Winter Roadtrip: Columbus to San Francisco

[noFanofCB]

I strongly support pre-planning and I find it fun to do but I also agree with the advice that it's not necessary to reserve hotels. If you find yourself battling bad conditions and behind the pace you need to make for the next hotel you could wind up making a poor decision based on "get-there-itis."

When I make a Christmas run I make myself a notecard with a list of the large towns along the way with a mileage between them figure so that I have some go/no-go information handy for making the decision whether to stop here for the night or go to the next town. The decision is based on how fresh I'm feeling and what the road conditions are (clear, dry, light or dark and starting to ice over after a day of battling snowstorms....).

Weeks beforehand I've also used Google to study what hotels are at each of the major towns so I have a sense of whether there are lots of options and where in town to find them.

And finally my wife, who is an excellent navigator and GPS operator, will use the GPS to callup the hotel choices and their distances as we're making a decision.

We've not had any issues with getting a room at the first place we try.

[glc]

If you have a smartphone, the hotels.com app can be invaluable in helping you find lodging on the fly. If you register an account, you can even book rooms using the app. I very seldom book in advance when I'm in transit, I only book my final destination. Regardless of what Interstates you take, there are ample hotel selections at most exits near any town of any size, you should never be more than one hour from a hotel, with few exceptions.

Now - between Chicago and SF, there can be some weather-related issues. I-80 across WY can be subject to high winds, black ice, and whiteouts due to the topography. In fact, it was closed Wednesday but today it's open and showing dry in most places with some slick spots. I-70 west of Denver is subject to heavy snow, after all, that's ski country and it climbs to about 12000 feet at the Continental Divide. The CO road crews do an outstanding job keeping it open. Even I-40 is subject to winter weather, especially ice storms.

If you want to go to Vegas, out of Chicago I'd recommend I-55/I-44/I-40/US-93. Out of Vegas, I-15/CA-58/CA-99/CA-46/I-5. Where you get off I-5 depends on exactly where in the SF area you are going. *IF* it looks like the weather is going to cooperate, I'd take I-80/I-76/I-70/I-15, it's a lot more scenic.

If you just want to go direct to SF, I'd plan on I-80 all the way and allow time for an extended stop if I-80 across WY is in bad shape.

Links to each state's road conditions sites are at safetravelusa.com. This thread talks about weather-related resources.