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Hello All,
I am relocating in an 07 civic si beginning next Saturday (Nov. 20). I would like to take the 1-40 because of potential complications with weather but like the cities off the I-80 route. The weather predictions also dont look too bad.
Any suggestions on route, places to eat, how to avoid tickets, and other tips that would improve this journey.
Should be a lot of fun, with a lot of driving and not too many problems. Thanks
Frank
Welcome to the RTA Forum!
Unless you've got a specific forecast showing bad weather on I-80, there's no reason that I-40 would necessarily have better or worse weather - and even at 6 days out you're a bit far to have a real accurate forecast.
As far as places to eat go, there's far too many restaurants that change hands far too often for us to have any specific suggestion on a trip of this size - but asking locally is always a good bet.
Bet bet for avoiding tickets is simple - don't break traffic laws. Its really just that simple.
5 days will be a nice amount of time - as long as you don't hit bad weather you should be able to make the trip comfortably, making a few short stops every few hours along the way.
I originally intended on going from OC to Albuquerque on the first day (775 mi.) then from Albuquerque to OKC, OKC to Memphis (because i want to check out beale st.), Memphis to either KY or WV and last stop PA. This seems like it would have better food stops, bbq and tex/mex.
I think a more enjoyable road trip (scenic-wise) might be through denver on the i-80, though it doesnt seem like any good stops line up for daily stops.
Thank you for a quick response, this forum is a great service
A few things
First, I-80 doesn't go through Denver - that would be I-70.
Second, every interstate has plenty of options for places to stop at regular intervals. It will be rare to go more than 50 miles without coming across a town with lodging, restaurants, and other traveler services. A stretch of I-70 in eastern Utah is really the longest stretch, and even that is only about 100 miles.
Third, I'd strongly recommend you rethink how much you are driving in a day. 775 miles is a brutally long day on the road that will leave you exhausted and in no condition to do another long day of driving the following day. On a multi-day trip, limiting yourself to 500-600 miles is a much more safe and reasonable plan and will having you in much better position to enjoy your trip.
LA to State College via Memphis is 2740 miles and is a 5 day drive. If you don't waste time, you can make it to Memphis for the 3rd night, it's 1800 miles from LA. Your first 2 overnights should be Gallup NM and Clinton OK. ABQ and OKC is pushing it just a bit too much, and hotels are cheaper in the smaller towns.
You would have about 3 hours to play with the next day. You need to make it to Louisville KY for your last overnight. You could spend that time in Memphis and/or in Nashville. For great BBQ, I can highly recommend Jack's on Broadway in downtown Nashville. It's a hole in the wall.
Out of Nashville, take I-65/I-71/I-76/I-80.
On your way by Amarillo, you can get a great steak dinner at the Big Texan.
By the most efficient route, Orange County to State College is just over 2,500 miles or 500+ miles a day over 5 solid days of work. This is not a drive and time scale that leaves a lot of time for sight seeing, although as Michael points out, you should take time every few hours for physical exercise and mental breaks in order to maintain your alertness and stamina to complete the drive. The most efficient route is I-15 to central Utah and then I-70 to Denver, I-76 into Nebraska and I-80 the rest of the way. Evenly spaced overnight stops (in towns with motels) would be Beaver,UT; Denver, CO; Omaha, NE; and South Bend, IN.
AZBuck
Completely agree, Buck - but I believe the original poster wants to see Memphis. This does add about 250 miles and 4 hours or so to the trip. Still doable in 5 days, weather permitting, and will require 3 long (but not excessive) days at the start of the trip.
I'm flexible on memphis. It is not a requirement...I just thought it would be a cool place to stop. I felt I was forced into the I-40 route because of the time of year. However, it seems weather will be alright, so far.
Coworkers of mine are saying Albuquerque should be no problem. I also had a pipe dream of making it to Amarillo. I am young and enjoy driving and thought that would be an advantage. I am also not hauling anything.
I'll put it real blunt: Your co-workers are wrong. 775 miles is simply too far to drive on a multi-day trip, your age and not hauling anything really are irrelevant to the discussion.
