<p>From parents’ experiences, how are the roads on that day? Do most traffic congestion occur the weekend before or on the holiday? I have to get from New York to Boston.</p>
<p>New York traffic is like SoCal traffic, backed up everywhere all the time. This holiday should be pretty back up even though gas is going to be expensive as hell this weekend.</p>
<p>I would expect lots of traffic to be coming into both cities on July 4th, all day, just for parades, fireworks, music, boats, etc.</p>
<p>Since July 4th is on a Monday this year, people who have to work on Tuesday will be on the road along with all of the drunks and speeders!</p>
<p>I’m going home to Virginia for the week. Besides spending time with my spouse, my son is coming in from SoCal for a few days. I haven’t seen him since January.</p>
<p>Here’s the question: I’m leaving very early Saturday morning, 6 or so, by car. I can go East to Chicago and then 80 or I can head South through Illinois and to Indianapolis and then East. Given current conditions, which do you all think might be best?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>tsdad, If you’re going to Chicago, you can take I-65 down to Indy and pick up I-70 east. I use to go from No.Va. to Indiana a lot and learned to avoid the Penn. Turnpike at all costs by using I-68 across Maryland. From Indiana I went I-70 to I-79 just in Pa. south to Morgantown, W.VA and then cut across on I-68 to I-70 and down. If you’re going to the western side of No.Va (west Fairfax) you can also cut off of I-70 in Frederick and take Rt.15 down across Point of Rocks into Leesburg. That way you’ll avoid the whole beltway mess around D.C. Hope that made sense!
Good luck!</p>
<p>I just did the I-68 across western Maryland thing last week. It is a very pretty road and no construction on the part that I was on - I highly recommend it. I would avoid PA - their roads seem to be under perpetual construction.</p>
<p>Thank you all. I’ll look at the maps and give it a try.</p>
<p>I’m home. Easy but long trip. Relatively little traffic. Only one accident that stopped us for 10 minutes or so. Took a day and a half. I-70 is filled with colleges especially in Ohio. Stopped for the night about 50 miles west of Wheeling.</p>
<p>A couple of questions. I think I drove through the Miami Valley but didn’t see Miami University. I also drove through Columbus but didn’t see any exits for Ohio State. Did I miss them.</p>
<p>The best scenery is in eastern Ohio, Western Pennsylvania, WVA by Morgantown, and especially western Maryland. Lots of forests and what passes for mountains in this part of the country–1,000 to 1,500 feet. Very green and pretty.</p>
<p>You all enjoy your holidays.</p>
<p>Glad the trip went well. I really like the I-68 drive through western Maryland. Miami University is in Oxford, south of Dayton, so I doubt if it’s actually marked on the interstate. Going through there you were also right by Earlham, in Richmond, IN. I’ve never been to any of these (kids had no interest) but if I remember right Ohio State is pretty much downtown in Columbus, so if you took the beltway around town, again you may not have seen an exit for it. You did go right by U. of W.VA when going through Morgantown, the stadium is right by the interstate if I remember right. </p>
<p>Enjoy what’s left of the weekend.</p>
<p>I went from Virginia to North Carolina on Friday & Saturday, and I saw 7 people pulled over. 5 in the morning, around 7-10 AM. And I saw 2 later in the day. I went to the Raleigh/Durham area and boy everyone was tense after they saw all of those police pulling over people … it was kinda scary … police and state troopers cars in every nook and cranny so to speak</p>