Oregon to New Jersey in January

[TigerViking]

I am hoping to drive my wife and dog from Portland (OR) to in January. We will be driving a minivan. It did not seem to me to be such an outrageous idea, but some of my family members are trying to scare me out of it because of the potential weather. Should I worry?

I have driven from Chicago to the East Coast many times in the winter, but I have never been in the North West that time of year.

Your thoughts will be much appreciated.

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

Should you worry? No - worry gets you nowhere. Should you be concerned and plan for the possibility of bad weather? Absolutely - why wouldn't you? The difference is simply being proactive and doing what you can to make and already safe trip even safer. First, realize that the Interstate Highway System was built to very exacting standards that limit grads and curves, and that they get the highest level of maintenance and snow removal attention. They are the last highways closed and they are the first reopened during any winter storm. They are the nation's commercial arteries.

Even with all that going for them, there are a couple of things you can do to make your trip even safer. The first is to have an alternative plan (or two) in hand to be chosen among only once you know (a day or two before departure) what the actual weather will be while you're on the road. In your case, two alternatives for crossing the mountainous northwest would be, basically, I-90 and I-80. Both routes would start out by taking I-84 up the Columbia River Gorge to around Umatilla. The I-90 route would then branch off on I-82 up to Kennewick WA, then US-395 to Ritzville where you'd get on I-90 eastbound with a further option of using I-94 across the northern plains. The I-80 route would continue on I-84 from Umatilla to Salt Lake City where you'd get on I-80 eastbound. The two routes would reunite in Chicago. It would be an unusual storm that closed both those routes.

But, even if you set out and find that the weather changes on you, all is not even remotely lost. Simply sit the storm out and let nature do its worst and the road crews do their best and then you resume travel on freshly plowed roads in the sunshine after the storm. Typically such a strategy might cost you a day at most, and you should build that much wiggle room into a 5-6 day RoadTrip in any event. So worry - no, but plan - yes.

AZBuck