Let's talk about NEXT wintah!

mgirardo wrote:
I don't know about North of NJ, but the worst of the traffic generally starts in Virginia, so you'd miss it only going to Maryland.

-Michael

Michael, any interesting places on the Georgia coast that aren't overrun with snow birds?

Any place south of Newport, Maine, I consider the deep south.

Maine-iacs wrote:
For the last 10 years we've driven to Maryland either Christmas afternoon or day after to meet with youngest son and family. Once through Connecticut, it's usually clear sailing. Had one disastrous trip on NJ turnpike and have never taken it again. I-84 to I-81 inland for us.

I don't know about North of NJ, but the worst of the traffic generally starts in Virginia, so you'd miss it only going to Maryland.

-Michael

Flip is making a lot of sense.

dodge guy wrote:
What! Does Anyone else head towards the snow? Don’t be a baby!!! ;)



Seriously though. Going south in the middle of subzero weather works for me!

Been there done that for the first half of my life, Really glad to be out of it for the 2nd half. Don't miss it a bit, having said that, we're forecast for 1-3 inches Wednesday, nothing by northern standards, but exactly 1-3 inches more than I want to see. :(

Maine-iacs wrote:

SidecarFlip wrote:
No RV for us next winter. We are renting a beachfront condo on the ocean side for a month. Don't want to deal with with the RV or a campsite. All we have to take is our clothes in the car and buy food when we get there. Everything included, even the toilet paper. Washer and dryer too. If I get real lazy, I might fly down and rent a car.

Sounds intriguing. What community?

Cocoa Beach / Cape area. I did some real serious calculations concerning taking the RV down or renting a condo and the condo came out on top. Factoring in fuel going down, tolls, then site rent for a month, renting a fully equipped condo on the beach wins hands down plus, my car gets almost 2 times the mileage my RV does and we can be way more mobile with a car. I may, at some point in the near future buy a condo and rent it out in the summer and occupy it in the winter. I know a couple people who do that.

All the condo's we are looking at are fully furnished, it becomes a suitcase trip, no hassles at all.

Site rent is stupid in Florida during the winter anyway and renting a site, you have no idea what your neighbors will be like. I don't want to book a site and have an idiot 10 feet way and deal with that for a month. With a condo, you the chance of a bad neighbor is much less.

For us, the RV will be for summertime jaunts but winters will be in a condo. The cost versus the hassle sealed my choice.

I'm not a person who likes campground interaction anyway. When we 'camp' up here in the RV, it's almost always disbursed camping.

No dewinterizing, no worrying about mechanical issues, just drive down (or fly) and stay, on the beach in a furnished condo. All I have to add is food.

SidecarFlip wrote:
No RV for us next winter. We are renting a beachfront condo on the ocean side for a month. Don't want to deal with with the RV or a campsite. All we have to take is our clothes in the car and buy food when we get there. Everything included, even the toilet paper. Washer and dryer too. If I get real lazy, I might fly down and rent a car.

Sounds intriguing. What community?

mgirardo wrote:
Usually, we leave after New Years and don't have any problems. The last couple years we had to leave a couple days after Christmas and suffered. The normal 12 hour drive takes 15+.

-Michael

For the last 10 years we've driven to Maryland either Christmas afternoon or day after to meet with youngest son and family. Once through Connecticut, it's usually clear sailing. Had one disastrous trip on NJ turnpike and have never taken it again. I-84 to I-81 inland for us.

Maine-iacs wrote:
SWMBO (she who must be obeyed) has spoken. Next wintah we're bailing out of Maine the day after Christmas and heading South.

If you are driving south on I-95, I would suggest waiting a week. Traffic on I-95 is rougher than usual the week between Christmas and New Years, lots of snow birds and vacationers heading south.

We live in the south, but spend Christmas with family in the North. Usually, we leave after New Years and don't have any problems. The last couple years we had to leave a couple days after Christmas and suffered. The normal 12 hour drive takes 15+.

-Michael

jplante4 wrote:
The best part of our winter trip (down the east coast, a month in FL, then around the Gulf coast to Galveston) was the panhandle of Florida. You won't believe it's the same state. In fact, anything north of Tampa was better than I expected. Check out the Crystal River/Homasssa area. Very popular with northerners.

Double ditto. I really enjoy the panhandle of FL and Herself likes the panhandle and on over through to Gulfport, MS. Galveston, TX isn't too shabby either.

If I were you I'd head out after Thanksgiving. A lot of places fill up before Christmas.