Sharepoint Designer: “The folder name is not valid” error

This is one of those random WTF kind of issues that I run into when trying to connect to Coke’s Sharepoint servers while not on VPN.  I think I have finally found a nice workaround which is painfully easy.

Instead of clicking the option to open a site via the icon or File->Open Site simply use File->Open instead.  Here enter the full path to the site/subsite you are trying to open.  Worked like a champ for me!