Western Washington to Nashville

Thanks kohldad - good point about Florida and appreciate the suggestion about Pigeon Forge and Dollywood. That would be time (and money) better spent to stay in the area.

I like Ken56 suggestion as I80 should be fine by mid April. Even if there is a late snow it shouldn't affect the road conditions for very long.

As far as Florida, that would be 1 day of travel in both directions so IMO not worth all the extra driving. If you want entertainment, look into Pigeon Forge and Dollywood. That is only about 4 hours east of Nashville.

ken56 - thanks! That's one of the drawbacks of heading south...big cities and traffic. Also, thanks for the tip on I-80 vs. I-70...definitely prefer 80....and the suggestions for Nashville.

We did the Columbia river route on our way home from the Olympic Penn. on 84 to Salt Lake City and there was nothing challenging about it. I had a 30ft. trailer with me and had no issue at all. Not the same time of year but the road is not the infamous mountain pass kind of road at all.

Heading south on I-5 into Cali. you put yourself into major cities to get far enough south to cut over east. Out of SLC take 80 east, no mountain passes like on 70 in Colorado, Vail pass is 10,000 ft. altitude.

Nashville has Broadway street with the music bars and country singer museums. Andrew Jackson's home, The Hermitage is just east of downtown and worth the stop. The museum is very interesting and the home tour is good too. Weather here in TN in April is, or should be pleasant with the trees and early flowers budding out. Depending on how long you stay in Nashville you might consider a day trip down to Lynchburg and the Jack Daniel Distillery, or just head down to Tims Ford State Park for a couple days. Due to COVID they have suspended their tours though so who knows if they might resume by then. The bottle shop is still open though. Not far from Lynchburg is Tullahoma where the Beechcraft Heritage Museum is. If you like aircraft this is a wonderful stop.

obgraham - that's what we've used in the past, so thanks for the reminder on the state DOT. Appreciate that both you and Thermoguy are both from Washington and concur with planning a direct route. It definitely saves us time and we have friends/family that we can visit on that route too.

TenOC wrote:
Nashville is a fantastic place to live except for one problem there's nothing to see within 500 miles. Depending on what you have seen in your other travels, you might want to take in Yellowstone, Grand Teton, the national parks of Utah and Monument Valley. Then you have 2 days hard-driving to Nashville.

Even in mid April, if you hit bad weather simply hold up for a day and continue trip. So any of the many routs from Washington to Nashville should work for you.

I believe you are sadly mistaken about what there is to see and do in the beautiful state of Tennessee.

sunfan03 wrote:
Thanks coolmom42!

What do you think about taking I-20? Thinking maybe we could visit White Sands NP again (weather should be fine) and then head East on I-20 through Dallas (or possibly drop down to I-10 and visit family in San Antonio, Houston).

I've never made the run on I-20 but it should be pretty reasonable temps. Just keep an eye out for severe Tstorms.

My general preference is for I-40, weather allowing, because the biggest town is Oklahoma City. Not a fan of cities in general, much less driving a RV.

People in western WA mow their grass in Feb. I used to live around Seattle.

People in the Rocky Mtns plant their tomatoes in the third week in June. Depending on the year many passes stay closed until late May, June or even later.

I was thinking the same thing. By April we have to remove snow tires in WA, so that is a pretty good indication that the passes are all clear with the exception of a freak winter storm. But, since the main highways are all heavily traveled, I wouldn't go way out of the way, with maybe a backup plan if the weather is unusual. For the passes on the west, that means taking I-84 through Portland, when you get over to the Rockies, I'm not as familiar, but I would plan the most direct route and be less worried about the weather on main highways. Now, if you want to go to Yellowstone, or Glacier, then that is different, but I90, I84, ect are heavy truck routes.

sunfan03 wrote:
Thanks TenOC - haven't been to Monument Valley, so we'll check that out. Definitely planning on stops, but maybe more so on the way back home once we pick up DD.

ppine, do you have a website that you use to check the mountain passes, or do you have to do it by state? And that's what I wanted to know...if there's a chance for snow, I'd rather avoid it.

Every state I've RV'd through has a DOT website, or equivalent, with road reports, and usually a lot of cameras, and specific highway predictions. I prefer to use those as they are the most accurate.

For instance, I'd rather look at the cameras in Snoqualmie Pass if deciding to head to Seattle, rather than some TV weather guy.

As far as your plan, in Mid-April I would just plan the direct route: Salt Lake, Denver, Kansas City, St Louis, and Nashville. Odds favor good weather. Sure, you can see snow and bad roads sometimes -- that's why you check ahead of time!