Seattle to NYC 4/24-4/27

[LnH]

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

[Midwest Michael]

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.

[Lifemagician]

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

[DonnaR57]

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

[Lifemagician]

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

[LnH]

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.

[Lifemagician]

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

[glc]

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

[Midwest Michael]

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.

[LnH]

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?