I-77, respectively, are both pretty short. Total distance looks like ~305-310 miles from the respective beltways.
That’s the way I do it.
A straightforward way is to take Route 50 straight through WV but that leaves you subject to traffic lights and such.
And for PA dopers the goals should be to get to Route 70W and then taking 77 south from Cambridge, OH.
Oh, my, Marietta is so lovely! My husband and I spent a weekend there once. There is a fellow there who runs and antique tool shop who had written the authoritative volume on antique Stanley tools…normally that wouldn’t be enough to drag the whole family there but we were going to be in Ohio anyway; I looked up Marietta and learned it was actually a nice little place for a getaway. Which it was.
I can’t say I’ll make it down, but I did want to say congratulations on your new home!
Thank you! I hope you saw the pix!
And do try to come down. I’d love to meet you and your family.
Less than 240 miles from where we’ll be (assuming bad stuff doesn’t go down). I can’t guarantee anything, but it’s looking more promising. That 178-mile stint on I-77 doesn’t sound nearly so horrible when you consider how many times we’ve done the ~322 mile stint on I-81 … there’s something slightly deflating about getting on a road at exit 300 and knowing you’ve got to drive until 22 miles past exit 1 (it crosses into Tennessee at that point and becomes exit 77 or summat).
That was me, RT. I based that opinion on having tried the lower tier route to visit my niece when she was enrolled at Meredith Manor, near Parkersburg. As JC noted, US 50 is fairly direct, but not limited access.
From my house to Waverly, WV, it took ~8 hours using the PA turnpike and I-70, I-77, and a few hours longer if I went via Cumberland or Morgantown. That said, the US 50 route affords superior scenery, IMHO.
Any central PA dopers or folks further east interested in sharing the fuel/drive/room?
Where in God’s name do you live, buddy? It’s less than 7 hours to Lancaster, PA (I’ve done it) via 77 to 70 to the PA Toll Road.
Evites have gone out to the Dopers. If you didn’t get one that’s because I don’t have you’re address.
I’ve never been to a Dopefest, or even met any Dopers for that matter. I’m in Columbus, and if anyone else is interested, I’d be down with some sort of carpool/group discount sort of thing. I’ve learned a few usefull tricks through touring that might come in handy in lodging situations. I’ve never tried to e-mail myself from my profile, but in case it doesn’t work, my e-mail is my username @yahoo.com
Yay!
I see no reason why I can’t be there, unless the work Nazis make me… well, work.
Laserkitty and I might just make it to your gathering.
And yes, OhDope, in Columbus, is still the plan this Halloween 
Hey, didn’t I say you’re the dominant one here?
Maybe I should regularly go for 4th of July. I’m told the fireworks over the river are really pretty.
Evite on it’s way!
And now for the tricky part…
How do I manage to lure tomndebb down?
Ideas?
Jonathan, can you send me an e-vite? My addy is brookeln (at) earthlink.net
THANKS!
What a great and noble idea.
Regretably, the Ujests will be in Germany with the relations.
I was rather interested in this as well, too.
Nuts.
When you are all together, say nice things about me.
Kidnap deb. Send tom a note with a picture of deb captured.
Of course, you’ll get pitted beyond belief for doing it, but it’s worth it for a dopefest!
[sub]Disclaimer: if you think I’m anything close to serious, check your battery.[/sub]
You can put me on the tentative, but likely, list. And if you work out something about hotels, I’ll bite on that, too.
Thanks for the invite, JC.
Well, if they can’t make it, I could drag along my brother Tom and his wife Deb…who would know?
I would ask them about some incredibly obscure question and expect an immediate answer.
How would they fair.
UNC! The Comfort Inn here runs about $55/night. I’ll see if they’ll cut my guests a discount.
There’s a fancier hotel in town, the Lafayette. But their rooms run about $100/night. If you interested in that one let me know. Otherwise I’m targeted on the Comfort Inn.