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Experienced travelers,
I'm thinking about I80 from NY- San Francisico, how difficult is it to drive this route as opposed to more common routes? I imagine things are pretty flat out to Wyoming but that it becomes very mountainous thereafter, how are the roads? Are there two lane highways? Is there anything to do in Lincoln Nebraska? Your feedback is appreciated.
Good Morning, Adventurer. I can only tell you about Highway 80 in California...and it is a great and wonderful Highway with lots of things to do along the way. Of course you don't want to miss Tahoe City and you can eat at that Grill that sits right next to the Truckee river. There is outdoor seating and you can watch the fish jump if the Salmon are running.
Take a boat ride across the lake or just stop and look at it for awhile. You can rent a bicycle there and there are many fine restaurants.
Stop at the Rainbow Lodge futher on down the hill and you may want to see the Donner Pass Museum if you like history. That is where the Donner Party got stuck in the snow and didnt realize the valley was so close below. Most Died, canablism, sad story....
Then you are entering the Gold Country...take Highway 49 from 80 to Coloma and you can even Pan for some Gold.
Then on to Sacramento...Visit Old Town and The Delta King...There is a funky little restaurant out on the Garden Highway called the Virgin Sturgeon...you can sit, have a beer, and eat good food and be right next to the River.
Lots of nice restaurants in Sacramento...If you tell me waht you are interested in...I'll send you more specifics.
I-80 is four-lane highway the entire stretch (except for the obligatory sections under construction).
While it would be stretch to consider the hills in Pennsylvania -- mountains -- you will drive through a variety of terrain on the way west.
Lincoln, Nebraska is a happening place these days -- lots of growth and economic opportunity. Great bars & etc.
There is little challenging to drive on I-80, but as the next posting indicates the route will expose you to a variety of very cool and unique finds along the way.
Enjoy!
I would recommend a detour off of I80 once you get into Nebraska. Head on down into Colorado if you have some time to spare. See Boulder and Denver. Take I70 west ouf ot Denver and then hope on US40 up towards Steam Boat Springs up over the Divide. US40 is a road NOT TO BE MISSED. Once you get to Salt Lake City, you can head north again on an interstate to get back to I80, but you might not want to leave Colorado! :)
Traveling in the midwest (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa) is very convenient because there are travel plazas and gas stations all over the place, you'll never have to worry about running out of gas because you are still in civilization.
Anything from about Wyoming on west (where the mountains start by the way) is a different story. You'll find the Gas stations start becoming farther and farther apart from eachother, and also are of less and less good quality. At this point, I'd fill up at every gas station I'd see. On my last trip I had a couple close calls where I almost ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere.
good luck
steve