Community Forums

Ron_H · 07-21-2014, 11:48 AM

My DW and I are new to RVing and attending the FMCA Rally in mid-August in Redmond, OR and I am wondering about which routes to choose for getting to and departing from Redmond.

We will be coming from Vancouver, BC and I was thinking of taking the following route. I am very familiar with the WA portion from our extensive motorcycle travels.

- South on I-5 to Everett, WA then east on Hwy-2.
- South on Hwy-97 east of Leavenworth then overnight in Ellensburg, WA.
- Continue south on Hwy-97 to Redmond.

I don't really have a route picked for departing after the Rally other than we'll spend the Sunday evening in Eugene for a new tire install scheduled for early Monday morning.

I would appreciate comments and suggestions on both our planned route to the rally and especially the various routes from Redmond to Eugene.

Though new to our rig I has had experience 30 to 40 years ago driving fuel tankers and B-trains and I'm reasonably comfortable behind the wheel already after the first three hundred miles I've put on her. My DW will be driving our CR-V down separately and we already have a tow system install scheduled for install on the Tuesday just before the rally.

jhlady · 07-21-2014, 12:56 PM

Ron,

The route you have planned will work, however I would caution that they are having bad wild fires in Eastern Washtington and Hwy. 2 will take you right into them. I would probably recommend you continue down I-5 to I-90, then head south in Hwy. 97 all the way to Redmond. If you don't mind the city traffic through Seattle, Olympia and possibly Portland you could come all the way down I-5 to Portland then east on I-84 to Hwy. 97.

If you want to avoid the Seattle traffic take Hwy 2 to Monroe, then south on Hwy. 203 and connect with Hwy. 90 east at that point. This is the route we used to take on a motorcycle to avoid Seattle and it is suitable for a motohome as well.

As far as Redmond to Eugene, pretty much Oregon Hwy. 126 will take you there. Just don't take Hwy. 242 out of Sisters as a cut off. Not a good route for motohomes or trailers. Just stay on 126 to the 242 cut off and then towards Eugene.

Hope this helps.

Ron_H · 07-22-2014, 10:13 PM

Thanks for the feedback.

I hope the fire situation will have been resolved before then but your point is well taken. I especially appreciate the info on the leg from Redmond over to Eugene. That is an area I'm not familiar with and without advice from someone I would likely have taken Hwy-20 all the way to I-5 and then gone south to Eugene.

Borderbuster · 07-23-2014, 12:49 AM

Southbound I-5 to 405, 405 to I-90, I-90 to 97, 97 to Redmond.

If you transit the Everett/Bellevue area between 9 and 11 am weekdays, or before noon on the weekends, it should be the least amount of traffic to contend with. Ellensburg will be about 4 hours from the US/CA border at normal highway speed.