Seattle to NYC 4/24-4/27

My bf and I are going cross country trip asap. So its a 2 driver deal. We are pushing it as much as we can since he's a bartender in nyc

helping me to nyc for possible job. I was looking at the north route which stops at bozeman, mitchell, wilwakee and nyc;

or central route which stops at salt lake city, omaha, columbus and nyc;

google maps give me lots of construction areas on i90 on northern route so the central route is more desirable but north route is shorter.

Anyone living at near chicago and pennsylvania can vouch for the road state accuracy nearby and at turnpike area? Also even thou

it's late april trip, it still is possible for snow upper region so i'm debating...

Thanks!

LN

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

I'm sorry, but unless being a NYC bartender gives you some kind of superpowers that I'm unaware of, you can not safely make this trip in just 4 days.

This trip is nearly 3000 miles, and you shouldn't even consider driving it in less than 5 full days. The human body simply can not be a safe driver when sitting in a car for more than 700 miles a day (12+ hours), for 4 straight days. Professional drivers would be required by law to take at least 5 days, being limited to roughly 600 miles a day, and no, having 2 drivers does not change that. Sitting in a car as a passenger for that many hours a day is also draining, and on a speed run, both people should be awake and alert at all times for safety.

I will also tell you, the stops you've laid out don't make much sense either. If you want to make this trip safely, you should make your stopping points as even as possible, you'd planned a pair of 700 mile drives, but then from Mitchell to Milwaukee you'd only be doing about 600 (which is about the distance you should be looking at) but then you'd have to drive nearly 900 miles the final day which is beyond dangerous. Milwaukee also is a little bit out of the way, as I-90 via Rockford is more direct, and and allows you to bypass Chicago via I-355.

Your plan for a more southern trip is even worse, starting with a pair of 900 mile days, followed by an 800 mile drive, before a reasonable final day of around 600. I can not stress enough that it is impossible to be a safe driver after 900 miles on the road, and you'd certainly not be in any condition to get back in the car and do it again the next day.

If this is a speed run, then you should look at taking the shortest possible route - going via I-80 and I-70 as you listed ads 250 miles, which is basically an extra half day of driving. It would take a ton of construction delays to make those extra miles worthwhile. There are some tweeks you could make to your Northern plan to avoid Chicago - cutting down to I-80 in Iowa, for example - but I tend not to put a ton of faith into online construction reports as they so rarely let you know which ones are really likely to cause delays. (Without knowing which ones you're talking about specifically in Chicago/Pennsylvania, we can't help much with specific details either btw).

Again, 5 days is the minimum needed to do this safely. Unless you change that, everything else is pretty irrelevant.

Five days is your absolute minimum. That said, you should have a day or two in reserve.

For one thing, unless you are used to doing so, 600 miles per day is going to leave you pretty tired by the time you are half way through your trip. You can minimise this by stopping at least every two hours for 10 - 12 minutes to get out of the car and walk around. Get the blood circulating again and clear your head. Constantly drinking water helps as well.

The other reason is, what if you have a mechanical problem, even a flat tyre. Your concern is construction holdups. How will you cope if you are held up by a fatal accident up ahead. For two hours there was no way to get off I-71. There are so many events other than construction you need to consider, and not having a day or so in reserve will only make you rush more, make decisions which may not be logical or safe.

If you can't find more time and your bf needs to be back at work, get him to fly, and you drive the car.

Lifey

Two drivers doesn't help because there should always be two pairs of eyes watching the road and the surrounding area. One can't be sleeping while the other drives, if one could even get any sleep while the car is moving (I can't).

FIVE days minimum, evenly spaced apart, with a decent motel every night to stay at.

What Lifey said about I-71 above -- this morning, I-5 in northern California has been closed for hours due to an accident last night. There are no alternative routes in the area, so whomever needs I-5 is stuck. It can happen ANYWHERE and usually at the most inopportune moments.


Donna

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DonnaR57

What Lifey said about I-71 above -- this morning, I-5 in northern California has been closed for hours due to an accident last night. There are no alternative routes in the area, so whomever needs I-5 is stuck. It can happen ANYWHERE and usually at the most inopportune moments.

---

That was such a horrendous crash on a section of road, where, as Donna mentioned, there is no other reasonable alternative.

Such a perfect example of what can, and does happen on a road trip. We all hope it won't happen to you, but you need to be prepared for it. You need to be able to cope with it.

