I figured I would share my journey and maybe pass on some tips for anyone else considering doing the same thing.
A little background info: I'm 25, lived around Boston my entire life. I recently decided it was time to mix things up a bit, and as i'm a huge mountain biker and skier Colorado seemed like it fit the bill pretty well. I also had a couple friends who worked for a company with an office in Westminster, and a half dozen interviews later landed a solid job with them starting on Feb 1.
I crammed the essentials into my hatchback; bikes/ski's/clothes, sold/donated everything else, punched Denver into the GPS and hit the road at 6AM on the 25th.
Here's the basic route I took out:
Boston, MA to Denver, CO - Google Maps
Google maps showed it would take about 30 hours of drive time in just under 2000 miles, so I banked on doing 3 - 10/12 hour days to get out there. I did give myself the week to get out there incase something came up, but told my new employer to expect me late Wednesday as they'd be putting me up in a hotel.
Day 1
Start Time: 6AM
Drive Time: 15 hours
Miles covered: 879
Total tolls: $35.80
Fuel Stops: 3
Total fuel cost (Premium, 14gal tank): $102.64
Hotel: Fairway Inn - Elkhart, IN $54.88
Of course mother nature decided it would be awesome to throw one of the nastiest storms on the east thus far on Monday, followed by another day of snow across the Midwest on Tuesday. It was pretty slow going through Mass and New York until about Buffalo when the rain sort of cleared up.
http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs231.snc3/21878_533327959750_41901897_31502113_3698879_n.jpg (broken link)
Pennsylvania was quick and uneventful. I did get some lake effect snow blowing around, but it was all super light and didn't stick to anything.
"We? No, we are not French. We're American, because you're in America, okay? Greatest country on the planet."
http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs231.snc3/21878_533327974720_41901897_31502116_1687470_n.jpg (broken link)
Ohio was flat and straight till Cleveland. Of course I arrived right around rush hour, so working my way around to the right exits was a bit fun (especially only using mirrors). Luckily, i'm a m******* at heart and can make things happen
Once threw Cleveland it was more of the same, pretty flat and straight.
About the time I hit Indiana, the snow had started coming down for real. I was pushing for Chicago, but with about 100 miles to go I made the call to pack it in for the night. I wasn't too tired, but it was dark, the roads were getting real slick, and hell, i've got a week to get there.
Pulled off at the first sign of hotels, and ended up in the Fairway Inn in Elkhart, IN. Nothing fancy here, $50/night, I just needed a place to sleep so didn't care about any amenities. It wasn't a bad place though, certainly not the worst i've stayed in.
Day 2
Start Time: 4AM
Drive Time: 14 hours
Miles covered: 839
Total tolls: $3.50
Fuel Stops: 4
Total fuel cost (Premium, 14gal tank): $122.56
Hotel: Royal Colonial Inn - North Platte, NE $39.99
Now, there was a series of unfortunate events that took place this morning. The night before when I got to the hotel, I immediately set the alarm clock in the room for 6A, and my phone for 5:45A (I need a little jump start before I get up). Go to bed around what I would guess to be 12A-1A.
I wake up to the hotel alarm going off, 6AM. Didn't think anything of it that my phone didn't go off. Got up, packed my stuff and hit the road by 6:10 according to the . But man, was I frikin tired. I couldn't figure it out, by my count I had gotten 5-6 hours of sleep. So i'm driving for a little ways, and my phone starts going off, 5:45AM. Hmm...I just figured it had to do with the time zone change, didn't think anything of it.
Another hour or so goes by, and it's PITCH BLACK out. My car says it's 7:45...did I miss something here? Does the sun rise later in the West? I thought that was what time zones were for? Why am I so tired?
I flip on the radio to the host of some morning show waking us all up for 7AM when I finally figure it out, the hotel clock was 2 hours fast, and I ended up really leaving at 4AM. Yeah...go me.
In either case, I got an extra 2 hours of driving under my belt that day, which ended up being a huge help as I would soon find out.
I saw a sign for a BYOB strip club in Illinois, considered delaying my trip, oh I dunno, 3 or 4 days there, but then pressed on anyways.
Well as it turns out, decided to go to bed the night before turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life. As I hit Ohio, the road is pretty much straight across the whole state, the land flat as your eyes can see in either direction. Which meant, the wind was ridiculous, I had to keep two hands on the wheel at all times (which I almost never do when cruising around) to keep it between the lines. I couldn't imagine driving a semi around there. Add to that all the snow over a layer of freezing rain/ice from the night before...and well...
