San Diego to Denver in mid-February!

[noFanofCB]

I-25 is slow thru Colorado Springs and up to the south of Denver much of the time. When an AF Academy football game lets out the roadway comes to a stop from traffic jams. Also rough at commuting times.

(just offering what little I can in the discussion)

[DonnaR57]

That's really helpful to know. With any luck, we'd be leaving that morning from either Raton NM or Trinidad CO, and driving through Colorado Springs in mid-day on a weekday -- before Rush Hour. At least, we would if we take Door #2 or Door #3 for routing (both come up I-25).

Since it also falls on me to find lodging for the trip, and we are probably starting our travels on the President's Day weekend, I have begun to look at overnights. Our plan is to do slightly longer days (450-500 miles) the first two days, and a shorter third day, in order to get the kids checked into their new place and start to unload the truck on that third day.

Door #1 - probably Cedar City UT and New Castle CO
Door #2 - Winslow, AZ (a little more than 500 miles, but Flagstaff is already fully booked for that weekend due to a big HS music festival up there) and Raton NM or Trinidad CO
Door #3 - Lordsburg NM and Raton NM or Trinidad CO


Donna

[Rick Quinn]

Donna:

If you stay the night in Raton, consider the Raton Pass Inn at the north end of town. Not at all fancy, but quite reasonable, and the people who run it are really nice folks.

Rick

[DonnaR57]

Thanks, Rick, that's great information! I was half-hoping that posting our possible overnights might reveal a good place to stay, other than the obvious chain motels. The kids are on a Motel 6 type budget, so we're trying to choose things that would suit, and that might work out.

The other issue is my work, right now. I've put in for some personal days, but who knows how it's going to work out!


Donna

[DonnaR57]

Our truck is reserved, our overnights are reserved (Door #3 for now: I-8/10, NM-26, I-25), and we are starting to watch the weather. Long-term forecast isn't much good, so we reserved the southern route knowing that we can always change to another route.

Here are some things that we learned:
1) I-15 to I-40 to I-25 is 25 miles longer than the route through Phoenix. Also has Cajon Pass, and going through the Riverside/San Bernardino mess.

2) Going through Phoenix means the long grade up I-17. However, we'd change to this route in a heartbeat.

3) None of us have ever been up I-25 from Hatch all the way to Denver area. It sounded like an adventure. U-Haul kicked in some extra miles and an extra day.

4) Penske was not in the mind to do any dickering. Though mileage was not an issue for them, we were going to get 5 days for the price or we pay more for the 6th day. Yes, power in diesel....at a price. Diesel now costs about 75c to 80c more per gallon. Penske gives it 10 mpg, same as the U-Haul gives for their V-10's. (Update: This mpg is only for comparison purposes. I suspect that neither one are going to give us 10 mpg. Suspect less on both, but even if diesel averages 10 mpg and gasoline averages 5-7, we will pay more for diesel fuel in the total price for the trip.)

5) Hubby is adamant that he does not want to chance I-15 to I-70, as much as he'd love to see Glenwood Springs, Vail, etc., in snow. He wants to see it when he's not moving somebody! Maybe some Christmas we'll go up to see the kids (in our TRUCK) and go that route.


Donna