Moving from CA to CO (Denver, Aurora: insurance, budget, travel)

[OcMama]

My husband and my dad will be driving in November from Orange County to Aurora. we rented a 24 ft Budget truck and it will also be towing our small SUV (kia sportage). Niether one of them are very experienced with driving a large truck and most of their drive will be at night. I've heard from some that I-70 is safer than I-40 and vice versa, can anyone please give us any suggestions on the safest route? Thank you!!!

[McGowdog]

I'd think both are about equally safe in the summer early fall time, so I think I'd consider 70 over 40 just because 70 would put you into Denver then Aurora.


If you go 40, you gotta go through Bakersfield (?), Needles, Flagstaff, through all of Arizona and most of New Mexico, then drive another 300 miles up 1-25 through southern Colorado to Aurora.

The other way, you take the 15 through Vegas (uh-oh!), St George Utah, then to 70 east and to Denver. A very nice and scenic route.

I wouldn't be so crazy about this night travel either way, but it could have its advantages too.

That's one thought.

[jazzlover]

As to I-70, all I can say (and I've been driving everything from small cars to trucks and trailers in the Colorado mountains for 40 years) is they better know how drive a truck on steep grades (6-7%) in the mountains--things like how stay geared down, etc. Those runaway ramps on I-70 on Vail Pass and the approaches to the Eisenhower Tunnel are not there for decoration.

Also expect a slow and very fuel-guzzling drive over the passes--those 24' trucks towing a car behind (especially a gas-powered truck) can get fuel economy as low as 4 mpg in the mountains. And, if you have to fill up anywhere between Grand Junction and Denver, nearly $5/gal. for gas and over $5/gal. for diesel is not unexpected. You could be looking at $1.00-$1.25 per mile just for fuel.

For those reasons, I would recommend I-40/I-25.

[David Aguilar]

Originally Posted by McGowdog

If you go 40, you gotta go through Bakersfield (?), Needles, Flagstaff, through all of Arizona and most of New Mexico, then drive another 300 miles up 1-25 through southern Colorado to Aurora.

I-40 indeed does not go through Bakersfield, it starts and begins in Barstow. If one needed to go through Bakersfield to get to CO from OC (Bakersfield is NW from OC), that'd be at least another 200mi added to the drive.

Their Budget truck might take regular gas, not diesel (ours took regular gas). When we moved here, we moved in the same fashion, with a van on a carrier behind the truck. We did the I-15/I-70 route. In our truck, going uphill in the mountains I was lucky to be going 15mph while flooring it. It is a very stressful driving situation, even during the day, as the car you are towing behind you tends to swing around a lot, and you will need to do a lot of mirror watching to make sure you are straight. I almost flew off the freeway in Avon, so be careful, no matter which route you take.

[vfrpilot]

We moved to COS from San Marcos with a 24' U-Haul and decided to use the 15,40,25. The altitiudes are lower and the road is generally straighter. The worst is climbing into Flagstaff, but is nothing compared to I-70. Plus the chances of snow is much greater along 70 in Nov than the southern route. It was only a couple hours difference for us. Good Luck with the move.

[McGowdog]

Originally Posted by David Aguilar

I-40 indeed does not go through Bakersfield, it starts and begins in Barstow...

Barstow shmarstow! Thanks for the clarification. We came from NoCal back home that way and took some road from San Luis Obispo through Bakersfield to Barstow and onto 40, I-25 and home. If I remember right, Bakersfield had grown from when I'd last seen it. Kind of a rough looking town IMO.

The way we went was ok. If I was concerned about the grades and stuff, I'd heed Jazz's suggestion and go the milder 40/25 route.

I'd missed the November part. Definitely take the 40 to 25 route.

[vegaspilgrim]

I would seriously reconsider whether or not you really want to drive a 24 foot truck (w/ towing another car) that whole distance. November is fair game for serious snowstorms in the mountains. When you see those signs, "Truckers Don't Be Fooled"-- it is no joke. Everytime I've on the homestretch of I-70 I smell burnt brakes and transmission fluid and see trucks stuck on the side of the road. Just a few months ago, my dad I and drove a 14ft Uhaul truck (which ended up being overkill, but what's done is done), which takes unleaded gasoline, from Phoenix to LA which is only a 7 hour drive on I-10, flat and straight for the most part-- and that royally sucked. In fact, we probably just barely broke even or maybe even spent more on the whole excursion than what the furniture cost to buy. Even though the Uhaul rates moving to LA were extremely cheap (because they need people to drive trucks back to CA with so many people wanting out), by the time you add in all the gas, insurance, funny fees and taxes they add on the last minute, it was pretty expensive. And the Uhaul rates are exponentially more expensive when you want to move out of CA. We already decided that when I come back to CO next May, there's no way we're driving a Uhaul that whole way. No way in **** are we doing that. I'll have to just sell everything at a loss. Those trucks are absolutely no fun to drive. Driving I-15/I-70 in a car, especially when you're in the middle of nowhere in Utah is a fun, scenic, memorable trip; I've done it many times between Denver and Las Vegas. Doing that in a truck has got to be torture.

[OcMama]

thank you all for your suggestions...i think we'll take the I-40 to be on the safe side!

[David Aguilar]

Originally Posted by McGowdog

Barstow shmarstow! Thanks for the clarification. We came from NoCal back home that way and took some road from San Luis Obispo through Bakersfield to Barstow and onto 40, I-25 and home. If I remember right, Bakersfield had grown from when I'd last seen it. Kind of a rough looking town IMO.

That would have been CA-58.

Bakersfield reminds me of Riverside (where I grew up), except it's in the middle of nowhere, so I don't find it rough.

You would have gone through Tehachapi (an aesthetically pleasing place in the middle of ugly), skirted Mojave (a new bypass has crumbled that town), and Kramer Junction (a truck stop I've spent far too much time at).

I lived in Kern County for a few years so I relish at the opportunity to talk about it.

[McGowdog]

Yeah, we went through the great metropolis of Mojave, and I remember pointing out the wonderful town of Boron to the Mrs.

I'd worked in Mojave a couple years ago at a flight research ctr and last year we lived on the base doing a job for NASA. Inside the base, it's a nice little neighborhood.


We were on a road trip from Avenue of the Giants in Humboldt County, up to Ferndale, then back down the 1 San Francisco, Monterey, then SLO and back. I've got the first of our road trip pics here and others here, here, and here. Also a few in the San Francisco pics thread.

The drive to and from the Northern coast of California wasn't so special. Not so many pics.