San Diego to Denver maiden voyage for the newbies

RWDIII wrote:
X2 on the truck
I have gone that route several times except we took the Hatch cutoff at Deming.At Hatch you will hit I25.Really wont hit a grades until Raton pass.When you get to Denver take the WESTERN loop towards Golden.Its longer but not a toll road.Go to I70east to I76 North.If you hit Denver at rush hour there is no good route.
We went from Casa Grande and stayed in Santa Fe.That way we got thru Albuquerque
before traffic and and had no morning traffic to speak of

This. Since you're doing this relatively soon, hopefully heat will not be as much of a factor as later in the year. And hopefully, as you said, your truck issues will be resolved with the repairs. I think you're wise to take it out on a shake down drive before leaving on this trip.

As for Denver -- There's E-470 which intersects with I-25 in the south suburbs area, and is a toll road and very expensive. As noted above you want to go WEST, where the road is actually CO 470 and is not a toll road. It will take you around the west side of the Denver suburbs as noted above, and you will join up with I-70 near Golden.

You'll be taking I-70 EB and where the road widens out to 5-6 lanes, you want to move to the left 2 lanes, since I-76 splits off to the LEFT and you'll see signs for it about 2 miles out. You'll be on I-76 only about 6 miles or so, until it intersects with I-25. That intersection is a mess! It's nearly always busy, unless you can time it so you go through there on a Saturday or Sunday morning; last time I was through a few weeks ago was on a Sunday morning and there were no traffic tie ups or slow downs.

When I-76 finally completes it's merge with I-25, you may have heavy traffic from 84th Ave all the way up to 120th Ave, particularly on weekdays regardless of the time of day. You'll also have 3 lanes NB on I-25 until you get north of Longmont, where it goes back down to 2 lanes. Traffic will be heavy. Always. From that point north to Fort Collins. Depending on where in Fort Collins you're going, there are 4 exits. E. Harmony Rd/Exit 265 is for the southern part of the city, E. Prospect Rd/Exit 268 is for the central part, and E. Mulberry/Exit 269 and Mountain Vista Rd/Exit 271 are for the north part of the city.

You can, of course, take I-25 straight through Denver. Going that route, timing is important. Again, if you can do it on a weekend, that would be less traffic to deal with.

As others have noted, I would get the truck running well before heading off on this long of trip. Across parts of NM and AZ it's a long ways between towns.

BurkePartyof3 wrote:
I'm assuming it would be best to take the eastern pass around Denver? Our final destination is Fort Collins.

If you're talking about E-470, only take this route if you have really deep pockets. I think you'd be looking at something like $70 in tolls for your rig. Just head through Denver mid-day on I-25.

Not much to add except if you take I-70, enjoy Glenwood Canyon. It's beautiful. And welcome to Fort Collins; that's where I work!

X2 on the truck
I have gone that route several times except we took the Hatch cutoff at Deming.At Hatch you will hit I25.Really wont hit a grades until Raton pass.When you get to Denver take the WESTERN loop towards Golden.Its longer but not a toll road.Go to I70east to I76 North.If you hit Denver at rush hour there is no good route.
We went from Casa Grande and stayed in Santa Fe.That way we got thru Albuquerque
before traffic and and had no morning traffic to speak of

San Diego to Denver?
If I were not 99% sure that issues with the truck had been repaired, I would be inclined to postpone the trip unil all issues have been resolved:) Depending on what time of the year you plan this trip, you could hit some desert heat and will have to hills to climb getting to Colorado. Suggest you also buy an Emergency Road Side service plan to minimize your anxiety of break downs:)