Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Road Trip Hobbies

This is topic Road Trip Hobbies in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=004806

Posted by Michael Coate (Member # 757) on 09-09-2006, 01:23 AM:

Who has gone on long-distance road trips? Why did you do it and where did you go?

Me? For many years I had two travel goals: (1) visit every U.S. state by automobile (even Hawaii [Wink]

) crossing over every stateline in the process, and (2) attend a Major League baseball game in every city that has a team.

As previously discussed here and here, I can proudly state that each goal has been achieved, with the baseball goal being accomplished three times now, sort of. In other words, at the close of the 2004 season, I had been to every stadium.

But then the Montreal Expos relocated to Washington, DC. Okay, so during the '05 season, I visited DC and attended a game. Mission accomplished...again.

Now, in time for the '06 campaign, a new stadium has been built in St. Louis for the Cardinals. In fact, I'm in the Mid-West as I post this (isn't Wi-Fi in hotels and laptops great) and plan to attend Monday night's game. Of course, the weather forecast calls for thunderstorms...

This trip has been pretty tightly planned, but as always I try to squeeze in some personal fun stuff: meeting other film-tech members, theater visits, writing project research, etc. So, any film-techers in Iowa, Illinois or Missouri, give me a shout...

Posted by Allison Parsons (Member # 2728) on 09-09-2006, 01:35 AM:

Good ol' St. Louis! What city are you in now, or are you in St Louis as we speak? The St Louis Arc = LAME. Save your money if your trying to find something extra to do.

Posted by Michael Coate (Member # 757) on 09-09-2006, 01:40 AM:

Right now, I'm in the Quad-Cities area of Illinois & Iowa. I'll be passing through Peoria...

Posted by Allison Parsons (Member # 2728) on 09-09-2006, 01:56 AM:

Moline has a beautiful riverfront, right by the Marc of the Quad Cities. Other than that, I haven't ventured too much into Davenport/Moline.

As for Peoria...Have fun with our road construction!! We've been dealing with it for the past 5 years or so and it's FINALLY suppose to be done at the end of this year.

If you are super duper bored and need some new music to listen to in your car: When your on 74E, get off of exit 95A toward Main Street in East Peoria. Take a right and go down 3 blocks till you see a Shop Ko. The record store I work at is in that shopping center (155N Main St). Hell, if your hungry, there's a Subway in there too haha. Other than that, there's not much in Peoria I would recommend stoping for. No historical movie theaters to check out, no rad drive-in's (though there is one or two in Kankakee IL). Just run of the mill Wallmart supertheaters. Lame.

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 09-09-2006, 02:34 AM:

I believe Justin West owns the Galva Autovue Drive-In, which is between the Quad Cities and Peoria.

If you make it to eastern Illinois, you should visit the infamous Princess II in Watseka! It's only open on the weekends and I was there on a Thursday, so I didn't get to see inside.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-09-2006, 01:04 PM:

quote:
visit every U.S. state by automobile (even Hawaii ) crossing over every stateline in the process,

I would like to know how you crossed over the Hawaii state line in an automobile. [Wink]

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 09-09-2006, 06:03 PM:

...and please forgive me if I'm wrong, but surely Alaska doesn't have a state line (as in, a contiguous land border with another US state), either?

But at least you can get from Alaska to all but one of the other states by automobile, with only a passport needed. It would take a pretty special sort of automobile to achieve the same result from Hawaii, I'd guess...

Given that we've now got the Channel Tunnel, I guess it won't be long before someone tries to cover every European Union country in a road trip. In fact, it is now theoretically possible to drive from John O'Groats to Vladivostok (6,000 miles or so by road, I'd guess) without getting your tyres wet. The scary thing is that ploughing up the A19 to and from work, I do the equivalent of two return trips from John O'Groats to Vladivostok every year!

Posted by Mark Hajducki (Member # 1732) on 09-09-2006, 06:28 PM:

quote: Leo Enticknap
I guess it won't be long before someone tries to cover every European Union country in a road trip.

