kebosabi

Doing a LAX-PVD MR, might as well make something out of it while I spend a day there.

Here's my plan:

getting there by plane:
depart LAX 3/3 7:00 AM
arrive DFW 3/3 12:00 PM
depart DFW 3/3 1:00 PM
arrive ORD 3/3 3:20 PM
depart ORD 3/3 6:50 PM
arrive PVD 3/3 10:00 PM

rental car (btwn the hours of 3/3 11:00PM to 3/4 4:00PM
PVD to RI State Capitol (Providence)
RI State Capitol to CT State Capitol (Hartford)
CT State Capitol to NY State Capitol (Albany)
NY State Capitol to VT State Capitol (Montpelier)
VT State Capitol to NH State Capitol (Concord)
NH State Capitol to MA State Capitol (Boston)
MA State Capitol to PVD

going back home
depart PVD 3/4 6:40 PM
arrive ORD 3/4 8:30 PM
depart ORD 3/4 9:55 PM
arrive LAX 3/5 12:25 AM

Do you guys think this is doable? I wish I could've squeezed in a ME State Capitol (Augusta) between NH and MA, but that's bit too far to do.

jib71

You're going to visit the buildings where the states' legislative bodies sit? What will you do when you're there? Observe how each state's tax dollars are spent?

deubster

But what a fun adventure. I mapped it out in Streets & Trips, came up with 628 miles. In CA or in my TX, that's easy in 12 hours, not so easy in New England in the middle of the night. Of course, you really have about 17 hours.You'll travel over lots of winding little roads that won't allow normal highway speeds. Plus, in my neck of the woods, most every street corner has signs indicating the names of intersecting streets. I don't think they believe in street signs in New England, sometimes you'll drive a long time trying to figure out what street you're on. Also, they like to trick you (particularly in MA) as streets suddenly change names for no apparent reason.

Before I undertook this, I'd have 1) good maps, 2) plenty of No-Doz, 3) a GPS, 4) an exact ETA for each capital so I'd know if I had to abort the try at some point, 5) a plan for a straight run to PVD if I need to abort, 6) good directions for each location, e.g., I've driven the route from NH into Boston, and if you don't take the right exit, you'll have lot's of fun trying to get there.

To jib71 - obviously, he'll take a picture. And get to say he did it! On one trip from TX to NC, Mrs. Deubster & I took different routes going & coming in order to visit as many capitals as possible (Little Rock, Nashville on the way, Charlotte, Columbia, Atlanta, Montgomery, Jackson on the return). Just for the heck of it.

I'm betting most of these buildings will be lit up at night. Post your pics & trip details if you make it.

Go for it! ^ ^

magiciansampras

This can be easily done, but it will be boring.

the_traveler

Not really!

Providence to Hartford - depending on the route taken, it can be partially 2 lane roads and highways, or all interstate or 4 lane roads.

Hartford to Albany - all interstates (I-91 & I-90).

Albany to Montpelier - mostly interstates, if you go via Rouses Point (I-87 & I-89), or good 2 and 4 lane roads.

Montpelier to Concord - right down I-89.

Concord to Boston - right down I-93.

Boston to Providence - right down I-95.

I think it may be doable!

edsh

What would happen if you reverse the order of the trip.

I'm not familiar with other cities, but traffic into and out of Boston
can be quite heavy, even on weekend afternoons. It would be
pretty nerve racking if you found yourself running behind schedule
and had to drive through the middle of the city on your way
to Providence. It is also an easy city to get lost in for first time
visitors in a car, so arriving late at night with little traffic might
be an advantage.

gj83

They do that lots of places. I like it better that way as a resident though. When someone in Columbia, SC says they live off Broad River Road I know exactly what part of town they live in even though that's the same as my old road Beltline Blvd. As a visitor it can be quite confusing since that road changes names like 4 times. When did Charlotte become a capital?

to the OP: Everyone should see as much of this wonderful country as possible. State Capitols can be amazing works of architecture and I do quite like the Capitol in Hartford. The Holiday Inn Express across the street has an amazing view.

magiciansampras

I would echo this. Boston is by far going to be the trickiest place to navigate. The State House is also in an awkward driving location, some of the most one-ways and such are right there.

