Road Trips and Scrabble

[dacrON]

Not sure where else to post this, so I'll post it here.

I love driving, freeways, old US highways, road trips, backroads, all of it. I also love Scrabble. Someday I'd love to combine the two of them (more than just driving a few hours to a tournament - lots of us do that frequently - I am driving from SD to Phoenix and back in the next week). Here is one insane idea I have had, that I'd love to do:

Play Lake George. Drive to the California Open, which is 2 weekends later. Have mini events as you make your way across the country, stop at the local clubs, maybe even a midway one or two day.

Another idea, which isn't mine, but I love: Tour de California in which there are one days throughout the state that we drive to: SD, OC, LA, Fresyes, Bay Area x some number, Sac and/or Eureka.

I'd love to do both of these someday. If anybody is ever feeling insane. And I have other ideas too.

Post your crazy, or not so crazy roadtrip ideas here

And yes, I would complete said roadtrip, for realz, if it could be planned well/cheaply.

[Yarn Chief Sr]

I love the idea. I travel so much 'cause I love driving and exploring and staying at hotels, even if they are holes-in-the-wall most of the time. I don't do it more 'cause it's not really feasible to stay in hotels over a whole week unless you're Winter and are adept at sleeping in your car. Wish there were more occasions where it was feasible to drive to tourneys over multiple weeks on the east coast, but really that only happens up north. Was looking forward to the WV tourney this year for that reason, but it likely won't be until much later in the year.

[dacrON]

Well I think part of the planning is that we have this resource of Scrabble players across the country. Ideally you could Scrabble couch-surf your way across + those small evening/weekend events.

[soccerguy]

There's the NAST, so why not have something like this too? It could be East-West like you've already suggested, or perhaps based on locations reachable by the I-5, or for the more scenic route, 101 from top to bottom. I'd definitely be down for that.

[astrp3]

Not exactly an answer to your post, but here's a Scrabble roadtrip I DID take in 2009.
Only one Scrabble tournament, but it was the big one.

I just listed the places I stopped and did things or stopped for the night:

Day 1: Austin TX - Texarkana TX
Day 2: Texarkana TX - Hope AR - Hot Springs AR - Memphis TN
Day 3: Memphis TN -Nashville TN
Day 4: Nashville TN - Adams TN - Chattanooga TN
Day 5: Chattanooga TN - Lynchburg TN - Mammoth Cave NP
Day 6: Mammoth Cave - Horse Cave KY - Hodgenville KY - Louisville KY
Day 7: Louisville KY - Fairfield OH - Cincinnati OH - Miamisburg OH - Dayton OH
Days 8-12 National Scrabble Championship
Day 13: Dayton OH - Indianapolis IN - Wisconsin Dells WI
Day 14: Wisconsin Dells WI - Spring Green WI - Madison WI
Day 15: Madison WI - Milwaukee WI - Des Plaines IL - Chicago IL
Day 16: Chicago IL - Kalamazoo MI
Day 17: Kalamazoo MI - Dearborn MI - Milan OH
Day 18: Milan OH - Sandusky OH - Vermilion OH - Cleveland OH - Canton OH - Erie PA
Day 19: Erie PA - Niagara Falls NY - Amherst NY
Day 20: Amherst NY - Lockport NY - Corning NY - Lewisburg PA
Day 21: Lewisburg PA - Harrisburg PA - Hanover PA - Gettysburg PA - Baltimore MD
Day 22: Baltimore MD
Day 23: Baltimore MD - Washington DC - Richmond VA
Day 24: Richmond VA - Jamestown VA - Yorktown VA - Newport News VA
Day 25: Newport News VA - Williamsburg VA- Charlottesville VA
Day 26: Charlottesville VA - Natural Bridge VA - Asheville NC
Day 27: Asheville NC - Franklin NC - Highlands NC
Day 28: totaled car
Day 29: Highlands NC - Asheville NC - Stone Mountain GA
Day 30: Stone Mountain GA - Atlanta GA - Birmingham AL - Vicksburg MS
Day 31: Vicksburg MS - Shreveport LA - Austin TX


Total of about 6,500 miles driving, 20 states, 250+ attractions (could have added 6 more states if I'd skipped the tournament).

[dacrON]

awesome.

[3dnf]

From December 24th to January 2nd, there were tournament games everyday on the east coast. (Delaware to Princeton to Albany) Clubs could probably do a series before that and Scrabblers could road trip across the east coast. I'd gladly run a tournament on the 23rd if I could get a director, and I'm sure other people would go because most students are on winter break then.

- Ted

[dacrON]

I posted this thread a year and a half ago, but I'm curious: epic Scrabble roadtrip - what does it entail?

Have you done one? Would you like to do one? Brainstorm! Dream big!

I still like the Tour de California - one days at all the major CA clubs in a row (though two years later, I think I'd prefer it all as ONE tournament in a bunch of different locations...)