Nashville to Cave Creek AZ in Late December Route and Plan
We are planning to pull our 2015 Pacific Coachworks Ragen EX 1654 miles (I-40) to Cave Creek Arizona, then on over to Southern California and back departing middle Tennessee early A.M 26 Dec. We need to be at Cave Creek no later than, 30 Dec since we have existing reservations. We can actually extend a day to 31 Dec by calling the campground. I have reviewed threads throughout the web to educate myself on the issues with winter travel and think we have devised a good plan but wanted to see what the experts here thought.
The trailer is 26' tongue to bumper and we pull with a 2012 Ford F-250 SD, 6.7 diesel with a 26 gallon capacity fuel tank. When we moved from California to Tennessee last year the trip out was in the summer so we went I-40 all the way in 4 easy days. Longest day was 525 miles. Considering the time of year for our upcoming trip, these are my plans for now
1- Observe weather days before departure. I would like to go I-40 until NM then head south for I-10 and on over to the Phoenix area. But I feel that may be a pipe dream in thinking I could get a 5 day window with no threat of snow along that route. Is that a fair assumption?
2- If I-40 is out, we could head southwest out of Memphis on I-30 for Dallas then I-20 to the I-10 in West Texas. What are the odds this route could get snowed out in the Abilene area late Dec?
3- Last option would be head south on I-55 for Jackson MS and on down Hammond La area to catch I-10
4- Keep trailer winterized until warmer climate
5- While in cooler temps. use onboard water supply vice hook ups and only use sewer hose when needed, keeping it packed away. Leave water faucets on drip and cabinet doors open to help get heat to the plumbing. I'm hoping to be able to de-winterize first night if we take the southern route. Is that reasonable?
6- I can handle 500-600 mile days if not in succession if we need to travel the additional 400 miles or so due south to reach I-10 in Hammond. If we take the I-20 out of Dallas its about an additional ~100 miles vice I-40. No biggie. All of my driving times are assuming an average speed of 50 mph. While we would like to arrive at our nightly stops by dark, I know that could be impacted due to the reduced daylight in winter. BTW- I tend to not disconnect from my truck when only staying one night so early morning departure depending on CG rules is not a problem
7- Unless weather is predictable, we will make nightly reservations towards the end of our day. Will that be a problem relative to availability at the campgrounds?
Coming home after being out west for the month of January will be on our time as there is no push to get home
I'm sure there is much more to think about but would like a sanity check please on my plan and would love to hear other things ya'll think I should be considering.
Oh and i was not sure if I should have posted this thread here or in the snowbirds forum :)
Thanks
WC
The trailer is 26' tongue to bumper and we pull with a 2012 Ford F-250 SD, 6.7 diesel with a 26 gallon capacity fuel tank. When we moved from California to Tennessee last year the trip out was in the summer so we went I-40 all the way in 4 easy days. Longest day was 525 miles. Considering the time of year for our upcoming trip, these are my plans for now
1- Observe weather days before departure. I would like to go I-40 until NM then head south for I-10 and on over to the Phoenix area. But I feel that may be a pipe dream in thinking I could get a 5 day window with no threat of snow along that route. Is that a fair assumption?
2- If I-40 is out, we could head southwest out of Memphis on I-30 for Dallas then I-20 to the I-10 in West Texas. What are the odds this route could get snowed out in the Abilene area late Dec?
3- Last option would be head south on I-55 for Jackson MS and on down Hammond La area to catch I-10
4- Keep trailer winterized until warmer climate
5- While in cooler temps. use onboard water supply vice hook ups and only use sewer hose when needed, keeping it packed away. Leave water faucets on drip and cabinet doors open to help get heat to the plumbing. I'm hoping to be able to de-winterize first night if we take the southern route. Is that reasonable?
6- I can handle 500-600 mile days if not in succession if we need to travel the additional 400 miles or so due south to reach I-10 in Hammond. If we take the I-20 out of Dallas its about an additional ~100 miles vice I-40. No biggie. All of my driving times are assuming an average speed of 50 mph. While we would like to arrive at our nightly stops by dark, I know that could be impacted due to the reduced daylight in winter. BTW- I tend to not disconnect from my truck when only staying one night so early morning departure depending on CG rules is not a problem
7- Unless weather is predictable, we will make nightly reservations towards the end of our day. Will that be a problem relative to availability at the campgrounds?
Coming home after being out west for the month of January will be on our time as there is no push to get home
I'm sure there is much more to think about but would like a sanity check please on my plan and would love to hear other things ya'll think I should be considering.
Oh and i was not sure if I should have posted this thread here or in the snowbirds forum :)
Thanks
WC
