Traveling from Seattle to Memphis by car (Salt Lake City, Spanish Fork: new home, living)

[redhead.lala]

I'm driving home to the Memphis area from my new home (Seattle) for Thanksgiving this year. I've done lots of long road trips, but not this one before, and never this close to winter out west...
I'm in desperate need of advice on which route is best:
Seattle -> Spokane -> Missoula -> S Dakota & down ...OR...
Seattle -> Boise -> Salt Lake City -> Cheyenne -> Lincoln & down.

I've waited up until this wk to plan my route because the weather is so unpredictable this time of year, and now I'm seeing that it looks like snow starting next week in just about every direction... I don't really have much of a choice, in an SUV with no 4wd or anything, so what's my best bet?

Can someone give me some idea as to what the roads are like along these routes? I'm leaning towards heading to SLC from Seattle & going across southern Wyoming to Nebraska, so any info on how the highways are this time of year would be especially appreciated...

Thanks so much in advance

[dcisive]

If it were me (and I used to travel some of your route for a living) I would indeed take 90 to I-84 down I-15 and across I-80 to Lincoln, NE where you drop down on Hwy 77 to Hwy 2 go East to I-29 (it's a short cut saves a lot of time and hassle) then go South through Kansas City on I-29/Hwy 71. Just past Harrisonville, MO. take Hwy 7 East, at Clinton, MO you stay on Hwy 52/Hwy 13 going South which becomes Hwy 13. At I-44 you hop on going East for a few miles and get off at the I-65 South Exit going South. Exit shortly at Hwy 60 East bound. Stay on Rt. 60 until it around Willow Springs, MO turn Right/South into Rt. 63. You'll stay on Rt. 63 until around Gilmore, AK where it runs into I-55 for a short bit and then that runs into I-40 where a just a few miles later you cross the river and you're in Memphis. It might sound convoluted, but if you look at a map or Google it you'll see how easy and direct it is. Less hassle than trying to stay on torn up portions of the interstate system and the routes mentioned are well maintained. Weather shouldn't be too bad on this route till after mid December through February where all bets are off anywhere near where you'll be going

[JMT]

Originally Posted by redhead.lala

I'm driving home to the Memphis area from my new home (Seattle) for Thanksgiving this year. I've done lots of long road trips, but not this one before, and never this close to winter out west...
I'm in desperate need of advice on which route is best:
Seattle -> Spokane -> Missoula -> S Dakota & down ...OR...
Seattle -> Boise -> Salt Lake City -> Cheyenne -> Lincoln & down.

I've waited up until this wk to plan my route because the weather is so unpredictable this time of year, and now I'm seeing that it looks like snow starting next week in just about every direction... I don't really have much of a choice, in an SUV with no 4wd or anything, so what's my best bet?

Can someone give me some idea as to what the roads are like along these routes? I'm leaning towards heading to SLC from Seattle & going across southern Wyoming to Nebraska, so any info on how the highways are this time of year would be especially appreciated...

Thanks so much in advance

I'm from Tennessee but used to live in Utah. When I would drive home from Utah at Christmas, I would take the southern route which usually has less snow than going through Wyoming (I-80) or Colorado (I-70). From SLC, take I-15 south to Spanish Fork, then head to Farmington NM via Monticello UT and Shiprock NM, then from Farmington take US 550 to just north of Albuquerque. Except for the stretch between Price and I-70, there's hardly any traffic at all, and you'll have multi-lane roads most of the time even though it's not interstate. Once in NM hop on I-40 and head east all the way into Tennessee.

It may be a few more miles that way, but you'll probably have less of a chance of hitting snow. Plus, it's a really beautiful drive!

[Tim Tim Tim]

I drove from slc to tampa, fl in december. I took the route through nebraska, wyoming etc..

it sucks, I cant compare to the other route but it was snowing quite a bit and the roads were terrible. The truckers drove like it was a dry, sunny day and when the passed you it blows the snow all over and you cant even see your hood its so bad.
They dont clean the roads very well out in the middle of nowhere (which you will drive through a lot of). Hopefully for your sake its not actually snowing and they can keep the roads decent.

[BuckeyezRule]

It's so hard to say w/ the mountains. We took the drive from Ohio to Utah on our move 12/26/06, the start date, & dropped down to Arkansas to see hubby's grandparents, & hoped to avoid bad weather. No luck, we hit NM during the 'worst winter storm' they'd seen ever. It shut down highways & roads. We were lucky to just make it through w/ our 4 x 4 Pilot (we had to get off the highway, & I directed hubby on back roads) . They were shutting down the roads behind us. We had our newly potty trained son, newly 3, & our in diapers, newly 2, daughter w/ us. 'Fun' times.

You just never know what the mountains will do. lol We are planning to drive from SLC to Akron, OH just before Christmas. Should be interesting in Colorado if we take 70, Wyoming if we take 80 & Kansas or Nebraska depending on 80 or 70. lol

Just prepare for the unexpected, have an emergency kit, & don't panic. It's not so bad. It just seems like it. lol