Posted on 12/17/2010 10:38:59 PM PST by rabscuttle385
I am contemplating making a road trip in January to visit friends out in Middle America. This thread is to solicit advice from fellow FReepers on winter travel in the West.
See the map below for my planned itinerary.
A few things to consider...
I have driven in the Rockies (Montana, Wyoming) in the late spring, including during the late May 2010 snowstorm in Wyoming and the Dakotas, so I'm not entirely unfamiliar with mountain driving.
My car is a four-door sedan with front wheel-drive and Michelin Weatherwise II tires with 25K miles remaining. I do plan to have a pre-trip inspection and service appointment with my mechanic.
I do have an emergency kit and full-size spare tire in the trunk.
I will get AAA roadside assistance.
I will check weather reports regularly.
I will stay on U.S. highways and interstate highways.
I will have about 11-12 days for the entire trip.
Any other advice, especially considering the portion of the route that's in Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona? Any cool places to see?
Hopefully, that trend will continue into January.
Since I see you are avoiding mountains now (good plan), any expertise I might have is made null...
Still wouldn’t go anywhere in the winter without CB radio, chains/cables, siped snow tires, and enough gear/food for 3 days with a dead car (including an independent means of making fire).
Most folks get in trouble up here by figuring their car can keep them warm. Rope, a few wool army blankets, and a couple tarps don’t take up much room, but you’d be amazed at what one can do with them when the chips are down.
Just sayin’...
Have a good trip.
That and Pasta.
One year KV and I had to travel, no room in the Inn and he had just been released from ICU for treatment.
So we traveled with chains on, pasta, suited him up in a snow suit (he is WC Bound and to big for a one person transfer) and all the other e merg stuff.
The highway from the Hosp to our home on the coast was closed but we had no choice.
One Doctor gave me his private phone number and said he too had patients to see the next day over here to give him a call if we make it. I call that my Canary in the Coal Mine story.
We were the ONLY souls going over the coastal range and just as we got here the trees had been cleared from the highway that fell from the worst ice storm in written history so we were able to take a back road from there and made it home.
Thanking God for our safety.
Ok, next advice. I-40 from Amarillo to Albuquerque can get shut down for any storm that comes over the mountains in ABQ. ABQ talk radio is 770. There are not a lot of towns or motels in between, so if you get stuck on that road, you will probably be sitting in your car in a parking lot at a truck stop.
Next, I-40 is so long, people fall asleep at the wheel a lot. And after Albuquerque, they get on the interstate going the wrong way a lot. Make sure you aren’t sleepy and can pay full attention to your surroundings.
Advice taken. I will be keeping an eye on the weather conditions and forecasts at all points along the itinerary, when I work everything out completely on paper.
Make sure you aren’t sleepy and can pay full attention to your surroundings.
More advice taken. I've driven the eastern part of I-40, in Tennessee and North Carolina, so I know that it can be rather monotonous. And, experience has taught me that when I'm tired, I should pull over at the next service station, rest stop, or travel plaza.
I love your spirit. And I am a woman! Now that my kids are finally grown and can help me out, we are taking more and more road trips.
Last summer, in 4 days, we went from home, over the Rocky Mountain National Park, camped in NE Utah (Flaming Gorge, I think). Then on to Salt Lake City and camped in Sun Valley, Utah, that night. Traversed across Yellowstone the following day.
We came home the next day, cutting one day out of the trip. I was so beat up from sitting in road construction, I wanted to come home and curl up in my own bed for a few days.
BUT, we experienced and saw so many things, it was a blast. And, we have determined that Mom (me) is too old to camp anymore. I love the sounds, the smells, but my aging arthritic body can’t take the tent and air mattress anymore.
Thank goodness for your spirit. It is what makes this country, and mankind great. It moves us onward and upward as a species. And, for those people upset that you might be endangering lives... PEOPLE LIVE IN THESE AREAS. Every day, we drive on these roads, and got to and from work, the grocery store, skiing, etc.
My experience here, going on 9 years now, is unless we get into a weather cycle, January is pretty mild, just brutally cold. Although I seem to always have some meeting or class or something to get to in January, and miss it because of ice on the road from a previous night’s snow. And February is the “no snow” month.
Getting good advice so I could refine and clean up the itinerary was the point of this thread. ;)
That's a good thing. As long as it's not so cold that I need a block heater, and as long as the roads are fairly clean, I don't think this trip will be terribly problematic, as long as it's carefully researched, budgeted, and planned out. And, honestly, the really big worry that I have is mechanical breakdown, which is why I will have my car inspected and serviced prior to the trip.
From El Paso to Phoenix the border patrol will be checking you and everyone else out.
Cheers and enjoy!
Have fun with it. It’s all about the adventure. I was never one to get too hung up on planning a trip like it’s some kind of military campaign or something. The most unpleasant trips were the ones where I tried to travel too far and do too many things, and never really just took the time to relax and enjoy it all.
Might be good to have my U.S. passport handy just in case.
:)
Chains, tow strap, HEAVY sleeping bag. two changes of heavy clothes, LOTS of water and whatever protein you like with some carbs to burn, folding shovel, extra coolant, extra oil, assorted simple hand tools, VERY good knife, small sterno stove, firestarter (nice bottle of Purell, and a flint, NO Bics). I live on the edge of the Sierras and all of that stuff and more goes into all my vehicles on October 1.
Wait a few hours. The storm that got us last night will be there.
Drive on down to South Padre Island in TX and eat ya some peyote buttons, then decide where the road goes.....
Dropping Denver might be a good idea, unless there is someone there you'd really like to visit. One can more often than not get to and from Denver, at least between storms. Though it is not technically in the mountains, it is on high plains. Going West from there, can be more often delayed...
Headed West on I-70 one begins to see the winter storm road closure locations in Western Kansas. They are like steps or stages [without clearly defined "ledges"] their locations depending on how far East of the Rockies particular storms typically will make it. State DOT's have it pretty much figured out. The chain-up areas along the side of the road get bigger and better in Colorado.
Global WarmingTM seems to be taking a bit of a hiatus this winter, judging by what I see on the t.v. weather.
Hopefully you'll be able to get in and out of Durango between weather systems.
That route is one of the few in the West I've never driven, either by motorcycle, car, tractor trailer, or all three.
Otherwise, I've been on every Interstate in the nation to their full extents, other than up into the three Northernmost New England states. Everything else, from Key West to Vancouver BC, most of the West and South I could travel without consulting a map, if I had to...particularly the Interstates.
I sort-of like the secondary U.S. highway roads better for sight-seeing, even though they are slower, with stoplights and stop signs. Much more chance of sudden or unexpected danger on the secondaries...
LOL! I’m not trying to reenact Harold and Kumar by myself here...
They will just stop and check to see if you have maybe 42 illegals in your back seat and in the trunk.
In say a Kia?
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