Ireland may be a problem if ferry trips are not allowed.

Same with Cyprus and Malta.

Traveling between Estonia and Finland involves leaving the EU

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 09-09-2006, 06:35 PM:

That's OK Michael C, don't let others here get you down! Us savvy people get the gist of what you mean. Pay no attention to the nay-sayers... [Wink]

Your goal is certainly an honorable quest! Good Luck!

Posted by Michael Coate (Member # 757) on 09-10-2006, 12:03 AM:

Thanks, Phil, for being so savvy! For the others, I guess I should've been more straight forward and stated that my goal concerned the 48 contiguous states. I thought the funny Hawaii comment followed with a smiley with the "I'm in on the joke" wink would've gotten that across.

Also, I'm surprised no one pointed out that there is Major League Baseball in Canada and asked whether or not I included Canada in my travels. I guess someone will get around to asking after they figure out whether or not Alaska has a state line or if a passport is required for admittance. [Razz]

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 09-10-2006, 01:01 AM:

Have you been to Field Of Dreams yet? It was still there not too long ago.

Mark

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 09-10-2006, 04:53 AM:

quote: Mark Hajducki
Ireland may be a problem if ferry trips are not allowed.

Ditto for the Faroes and Greenland, though I guess it's ambiguous as to whether they really count as EU or not (dependancies of an EU country, but not members in their own right).

The John O' Groats to Vladivostok trip sounds fun, if I had about 3-4 weeks to spare and could speak Russian (which would be essential once you get past Moscow and off the beaten track, I'd have thought)...

Posted by Michael Barry (Member # 237) on 09-10-2006, 07:58 AM:

Classic! This reminds me of one of my favourite Buffy lines:

Buffy: Where's Xander?
Willow: He spent the summer driving to every state in the US.
Buffy: (pause) Did you explain about Hawaii?

Cracks me up every time. Of course, the comic timing of the cast plus Joss Whedon's brilliant writing make that show shine [Smile]

Posted by Chad Souder (Member # 343) on 09-10-2006, 09:00 AM:

Michael -

When doing your initial tour, I hope you left Wrigley Field toward the end. After that, I think the rest I have been to are kind of a disappointment. I did, however, kind of like Kauffman Stadium and Miller Park once I finally accepted that waterfalls and slides, although gimmicky, can be OK too. What were some of your favorites?

As far as road trips, I have but one absolute tradition. Corn Nuts. Gotta have Corn Nuts on the road. XM radio helps quite a bit too, but Corn Nuts are a must.

Posted by Michael Coate (Member # 757) on 09-10-2006, 09:33 AM:

quote: Mark Gulbrandsen
Have you been to Field Of Dreams yet?

Yes!

quote: Chad Souder
When doing your initial tour, I hope you left Wrigley Field toward the end.

At first, I thought you were asking if I left Wrigley early, like in the 7th or 8th inning?!

I visited Wrigley during Tour #1 in 2000, which included visits to Arizona (Diamondbacks), New Mexico, Texas (Rangers), Oklahoma, Missouri (Cardinals and Royals), Iowa (Field of Dreams), Illinois (Cubs), Wisconsin (Brewers), Indiana, Ohio (Reds), then back home driving through some of the same states plus Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and back to California.

Although I would rank Wrigley very high on my list of favorites, I wasn't disappointed that I visited it early on since throughout I was always excited to visit a new place. I returned to Wrigley in 2004, a trip where I also saw U.S. Cellular aka Comisky II (the White Sox were out of town during my 2000 visit) and re-visited Milwaukee to see their new stadium (2000 was the final season for County Stadium; Miller Park was under construction at the time).

One of the rules created for myself was that I had to return to any city where a new stadium was built. Since I started the quest, that meant return visits to Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, and San Diego (not that San Diego required much effort on my part!). Also, any team relocations had to be accounted for, which explains visiting Washington, DC last year to see the Expos, er, Nationals play.

Oh, and I did not visit Puerto Rico during the Expos' "test" games there. I had considered a trip there in summer '03 but ended up traveling to London instead (not for baseball, obviously).

Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 09-10-2006, 01:09 PM:

Hey Michael,

Did you make it to Cooperstown NY? They are raising money for the restoration of Doubleday field, and for a few hundred dollars you can have your name chisled into a plaque in the stadium, which is located behind the former Smiley's Theatre.

You are aware that you are going to have to come back to NYC in '09 when the new Yankee Stadium opens...

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-10-2006, 01:51 PM:

quote: Michael Coate
For the others, I guess I should've been more straight forward and stated that my goal concerned the 48 contiguous states. I thought the funny Hawaii comment followed with a smiley with the "I'm in on the joke" wink would've gotten that across.

You put the smiley in the wrong spot. If you'd have put the smiley AFTER the comment about crossing every state line, it would've been clear it was a joke.

FWIW, I wasn't being a naysayer.....hency MY smiley after my comment. I think it's cool you are able to do this. (Although some of the midwest must be awful boring....I drove across eastern Wyoming a couple of weeks ago -- what a bleak landscape that is.)

Posted by Jon Miller (Member # 163) on 09-10-2006, 02:16 PM:

quote:
Me? For many years I had two travel goals: (1) visit every U.S. state by automobile (even Hawaii [Wink] )

Joke or no joke, it would be theoretically possible in an Amphicar or a “Duck”. There's a slight problem...1600 or so miles of ocean, and not a single gas station or roadside motel in sight. And forget about free tows from the AAA. [Smile]

Posted by Michael Coate (Member # 757) on 09-10-2006, 09:46 PM:

quote: Mitchell Dvoskin
Did you make it to Cooperstown NY?

Yes! I made it to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown during Tour #6 in 2004. Trip included games in Boston, Montreal, Toronto, New York, and a return visit to Philadelphia.

quote: Mitchell Dvoskin
You are aware that you are going to have to come back to NYC in '09 when the new Yankee Stadium opens...

Yep, I can't wait; my calendar's already marked! Of course, by '09 I wouldn't be surprised if gas is up to 4 or 5 dollars per gallon, so I better start saving.

Okay, folks, we're up to nearly twenty posts here and no one has posted any details about their road trips. This discussion isn't supposed to be just about me. Surely some of you have gone somewhere at some point (or at least aspire to go somewhere). Or do you live in your projection booths 24/7. Doesn't Adam Martin drive around the country to see old theaters and take photos for CinemaTour?

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-10-2006, 10:38 PM:

Last weekend I drove to the Western Minnesota Steam Threshers Reunion at Rollag, MN. WMSTR link 570 miles each way from here.

Mark G., you need to go to this show sometime.

Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 09-11-2006, 02:07 PM:

As someone who does not like to fly, or more specifically, does not like airports, and did not even before they implemented flyer harassment procedures in the name of faux security, most of my trips are road trips.

I just returned from Cape May, NJ. Cape May is the southern most tip of New Jersey, and is one of 5 cities in the USA listed in it's entirety as a National Historic Landmark. This seaside resort has the largest collection of surviving original Victorian houses and hotels (over 600) in the country, many of which are now bed & breakfasts.

By car, I have been to Ohio, Pennsylvania (I still need to get to Kennywood Amusement Park near Pittsburg), NY (Cooperstown, Lake George & Lake Placid in the Adirondacks), Vermont, Maryland Annopolis & (Baltimore inner harbor, Camden Yards where the Yankee's beat the Baltimore, as they should), MA (Boston did not get to see Fenway Park, but then nobody important plays there anyway).

What was really fun was that as a child, my mother took me to Los Angeles by train. This was before Amtrack, when train travel was still an experience. We took the Pennsylvania Railroad to Chicago, and then the Santa Fe Railroad to LA.

Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 09-11-2006, 07:36 PM:

I love to drive. There were points in my life where I'd take off on the spur of the moment and drive hundreds of miles just to relax. I was especially fond of driving at night when I was younger. I'd get off work at midnight in North Dakota and end up watching the sun rise in Duluth.

