Wa to Eastern Mexico in December

We are planning a five month road trip from Penticton, British Columbia to Playa del Carmen, Mexico and continuing south as far as Panama starting out in December. To avoid winter driving conditions as much as possible I'm thinking we should stay on the west coast as far as San Fran before heading inland toward Las Vegas and Tuscon. We'll save Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce etc for our return trip in the spring. Any advice/suggestions/recommendations regarding our route, reasonably priced motels, points of interest etc would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

Its always difficult to try to plan a route based on what might have the best weather 6 months from now. Yes, you can be reasonably confident that you won't see snow or ice by following the coast, however the coastal route also takes roughly twice as long as I5 and the vast majority of the time I5 has perfectly good conditions even in winter.

On the flip side, it is also possible to see snow south of san francisco, both on I5 or ca-58, if you head from tucson to texas before heading into mexico that section of I-10 can see some good winter storms from eastern az through west texas.

Reasonably priced motels ... well, once you've planned your route, figure out how many miles you're driving each day (we stay 600 miles or less when on interstates) and where that would leave you at the end of the driving day. Then go to the Motel finder on the right hand column of this page, enter the city and state, and see what you find. You can research the reviews for each place, as well.

As Michael pointed out, even I-10 can see some good winter storms. Parts of it are around 3500 - 4000 ft in elevation. My parents got snowed in at Van Horn TX one April years ago, returning to Arizona from Houston.

As far as traveling in the States is concerned -- the interstates will close if the weather really warrants it, but they do keep them open as long as they can. If the interstate suggests tire chains, that may be a time when you choose to take a day's break from the highway.


Donna