I started seeing a few cars off the road, in the ditch, one or two overturned. I thought it was strange at first, seeing so many in such a short period of time. After I passed a dozen or so, I whipped my camera out. And for the next 300 or so miles, it was like something out of an "end of the world" movie.
Link to the album:
http://s158.photobucket.com/albums/t...d%20to%20Ruin/
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t106/skyst3alth/Move036.jpg (broken link)
I stopped counting at 100....it was insane. And it didn't matter what people were driving, cars/trucks/SUV's....all were off the road. We were doing 40 in the 70mph zone because it was still slick out.
Aside from all the carnage, I got to see some of the biggest windmills/windfarms i've ever seen. Stopped and snagged a few pics
Then I hit Nebraska. The state that never ends. Farmland as far as you can see. The road was so straight I was playing games seeing how long I didn't have to touch the steering wheel. I stopped playing around 10 minutes. Boooring. It started to get dark, and although I was about 4-5 hours outside of Denver, I did want to see the scenery as I was driving and not sit in the dark, so I pulled over.
The most notable part about Nebraska was the one bar I visited in North Platte. I picked a place that looked pretty busy, went up to the bar and ordered a beer. Commented to the bartender that it was pretty packed for a Tuesday night, she said "Yeah well of course, it's Biggest Loser Night"...."Um...what?"...."Yeah, we all get together and watch the Biggest Loser". I looked around, all the TV's were on that, and people were GLUED to it. I started laughing so hard I had to leave, mostly because I was worried about getting my ass handed to me by some Biggest Loser truck drivers.
Day 3
Start Time: 7AM
Drive Time: 4 hours
Miles covered: 260
Total tolls: $0
Fuel Stops: 1
Total fuel cost (Premium, 14gal tank): $32.38
Nothing much to say about the rest of Nebraska, it was exactly the same as the first half.
Nothing too exciting about getting into CO either. The fields had much more rolling hills to them, and seeing the Rockies come out of the fog was AWESOME. I've never seen mountain that tall, I still can't get over the views here.
Oh, and a few of these signs:
"NOTICE: Correctional Facility. DO NOT STOP FOR HITCHHIKERS"
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs211.snc3/21878_533409636070_41901897_31503909_960621_n.jpg (broken link)
Rolled into town around 11:30A. No problems the whole way, car performed like a champ.
TOTALS:
Drive Time: 33 hours
Miles Covered: 1967
Tolls: $39.30
Fuel: $257.58
Some general tips:
- Bring plenty of water and snacks. I only stopped when I was getting gas, so having something to snack on between stops was nice.
- Coffee/Energy Drinks: I'm not a huge energy drink guy, but I do love coffee. Gas station coffee is horrible, the rumors are true. Most of the state run gas stations had a decent coffee place inside. I did have a 4-pack of Redbull on standby just incase, but didn't end up needing it.
- Naps. Although I didn't use them on this trip, I have in the past. It's amazing how 15-30 minutes of sitting in the car not driving, resting your eyes, not even really sleeping can really regenerate you. If you get tired, pull over for 15, you'll feel loads better when you start up again.
- If you're not comfortable driving around big rigs, don't take I-80. Trucks easily outnumbered cars, and some of them were pretty big
- If the weather gets bad or you feel uncomfortable, pull over. Just look at the album I posted above in day 2, speaks for itself.
- Prep your car. Oil change, top off fluids, give it a once over. Bring extra washer fluid. Tire pressure. Check your lug nuts.
- Give yourself extra time. I got lucky and only lost out on about 4-5 hours in Iowa from that snow storm.
- Cash is king
- Don't stop in Nebraska any longer than you have to.
- DO stop at that BYOB strip club in Illinois and let me know how it is.
Overall it was a fantastic trip. I love driving, and love road trips so the time in the car wasn't a problem at all. I would not recommend doing this ride during the winter, and I would say not in the summer either. I bet the fall is a gorgeous time to cruise the whole way, when it's not too hot, but you don't need to worry about snow.
And Colorado has been fantastic in the three days that i've been here. I just moved into an awesome apartment, can't wait to get fully settled and really explore around.
Cheers!
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