Maryland to Washington State -- best routes

bigdon68 wrote:

Busskipper wrote:

bigdon68 wrote:

We are beginning to plan a WEST Coast trip for 2020 to see our son and daughter-in-law in Washington State.

We are in Maryland and would like to take the NORTHERN Route out to Washington State and then return via the Southern Route.

If anyone has any ideas about routes, time of the year (weather), your help would be appreciated.

bigdon68

Let me try to answer a few questions !!

Well you have a pretty Opened ended question here!

How Long? When - winter - spring - summer - fall????
Probably late summer - depending on the weather
Would you be touring on the way out?
Yes, if we see something we really like
How far do you normally drive each Day?
I would like to stay under 400 miles each day
Have you been to the Rockies and the SouthWest before?
No we have not -- really looking forward to it
What do you enjoy?
Just about anything -- we are giving this trip around 3 months
Are you Boondockers or FHU only?
Full hookup only
Give us some ideas so we are not just shooting into the Dark.

JMHO,

I hope this helps.

bigdon68

OK - Don - now we have something to work with - I'm also from Maryland and have made many trips to the Rockies over the years.

Some of my thoughts may not fit your style but will give you as much to chew on as possible.

I've probably got around twenty trips out and back to the Southwest over the years - and have some suggestions on the route from Maryland as you will be going out late summer and staying the better part of the Fall - MAP - https://binged.it/2P7jdR0 - this goes out I-70 to I-68 -79 back to 70 then across to Hannibal and RT 36 across the flyover states getting you to Golden, Colorado (My Welcome to Colorado Post #8 )

Side note here - Last two Weeks of September the Aspen Turn Gold - This is a Big time Bucket list Item so plan to be at elevation somewhere in Colorado to see the most unbelievable display of Color - Aspen in the San Juan's - Just if the timing works.

Once you get to the Denver Area you can head up north - to Yellowstone and Glacier if they are on the list - They have a tradition in Yellowstone called Christmas in August - as they will usually get the first snow then :) - So many options on the route - if coming up from Western Colorado to Yellowstone then Dino NM and Flaming Gorge NRA are easy to enjoy then on up to Alpine to Jackson - Tetons - Yellowstone - if not too late possibly Glacier NP before heading out o Washington State.

I could go on and on but - as I grew up as a youngster in Cali - it just is not RV friendly to me anymore - TOO Many PEOPLE - Beautiful - BUT.

If I'm on the right track PM me and we could just talk - Sooooooooo.........much to see and Never enough TIME.

Few more links you may enjoy;

Stan's images are just so well organized many plan the trip just using them - https://www.pbase.com/sparker1/root%26view=tree

This family has done it often - http://www.cross-country-trips.com/

Few really good images of Colorado - https://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelunderwood/14787340840/in/photostream/

More Colorado - https://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelunderwood/14787340840/in/photostream/

Moab - https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/29448394.cfm

On and On ......

Hope this helps - Best of Luck,

You have allotted plenty of time.By staying only in FHU campgrounds you will be missing some of the best campgrounds in my opinion. But that's your choice.I suggested a route for you.If you take I-80 across Nebraska,I would highly recommend the Harold Warp Pioneer Museum in Minden,Nebraska. If you like history,old cars,trucks,motorcycles,tractors etc, they have them in spades.And they have a FHU campground on the site.

Ok, your pace (400 miles a day) is about the same as ours. We also like to stay in a spot 2-3 days (more if there's a lot to see).

This is our route from Cape Cod,starting Aug 1 2018 and returning Oct 20th. For reference, we were in Diluth (stop #12) on Labor Day and Dodge City (stop #20) Sept 20-23.



If we were able to go with the original plan, we would have been in Seattle area around Sept 20th. The plan from there was to head south and follow I-84 along the Columbia River, and then down I-15 to the Grand Canyon and back on US50. We would have needed another month (should have left July 1st).

Busskipper wrote:

bigdon68 wrote:

We are beginning to plan a WEST Coast trip for 2020 to see our son and daughter-in-law in Washington State.

We are in Maryland and would like to take the NORTHERN Route out to Washington State and then return via the Southern Route.

If anyone has any ideas about routes, time of the year (weather), your help would be appreciated.

bigdon68

Let me try to answer a few questions !!

Well you have a pretty Opened ended question here!

How Long? When - winter - spring - summer - fall????
Probably late summer - depending on the weather
Would you be touring on the way out?
Yes, if we see something we really like
How far do you normally drive each Day?
I would like to stay under 400 miles each day
Have you been to the Rockies and the SouthWest before?
No we have not -- really looking forward to it
What do you enjoy?
Just about anything -- we are giving this trip around 3 months
Are you Boondockers or FHU only?
Full hookup only
Give us some ideas so we are not just shooting into the Dark.

JMHO,

I hope this helps.

bigdon68

When time is not much of an issue try working in what used to be the main highways before the interstate system. Roads that carry names like the Lincoln Highway, The Pony Express Route, any designated scenic routes that can be included.

Interstates are great for what they are intended for, getting you there in a hurry, but they are virtually useless for actually seeing stuff like passing through old small towns, passing through farmland & seeing the 'history' of old farm equipment used as gate guards or simply left where they died.

Seems to me if you need to hog out miles from the east coast to Washington I would look for a fairly direct route northerly from Maryland to I-90 and start driving west. I-90 starts and ends in Boston and Seattle on either end. There are plenty of routes west, some more scenic than others, but 90 was designed to get you there fast. It is a very efficient route over the 2 major mountain ranges: the Rockies and the Cascades.

We used US 2 eastbound a few years back I agree with using it and using other US highways on reverse trip. US 20, 36 or 50 for example

We were headed that way 2 summers ago. We went up to the UP of Michigan and took US2 across. The plan was to get to Puget Sound but we ran out of time and shortened the goal to Glacier NP. Then that caught fire and we gave up and headed south.

We left August 1st because we were warned to be out of the Rockies after September (weather). This last summer, that same route at the same time would have put us in snow. Go figger.

US2 is good double two road lane most of the way, with the worse section being in Michigan. It's not interstate so the road goes through towns where the speed limit drops to 35-50 mph, but the open sections are 65 and 70. The larger cities are spaced well for refueling, but the major truck stop chains (Pilot/Flying J/Loves) are not that prevalent. If you're used to using these chains to get propane, you'll need to plan out where you can get some if you take US2.

Places to consider stopping at - Pictured Rocks SP in Michigan, the ship channel in Diluth (stay at Burlington Bay CG in Two Harbors), one of the geographic centers of the US in Rugby ND, Glacier NP and Grand Coulee Dam.

Avoid Chicago. Unless there's something you want to see or you really enjoy sitting in traffic, don't go near the city.

I would take I 70 to I-74 then pick up Rt 36 through Missouri. Then I-29 to Rt 6 into Nebraska. Then I-80 to I-25 to I-90.Been on all the roads and they are all good.