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Author Topic: Newark NJ to Utica?  (Read 2573 times)

Dan Sroka

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Newark NJ to Utica?
« on: September 13, 2004, 01:31:12 pm »

[font color=\'#000000\']Newark Airpot is a rat's nest, with a lot of construction. But it is getting better. Just be sure to follow the signs for highway 80 West... the signs will take you looping on several ramps to get there, so don't get frustrated.

Once you are on 80, it's only 30-45 minutes before you are out of the built up area, and surrounded by trees and hills. Once you get away from the immediate surroundings of Newark Airport, northern New Jersey is a beautiful place.

Yahoo! Maps has you going west to Highway 287 then going north on highway 87 to Albany. I've never driven this, but you'll be going along side the Hudson River. Can't make any specific recommendations, but be sure to drive to the river a couple times - its a beautiful area. If you want to get into the Catskills, you'll have to go exploring off the main highways.

By the way, for a very American experience, the the baseball hall of fame in Cooperstown is not too far from Utica.[/font]
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andersonl

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Newark NJ to Utica?
« Reply #1 on: September 14, 2004, 07:52:51 am »

[font color=\'#000000\']You might want to take 80 West to the delaware water gap - it's a beautiful area!  Then you could head up 81.  If you have time, you could take a little detour and go to Ithaca - Cornell and Ithaca College have arguably two of the most beautiful campuses in this area.[/font]
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WonkyEwok

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Newark NJ to Utica?
« Reply #2 on: September 24, 2004, 04:06:19 pm »

[font color=\'#000000\']Thanks for the help to all of you. I've just finished my trip.
Driving away from the airport and onto the 80 (starts as the 280?) was a bit dramatic - I've never seen such rapid cutting in between lanes before - but I managed in the end. I found the toll system a bit confusing at first ('which lane should I go in? What _is_ going on?'), but was ok when I realised I needed to go through a manned booth to get a ticket so that I could then pay the appropriate fee at the end, as opposed to being charged maximum. It's probably obvious, it just wasn't to me at the time when there was a stream of traffic behind me which I was trying not to hold up (probably always a mistake to let myself feel pressured though).

Driving up to Utica was pretty. The barns were all red, and the damp grass in early morning light was very pretty. I've never seen so many dead animals though! - skunk, racoon, porcupine I think, squirrels etc., and, even worse, I hit a deer. I almost managed to come to a stop but I was still going fast enough to break its back legs I think. (There were no skid marks even though I stood on the brakes - either the ABS was superb or the breakes weren't all that good on the hire car, a Cavalier with 6k miles on the clock). I told some locals who'd ring the police and DEP. I won't go into the details but I was told it'd probably end up barbecued. In a way at least I felt better about that - my immediate thought, apart from feeling guilty that I'd not been able to avoid it as in all car adverts, was  'What a senseless waste'.

I had an afternoon in Minnewaska state park (NY) exactly when the remains of Ivan hit, so it was extremely foggy and rainy. Grand pictures were out, but the mist was interesting. I took some which are probably a bit cliched (wooden fences curving off into the mist) but it was fun to try as _I've_ not taken any like that before. If I can get my web space sussed I'll post a link.[/font]
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WonkyEwok

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Newark NJ to Utica?
« Reply #3 on: September 12, 2004, 03:33:18 pm »

[font color=\'#000000\']Gentle readers,

I'll soon be flying into Newark and then driving up to Utica (NY state) and back. Could anyone give me (a Brit) any tips on
(a) getting out of Newark without damaging the rental car / doing anything dangerous
( finding a scenic route to Utica (through the Catskills maybe)?

I've driven in the US a few times before, but only in the west / south west, in not particularly built-up areas.

Thanks very much![/font]
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WonkyEwok

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Newark NJ to Utica?
« Reply #4 on: September 13, 2004, 02:25:41 pm »

[font color=\'#000000\']Thanks very much for the info.

(Pretty rhetorical question)
Now which lens to take... I'm tempted to take the risk of just having the Canon 50 f/1.8 and to be creative over what I photograph. It's certainly lighter than my 20mm or 24-200  :)[/font]
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Bill Ozanne

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Newark NJ to Utica?
« Reply #5 on: September 14, 2004, 02:59:23 pm »

[font color=\'#000000\']Its a common misconception that New Jersey is a giant city, wrapped with landfills, factories, and refineries.  And yes, Newark fits that model perfectly.  Other than that is is a lovely place.  The Newark airport isn't even that bad.  Once you are on the interstate you will see how quickly the surroundings become rural.[/font]
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