<p>Glad you made it safely! I was thinking about you as I was listening to the reports of the ice storms in the Worcester area.</p>
<p>Enjoy the trip to Chicago!</p>
<p>Lots of power outages, ice on trees, local flooding in the Merrimack Valley up into NH. Governor Patrick issued a State of Emergency this morning. Maybe a little overdone but I’m still in my son’s apartment. The office lost power last night and it’s back on now but things are a little iffy so I’m staying put for at least the morning. Lots of public school cancellations.</p>
<p>teriwtt -
I know just where you are talking about I-287 to I-78, I have sat there before in rush hour and it can be horrid. I hate stopping most anywhere in NJ - it is just awful to find anything. </p>
<p>Glad you made it safely - have fun on I-80 today looks like a little snow in W PA through Ohio. Be safe.</p>
<p>thanks all… am off on the last leg of a nine-day excursion, and this is to home, so I’m grateful (except for all the catching up I’ll have to do when I get there)!.</p>
<p>For future reference:</p>
<p>We have been doing MA to Northeast NJ for 20+ years. We’ve taken the GWB exactly twice, and both times it was a disaster. We always take the Tap, but for the past few years it has been getting worse and worse.</p>
<p>Now we have to go to the Lehigh Valley for DS’s college. We have discovered we can add a few miles but avoid many traffic backups by doing the following:</p>
<p>Mass Pike to I - 84 all the way to the NY Thruway (87). Take 87 to 287 South to 78 West. This adds a few miles, but it avoids both the GWB and the Tap. Getting over the Hudson is almost always the worst part of the journey.</p>
<p>Depending where you are leaving from in MA, one way to avoid the MassPike Sturbridge exit backups and Hartford traffic is to take 95 to 295 around Providence, then from 295 take 6 West to Hartford. </p>
<p>*****What college are you going to? I know a woman who arranges charter busses from Muhlenberg & Lafayette (I don’t know if she does Lehigh) to Newton MA at the beginning and end of breaks. She uses a reputable bus company from CT. She takes the total cost of the bus, divides by the number of kids riding, adds $10/kid for her time & trouble, and that’s the cost. DS returned to college after Thanksgiving for $69 one-way, on a clean bus with other kids from his college that dropped them off in the middle of campus. I see that this trip you were continuing on to Chicago, but for the future, if you’re interested, PM me and I’ll give you her contact info.</p>
<p>Edit - never mind, I see that Chicago is <em>home</em> for you. But if anyone else from Eastern MA is reading this and wants the bus info, PM me!</p>
<p>lafalum - yes, this was an unusual trip with these back and forths, as well as one-way trips; we were playing musical cars. D1 in Boston does not want a car anymore, so we were bringing it back home, and were able to time it with picking up D2 in Allentown after her finals.</p>
<p>Again, I will repeat, I am SO glad I took I-95 yesterday after reading all the weather horror stories across MA and CT tonight.</p>
<p>Today was long, but it’s done and over with. We had a few snow squalls in western PA and eastern Ohio (probably lake effect). Yesterday it was about getting new windshield wipers… today it was about going through so much windshield wiper fluid. </p>
<p>Funny story… D2 and I got to talking as I was headed up I-476 to I-80, and I missed the exit to I-80. It was 11 miles to the next exit for a turnaround. So we had a brief detour about an hour into the trip for about 20 minutes!</p>
<p>yes, Teriwtt, given the ice storm I too would have hugged the coast on 95 (and maybe even the GWB instead of the Tap). Glad your trip went well. Here at my house we just got pouring rain, but not too far north/west of us is an icy disaster!</p>
<p>The part about people having their favorite routes is correct. I will avoid GWB and I95 at all costs (along with saw mill, taconic state, and other parkways) in that area. I like tappan zee, 84,684 etc. My H doesn’t care as long as he gets there (in all things driving.)</p>
<p>If you ever need to get from the NJ side to long island, I have my own preferences on that, and will happily share (including LGA, JFK, the hamptons…) </p>
<p>Glad your trip was safe.</p>