Lifey

Ok, I will make sure it's about 5 days. It has to be 2 of us, not one less since I get aggravated driving by myself. We did the cross country last july in 6 days the northern route. It was longer than my bf wanted because we attended a wedding and relaxed at sandusky as well as madison. This time I'm not as conservative since he wants to get back to his job asap. Anyhow, I will tell him to have his shifts covered for a week just in case. I choose the central route now for the most part because it has less constructions related to snow and crashes and also not to encounter bad weather as snow storm etc coming as history has shown that those upper regions do get snow late in may or even april in some years. So far bad snow storm happened in north dakota and it passed snow down to some part of south dakota and even maybe a lil wyoming in march. I'm seeking for advices on best routes to take on central route as i'm leaving seattle. I don't really want to deal with table top or high hill in case of ice or black ice. Also, I don't want to pay much for tolls. I know that near NYC, there was one that we avoided by not getting on the I90 right away. As for accidents, i know they happen all the time; the important thing is to stick with big highway if possible so there are more than 2 lanes so one can by pass perhaps.

As for motels, I think I'll play it by ear, and won't reserve ahead like last year as I might not make it and it's not refundable.

Good to hear you will allow at least sufficient time to get there safely. However, you quote a common misconception. Be aware that altitude can be just as likely to have late winter storms (if not more so), than latitude. I-80 is at a much higher altitude than I-90, and so just as likely to see a late storm.

Your best bet is to check the forecast the day before you leave, and see what the weather is along I-90. The forecast should be pretty accurate for the following days. I'd definitely stick with the I-90, if the weather looks good for the days when you will be on the road.

As for hotels, you should not have to book. Look for the hotel discount coupon booklets at rest areas and welcome centres. These are mostly for walk-ins, but give some good deals if all you want is a bed for the night.

Note the crash hold ups quoted were on major multilane highways. In both cases all lanes were blocked for a considerable time.

Have a safe trip.

Lifey

When the weather is bad, I-90 is actually the best way to get across. It's at a lower elevation than either I-80 or I-70. However, you need to check on exact weather and conditions at the very last minute.

Do some math - to avoid tolls, you will be driving more miles, negating a lot of the savings with extra gas and possibly an extra night in a motel.

If I were making this trip, I'd plan on the following route:

I-90 to Sioux Falls
I-29 to I-680/I-80
I-80 to NYC

This is 2925 miles and approximately $25 in cash tolls (less if you have a EZ-Pass), not including a crossing into NYC. Suggested overnights:

Butte, MT
Rapid City, SD
Des Moines, IA
Toledo, OH

The odds of seeing a snowstorm in late april are pretty small, but keep in mind, you could see an unusual, late season snowfall in Utah or Wyoming as easily as you could in Montana or the Dakotas. I-80 across Wyoming is actually at a higher elevation than you'll find for most of the trip on I-90.

I can understand avoiding tolls, but keep in mind, if you add a bunch of miles, what you save in tolls, you'll spend in gas. Most of your tolls will be between Chicago and New York. You can avoid a good chunk of the tolls by going down to I-70, through Columbus like you'd indicated, and then cut back up through Akron to take I-80 across PA. However, that does add about 100 miles of driving - so factor in that gas/time before deciding if it's worth it to "save" money.

Hmm thank you glc for your proposition. We did that last year in reverse from east to west.
Butte has a high percentage of low temperature so I won't go through there even if during the day it seems ok, 50F. However, at night its lowest is 28 that means a day maybe stuck there if it doesn't get better. MT in general has very low drop in temperature at night beyond survivable so I think I'm still sticking to my central route but with new destinations: Burley, ID; Sidney, NE; Quincy, IL; Washington, PA. Just please tell me there isn't much table tops i have to worry about. And after Ogden, I will get to I84 to save some time. Overall, it's 3060 mi. I think we might have EZ pass but I'm not sure. How long does EZ Pass last? yearly? monthly?

100 miles more doesn't make that much of an impact on me, Michael. Thanks for your input thou. I'll keep in tact with the weather every day now just to see how weather.com is accurate. Safe is better than sorry is what's I'm looking out for! A bit of tolls is just a one time thing too so I will bear it >.<

Forgot to mention Lifey's notion of altitude difference. I think my route looks mostly ok as I look for temperature wise for town nearby. Anyhow just to be safe, I'll be the driver as we head down south midway thru OR and through beginning of WY. It's pretty flat after NE so I wont be as worried.

100 mile difference isn't a big deal, but the cost of tolls isn't really that much either. That's the point. Those extra 100 miles mean you're going to spend around another $15-20 in gas, and considering the tolls in IL, IN, and OH aren't much more than $20, you don't really save anything by avoiding the tolls. (By taking the "central" route, you're actually adding a couple hundred more miles, so you'll actually spend more than by taking toll roads, plus it looks like you're still planning to take the PA turnpike instead of cutting north in Ohio like I suggested, so you'll be seeing significant tolls anyway.)

An EZ-Pass doesn't really expire, you just need to have money in your account.

I'm not sure what you're trying to get at about the weather, but you continue to be very misguided in assuming conditions in Wyoming will be different or better than Montana. The average low temperature in Bozeman in April is 30 degrees. The average April low temperature in Rock Springs, Wyoming - along I-80/your central route - is 28, two degrees colder.