That's going to require at minimum of 14 hours on the road (if you only make short essential stops for gas, restrooms, etc), and will leave you in no condition to do another day of long haul driving. If Albuquerque were your final destination, it might be another story (although even there we wouldn't recommend doing it in one day), but you're engaging in a marathon, not a sprint, and you'll be wearing yourself out when you've still got 4 long days of driving in front of you.
To put it in perspective, Professional drivers are only allowed to travel about 600 miles a day, because when you start pushing beyond that you start pushing the limits of safety. This does not change because you are young, and in fact the idea that being young would allow you to be immune to the dangers of driving such distance is one of the big reasons that Drivers under age 25 are the most likely to fall asleep behind the wheel.
with 5 days available, you have no need to endanger yourself and others by driving irresponsible distances of 750+ miles in a day. As others have mentioned, treat this trip like the work it is, and you'll have both a more safe and more enjoyable time.
I know that the I40 is the way to go. Simply answer these two question, do you have all weather tyres on your vehicle? and do you have chains on board? These are requirements in CO at this time of year you don't want to be messing with the rockies.
Not necessarily true - I have driven across the Rockies on I-70 in December with no snow or ice issues. Of course, you should be prepared just in case, but if you keep an eye on forecasts and conditions and adjust as appropriate, there won't necessarily be a problem. Thousands of motorists make that trip on a daily basis. The cotrip.org website is an invaluable resource.
You should be able to buy a set of cable chains for about 30 bucks or so - I've seen them in Walmarts in SoCal.
I think the fact that I am living in Avon CO and know what the conditions are like right at the moment, that it has being currently snowing here day after day, trying to get through Glenwood canyon, Dowd Junction, Vail pass, up to the tunnel, Floyd Hill and Geneese. You may just end up like the others that I see sitting on the side of the road not looking happy.
It may be that conditions are not good at this moment - but that hardly means that I-70 is a route that must be avoided for winter travel.
I too have made the trip across I-70 in the middle of February - while pulling a trailer at that - and had no problems what so ever. Of course, I-70 does cross the rockies at significant elevation and with that it does increase the risk of seeing winter conditions, but there is a big difference between being aware of those conditions and simply ruling out a major cross country highway that sees thousands of cars every day, all year long.
On the flip side - I-40 can and does also frequently see severe winter weather. Between its own multiple mountain passes of over 7,000 feet in AZ and NM, as well as the semi-frequent ice storms that hit the southern plains across Texas, Oklahoma, etc, its not unusual at all to see major delays along this more southern route.
If the snow stops soon, there will be no problem for the Colorado DOT to get I-70 into decent shape by the time you would be going through. This is why you must keep abreast of the weather conditions, forecast, and road conditions. This is quite easy to do online.
Sorry I havent gotten back sooner...my work blocks forums. I am going to buy snow chains before i go because I am ending up in PA during the winter and figured it would be a smart purchase.
My coworker likes to play the devil's advocate so he could be kidding me but I feel a drive to Albuquerque is nothing. You will all definitely know the outcome.
On a side note, when i was 18 i drove to San Francisco smoking pot the whole time (yes I did almost pass out because i started at night, and no i dont need lectures, just fyi). I plan on being sober the whole trip just drinking monsters on occasion.
I think for now I am decided on the i-40 route. I just didnt realize how far Memphis is out of the way according to you...according to google maps (which i know you all hate) it is just one hour tacked on.
lol...didnt see all the other posts, i just started replying after seeing the snow chain question. I like the votes of confidence for the Colorado route. It seems like it would be a more pleasant journey. As for the i-40, i have already seen Amarillo police close down the road due to flooding within the past 7 days.
It seems all of the trouble areas, if all goes to plan, will be behind me after the first grueling day. thats good news!
Your co-worker may be kidding you, he may not be considering the impact of such a drive being done day after day, or he may just be an arrogant sob who likes playing russian roulette with other people lives.
