Moving Cross Country Alone (jobs, trailer, move, best route)

[FelixTheCat]

I've done it before. The weather would be my main concern. Make sure you have hotels mapped out. It can get really dark on highways at night and you may not be able to see very well what town is coming up or you may go many miles without a town with decent hotels.

[cobolt]

Originally Posted by stillkit

Where are you headed to in Texas, where are you leaving from and when?

I drove a truck for more than 30 years and can probably tell you the best ways to go this time of year.

Just FYI, right now, the Texas Panhandle and all of Oklahoma is being hammered by ice and heavy snow. The bad weather extends all the way down to the Mexican border around El Paso. I mention that just to highlight that this time of year, there "ain't no easy runs."

Yeah, I know. Unfortunately, that's exactly where I'm going. From Tacoma WA to Lubbock, TX. I was going to leave the first weekend of Feb, (that's when I have the truck reserved), second week of Feb the latest, as I have to vacate my apartment and I"ve recently been laid off (the reason I'm moving back to TX--to be with family).

[cobolt]

Originally Posted by FelixTheCat

I've done it before. The weather would be my main concern. Make sure you have hotels mapped out. It can get really dark on highways at night and you may not be able to see very well what town is coming up or you may go many miles without a town with decent hotels.

I hear you. WHen I drove up 5 years ago, me and a friend just drove straight through, but it was mid April and rather stupid, in retrospect. As it stands now, I would not drive more than 12hours, would stop when it got dark and stay at a hotel.

[stillkit]

Originally Posted by cobolt

Yeah, I know. Unfortunately, that's exactly where I'm going. From Tacoma WA to Lubbock, TX. I was going to leave the first weekend of Feb, (that's when I have the truck reserved), second week of Feb the latest, as I have to vacate my apartment and I"ve recently been laid off (the reason I'm moving back to TX--to be with family).

Getting from there to Lubbock will be a hard run any way you go, but you can do it. Maybe you'll get lucky with the weather.

[cobolt]

Originally Posted by stillkit

Getting from there to Lubbock will be a hard run any way you go, but you can do it. Maybe you'll get lucky with the weather.

Well, is it "better" to take the southern route through CA or to travel through NE OR through Idaho, etc?

[stillkit]

Originally Posted by cobolt

Well, is it "better" to take the southern route through CA or to travel through NE OR through Idaho, etc?

That depends upon how far "southern" you're talking about. If you mean I-40 out of Barstow, Ca you'll likely run into bad weather just about anywhere east of Ash Fork, AZ. Once you get up to Flagstaff, you're at about 7000 ft elevation and, though there are no long downgrades that way, it's still pretty high and subject to snow and wind all the way across to Lubbock. You already know about Syskious Pass on the Or/Ca line, but unless it's snowing you shouldn't have much trouble there. It's farther up it than it is down going south. And, there's always the possibility of snow on Tehachapi Pass between Bakersfield and Barstow, but I wouldn't worry too much about that either. If it gets too bad, CHP will close it. It's about 40 miles up the summit, then there's no downgrade on the other side because you come out in the high desert.

If you're talking about going on down to I-10, that's a long way out of route. That would add several hundred miles to your trip and you'd still have to get back up to Lubbock somewhere. The most direct route is US 62/180 out of El Paso, but that means going up Guadalupe Pass, which is one of the windiest places in the country. Also, if you go all the way down I-5 to I-10, you've got to cross over the Grapevine and Tejon Pass, plus you'll go right through Los Angeles, which you may not want to do. There would also be the long climb up Chiraco Summit east of Palm Springs. There is a way to avoid those hills and LA entirely, but it requires some 2 lane driving. But, if I can do it in an 18 wheeler, you can do it in a U-Haul!

Looks like your choices are limited. When I used to run that way during the winter time, I'd go across Wyoming if it wasn't too bad, but if it were, I'd generally go down through Salt Lake City to Spanish Fork, then east on US-6, over Soldiers Summit and down into Green River, UT. Then it's south through Moab, Montpelier, Cortez, Co, Shiprock, NM and finally back onto the interstate at Albuquerque. After that, I'd take US-84 from Santa Rosa, NM right on into Lubbock. That route is a lot of two lane, though, so you may not prefer it. The biggest selling point is that except for Soldiers Summit, there aren't any mountain passes to cross, though there are some long upgrades.

[cobolt]

Originally Posted by stillkit

That depends upon how far "southern" you're talking about. If you mean I-40 out of Barstow, Ca you'll likely run into bad weather just about anywhere east of Ash Fork, AZ. Once you get up to Flagstaff, you're at about 7000 ft elevation and, though there are no long downgrades that way, it's still pretty high and subject to snow and wind all the way across to Lubbock. You already know about Syskious Pass on the Or/Ca line, but unless it's snowing you shouldn't have much trouble there. It's farther up it than it is down going south. And, there's always the possibility of snow on Tehachapi Pass between Bakersfield and Barstow, but I wouldn't worry too much about that either. If it gets too bad, CHP will close it. It's about 40 miles up the summit, then there's no downgrade on the other side because you come out in the high desert.

