[mwmac]

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

NE, the longest drive to a district event I had this year was 2.5 hours to Pine Tree. Oddly, the shortest drive I had to a district was 1 hour to Northeastern/DCMP (It's only 40 miles but traffic in Boston is bad). Actually, I'm pretty sure that I live in the hole of the donut when it comes to NEFIRST events because they are all between 1 and 2.5 hours away.

Don't know whether to laugh or cry or be envious. IMO, if you don't have to fill up your fuel tank at least once your event is nearby. Our closest regional is Utah which is 342 miles and 5+ hrs away. Sacramento (unfortunately scheduled the same week as SLC for the past few years) is just 568 miles or 9.5 hours distant but becomes a non-issue once the district model as envisaged is implemented.

Vegas, which may or may not be returning to the schedule for 2015, was our best choice for a second regional last year in terms of both proximity and level of competition and we covered the 625 miles in only 11 hours. Hope Joe and FIRST HQ can make sure this regional is back for many years to come.

Our carbon footprint gets much larger for a second regional after Vegas: Denver is just 830 miles distant with an estimated 13 hour travel time; while Calgary is on the horizon at 957 miles and 15 hours (not including border stoppage time).

So for those of you faced with a within district journey of 2+ hours, please be grateful for what you have. Worldwide districts anyone?