N. Colo to Seattle and return - brief report - and video

[noFanofCB]

I just completed a visit to family which started with 2 days getting there and ended with 2 days getting back by road.

I went up thru Laramie Wyoming then continued north thru Medicine Bow Wyoming and the Shirley Basin to Casper where I joined I-25 up to I-90 west to Seattle.
Medicine Bow is where the guy who wrote the first western 'The Virginian' lived. It was a railhead for cattledrives and you can see the different vegetation from the stockyards south of town on Google Earth.

The run up was 1328 miles. Moving average speed was 65 mph, trip average was 56 mph.

My stops were very brief and I normally ate standing up in order to stretch while out of the seat. Note that speed limits in Wyoming and Montana are 80 mph and even though I drove those speeds, the average still wasn't very high.

I listened to my police/fire/air/snowplow scanner and for this trip ventured to re-install a CB radio out of curiosity about current use.

The trip back was 1334 miles. Moving average was 65 mph and overall average was 58 mph.
This included a stretch of 40 mph whiteout driving from about Sheridan Wyoming to Casper Wyoming.
Was really glad to be in a 4WD with new aggressive tread tires.

The CB was rarely heard to break squelch. Even the scanner that was checking all the CB channels rarely had anything on any CB channel. The most activity I heard was in Laramie where the local dump truck drivers were heading out in the morning. I heard exactly 1 conversation between 18 wheelers the rest of the time. I also heard one trucker unsuccessfully trying to use it to notify another one of a flat tire on his trailer. There was not a word from oncoming trucks in the whiteout or about the whiteout. The scanner informed me that WyDOT was closing roads around the area.

Here is a link to my dashcam clips of the trip both ways. The whiteout portion begins at 5 minutes into the video.



I remain,
NoFanofCB

[DonnaR57]

I am not surprised at all about the CB usage. My husband and I still have a CB in our truck. This one was installed by my parents, brand new, 18 years ago. Occasionally we will turn it on and see what we can pick up on various channels - Channel 9 and 19 were both "the big ones" way back when CB's were popular ("Smokey and the Bandit" days). It's rare to hear anything. The only reason we haven't removed the unit entirely from the truck is because we DO use the NOAA channels, particularly when driving into an area where the weather looks "darned mean" or the Weather app on the phone indicates that the area we are traversing is going to be hit by some nasty weather.

Whiteouts....I remember those from my Midwest and my Alaska lives.....scary! We were on that patch of road this past summer, and remarked that the snow would have nowhere to stop blowing because of the plains. (I recognized quite a bit of the I-90 footage in Montana. Where did you stay in Billings?)


Donna

[noFanofCB]

The only reason we haven't removed the unit entirely from the truck is because we DO use the NOAA channels, particularly when driving into an area where the weather looks "darned mean" or the Weather app on the phone indicates that the area we are traversing is going to be hit by some nasty weather.

(I recognized quite a bit of the I-90 footage in Montana. Where did you stay in Billings?)

Donna

I have a button to push on my scanner that checks the NOAA weather for me which is darned valuable so keeping any radio present for that is worthwhile.

Fairfield Inn in Billings. I have a Marriott frequent stay account so accumulate points. Someday I'll figure out how to redeem a free night. This was my first overnight in Billings. Previous trips have been either Bozeman or Butte on the return trip. So far I've always made Missoula on the westbound trip.

[Mark Sedenquist]

Even 40 mph looked pretty dang fast in those conditions. But I've been there -- have to maintain sufficient speed to keep tires warm and getting better grip.

Thanks for all of those road views!

Even I don't turn our CB much anymore.

Mark

[noFanofCB]

One thing about dashcam views is that they make the speed feel faster than it really is.

One of the factors in the whiteout is that it's much easier to follow another vehicle than to make your own path so I followed the guy ahead while trying not to get too close when he slowed.

I've seen this issue of easier to follow when driving in fog when I'm the leader. I drive the speed I'm comfortable with based on what (little) I can see ahead and sometimes I'll get passed only to note that the passer slows down when he has to find the way instead of follow.

[recoush]

how id the dash cam setup and do you keep a log to figure out what and were the views are :>) or do you jsut remember?

[noFanofCB]

Dashcam uses a suction cup to the windshield and and a cigarette lighter power plug. Easy install. (G1W-C model number)

On my trips I take notes of start/stop times, where and when I stop for fuel, and how much fuel I buy for post-trip calculations.

Comparing camera displayed time against my notes gives me a hint of where the video was taken.

But some things are just obvious- like the Columbia River Gorge for instance.
And the Fossil House.

The whiteout could have been on the Hoth Planet though for all I could tell. No Ton-Tons though so maybe not......

[Southwest Dave]

I usually speak to mine so that on playback I can listen to route number and name of pass, town etc. You can then silence it (or replace with music) if you want to when uploading video to YouTube.

Cool video NoFan.

Dave.

[recoush]

Dashcam uses a suction cup to the windshield and and a cigarette lighter power plug. Easy install. (G1W-C model number)

On my trips I take notes of start/stop times, where and when I stop for fuel, and how much fuel I buy for post-trip calculations.

Comparing camera displayed time against my notes gives me a hint of where the video was taken.

But some things are just obvious- like the Columbia River Gorge for instance.
And the Fossil House.

The whiteout could have been on the Hoth Planet though for all I could tell. No Ton-Tons though so maybe not......

cool thanks found it have to order one those are all interesting videos thanks for doing them :>)

[jm98]

Thanks for sharing. It's been almost three years since I took road trip to Seattle. I will consider I25/I90 option next time from TX to WA. It's a bit detour but well worth it.