Trust us on this one. Look at the frightening statistics linked to in the above post about the number of people killed by drowsy drivers, look at the laws limiting the number of miles in place for professional drivers, and answer why you think you'd be immune to the physical realities that are the cause for both of those things. If you can explain to us why your body is different from everyone else, then go for it, if not please don't risk your life and the lives of others because of what someone told you.
We know you've admitted that you've endanger countless other lives in the past by driving while under the influence, but Trying to do this as a challenge makes no more sense than a challenge of trying to see how much you can drink before getting behind the wheel.
More importantly, with the amount of time you have available for this trip, there is no need to engage in such reckless activity! A reasonable 500-600 miles per day will get you to your destination in the time you have available.
I certainly don't hate googlemaps - its easily among the top 5 sites I visit on a daily basis. However, you do have to understand its limitations.Quote:
Originally Posted by Frankiefitz
First, I think you've misread it. It says its an hour difference if you take I-40 and then cut up I-44 through St. Louis. It says there is a 2 hour difference if you modify the route to take I-40 all the way to Memphis.
Second, one thing with Google or any other mapping program you need to remember is that such programs simply don't consider the fact that you'll have to slow down and/or stop for gas, traffic, etc. As such, adding 20% to the travel time estimate will give you a more reasonable estimate of how long a trip will actually take.
Third - putting those 2 things together. Google has the Denver route at 2580 miles, and the memphis route at 2720, so that's about 150 miles - or about 2.5 hours of real world on the road time.
Thanks a lot Midwest Michael for all your help. I'm like 95% going the southern route. I realize googlemaps has its limitations and no one can hate that website (its too cool) aside from when it puts you in the wrong part of town (true story).
Any suggestions on stuff you guys have seen that you personally thought was cool (aside from the usual park/waterfall) would still be welcome.
As would any other "words of the wise"
Thanks
Alright, I think I am wrapping things up. Looks like it is a better decision to go the normal route, which is to St. Louis from OKC to Columbus OH and so on.
How is the 70 in terms of sights (from the freeway), and clearing any bad weather?
I-70 from STL to Columbus is not particularly scenic, and there shouldn't be any major problems keeping it clear in the winter.
Are you planning on going from Columbus up to Akron to pick up I-80? That's the most efficient way.
Well if you are thinking about the I-70, the conditions look good at the moment you may just get between the next storm which is coming http://buzz.snow.com/skiing/b/weblog...cmpid=SOC00084 last week you would have got stuck and this following weekend looks like it aswell. BTW here are denver cams to see road conditions http://www.cotrip.org/device.htm and http://cbs4denver.com/webcams/cams.w...26.596065.html
also make sure you have warm clothing it hasn't got much above 32 for a long time now.
Its been a while (kinda forgot about the forum)...I just wanted to let everyone know that I made the trip safely. No tickets aside from a warning in AZ for going 85, despite being the fastest speed limit I encountered.
My route was: Day 1, OC to ABQ which is 750 miles. It wasn't too hard of a drive. Monsters energy drinks are a great thing. Nightlife is pretty cool there also. Day 2: ABQ to OKC passing through Amarillo, TX which has great country fried steaks. Day 3: OKC to Memphis. Memphis is an awesome place and everyone needs to go...best bbq ribs i've ever had and "big beers"! We had a tornado warning there which was exciting. Great blues music also.
Day 4 was from Memphis to Charleston, WV. In my opinion was the coolest stop of the trip. Cool people and a cool nightlife off of Capitol St. It was also my birthday! One the fifth day I made my way to State College PA (my current hometown).
Trip wasn't done yet though. I drove an extra 250miles to Queens, NY and spent some time with family and crashed there for a few days before sauntering back to State College.
If anyone has any questions, ask me anything. This trip was definitely life altering if only for the stories. I feel I can be some sort of an authority on the subject of cross country trips, especially considering I did ALL of the driving. Thank you for all the advice. I'll post this in a new thread also. Enjoy the open road!
How could you !?!? Lol !Quote:
(kinda forgot about the forum)...
Thanks for dropping by and sharing your experience with us, but don't get to hooked on long distances and energy drinks, it's not a lot different to playing Russian Roulette. ;-)