mkleiderman

The two dicey legs that I see are the Providence-Hartford and Albany-Montpelier ones. If I add up my estimates for driving it I get:

PVD-Providence: 0.5 hours
Providence-Hartford: 1.5 hours
Hartford- Albany: 2 hours
Albany-Montpelier: 3 hours (less if Lake Champlain is still frozen over and you can drive across it)
Montpelier-Concord: 2 hours
Concord-Boston: 2 hours
Boston-PVD: 2 hours

I don't like the looks of it. Maybe if you had someone to switch driving with and a bunch of Depends.... If you do it counter-clockwise, you can decide @Montpelier to skip Albany and come in nice and safe.

kebosabi

Well, I'm hoping to do as much of a standby possible (like taking the 12:25AM or the 1:00AM on the LAX-DFW leg) in order to increase my stay in New England for a few hours. Getting to PVD at 6PM will make a bigger difference that getting there at 10PM.

Anyhow, it seems the concensus is doable! Wish me luck!

the_traveler

I also second the idea of a reverse trip: PVD - Providence - Boston - etc...

Another idea may be Providence - Boston - Hartford - etc... Although a little longer, Boston to Hartford can be done on all interstates (I-90 to I-84) at 65+ MPH! If you go Providence to Hartford, you'll be traveling on a 2 lane road for part of the way - Route 6. (They didn't nickname that section of Route 6 as "Suicide 6" for nothing!)

Besides, you may run into less traffic in Boston at night.

kebosabi

You bet I am! One reason I decided to do this was because someone mentioned to me that since I'm such a nut-case, why don't I go take a snapshot of all the capitol buildings of all 50 states. Actually, that got me intrigued as I was a geography nut back in elementary school so I decided to start it off in the most condensed area - New England.

I'm still young - I was able to do a Los Angeles, CA - Vancouver, BC drive in approx 20 hours before, so I can probably do this as well. It's just the fact that I'm doing this in New England where I have little experience driving in, compounded that it will be in early March that have me a bit worried.

That might be a good idea. How about Providence - Boston - Hartford - Albany - Montpelier - Concord - Providence? I checked yahoo maps and it isn't much of a difference because of the more reliable Interstate route. Also, I get to avoid going through Boston on the return route.

By the way, am I the only one who thinks that the old yahoo maps was better because of the turn-by-turn map capability for printouts?

Having a GPS would be very handy it seems in this neck of the woods, but it seems that the Dollar Rental Car at PVD doesn't have one. Drag.

stevenshev

12 hours? You could probably do it in 8.

the_traveler

I personally think that would be a better route. You would not have to go through Boston on the return, but you would still go around Boston. (I-95/Route 128 circles Boston.)

The only problem with that route is Albany to Montpelier. Hartford to Albany is all Interstates (91 to 90) - however Albany to Montpelier is not. Because you have to get around Lake Champlain, you either have to go from the south or north, If you go on the southside, you can take I-87 to exit 20, but then it's all 2 lane roads (Routes 149, 4 and 7) for 2/3 of the way. If you go all the way on I-87 north to Rouses Point (almost the Canadian border on the northside of the Lake), that alone is about 3 hours!

I have never used yahoo maps, so I can not comment on that. Most times I use Map Quest, which does give turn-by-turn directions.

Having a GPS (I think) is not really necessary, except in some of the cities. Except for the Albany to Montpelier portion (if you choose to do so), it is on primarily the same interstate(s).

BTW - Did you know that the RI Capitol dome is modeled after the Capitol dome in Washington? And the painter of the well known George Washington portrait is from just south of Providence?

Being early March could also present a problem. Remember the fist major snowfall (at least in southern New England) we got this year was on February 14! NE can have snow until April!

kebosabi

I take it that sticking with the Interstate is the safe vibe from reading your posts

Okay, how about Providence - Boston - Concord - Montpelier - Hartford - Albany - Providence? Time wise, google, yahoo and mapquest doesn't show much of a difference (11 hrs or so).

While this route will require a backtrack on the Hartford - Albany - Providence route, I think this will keep me from taking state routes.

Any advice on this particular route?