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Old 05-15-2020, 06:18 AM   #1
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Route selection question

Traveling soon from one corner of the US to the other - Maine to San Diego. Any words of wisdom for the route?



I'm sure I could get there most any which way, what I'm looking for is advice like "Stick to the southern route or it'll be a bear getting over the Rockies" or "Stay away from the southern route because of high temps or road construction". I assume most tourist points of interest will be closed, so it's really about traveling comfort more than things to see.


Thanks!
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Old 05-15-2020, 08:29 AM   #2
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Here's a good resource for whatever route you choose https://www.amazon.com/Mountain-Dire.../dp/0977629015

Quote:
Originally Posted by IWander View Post
Traveling soon from one corner of the US to the other - Maine to San Diego. Any words of wisdom for the route?

I'm sure I could get there most any which way, what I'm looking for is advice like "Stick to the southern route or it'll be a bear getting over the Rockies" or "Stay away from the southern route because of high temps or road construction". I assume most tourist points of interest will be closed, so it's really about traveling comfort more than things to see.


Thanks!
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Old 05-15-2020, 08:36 AM   #3
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My preference has always been to drive a route that has nice scenery. Driving across flat areas with no real visual pleasing attributes isn't for me.
So when we came back from Alaska in 2009 we chose a different route south through BC, Washington, Oregon and finally California. From there we decided to come back through Salt Lake, Denver, and then East, stopping NE to visit a friend of my wives and then home to TN. NE was nothing special but had to take that route for my wife.

The scenery through the Rockies was worth it, yes there were mountains that slowed us down but we survived.
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Old 05-15-2020, 08:39 AM   #4
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For route planning, sign up for RV Trip Wizard. It is not the easiest to use, but it has good tips.

Ken
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Old 05-15-2020, 08:44 AM   #5
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Every route will have pros and cons and "most comfortable" is probably more a personal preference thing than a technical choice.


The southern route is probably the easiest crossing of the Rockies, but it's already getting hot in the southern US. Can't totally avoid that if you want to end up in San Diego, though. How about a diagonal route, hitting I10 or I40 somewhere around New Mexico?
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Old 05-15-2020, 08:47 AM   #6
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Depends on your interest.... I'm partial to NEW places and routes just for changes!


Are you just getting from point a to point b ?
then any rv smart GPS like Garmin's RV760 or RV770 will get you there safely...


If stopping for destinations, make those waypoints in your planning and allow a day or two "lagniappe" every week to account for change in plans fun...


good luck
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Old 05-15-2020, 09:31 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by IWander View Post
Traveling soon from one corner of the US to the other - Maine to San Diego. Any words of wisdom for the route?



I'm sure I could get there most any which way, what I'm looking for is advice like "Stick to the southern route or it'll be a bear getting over the Rockies" or "Stay away from the southern route because of high temps or road construction". I assume most tourist points of interest will be closed, so it's really about traveling comfort more than things to see.


Thanks!
I guess you need to determine how much time you are going to spend in route.


I prefer to avoid the interstate and toll roads while limiting myself to about 300 miles per day.

If you are in a hurry, once you get out of New England and New York, 81, 40, 30, 20, 10, 8.
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Old 05-15-2020, 09:32 AM   #8
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I would pick up 40 in Knoxville.
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Old 05-15-2020, 09:46 AM   #9
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I would avoid I 10 across Texas at all cost . Lots of road construction and crazy narrow lanes I swear we only had a few inches to spare on either side of the coach . We went form Central California to the FL Keyes departing Cali. late January . Came back on I40.
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Old 05-15-2020, 10:29 AM   #10
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Wow, lots of great answers in just a couple of hours. Thanks everyone
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Old 05-15-2020, 03:24 PM   #11
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The big thing is your purpose of cross-country - siteseeing, driving through awesome scenery or just driving the fastest way to get there.

Also, how much time to you have.

The Rocky Mountains aren't difficult to drive through and the reward is great! We always drive secondary highways unless there's no other way to get there. You'll see more and it's more relaxing.

Use Google Maps for Point A to Point B and then play around with the route to take in some scenic areas.

RV parks are opening as are national and state parks.
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Old 05-15-2020, 06:25 PM   #12
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For weather and road conditions, including construction, the One Stop Shop for Travelers is great. This website was created for the Western states, however it covers all the lower 48, and much of North America.
The traffic cams are quite useful for viewing road conditions.
For current travel restrictions; speedracer posted this today: https://gds.maps.arcgis.com/apps/web...ccca0fbbfe0c7c
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Old 05-16-2020, 09:18 AM   #13
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for your approach into san diego you basically have two options.

i-40 west to barstow where you hit i-15 south to san diego

i-10 west to i-8 to san diego.
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Old 05-17-2020, 08:00 AM   #14
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Looks like a straight forward A to B trip. Sure, there are lots of variations to make it a scenic trip, like avoiding interstates, but if the object is to get there as directly as possible interstates it is.
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