Planning the MEGA Haul

[RedneckExpress]

Hey all, decided to start figuring this stuff now, since it'll take me at least a year to acrue enough saved cash to make this trip a reality.

Here's a couple plans:

California Adventure Mega Haul

Tennessee Mega Haul

On the California Mega Haul, the route takes me across I-80 through Nevada. Examining the Terrain mapping, it appears to be mountain driving, but not too extreme once you get past Reno. The big thing I noticed was there are very few towns along I-80, and the Dodge can usually make about 250-260 miles on a tank of gas before she gets hungry again, so that had me a bit worried.

So my first important question is, "Am I over worrying I-80 through Nevada".

Second Question, on the Tenneessee Adventure, I added in a pass through Wisconsin, Milwakuee to be exact. Is there anything really in that area worth seeing? Steinbeck spoke of Wisconsin, but I'm not certain if I'm in an area far enough north to see anything remotely like what he described.

This is it for now, I still need to present both routes to the wife to be for the mega haul honeymoon trip and get her input.

[RedneckExpress]

Hey all, decided to start figuring this stuff now, since it'll take me at least a year to acrue enough saved cash to make this trip a reality.

Here's a couple plans:

California Adventure Mega Haul

Tennessee Mega Haul

On the California Mega Haul, the route takes me across I-80 through Nevada. Examining the Terrain mapping, it appears to be mountain driving, but not too extreme once you get past Reno. The big thing I noticed was there are very few towns along I-80, and the Dodge can usually make about 250-260 miles on a tank of gas before she gets hungry again, so that had me a bit worried.

So my first important question is, "Am I over worrying I-80 through Nevada".

Second Question, on the Tenneessee Adventure, I added in a pass through Wisconsin, Milwakuee to be exact. Is there anything really in that area worth seeing? Steinbeck spoke of Wisconsin, but I'm not certain if I'm in an area far enough north to see anything remotely like what he described.

This is it for now, I still need to present both routes to the wife to be for the mega haul honeymoon trip and get her input.

[digNbubbs]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Joseph C. McKenzie:
...
On the California Mega Haul, the route takes me across I-80 through Nevada. Examining the Terrain mapping, it appears to be mountain driving, but not too extreme once you get past Reno. The big thing I noticed was there are very few towns along I-80, and the Dodge can usually make about 250-260 miles on a tank of gas before she gets hungry again, so that had me a bit worried.
... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Great trips! Both look to be a great time.

I have made the trip from SF Bay Area to Wyoming on I-80 a billion times (it feels). You have no worries about fuel and Nevada. There are plenty of fuel stops along the way. There are a lot of little towns with fuel, and quite a few middle-of-nowhere fuel stops as well. I would be surprised if the biggest stretch is 100 miles. There will be "No Fuel For XXX Miles" signs to warn you.

IMO, the bigger concern is driving across the Sierras from Sacramento to Reno. Plenty of fuel, but wear your kidney belt - you will need it. Be sure to batten down the hatches extremely well before doing that drive. That road is horrible, and I have learned to bypass it as much as possible.

Going down 1/101 in CA is a great plan. I-5 is a yawner. Be sure to give yourself plenty of time, however. There are parts of 1 that are pretty slow going, and you will have lots of opportunities to stop along the coast to take in the beauty.

An alternative route to look into for leaving the Bay Area is to take 152 over the hills, then out to 99 and up to Sacramento. It will save you MUCH craziness going up to Vacaville and through Sac on 80. Nothing wrong with that route, but it is a little lower stress going out to 99.

Since you don't have any bubbles showing in Nevada or Utah or Wyoming, another nice alternative is to take 50 out of Reno to I-70 in Utah, then over the Rockies on I-70 to Denver. From I-70 in Utah, you will be close to some amazing landscapes - Canyonlands, Moab, and through the Rockies is amazing. Again, may take a bit longer, but well worth the traveling dollar, IMO. From Denver, you can take another horribly bumpy road up to Cheyenne and continue on your normal route.

