I would offer to go with you but........... we KNOW how that would end up LOL. Besides, there is not enough room for me and the laundry!

You might want to check out another route.  I travelled from Mass and CT to the Pennsylvania many times in the past, and never went through NYC.

Sorry I don’t remember the route(s)

If you go through NYC, I wish you the best of luck!

Yes, do check out a new route. You can avoid the city entirely by taking the Mass Pike to 684, I think it is, and crossing the river at the Tappan Zee bridge instead of the GW. Saturday will be a huge shopping day, and traffic on the Cross Bronx/Rt 95 heading into Jersey will be a nightmare.

On the other hand, if you take your planned route, you will pass within 3 minutes of my house. If you do go that way and think you may need a break to use a nice bathroom and have a cup of tea around the time you hit the Bronx, do let me know and I’ll send you my phone number!

Actually, that map shows you taking the Tappan Zee—you’ll be twenty miles north of Manhattan and all its troubles.

Not that the Tapp isn’t bad at times, but you’ll be fine.

LOL J, We’d probably end up in Washington DC or something.

Cassie, I’m thinking about doing just that.

Kim & Scott, these are the directions when I get down toward your neck of the woods:

Merge onto I-91 S via EXIT 86 toward NEW HAVEN / N.Y. CITY. 36.5 miles

Merge onto I-95 S via the exit on the LEFT (Crossing into NEW YORK). 48.4 miles

Take the I-287 W exit- EXIT 21- toward WHITE PLAINS / TAPPAN ZEE BR. 0.1 miles

Merge onto I-287 W / CROSS WESTCHESTER EXPY. <0.1 miles

Merge onto I-287 W (Portions toll). 29.5 miles

Merge onto I-287 S via EXIT 15 toward NEW JERSEY (Crossing into NEW JERSEY). 46.9 miles

Depending on what I might expect for traffic as I near the city, I wonder if taking a slightly more circuitous route that avoids the city altogether might not end up taking about as long, but with a lot less traffic. I’m just thinkin...traffic on I-95 around here has been just bumper to bumper the last couple of Saturdays and we have only a fraction of the population that you have. Mid-Saturday afternoon traffic 20 miles out from the city is liable to be pretty intense. But I gotta tell you, the thought of finally meeting you two is very, very tempting. On the other hand, that could be something to think about when I take him back to school in January.

Alternately, here is another route that seems much less direct, but, according to Mapquest, only adds about 50 miles to the trip and 20 minutes. It travels through areas I’m familiar with, too.

larger drop down image

Traffic or no traffic, I’ve got rock fever so bad I’d love to do that drive.

Oooh Roadtrip! Come on over!

If I had any frequent flier miles left I would!

The first map does completely skirt NYC, but the Tappan Zee traffic CAN be murderous. The more northern route might be smarter, although you might want to go through CT and pick up 84 into NY State, then cross the Hudson at Newburgh (if there’s a bridge there, which I think there is).

Taking 84 through Connecticut and picking up 87 south by Newburgh to 287 and then 78 into PA looks pretty easy. Mapquest says that’s an even 6 hour trip at 348 miles.  I wonder how accurate Mapquest is with their time estimates. That might just be the best route of the three. Thank you Scott.

larger drop down image

send his father................

OH ROFLMAO here! My gawd you are all going to get her lost, you have no idea, but I do LOL! Ya I would agree with Cyn on this if, I didn’t know the dad as well as I do! She wouldn’t see him for most of his vacation if she did! He would take the lad hostage!
Besides the traffic when I drove across the country, NYC really wasn’t that bad for me. It was actually one of the easiest of all the cities I drove through. And if I can do it, you can do it!

I finally downloaded the new firefox, I am loooooooving it! My spell check has some how been restored! Woo Hoo!

Ha! That’s why Scott reads maps and I don’t. He’s clearly more map smart than I am.

Oh, fill me with confidence J!    The route between here and there is pretty much one road merging into another road after the turnpike, so as long as I keep the car pointed straight, I *should* be okay.

Kim, I was hoping someone who knows the area might pipe up and offer the benefit of their experience. The route through Newburgh looks like a really good alternative. But, even with the map *and* step by step instructions, I’ve still gotta follow them. As JustMe says.... 

Now’s the time for a mobile GPS device, methinks.

The lad told me once that a GPS device in the car was definitely made with people like me in mind and that I ought to get one. Truer words....

The question I have is how many people run into telephone poles and back end the drivers in front of them while messing with the GPS device in their cars. Sort of like talking on the cell phone while driving.

Scott wonders whether there’s a bridge at Newburgh…

Indeed there is—the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge.  It seems to me that that would be an excellent alternative to either the too-far-north Mass Pike route or the always-chancy Tappan Zee.

BTW, if you decide to use the TZ, why are you thinking in terms of dropping down to I-95 in Connecticut instead of staying on I-84 to I-684 to the Cross-Westchester?  The latter is the route I usually chose back in my days of driving between New England and New Jersey.  I don’t think I ever used I-95 in CT.

Because that’s what Mapquest suggested? The program does have its drawbacks. It’s the shortest distance between two points, but not necessarily the best route. I prefer the route that swings over to Newburgh. Seems better to me, too.

oh dear gawd, keep your cell on so that I can call you while you are traveling. (it will be as if I am with you lol) I just don’t want to miss this road trip! Tehe.