Driving from Boston to San Francisco in January 2008

[Steve_W]

In January I think it's going to take a miracle to avoid snow especially when you will be driving through 2/maybe 3 mountain ranges.

[Crew Chief]

Originally Posted by erin.bean28

All of your tips have been helpful.

I am taking another driver with me on the trip and we plan on driving about 12 hours a day (6 hours for each of us).
We arent on a tight schedual, however we have to make it there in at least a week since my second driver needs to fly home and get back to work.

I have a small two wheel drive car so I just want to make sure I can drive safely through whichever route I take. I am used to driving in snow, I just dont want to get stuck in anything I cant handle. I plan on packing at least two warm wool blankets in the car, some non perishable food, a flashlight, some changes of clothes, a spare tire, two cell phones (one of which will remain fully charged but turned off for the trip unless we need to use it in an emergency.) I have 24 hour rode side assistance which is a comfort.

I guess my two main goals are: Reaching San Francisco in at least 5 days, avoiding as much snow as possible, staying on major highways, and avoiding tolls if possible.

Erin, I don't know anything about you so I'd probably shouldn't make any assumptions. But if you've never been out West in the Winter time, it's FAR different than tooling around on the I-495 during a snow storm. Wyoming, for example, is 402 miles from border to border on I-80 and there is VERY little civilization between the cities and towns along the route with the Three Sisters and Elk Mountains in your path. Nevada is also 410 miles across with very little civilization along I-80. It's about 100 miles across the Great Salt Lake. Also, another challenge is the Sierra Nevada mountains in CA. (One trip got SO bad that they resorted to cannibalism...) A breakdown or other emergency quickly becomes a life-or-death situation. PLEASE do plenty of research about Winter driving and the states you intend to travel through. I have been without cell phone service for several days as I trucked around WY, MT, UT and other rural areas in the West. There just aren't many cell towers out there, even along the interstates.

I ran team with a friend of mine from Dayton, OH to Los Angeles, CA (2200 miles vs. 3100 to S.F for you) and it took us 3 days. That's rolling the truck 24/7, stopping ONLY for fuel and in GOOD weather. Erin, we just want you to go into this adventure with your eyes wide open and well-armed!