I don't know what you mean when you're asking about "table tops" so you're going to have to explain if you'd like an answer. If you're talking about flat, high elevation areas, that's pretty much describes the entire drive across Wyoming.

And finally, the stopping points you've listed are still too far apart. Your current plan has you driving nearly 700 miles every day, except your last one, which is not a safe or sustainable pace. You need to shave about 100 miles off of each of them and plan on your last day being a full day on the road, not a half day.

If you are afraid of "getting stuck" when it's 28 degrees, maybe you should rethink this trip and take an airplane instead.

I guess I missed your point and didn't explain clear. I'm not avoiding the toll as there are tolls on both route isn't it between my and your columbus to akron then nyc? The 100ish mi difference I meant was in between my route vs glc's. At least for the most part, records between MT and WY are quite different. Butte, MT: 3-18 at the most; Rock Springs, WY: 14-20 and these are records low variations in the week im going. but my point is I won't stay in WY and it's just a drive so it's an easy drive in the 50s. I'd have to stay in Butte with reputable of 15F the night at Butte taking northern route so i can't see how it can be good. It's pretty fair game what I'm proposing and thanks for your concern about my safety but we can manage and we have before. We drove from madison to rapid city(772 mi) in one day and then to missoula(662 mi) the next before stop because we didn't want to get too far off highway and it's hard to see gas stations in MT. So about 650-690 mi each day of what im proposing is reasonable and survivable. If not, as I had stated i told him to have a week reserved just in case so... This is pretty realistic, not like I'm day dreaming. We get up like at 5am and drive for 12 hours at times is not impossible. At least I'm not insane as my bf stated that he was in a trip with his friends across country when it only took them 2 days as all 4 guys took turn. As for table top, I don't mind it if it's consistent in high altitude. But once there are drops in elevations are huge I don't like it as it takes a toll on the car I have and it's not 4wheel drive and my bf is pretty new at driving as he overuse the speed set of the car going down the hills.

And i'm not afraid of 28F since the day after it's in 50F its not impossible to go. It's the reappearance of the worse record is what I'm afraid of dealing with.

You could avoid nearly all tolls. I suggested a route that would do just that.

I'm not sure where you are getting your weather information, and using record extremes is a kind of silly way to plan. The simple fact of the matter is that going through Wyoming does nothing to increase your odds of avoiding a late season storm or frigid overnight temperatures, and if you're playing the averages, you're actually slightly more likely to run into problems on the more southern route. Again, the odds of having a problem at all are very low in the first place, and if you want to go that route, that's perfectly fine, but doing it just because of the weather just doesn't make much sense at all.

Your distances aren't impossible ("survivable" is debatable) but they will force you to push your bodies beyond what is safe. You simply can't be at your best behind the wheel for 12+ hours a day, day after day. It's just a fact of the human body, and it's why professional drivers are forbidden from doing the distances you're talking about doing. Just because you or your boyfriend have engaged in dangerous behavior in the past, without getting hurt or injured, doesn't mean it was safe and it doesn't mean you'll be as lucky if you push your luck again.

I will keep that in mind about your route as there are constructions on both cases. Maybe the less toll is better. We have to stop at Quincy since its his childhood friend working there so maybe I'm pushing it and we can use a day off there to hang with him before pushing ourselves and use your suggestion route. So I'll change it to akron as the last stop before NYC. I kind of want to go to nyc early to relax and put in things as I will have to reorganize to fit in tight space.

Another reason to make sure you have a "cushion" in your travels are mechanical issues. On one trip, our alternator was on its way out. On two other trips, a window regulator/cable went out and had to be repaired/replaced because it is essential in most climates to be able to roll the window down or up (especially if it gets stuck in the DOWN position).



Donna

I'm having car oil change and will ask for an overall look at the car a few days before leaving. In general, is it pretty hard to find window cable fixers at any town?

I just used that as an example of things that could go wrong. A good oil change, have your regular mechanic look over your belts and hoses, are the things we find essential. Tires are something else to check -- make sure that these have good wear and the right amount of air in them. Prevention, taking care of your vehicle, is always appropriate.

As for finding window regulator/cable fixers in any town -- the first time, we took the car to a GM dealership who put the car in a humidity free area, made a few minor adjustments, and sent us on our way at no charge. The second time, it broke on the way home in the UP position so we didn't worry about fixing it until we got home. On the third window, it broke on the way to Phoenix. There are a lot of good GM dealerships in that metro area, but I was worried that I'd run into a dust storm, and that the vehicle would be open to security issues since the window cable snapped and the window would not go up. OTOH, we have two other cars that have never had this sort of problem. I was using this as an example of a mechanic difficulty that could happen and slow down your trip. It could just as well be a hose that split, an alternator that goes out, your battery dies some evening, or similar. So you make sure that you have a 'cushion' in your trip "just in case".


Donna

Good to know thank you!