SoCal to North Carolina I-40

[david born]

Thought I'd find some last minute advice, I'm taking off from the California desert, across I-40.. it's 822 miles to Santa Fe, camp in the car or rest stop, then 550 miles to Oklahoma City, 677 to Nashville, and finally 540 to Raleigh. I figure each of these distances can be taken in a day or less, I'm too broke to worry about hotels and jazz, I'm eating rice, bread, and apple pie along the journey, then searching for a hostel or ymca or anywhere I can work and stay and volunteer until I find more stable work.

I'd like to head down to Florida in search of warmth, or just stay on the road for a few months exploring and finding ways to make a meal or a dollar. Leaving in less than 24 hours, any advice is appreciated..

most of all, I'm curious if the I-40 is relatively flat? I have a crappy old car with 200k miles on it and it hates hills.

You'll find grades on I-40 in the western states, mostly California and Arizona. They are not too bad, mostly low ratio. The steepest one I can think of in Arizona is just west of Williams, but again, it is not a rough grade.