Traveling I-80

gfs1943 wrote:

Executive wrote:
I-80 in California sux!...:M

I always see these reports about California highways. Last summer, we drove I-80 from San Francisco to Salt Lake City. Nothing wrong with it, especially in California.

For the last couple of years there has been a lot of construction on I-80 over the mountains. I think most of the major work has been completed. But when they were working on it, they had lots of lane closures and detours that sometimes added hours to a trip depending on how heavy the traffic was. I'm pretty sure most of that work has been completed. At least last time I went over it there wasn't that much construction going on.

Last time I was at Rushmore 7-8 years ago they had plenty of RV parking

Just drove Omaha to Sacramento then south to Modesto and back. I thought the Interstate was in very good shape. Only a few places where it was a little rough and a few construction areas. I was very pleased.

We have stayed at Rafter J Bar 5 times in the past. It is in the middle of everything. Stop at the Corn Palace for a quick stop. Last time we were there for a wild game hunt. A mouse was running around in the stalls there and someone caught it u der a box. The next problem was how to pick it up.

Last October we went from PA to the Stockton, CA area across I-80 for a wedding and did a side trip up to I-90 to see the Corn Palace in Mitchell, the Badlands, Wall Drug, Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse along with some other things we found interesting.

There were no real suprises anywhere as they relate to parking etc. We did stay at the Rapid City KOA just south of town and found it very nice and quite affordable for a touristy area. We drove the pickup to Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse but there was adequate parking for our 40 ft motorhome if we would have gone that route. The roads getting around the Black Hills are a little challenging if a person isn't comfortable driving their coach on some smaller roads, but other than that the only thing that we found was that the secondary routes getting from I-80 to I-90 and back were a lot more difficult to use than driving the extra miles to use interstate routes. Numerous grades and turns that would really challenge some drivers were the norm, not the exception.

Overall a great trip and we are glad we took the time to see some things we had seen before and some we were seeing for the first time, like the Bonneville Salt Flats.

Executive wrote:
I-80 in California sux!...:M

I always see these reports about California highways. Last summer, we drove I-80 from San Francisco to Salt Lake City. Nothing wrong with it, especially in California.

We stayed in Custer at a nice park right downtown. Not a bad drive to Rushmore but the highlight was taking the driving tour through Custer State Park. That alone was worth the trip.

Executive wrote:
I-80 in California sux!...:M

IMHO, the surfacing of 80 up an over Donner was pretty smooth this year, relatively speaking. Give it a few more years of truck chains, and my opinion will be different.

brirene wrote:

Born To Travel wrote:
... As for 80, Getting around Chicago sucks but it always did.... Bring lots of change...

Hate to disagree, but improvements over the past several years have made this section of 80 much easier. Just don't go through during Chicago rush hours. Only one toll that I'm aware of, just before Indiana. I believe it's largely toll beginning in Indiana and heading east. OP doesn't say how far into Illinois he's going, so might be a moot point.

correct. I-80 doesn't go thru Chicago...it skirts it thru the south suburbs. just the one toll booth where I-80/I-294 meet. but you still want to avoid it during rush hours.

GHOST1750 wrote:
How is interstate 80 from Ca. to Illinois in July and is there someplace to park a 40 ft. motorhome while visiting Mt. Rushmore?

there is ample parking at Mt. Rushmore for a 40' RV, no sweat. but if you're staying in the area many of the parks and CGs offer shuttles to/from the park. btw, I-80 doesn't run anywhere near the Black Hills. did you maybe mean I-90?