RFI: Chicago to Southern NH, avoiding the interstate - US 20?

[Norville]

Ha me too. RPI class of 84.

‘86

[luckyman]

Great roads, but this weekend will likely be full of tourists gawking. I went to college in Troy, NY and lived in the greater Manchester, NH area. A quick 150 mile trip each way, but I would usually stay at school the month of October to avoid the traffic.

Route 2 across MA isn’t a bad drive either, but it goes through some towns and may be crowded as well, depending on where the foliage is peaking. There’s a knee dragging hairpin turn near North Adams that I recall from my motorcyclist days...

Oh hah now that I think about it, route 2 was the site of my to-date one and only speeding ticket in life. The officer tried to bait me a little with comments like “your tag says ‘wild wonderful West Virginia’ on it, you’ve at least got the wild part down” but I just owned up to everything and he wrote the ticket for about 15mph less than I was really doing so I didn’t get a reckless driving charge.

[HeavyDuty]

I think I’ll stop at one of the Tony Packo’s in the Toledo area for lunch Saturday. Any road food ideas for the Albany/Schenectady area?

[Hambo]

I think I’ll stop at one of the Tony Packo’s in the Toledo area for lunch Saturday. Any road food ideas for the Albany/Schenectady area?

The tough part of Tony Packo's is deciding what to order. In your case, order everything you want and put the extra in a cooler for the rest of the trip.

[HeavyDuty]

Day one went well. I was pushing miles today so ended up on the highway for a large portion. Tomorrow should be all off the slab. 635 miles down, 399 to go. And Tony Packo’s was almost as good as I remembered.

[Bruce Cartwright]

My suggestion would be from the Schenectady/Albany area, wind your way through the back roads of southern VT to Keene, NH - it will undoubtedly be an awesome segment as the colors are now peaking. From Keene, take Rt. 101 the rest of the way which is reasonably quick yet not interstate boring. Weather this weekend looks cooperative.

NH Shooter:

Agreed on this route. I used to drive this quite a bit when I was stationed in Bedford. There is a small cemetery in Dublin NH along Route 101 that has some spectacular views. I used to stop at that cemetery when I needed a quiet place to dictate my reports. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

Bruce

[HeavyDuty]

To circle back now that I am mostly recovered...

I did get in OK around dark Sunday, and then had to drive down to Boston to pick up middle child at the airport at 10. It made for a *very* long day.

The drive Sunday was gorgeous! I stayed 100% off the interstate and was a happy boy for it - the car loves asphalt twisties. I took US 20 east from Batavia to just south of the Albany area, and then NY 7 (I think it was) to Troy and picked up BBQ to go from Dinosaur.

Then up and over the Green Mountains of VT via Bennington and Brattleboro. All the leaf peepers had NY plates and were heading west with big backups in a few areas. I had to keep an eye out for idiot oncoming passers.

A quick stop in Keene to read my car’s computer at AutoZone to see why the CEL came on crossing the mountains (it looks like a lazy thermostat, very common with ‘06 Miatas) and then past Monadnock on the home stretch through Nashua to home. Even with the delay, I was home before full dark - which is good because I never realized we had marked moose crossings within 25 miles of home. (!)

I need to get back to the stretch of NY I saw. A long weekend in Canandaigua, and another in Skaneateles would be perfect, I know Michelle would enjoy it. Colors were strong across NY and again in VT and NH.

I’m glad to say that the new top I installed last weekend is watertight - I was caught in torrential downpours Saturday right at dark and had to do the last 100 miles top up. I lived.

I have a cheap OBDC2 reader coming today (mine is in IL), and I’ll clear codes and run a code cycle so I can get my vehicle inspection done this week. An 06 Miata thermostat replacement is pretty involved and I don’t have my tools here. If I can pass inspection, I’ll do it in the spring. It’s sticking open, not closed which causes a low temp code to get thrown.

I’m hoping the weather is good this weekend, Michelle has never been in the Miata or any convertible for that matter. I’d like to do a run up to Lake Winnipesaukee, or maybe over to the Maine coast.