driving from nashville to seattle w/22 foot penske towing a car...
Hi all,
i'm going to be making a big move at the end of November, from nashville to seattle.
i''m renting a 22 foot penske truck which will be towing a car (one a car carrier, not a tow dolly) and then i'll be driving another car behind the penske.
needless to say, i don't know what the weather will be like in the last week of november - so depending on the weather, i'll either take I29 up to I90 and take that across, take I29 up to I80 then I84 then I82 to seattle, or if the weather is bad - i'll take I40 straight across to California and then work my way north from there.
It goes without saying that I40 is the safest route, but it'll also take an extra day's time and that's another 600 miles of gas expense.
i've heard that I80 can be very dangerous because it goes through Wyoming and that the winds in Wyoming can be downright treacherous.
I90 seems like a straightforward route, but i can still hit winds in Montana and further, i'll be going through some tough driving in western Montana and through Washington.
I've never seen any of those routes before so i don't know what to expect in terms of how treacherous the terrain might be, especially with a 22" penske towing a car. Presuming that weather is optimal - are the roads through the mountains on either I80/I84 or I90 that treacherous that i should resign myself all together to taking the southern and safer route - with the understanding of "better late than never?"
Any/all opinions would be much appreciated .. thank you
everyone has the right to think ...
everyone has the right to think .. but i do tend to abuse the privilege - hehehe.
overall i'll have a better idea come trip time ...
Over-planning...that's an understatement!
Anytime you're on the road, different variables will pop up that will waylay the best laid plans. Add to that, you're traveling in the winter and you're towing.
I think your best plan is to check the weather each evening /morning, plan your route accordingly, stop when the urge/need strikes you, and stay at convenient hotels along the way. There are many and you really shouldn't have any problems finding a vacancy.
On a trip like this, it's a good idea to have benchmarks so you don't get too far behind schedule. But, in the winter, it doesn't hurt to have some flexibility so that you can weather out a storm.
Too far to justify the "safety" against winter weather
nishira-
I'm with the others in saying I would look askance at adding additional distance to "avoid" weather. As has been correctly noted herein again and again, I-40 is prone to ice, whereas the northern routes are subject to snow + the best snow removal efforts on the planet. Plus, you take the Southern route and that "earns" you a chance to see Southern CA and ride I-5 through CA. The traffic congestion alone out there would drive me to alternate routes. Traffic is more dangerous than winter weather, in my opinion.
I'm very familiar with I-90 in MT. There are at least 4 fairly high passes, and that's where the weather will be the worst, and the snow removal the best. Most passes will require chains during the snow removal periods, and I'm assuming your Penske is a dually, so conventional chains are not going to work. Still, I-90 would be next to last on my list (I-40 being last).
I'd do the I-80 route in a New York minute. Don't sweat the winds. Just stop for a while if it blows too bad. Shoot, the 600+ miles you'd save earns you a full day to wait out some winds or snow, anyway. Plus, that 600 miles will cost you $260 in fuel at 8 mpg and 3.50/gal. I'm very familiar with I-80 from eastern NE all the way to Salt Lake City and into NV. That's the way I'd go. You've got a fairly low pass in WY at the Continental Divide, some fairly high desert plains from there to Evanston, then canyons to descend to the I-84 split, and you can avoid Parley's Summit between Park City and SLC by staying in I-84 to Ogden. I am unfamiliar with the balance of the route to SEA, but would imagine you'd have only low passes until you reach the Cascades immediately east of SEA.
Foy
I hope leary doesn't mean scared
Seriously, I'm impressed that you are being careful to assess conditions, evaluate your needs, and desire to be prepared. All good things. However, I also think that you're stressing overly much about this. The roads very rarely get so bad that you'll be in real danger. Just use common-sense, adjust your speed for the conditions, have gear ready to use in case you need it (and know how to use it), and then go for it.
Of course, common-sense means that you will pull over and rest if you get overly tired, that you will get out and stretch your legs every few hours, and that you will stop driving for the night if you feel the driving conditions aren't comfortable for you. During this time of year, this might mean driving more limited hours so you're driving in daylight. And, if the weather appears to be turning bad, check your radio for weather reports and/or call that state's DOT for an update. It's better to stop early for the night and wait out a storm than it is to press on ahead sometimes.
Anyway, be prepared but don't be overly stressed about this, OK? People travel these roads all winter without incident. There's no reason to assume that you'll have any more trouble than they do.
Here, then are some other similar circumstances
Every experienced roadtripper on this board has gotten stuck and/or slid off the road in icy conditions. Here are some of those tales.... Should be good for a chuckle or two.
Mark
Couple of additional points
I didn't make it clear, but if you do go out I-80 and will be staying on 80 across all or part of Nevada, it seems to me you'd be just as well to take the short stretch of I-84 west from where 80 and 84 split, just inside Utah from Evanston, WY. If you do that, you stay low all the way to Ogden, in the Salt Lake Valley, and it's a short valley run on I-15 down to the I-215 bypass to pick up I-80 on the west side of Salt Lake City. If you were to stay on I-80 from where 80 and 84 meet, you'll keep some elevation around to Park City, then go through Parley's Summit, which is somewhere in the 7,500' elevation range. From Parley's, it's a pretty steep 3 lanes each way drop of +3,000' into Salt Lake City, and there's a ton of commuter traffic from Park City down to SLC, not to mention the SLC traffic as soon as you emerge from Parley's Canyon on I-80. I think the 84-15 South-215-back to I-80 at the SLC airport west of town might be a handful of miles farther, but it's a far easier and safer drive, in my opinion. Since you're in tune to the DOT webcams, check out Utah's on the Park City screen, on down to SLC. It's heavily traveled, to say the least.
