New Jersey Meet Up
 

I thought I had posted this before, but I guess not. Who wants to meet up somewhere in new Jersey? I'm in Burlington County just off turnpike exit 5.

Eh?

:turtle::turtle::turtle::turtle::turtle:

I'm in Phillipsburg, NJ which is a little known town for many reasons, but anyway if I get to know some people on here a little better I'd be willing to meet up / talk / hang out / brainstorm etc.

If you head south a little,
Cape May perhaps,
I could meet as well.
Think about it.
S.

Or up north off of I78, then I could make a trip...

Hmm

Tricky tricky. I don't know where anybody lives. Where do we think the most central location is?

Use the frappr map and PM people close to ya.

I would definitely be willing to meet up with other NE members. I added myself to frappr and had a look, and NJ is a seemingly central place relative to members (at least those shown on frappr). Although I'm sure many of us are up for the challenge, there is a quagmire of traffic and 9324 traffic lights every mile pretty much anywhere in NJ that isn't a state park. As for being central to most people, I was thinking anywhere around the triangle created by phila. baltimore and harrisburg. As for congruence to hypermiling ideals, I think we should pick someplace less traffic-ridden, some weird place like Lancaster, PA or something. Just my 2 cents, but I certainly wouldn't complain if we did go big like philly. I love that city. (@ SVO, if you haven't been to Horizons yet, YOU NEED TO)

Too bad the Tour De Sol doesn't seem to be around anymore :( because that was right in burlington. That would be a perfect time and place to meet.

Ultimately, I'd be willing to drive anywhere within a 300 mile radius, just throwing in some alternatives to consider.

I don't know what this map is, but I live off route 22 30 seconds from Easton PA. This would be considered, North western NJ. 78 is few mins from me.

North West NJ?
Huh??
My mom lives in Morris County, on Lake Hopatcong. 07849.
If we meet up in that area I have a place to stay for free. :D

North western NJ, would be correct, haha. see nobody knows where I am :P

Lake Hopatcong is probably about an hour from me? Thats north central NJ, and I'm down and to the left on the deleware river.

Link to Frappr map thread

Lake Hopatcong could work...

That's ~2 hours for me, I could do it.

2.5hrs is fine by me

You sure you don't want to host? ;)

I can just image the phone call: "Hey, I'm coming up on XX. You don't mind if I show up with a dozen random people from the internet, do you?" "...."

Ok, so that general area seems to be reasonable for most of us to get to. Anyone have any suggestions on a more specific location?

I'm in south Jersey, probably about 2.5 hr's for me, I'd be up for it, but it's all going to depend on the weekend, etc... I've been wanting to do a trip sometime to see what my car will do with mostly highway miles.

It's funny, none of us minding driving far as heck because we all want to put our highway mpg to the test, haha.

This is the ONLY forum where you will find people who are trying to save gas, so eager to spend some! Thankfully, none of us really waste that much no matter how far we drive in our econo-cars.

We could have a little competition to see who gets the best mileage on the way there!

(hint: I bet I'll win, ;))

You haven't seen my new magnet and grappling hook set up have you ;)

Yes it is ironic that I wouldn't mind spending a little gas to prove how much I can save :D

Hopatcong State Park looks nice, and Allamuchy is only a little further down 80, but I don't know about the parking situation there. Anyone want to start throwing out availability dates?

I'm good any time except the last two weekends in July.
Going to the Second Annual EcoModder Palooza in Beautiful downtown Ashtabula Ohio.

Availability: I don't expect to be unavailable

Meeting place:
I looked a little more into the park situation, and it looks like an entrance fee is required to get into Hopatcong. Luckily there are several more parks nearby, of which I'd consider using two: Stephens State Park, and Schooley's Mountain County Park.
Stephens State Park
Schooley's Mountain County Park

I would chance it for getting a pavilion to use in case of rain (just show up and hope no one is using it), but that's just me - they can be reserved. Those two parks are close enough from each other (~8mi) that we could go to the other if one were occupied.

Although it is farther from the highway, I am leaning toward Schooley's because it looks like a more interesting, more "naturely" park. Though when push comes to shove, it's still in the middle of New Jersey. :D

Yeah, end of July - beginning of August I'll be on my honeymoon; unless you want to meet up in St. Lucia? ;-) June is fairly open for me except for a triathlon one Sunday.

I didn't even see this thread...

I'm definitely willing to make a road trip to NJ for this. I'm free any weekend after May 15th, and I'm coming from the same area as Wonderboy, so I think middle NJ is the farthest south I'd go.

Here is another option if we wanted to be able to go out to eat without much of a fuss:

Morris County Park Commission Tourne County Park

This park is pretty large and encompasses a few other parks (which also includes reservable picnic shelters. Nearby Denville is home to a restaurant (Cafe Metro) of coincidentally appropriate nomenclature, and in-coincidentally appropriate fare that would accommodate the more "picky" eaters among us (including myself), but not ward off the sensitive stomached or ethnic-cuisine-wary.

I don't necessarily advocate for this, just something else to brainstorm about. I would personally lean more toward a potluck thing, but that would indeed raise the question of who can or is willing to eat what... Are we willing to take that into consideration? Food and the circumstances by which it arrives at the table is a huge part of me and my life, and it may not be as big of a consideration to someone else, so I'm willing to put that aside for this, as it's a forum/meet up about ecomodding, and how prominent food's role is in this will be up to how everyone else feels.

In general I think we should have a poll about where and when this will happen - starting that now will give plenty of time for people who don't log on every day to give their input and find out about the event.

As for me, I am free anytime but mid may until mid july :)

So guys, when're we doing it!?

I'd wager to guess that late july would be best for everyone based on what people have said in this thread and the fact that many students (I'm not one of them) are still busy in early may. I still think we should have a poll on this.

Eh, let's forgo a poll and say late July. That will give everyone time to get their acts together.

So by late July you mean early July or late August? ;-P

I think SVOBoy should just set a date and we'll all try to make it...

August 7th!

So, when're we gonna do this thing!?!?

.

I just made that up a while ago, I'm not dedicated to it if it troubles anyone else...Plus, I've not heard back from anyone yet :p

Aug. 7th is a Friday... not so good for us working class fellas...
However, I'm up for whatever, just need a little notice to get everything in line...

Yeah, let's not do it next weekend since that's too soon (I need to wax my car for you guys!), how about the weekend after, that of the 15-16th?

That sounds good, I have a wedding the weekend after.

Now where is it going to be? Of course I'd perfer a location in SoJo... :) but I'm willing to drive a bit, might be nice to have a hypermilling convoy :D

People had been talking about someplace north of trenton. Really doesn't matter too much to me :)