The one that I went to was about 20 minutes from Lake Michigan. It was back in 2006. There were 2 of us coming from NJ, one from Indiana, one from Maine, and one from Chicago, with 2 children. NH never made it, with her children. I made a lot of really good friends that weekend. This was the first time anyone on that website got together to meet others on the forum. We also did the Canada one the next year. Again, I split the driving with the one from NJ. We also had people from Md, Maine, RI, Wisconsin, Canada, NC, Michigan, and Texas. For that one we had a total of 15 adults, and 3 children.
For anyone who wants to take this on in making the plans, remember to get the money up front. For a camping site, you may not lose that much, but the Canada trip was a hotel. The person who ran that one, told us to give her the money when we got there. She had to pay for an extra room that no one used. We did chip in to help her cover that cost.
After those 2 trips, "retreats", many started to have their own also, and were offering their houses for the stay, that was when Australia, and UK, started to come in. I didn't make those trips because my marriage was so bad at that time.
I just wanted to say that if there is a way that I could attend one of these again, that I would do it. It was so great to meet up with the people that I was talking to daily. They are/were the greatest bunch of people I ever met.
Also, remember, use caution.
((((((hugs))))))
amy