Texas to Pendleton OR This time of year.

[plasma800]

I know this sounds crazy, but I'm considering driving from Texas to Pendleton Oregon to pick up a 5th wheel....

I have an 8 month old at home, so I'd have to go solo and I reckon it's 4 days there, 4 days back, 1-3 days there.

But I have no idea what I'm in for this time of year.

Texas to the Northern NM, up through Denver, through southern Wyoming, Northern Utah, up through Idaho. Sounds crazy

Any advice?

[Freqz]

Considering the same...want to caravan?

[plasma800]

Yes!

Maybe through Albuquerque and up through Utah from there...

[Freqz]

I'd be in a bit of a bind timewise as well. Roughly 287 to i25 to I 80 to I 84 is probably the best bet...but SLC and NW could get interesting.

My 11 and 14 year olds would stay home with Mrs Freqz as well. My only other option is to fly up to do the PDI and get it shipped back. Might cost about the same (or less) but the story wouldn't be nearly as good.

[plasma800]

Originally Posted by Freqz

I'd be in a bit of a bind timewise as well. Roughly 287 to i25 to I 80 to I 84 is probably the best bet...but SLC and NW could get interesting.

My 11 and 14 year olds would stay home with Mrs Freqz as well. My only other option is to fly up to do the PDI and get it shipped back. Might cost about the same (or less) but the story wouldn't be nearly as good.

Man, have you seen the itty bitty plane you have to take from Portland to Pendleton... sheesh, that thing is tiny.

I have a quote from Uship, and I have a quote from burton. $2050 on uship, $3000 from Burton.

Where in Texas are you starting from?

[Superslif]

We did our 4500 mile round trip from Ohio back in late Oct. to pick up our new Timber Ridge at Thompson's in OR.

What stands out was the high winds on I-80 ( 60 mph ) in Southern WY. As far as mountain passes. Just East of Laramie, is Laramie Pass. Rather steep section of highway there. The wind was so bad, we pulled off the road in Laramie and hunkered down at the WalMart in Laramie for 18 hours. The only other pass of significance was right before you get to Pendleton OR. called "Deadman's Pass / Cabbage Hill" ( 6 miles 6% grade with double hairpin turns ). Very well engineered section of I-84. Even in late Oct. we were getting wet snow on the road at top.

I was worried how my Tundra would pull the Cabbage Hill with our new RV. Pulled the hill at 60-64 mph at 2900 rpm's. no issue at all. Just have to time it right to pass the slow trucks in the right lane. Did get into a pickle at one point were two trucks were trying to pass each other. One was going 25 in the right lane, the other 26 in the left lane. Bummer.....

We also had wind issues going across Nebraska ( going home) to a point I had to shut her down again with 35 - 45 mph winds. I asked the RV haulers who transport new RV's cross country. The consensus was 25 mph. they shut it down. I found the winds died down after 6pm. So two days in a row we traveled 6pm to 2am.

[plasma800]

Originally Posted by Superslif

We did our 4500 round trip from Ohio back in late Oct. to pick up our new Timber Ridge at Thompson's in OR. back in Oct. What stands out was the high winds on I-80 ( 60 mph ) in Southern WY. As far as mountain passes. Just East of Laramie, is Laramie Pass. Rather steep section of highway there. The wind was so bad, we pulled off the road in Laramie and hunkered down at the WalMart in Laramie for 18 hours. The only other pass of significance was right before you get to Pendleton OR. called "Deadman's Pass / Cabbage Hill" ( 6 miles 6% grade with double hairpin turns ). Very well engineered section of I-84. Even in late Oct. we were getting wet snow on the road at top.

I was worried how my Tundra would pull the hill with our new RV. Pulled the hill at 60-64 mph at 2900 rpm's. no issue at all. Just have to time it right to pass the slow trucks in the right lane.

We also had wind issues going across Nebraska ( going home) to a point I had to shut her down again with 35 - 45 mph winds. I asked the RV haulers who transport new RV's cross country. The consensus was 25 mph. they shut it down. I found the winds died down after 6pm. So two days in a row we traveled 6pm to 2am.

yowsers.

I consulted my Mountain West book, and I'll consult it again.

How did you know the wind speeds?

[Freqz]

Originally Posted by plasma800

Man, have you seen the itty bitty plane you have to take from Portland to Pendleton... sheesh, that thing is tiny.

I have a quote from Uship, and I have a quote from burton. $2050 on uship, $3000 from Burton.

Where in Texas are you starting from?

Dallas.

I fly a Cessna 182 for fun so itty bitty planes don't worry me much

[plasma800]

Originally Posted by Freqz

Dallas.

I fly a Cessna 182 for fun so itty bitty planes don't worry me much

I RV because I hate planes, yet I USED to fly 182's.....

[Superslif]

As far as the actual road condition / surface. Western roads ( freeways ) put our pot hole filled roads in the Midwest to shame. By far the worse road surface was between Joilet IL and Chicago. Every bridge had monster chuck holes. The Timber Ridge with the X4 suspension just floated over the poor roads. That was actually the main reason to get the MorRyde 3000 suspension.

We took 5 days to get out there, using Walmarts and a Cabela's, and the same on the way back....

[Randy the sly old fox]

So far the winter has been mild here in Oregon. Last year I84 between Boise and Pendleton was closed for days at a time due to snow and ice - but this year has been simply cold and dry. As for the best route to I84- well that is a toss up. I would probably head as far west as I could go while still in the south - ie head for El Paso and then work up from there. You are looking at around 2100 miles and in order to get up here in 4 days you would need to average 500 mi/day - not impossible but tiring to say the least. If you are just looking and not buying - flying into Spokane or Portland (big jets) and then renting a car to drive to Pendleton would be my choice - I don't really like those puddle jumpers either.

[rgvtexan]

I lived 47 miles NW of Pendleton for 40+ years, and driven the SE WA-RGV for the last 13. I would have to be saving an RV full of Money to fetch and return a 5th wheel this time of year.

You ever had the pleasure of driving on black ice?

You may be required to carry chains in some areas (needed or not), when needed, drag chains are required on the 5th wheel.

Your 3-4 days could turn into a lot longer.

Good Luck!

[plasma800]

At what time of the year is every ALL CLEAR? March 1? April 1?

[rgvtexan]

We try and be home for Easter.

Have hit snow in NM, CO, UT, OR. Cabbage Hill was closed for a while.

Spring winds on I40 can be brutal. Some lonely roads between ABQ. annd Salt Lake.
And Ft. Stockton to ABQ.

Be Prepared. Keep the fuel above a half.