Ontario Canada to Los Angeles on Dec 15th, 2015

[SailorV]

Hello,
As the title says that's what I plan to do in my 25ft motor home leaving from Southern Ontario.

To avoid the cold and snow as quickly as possible I'm thinking that I should go straight down to Florida then across Louisiana, Texas and Arizona.

Does that make sense? Would anybody have any other suggestions and possible routes?

Thank you very much.

[harris155]

We have traveled from Port Dover to Arizona around that time of year for the last 4 years. The route depends on the winter weather west of Albuquerque.
I 40 travels across some 7000 foot elevations and winter conditions can be rather severe. One year our friends were stopped by road closures at Tucumcari for several days. We have seen -20'C overnight in the high country.
On the other hand if you have never been that way before the scenery is sunning for us from Ontario. Trumps I 10 any day.
Look up a 7 day weather forecast for Albuquerque and Flagstaff before you head out.

We cross at Port Huron, Lansing, Indianapolis,St Louis, Kansas City and then West.
If the weather is bad we drop down at Effingham, IL, Memphis and then west.
South of I 40 in the east is usually above freezing.

[bamaboy473]

Don't make a hard plan or reservations until you can see the 10-day weather forecast for the areas you're thinking about. Unless you want to go the long way, weather might make it possible to scoot farther west and less southern.


harris155 beat me with his response. Knowledge (Harris') trumps theory most of the time!

[SailorV]

Thanks gents! I'll take a look at a map.

[MattC]

SailorV,

As one who has often done winter traveling, let me provide one relevant piece of advise (gotten from a more experienced traveler long ago), be prepared with fuel and provisions to hold up for at least one day - always. That is to say, if you do hold for a day, replace the used provisions, food, water and fuel, at the next possible location. Nothing says it can only happen once per excursion.

Oh, and while we are at it....
Avoid entering the US at Detroit. This still holds my record as the worse possible port of entry I have ever encountered, and as i used to travel as a ship's engineer, that is quite an accomplishment.

Matt

[SailorV]

Thanks for the advice Matt, especially about the crossing at Detroit.

[skigramp]

Two points that others have not mentioned.

1. RV parks ... there will not be many RV parks that will be open until you get 600 to 700 miles south of you. And then probably only half of them will be open ... plan accordingly
2. Snow removal equipment ... people who live in the northern states or Canadian provinces are used to having their roads cleared after snow storms. That is not true across the southern US ... the states across the southern tier of the US do not have a fleet of snow plows and the drivers are not accustomed to driving in winter weather ... so if you do encounter winter weather do not assume it will be like you experience at home.

[Arch Hoagland]

We've run from California to Florida and back on I 10 three times in the December, January, February time frame and always had good clear road along with all the RV parks along the way being open.

You can hit 22 degree weather on that route...Tallahassee and Phoenix were very cold one year. Keep your water hose inside the coach on the freezing nights...

[SailorV]

Thanks everyone for the help. Much appreciated.

[ABrask]

My wife and I will be taking a similar trip to yours, leaving Rockford, IL next Thursday, 12/17, and heading south and then west to Pomona, CA. Elsewhere on this forum you'll find this thread from someone else leaving the UP about the same time.

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f42/upper...ca-272448.html

Going all the way toward Florida before turning west will take you a LONG way out of your way, unless you're totally not in a hurry. We're going to head down the middle of Illinois, through St. Louis, Tulsa, Amarillo, Albuquerque, and Phoenix, dropping south on 25 out of Albuquerque to bypass Flagstaff if the weather looks questionable.

For what it's worth, here's are major stops...these RV parks are all open year-round and had spaces available at least when we made our reservations.

17-Dec; Hollywood Casino, St. Louis, MO (Overnight in the parking lot.)
18-Dec; Big Red Barn, Carthage, MO
19-Dec; KOA Elk City/Clinton, Foss, OK
20 Dec; American RV Park, Albuquerque, NM
21 & 22-Dec; Mesa Spirit RV Resort, Mesa, AZ
23, 24 & 25-Dec; KOA Pomona Fairgrounds, Pomona, CA

Good luck with your trip, and if you eventually post your itinerary, we'll watch for you en route.

[Monacoach]

We are leaving Ontario in Dec for az and Nevada. ....we go south and cut across through Nashville on 65 then south through Dallas. Nice warm route only adds about 3 or 4 hours... going to Florida will add a day.

[ABrask]

Originally Posted by Monacoach

We are leaving Ontario in Dec for az and Nevada. ....we go south and cut across through Nashville on 65 then south through Dallas. Nice warm route only adds about 3 or 4 hours... going to Florida will add a day.

If you're taking I65 south to Nashville and then turning west on I40, you're going to hit some really rough road surfaces west of Memphis.

In any event, anyone leaving from Ontario, CA, Michigan, or Illinois, etc. next week to drive to Southern California is going to have pretty nice weather along the southern routes, if the forecasts don't change.

[Monacoach]

We are leaving dec 24 weather is unusually warm. Crossing at buffalo route is 90 to Cleveland 271 -- 71--- 65 to Nashville 40 --30--20---10 through Phoenix. .....