The first time I set foot in Iowa was completely by accident...I had no idea the road ended up there. I didn't even know I was anywhere CLOSE to Iowa. Moments like that were always fun.

Let's see...I've driven to or through: Oregon, Washington, California, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, that little sliver of Arizona speed trap between Nevada and Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan (both peninsulas), Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. And Alaska, but that doesn't count because I was living there against my will. Although that is were I got my license...

At this point, my car could probably drive itself from here to Denver.

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 09-11-2006, 08:25 PM:

I love driving too! Over the years, been to all of the "lower 48 states" via car and/or in a motor home with my ex and kids...or just diving for some event. YES Jason, BEFORE I got divorced... (..and SHE got the motor home too!) HA!

Took my family and my (now) "ex" parents and my parents on a plane to Hawaii and then a cruise ship back across the Pacific to the mainland...FUN!

Only was in Alaska one time in a stop-over on a flight to Japan but never got out of the plane. [Smile]

As far as ball parks, used to have season tickets to Tiger Stadium and later, for many years, Dodger Stadium. [Wink]

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 09-11-2006, 10:13 PM:

For the most part I enjoy road trips. The high price of gas these days is one of the few downers. Although many hate it, I enjoy driving through a number of big cities -mainly when their superhighway systems are nice and big.

The long road trip I make most often these days is driving between Lawton and Colorado Springs, around 600 miles. Sometimes I'll drive 450 miles out to New Mexico to visit other family members. The longest drives I've made have been between New York City and Lawton, around 1700 miles. Longest drive without stopping, Albany, GA to Dallas (with a quick trip through New Orleans to check out where I lived) -I think that's close to 800 miles.

Growing up a Marine Corps brat, our family covered a great deal of the country. Some states are a little more fun to cover than others. I-40 across Tennesse, I-81 up the west side of Virginia and I-10 across West Texas all seem to take forever to cross.

I drive to Oklahoma City, Dallas and Tulsa more often. But 100 or 200 miles seems like nothing once you get used to road trips of 400 or 600 miles.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-11-2006, 10:23 PM:

I guess my longest trip ever was with 2 friends in 1979. We drove from here to the west coast, then down to Tijuana, Mexico, then to Las Vegas and back home via Yellowstone Park. 2 weeks, about 6,000 miles driven in a crappy Oldsmobile with no air conditioning.

Posted by Chris Hipp (Member # 1788) on 09-12-2006, 12:15 AM:

Warning: extremely cliche response!

How was the donkey show?

Posted by Mike Heenan (Member # 392) on 09-12-2006, 12:39 AM:

You must get pretty kick ass mileage to drive 800 miles without stopping

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 09-12-2006, 12:49 AM:

quote: Michael Coate
Also, I'm surprised no one pointed out that there is Major League Baseball in Canada and asked whether or not I included Canada in my travels.

Well it's not because nobody cares about Canada, it's because nobody cares about baseball and thus is not aware of that. Only baseball could make golf seem action-packed and/or brisk.

As for me, I pretty much hate driving. Going somewhere isn't too bad, but it's the coming back that absolutely kills ya. It takes ffooreevveerr. I remember going to that one city once. I came back through the mountains (same way I went). After each turn around a mountain, there would be more god damn mountains. Again and again. Finally I came around a mountain and I could see the city. About god damn time! I wish I had a flying car that exceeded the speed of sound or at least a teleportation device. I am nowhere near patient enough to sit on my ass that long, and I can't stand stopping because that just delays my arrival.

I did Dallas to Denver in 11 hours once, stopping once for gas and that's it!

Posted by Chris Hipp (Member # 1788) on 09-12-2006, 02:07 AM:

I've always felt the opposite. Coming back home seems to go by really fast for me.

My family did Dallas to Buffalo, NY twice only stopping for gas and bathroom breaks. 24 hours straight, when you do finally get to sleep in a bed it would still feel like you are moving in the car. We did that once in '89 and again in '94, of course I wasnt old enough to drive then.

