Re: Need advice on big road trip

From: Robert Schultz (robert_schultz@remove.yahoo.com)
Date: Tue Nov 26 2002 - 10:29:29 EST


Jason:

Keeps your ear open for the weather. In '95 we drove from Toronto to Moab at
the end of October. Denver got socked in with a storm so we decided to stay
on I-80. We got stopped in Rawlings Wyoming for the night when they closed
I-80 for the same storm.

At that point we'd been driving for several hours on icy roads. We had been
averaging about 70kph until I crossed a bridge and the wind hit the side of
the van pushing me sideways on the ice. I just missed the guardrail on the
other side of the road as I crossed the expansion joint and got some
traction. After that we were doing around 55-60kph. It was then that I
really took notice of the signs every 5 miles along I-80 'Caution - High
Winds Next 5 Miles'. I'd seen these for a bit but they didn't sink in till I
was counter steering a fully loaded minivan with mountain bikes acting like
sails on the roof rack against those same high winds. I think they could
save some money in Wyoming with a single sign at the state border -
"WYOMING - CAUTION HIGH WINDS'.

By the time we got to Rawlings, we were forced to spend the night in the
local school gym (or maybe YMCA). This was fine till some 350lb trucker came
in and took off his shoes. Woke up people on the far side of the gym. We
moved to the coat room for the rest of the night. Two of the guys stayed in
the gym. We could smell them all through he next day. I've lived the BO
episode of Seinfeld.

The next day they opened the highway. It was miles of trucks and cars
littering the ditch. I could see why when we watched warm weather drivers
trying to deal with the snow (no offense to any of you guys out there, but
some experience in snow definitely helps! (as do good tires))

Anyways, it took us four days to get to Moab. Only took two to get home. We
made the mistake of stopping in Gary, Indiana. After the third motel/hotel
with bulletproof glass and buzzer operated front doors, we drove the rest of
the way home. That made the second day of driving a 20hour trip.

Anyways have fun and hopefully you'll come home with a few road trip
stories.

Rob S.
Milton, ON

"Jason Bleazard" <jason.dml@bleazard.net> wrote in message
news:20021124162319.C3725@delenn.bleazard.net...
>
> Okay, so Norah and I are in the planning stages of our road trip to Utah
> over Christmas. I'm looking for any hints or advice that will help make
> the trip go smoothly. We're just going to drive straight through, taking
> turns driving and napping to try to get there as quickly as possible.
> Yes, we're probably insane for wanting to drive that far, but we're both
> really sick of airline travel. Plus, have you seen the ticket prices to
> fly out of Toronto around Christmas time???
>
> Anyway, I think we've covered all of the general stuff (got the maps,
> blankets, lots of coffee, etc.) What I'm wondering is specific
> information about our possible routes. What's the weather usually like?
> Any good routes to stay away from? Is there fuel available 24 hours /
> day? Ongoing construction? Known speedtraps? Stuff like that.
>
> I've identified three possible routes that we can take to go from Toronto
> to Salt Lake City:
>
> 1. I-80 (because it's the shortest)
> 2. I-70 (because it's further south and might have better weather
> 3. I-80 to I-76, then I-76 to Denver, then I-70 (because it avoids the
> worst part of I-80 through WY)
>
> I can post more detailed route info if anyone is interested.
>
> I'd like to hear from anyone who lives close to these routes, or who has
> traveled them enough to have anything that might be useful. I've done
> I-80 going from SLC -> Toronto once, but it was in July '97 and the
> biggest lesson I learned was to buy air conditioning on all future
> vehicles :-).
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> --
> ------------------------------------------------
> Jason Bleazard http://www.bleazard.net Toronto, Ontario
> his: '95 Dakota Sport 4x4, 3.9 V6, 5spd, Reg. Cab, white
> hers: '01 Dakota Sport 4x4, 4.7 V8, Auto, Quad Cab, black



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