I live in a dead zone: last year I drove 2 hours to El Paso for a SQL Saturday, in September I drove 600 miles to Denver for theirs. I'm hoping my boss will let me go to the one in Phoenix in April, only 500 miles, and I can stay for free at my parent's.
There are A LOT of SQL Saturdays, there may be one closer than you'd think.
My youngest daughter heads off to college in August, after that I'll have more time to do that kind of traveling!:-)