Yes, from your description of the Nashville ice storm, I see you have some serious issues with winter driving. Here's what I tell folks about the frequently-cited fears about winter driving here in NC, though: I'd much sooner drive in 6" of dry snow than 1/4 inch of ice. You can pretty much do anything with dry snow if you just use your head and don't try to stop short. There ain't a dang thing you can do with ice other than to stay home.
That said, and despite the short-term icy conditions you and I observed on the MT DOT passes webcams recently, ice is a fairly rare, temporary condition on Western interstates. I just don't have any fear of the possibility of snow while traveling in MT and UT as I am happy to do regularly. Sure, you can get a royal blizzard dumping a couple of feet or more in the passes, and you may have to wait it out somewhere for a few hours or a day, but it's unusual for real snafu problems to arise. When they do arise, you've typically got only yourself to blame for getting stuck in them, as a sharp eye on the forecasts should give you 12-24 hours of warning before the bottom drops out.
Lastly, I'd noted in my last about chains. If you're in a rental truck towing a car or car trailer, my guess is it's a dual rear tire setup (dually) on the truck. I guess you can get chains around the outermost tire on each side of the dually, but I'm not sure I'd even be concerned. Where you need chains, or where they're required, is ascending and descending the passes. For this reason, Western interstates have several hundred-yard long "chain up" areas on each side of a pass. Truckers or others who can't wait it out must put the chains on, drive over the pass, and take them back off. Rather than do that, I'd consider going without chains altogether, and instead wait it out before you get to the pass, have some coffee and a piece of pie, and let the DOT folks do their magic.
Final, final comment- A CB radio would be a great addition to your plans. Radio Shack and other retailers sell rechargable battery powered handheld units for which a magnetic rooftop antenna is also available. You can get road condition reports from the passes from motorists going the other way, or going your way, for that matter. I would not travel out West without one, regardless of the season.
Foy
up up and away, so beautiful so beautiful :P
i guess i'm a bit more leery than i might be under normal circumstances - because i'll also have the 22 foot truck towing the car. the truck i've driven before, but it was a smooth drive (no inclement weather) - and the truck with the carrier is new territory for me. I don't believe that adding the carrier will make a tremendous difference - outside the commonn sense stuff ( add even additional room for braking and turning and such, check the straps, lower speed, etc.). That factor further adds to any inclement weather apprehension i have. Even if it was just a car and nothing more, i'd have no desires to be going through bad weather though, of course.
I'll be leaving Nashville on 11/28. It is just now starting to get close enough to be getting weather forecasts for that period and as the day draws closer, i'll have more and more weather info avail to me (barring anything unplanned that blows into an area, which i understand can certainly happen in higher elevations - all i can say is "der - hope not" hehehe).
Whichever route i take, will depend mostly on the forecasted weather. If the weather seems clear for both routes, i think i'll be leaning towards I80/I84/I92/I90. I'm thinking that with less mountain passes than I90up - i'll be less likely to run into any unexpected weather. I've been looking at the webcam for Cabbage Hill everyday and so far, no snow - rain yes, but no snow - so i'm hoping that continues.
Even though I90 may do an excellent job of keeping the passes clear, i'm thinking that if i'm driving through early morning - which may happen - that's when i'd be most subject to icy conditions - before the sun is fully out to melt the stuff - and even a few hours of icy conditions - would be potentially nerve rattling. So, i can't control the weather, but i'll do what i can to control getting into that situation in the first place.
The tire chains, i have them - figuring as another poster said (whether on this thread or another, i can't exactly remember) that hopefully having them, will be my insurance not to need them - ha! I hear it's good to have living in Washington anyhow, so i'll just keep them when i get there.
I94 anyone? can we say FRIGID!!!
so, as the departure draws ever so closer, and i quite obsessively stalk the weather, like a cat lurking behind it's prey..hehehe...
at this point - I80, which was my favored route due to the lack of mountain passes - looks to be the most inclined for snow during late next week and weekend.
I90 is looking better then I80, a couple of areas look suspect though, but it looks to be safer than I80.
Another route i had not previously thought of, I94. I94 looks to be, for the most part - predicted to be dry during that stretch. It's a bit further north but would only add about an extra hour or two of total trip travel time. My biggest concern with I94 is the area it runs through looks to be hit up with some pretty frigid temperatures.
So, for all the road veterans out there, i ask you this - if the current predictions hold true and I94 continues to hold better chance for clear weather than I90 (until they merge together) - are there any concerns I should be leery of given the low frigid temperatures?
i'll still be monitoring the weather much between now and departure because much can change in that time - but i'm trying to figure in advance...
thank you...