Regardless of the specifics, sounds like quite an adventure! Have a great time.

--kevin

[RedneckExpress]

I'm a little hesitant to drive any California highways outside of the 101 and the interstates after last years experience with CA-211 and its 24% grades.

The trucks rear suspension is an air ride, so the camper should make it through rough road vibration okay. The cargo trailer is getting a new axle and 15" rims/tires later this year so it should make the journey without much trouble.

[LindaH]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Joseph C. McKenzie:
I'm a little hesitant to drive any California highways outside of the 101 and the interstates after last years experience with CA-211 and its 24% grades. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
To avoid those kinds of surprises, I suggest you purchase a copy of the Mountain Directory West.

[RedneckExpress]

Thank you Linda! God, I've needed a book like that for a long time! I'll pop over and see if I can find a copy at Powells and if not, I'll order it from yer link

After a preliminary proposal of both routes to the wife to be, she likes the idea of nipping down to California first, before heading east, so odds are we may take that route in the end.

One thing in our favor will be time, I'll be on 6 months downtime between contracts with Intel, so we'll be able to take a month and perhaps a bit more to make our journey so that we're not rushed and can partake of all the priveleges of married life after being a couple for nearly 10 years.

[Forest Grump]

I would like to second the I70 route suggestion, it is magnificent.

[RedneckExpress]

It looks pretty, but pushing a 10,000' pass with a 360 gasser sounds a bit on the daunting and expensive side (More hills = Less mpg). She already drops to 30-35 mph crossing most 5000' passes and she's only going to get weaker going higher up.

Hwy 58 from Eugene over the mountains here is a murderously slow 6.5% climb.

[Paulin]

Over the years we have traveled most of your Mega Haul route. We traversed I-80 from east to west last summer in a class A that averaged about 8 MPG. Fuel was no problem except quite expensive in Lovelock NV.

As diggNbubbs noted, I-80 is truly terrible over Donner Summit, the winter blizzards and heavy truck traffic really tear up the pavement. Be careful on SR 1 as it is narrow and twisty in most places with shear cliffs along the ocean. SR 101 is ok except near San Francisco.

[skigramp]

JCM ...

Four comments

1) Crossing the Rockies on I-80 is easy ... only steep grade in Wyoming is just east of Laramie ... no high passes ..

2) Your route back West is taking you just north of Yellowstone National Park and south of Glacier National Park ... I think you are missing some wonderful scenery ...

3) Milwaukee is a large metropolitian city with breweries, Harley Davison factories, state fair grounds, zoo, etc ... but it is not rural ... I think you probably want to see the Kettle-Moraine area just north of there or Door County (the thumb of Wisconsin) or perhaps the wooded areas of the far north (Minoqua, Boulder Junction, Eagle River, etc)

4) Get advice from locals on your route from Kankakee to Milwaukee ... some choices will involve very heavy traffic

[RedneckExpress]

Actually, my route takes us right to Glacier. I stayed in Whitefish the last time I was there. We drop the camper there and run the empty truck up "Going to the Sun" road. This way we also avoid the whole Grizzly bear issue since we have a cat.

Yellowstone is up in the air, we're debating it. The big problem with Yellowstone is its Crazy busy in the summer, so we're currently weighing it in.

I-80 east from Salt Lake, I know like the back of my hand, having driven it countless times with family growing up. All our family is in Kankakee, IL, hence why our farthest east is there.

We're still debating adding Tennessse to the California route, since that's probably going to be the basis for our trip.

Having done SR-1 in Cali, and the 101, other than the area around Bodega Bay (We're going for the whole "The Birds" thing, even though we both thought "The Birds" kinda was a bit interesting [I don't dare type his name, the
filter would probably block my message] ), we're probably going to stick to the 101 mostly.

[Rainbow]

Lived in Milwaukee in the 50s. Great town then but since most of the breweries are gone its not as exciting any more. But if its in the summer, Germanfest, Italyfest or some of the other weekend ethnic festivals along the Lake front are worth a visit.