Posted by William T. Parr (Member # 677) on 09-12-2006, 01:03 PM:

Michael Coate a friend of mine and I have planned to do the same thing. Visit each ballpark sometime in the next few years. Out of your expirience which Ballpark was the best and the worst in your travel and is there anything we should expect out of the ordinary at any particular one?

My road trips that included hobbies on the way all do with railroading and phototaken. So far I have been as Far North as Dallas Ft Worth Area. West to Alburquerque, New Mexico in 1996 to look at the ATSF and SP lines before all the Semaphore Signals were replaced. And to East to Atlanta Ga.

Posted by Greg Anderson (Member # 235) on 09-12-2006, 03:04 PM:

Nothing special, but I like to use my GPS receiver whenever I drive anywhere, whether it's a long trip or just an errand. It's "fun" (in an entirely geeky way) to make the computer draw little altitude graphs after a long trip and process all kinds of other trivial statistics based on the GPS logs. (It's also helpful to save these logs so that, months later, I can look up exactly where I was at a specific time on a specific day... especially when I forgot to make any other record of work hours and other necessary travel information.) Then, when I've saved a few road trip logs, I like to display them all at once on a map and figure out where I've been and where I still want to go next time I hit the road.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 09-12-2006, 07:52 PM:

quote: Mike Heenan
You must get pretty kick ass mileage to drive 800 miles without stopping

Actually, it was 350 miles driving and then pushing the car the other 450 miles after it ran out of gas.
[Razz]

I guess I could have said "800 miles driving in one day," but it's funny when comments can spark anal retentive hair splitting.

Posted by Mike Heenan (Member # 392) on 09-12-2006, 09:53 PM:

I know... I forgot my smiley, lol. [Wink]

Posted by Michael Coate (Member # 757) on 09-18-2006, 12:37 AM:

OK, I'm back from St. Louis.

I can now once again proclaim "I've been to 'em all!" The difference this time, compared to the last two seasons, is that this upcoming off-season will see no team relocations or new stadiums...or any new U.S. states! So I guess I can find a new hobby until '09 rolls around, at which time I'll need to revisit New York City.

BTW, I can add one new person to my list of Film-Techers that I've met: Allison Parsons. Didn't meet up with any others from Film-Tech this time around.

quote: William T. Parr
Michael Coate a friend of mine and I have planned to do the same thing. Visit each ballpark sometime in the next few years. Out of your expirience which Ballpark was the best and the worst in your travel and is there anything we should expect out of the ordinary at any particular one?

Ah, the most often-asked question!

Well, for starters, I'd place Wrigley and Fenway in their own category due to their age and uniqueness. Those two parks (and their fans) are like no other. Visiting them is like traveling through time...until you're charged seven bucks for your beer!

Yankee Stadium, I suppose, deserves special recognition since it's almost as old as Fenway and Wrigley...but if it weren't for the admittedly mind-blowing history of the place, I'd be inclined to claim the place is just one big dump and long overdue for a replacement!

As for the rest, I found most of the recently-constructed parks to be very enjoyable, particularly Camden Yards in Baltimore and the really, really new ones, like Busch (II) in St. Louis or Petco in San Diego. Kaufman in Kansas City surprised me in a good way (may have been due to switching from artificial turf to natural grass).

My least favorites would probably be the two in Florida. Wasn't all that impressed with Shea in New York (what is it with New York City?!) or Veterans in Philadelphia, which I think even the locals are glad is gone. And, as much effort that was required to get up to Montreal, I was certainly disappointed by the Expos' (old) home, which clearly was not designed with baseball in mind.

If you visit Denver, and enjoy sunsets, I'd recommend seeing a night game when there is clear weather and sit on the First Base side of the field. Coors Field was designed with multi-tiered seating on all sides except the Left Field area, which faces west...

I suppose one of these days I should scan all of my pictures and create a website devoted to these trips.

Posted by Allison Parsons (Member # 2728) on 09-18-2006, 12:51 AM:

Glad to hear that your ST Louis game didn't get rained out! Ever find that Panera Bread place we sent you too? [beer]