If you're talking about going on down to I-10, that's a long way out of route. That would add several hundred miles to your trip and you'd still have to get back up to Lubbock somewhere. The most direct route is US 62/180 out of El Paso, but that means going up Guadalupe Pass, which is one of the windiest places in the country. Also, if you go all the way down I-5 to I-10, you've got to cross over the Grapevine and Tejon Pass, plus you'll go right through Los Angeles, which you may not want to do. There would also be the long climb up Chiraco Summit east of Palm Springs. There is a way to avoid those hills and LA entirely, but it requires some 2 lane driving. But, if I can do it in an 18 wheeler, you can do it in a U-Haul!

Looks like your choices are limited. When I used to run that way during the winter time, I'd go across Wyoming if it wasn't too bad, but if it were, I'd generally go down through Salt Lake City to Spanish Fork, then east on US-6, over Soldiers Summit and down into Green River, UT. Then it's south through Moab, Montpelier, Cortez, Co, Shiprock, NM and finally back onto the interstate at Albuquerque. After that, I'd take US-84 from Santa Rosa, NM right on into Lubbock. That route is a lot of two lane, though, so you may not prefer it. The biggest selling point is that except for Soldiers Summit, there aren't any mountain passes to cross, though there are some long upgrades.

It is a toss up between taking I-5 to 84 along the Columbia River and across NE OR, through ID, WY, etc. This route concerns me (the NE OR part, especially around Pendelton and La Grande). The other option is to take I-5 all the way to 99 and then go east at Bakersfield. Flagstaff concerns me and Albquerque to a lesser extent.

[stillkit]

Originally Posted by cobolt

It is a toss up between taking I-5 to 84 along the Columbia River and across NE OR, through ID, WY, etc. This route concerns me (the NE OR part, especially around Pendelton and La Grande). The other option is to take I-5 all the way to 99 and then go east at Bakersfield. Flagstaff concerns me and Albquerque to a lesser extent.

If the weather isn't a factor, I'd go ahead and take 84. The big hill at Pendleton is uphill for about 6 miles, but the downgrade doesn't come for several miles and is only about 3 miles long. It's really not too bad.

You'd also have to climb up Ladd Canyon at LaGrande, but from there on to Farewell Bend, it's just a series of smaller downgrades. After Farewell Bend, there's a big hill to climb and some going down on the other side as you come into Ontario, but it's a rolling downgrade. That particular hill, though, is prone to ice, so if it looks bad, you can take the last exit before climbing that hill and go around through Weiser on what used to be US-30. I don't know what highway number it carries now, but the exit is marked Weiser. It completely avoids the hill. It takes a little longer, but it's pretty flat. There's a fairly sharp curve just after you get off on it, but I've been that way in an 18 wheeler and had no problems.

From there on across Idaho and Wyoming, you won't have any big hills to worry about, especially if you stay on I-84 all the way to I-80. There's some places where it will snow more than other places, such as around Snowville and Rattlesnake summit, but the highway follows a canyon out of Ogden which cuts right through the Wasatch Front.

Of course, the weather can change quickly out there in the high country and you're not immune to either heavy snow, high winds or ice anywhere along your route, all the way to Lubbock. That's particularly true in Wyoming, east of Little America.

When you get to Laramie, WY, you have a choice to make: Stay on I-80 to Cheyenne, which means climbing up Sherman hill and staying in the high country all the way to the junction with I-25, or going down US-287 to Ft. Collins, CO. It's two lane and has a lot of ups and downs, but that was always my prefered route, no matter the weather. Either way, you end up on I-25 going into Denver.

From Denver, I'd recommend I-70 east to Limon, then down US-287 to Amarillo, TX. It's two lane but a good road. If you go on down 25 into New Mexico, you have to cross over Raton Pass right on the state line and I just never liked that hill. Additionally, from Raton, NM on across US-87 into Texas is a pretty lonely drive and a higher elevation than US-287.

When you get to Amarillo, just go straight on through downtown and it'll lead you right onto I-27, which takes you straight into Lubbock.

Good luck. This time of year you'll need it!

[Crew Chief]

Excellent info and advice above! I'd like to add one piece of advice;

In the VERY UNLIKELY event of a tire blowout on your rental truck, here's what you do:

1. Don't panic; blowouts are easy to control if you just take it easy...really!

2. Turn on your emergency flashers to warn other drivers

3. Ease off the accelerator; DON'T TOUCH THE BRAKES YET!

4. Steer as straight as you can and let the truck ease over to the shoulder

5. Not braking until you are almost at a stop will keep your truck from making a violent movement that could cause it to roll.

Relax, enjoy the ride and have a safe trip!

[cobolt]

Thank you Skillit and Crew Chief (the tire blow out info is great).

Skillit. On my drive up from Amarillo to WA, I remember taking 287 so that's no new news. People keep telling me to take I-5 through CA to Bakersfield and catch 40. You're telling me to do the NE OR thing. Sheesh.