I believe when Jim says central he means someplace you can fly into on just one flight from basically anywhere in the country. That would make Dallas (AA hub) Denver (UA hub) Atlanta (Delta Hub) Cincinnati (Delta hub) Memphis and Detroit (NWA hub) and of course Chicago the best places. Las Vegas also has many direct flight from a lot of the country. St Louis is a nice pick but since AA ruined TWA is has been de hubbed and there are not nearly as many direct flights to there as there once was. Another option would be Salt Lake City.
Oh man, could I go for Cincinnatti. It’s only three hours from me.
I just checked on Expedia. We can get non-stop flights out of Fresno to Las Vegas, Phoenix, Denver, Dallas, St Louis, New Orleans, Chicago, or Atlanta. Cincinnati is 1 stop. Anchorage is 1 stop and a bit more expensive. Most of these flights are in the $300 to $400 range for round trip tickets. Of course, from Fresno, Phoenix and Las Vegas are much cheaper. I was checking flights departing about 45 days out from now.
Maybe someone can check flights out of other areas of the country, but I figure if we can get there non-stop from a sticksville airport like Fresno, then there’s probably a good chance that most FReepers can do the same from their areas.
Any of the cities mentioned so far on the thread are good for me. Even DC at 1 stop for $424.
Salt Lake, site of the Olympics, might be plenty of lodging there...
Actually D-FW International is the main AA hub.
However, Dallas Love field is home of ---
A long time ago, when I was a young buck, we used to throw raging parties on the promontory that is on a ridge South-Southwest of Dallas, and South-Southeast of Grand Prairie, and between the Eastbound, and Westbound portions of Interstate 20. The land belonged to one of the Hunt brothers, rumor had it. Access from the Eastbound fast lane. No ramp. Dangerous turn off, actually...
West of there, where highway 360 intersects I-20, was our drag strip. 360 ended, just a little ways beyond where it passed under I-20, basically dead-ending there, with just and old country lane leading off from one side. That part of the road was all but deserted, 24/7. From the dead- end, back along the then brand spanking new (and DESERTED!) divided highway lanes, to the first 1-20 bridge overpass, was just almost exactly 1/5 of a mile. Perfect for street rods.
It's all different now, but it was noisy and fun then--- and the police basically left us alone, too.