Need Help with a Route

[jobythebay]

Hi all heading to Sacramento from MA in December. Obviously want to avoid snow!

Any suggestions for the best route? We have thought of heading south to Jacksonville or to TX..just not sure.

As always thank you!

PS we are not in a hurry. We are expecting our first grandchild YEAH 🙂 mid January. We will plan on sightseeing on the way home in March or April.

[NMDriver]

We were in CA, in the Rv, during the last big El Nino in 97-98. We too were there for our first grandson. There were some very wet days when we stayed in campgrounds but there were also sunny days in between the rain storms.

We were in Anthony Chabot state park near Castro Valley (east SF Bay) when it was closed due to high winds producing falling limbs, and 101 was flooded 1-2ft deep south of Salinas for 10 miles or so, but those were one day events. Plenty of rain, some wind, but nothing so bad we had a multi day delay in traveling.

As mentioned watch the weather ahead and move accordingly. I have seen snow and ice on I-10 around Fort Stockton when I-40 between Amarillo and Albuquerque was clear, sunny, and dry.

[brooks379]

You never know what you'll get going across in Dec. but I would watch the weather the week you leave and go to St. Louis to OK CITY, OK and across I40 TO 58 then north of Bakersfield CA cut across to I 5 north. If they are calling for winter weather in North TX , NM AZ I would cut down to Fort Worth and go across I 20 . I've been driving semi trucks and RVing across country for many years and I 40 to 58 is problem free most of the time.

[MaverickBBD]

The sooner you got down to I-10 the better. From there you can plan route for next couple of days. As mentioned, be flexible.

[jobythebay]

Thank you all so much. I will keep you updated - hopefully with good things and not HELP!! :W

[More_To_See]

One thing for sure. That big El Niño is going to make it an interesting Winter. It generally means a warmer than normal Winter for the Midwest and Northeast. Not that it can't be ice and snow too.

One map I saw earlier today predicted a cool and wet band all the way from Southern California across thru Texas and over all of Florida.

Personally, I'd head straight for Jacksonville and turn right. But if you started out on a northern route and watched the weather moving in very carefully you could eat up some miles that way before perhaps being forced south along the way.

On a northern route, of course, you would be traveling winterized and have few if any open Campgrounds.

Let us know how it goes. Would love to hear from you along the way.

[CA_Traveler]

djgarcia wrote:

CA Traveler wrote:
Be aware that Tehachapi Pass on 58 into Bakersfield could be closed for weather. Ditto the Grape Vine Pass on I5 north of LA. You could always go through LA to 101 and north. One crossing back to I5 would be route 46.

101 north of Santa Barbara is a beautiful route and RV friendly route. Find an RV Park in Pismo Beach for a couple of days. Great place to spend time at the Ocean, go to a clam chowder resturant "Splash":) You can actually stay on 101 all the way up to Hwy. 152. Hwy. 46 is more direct and faster but not as much calif. scenery.

X2

[MarkTwain]

CA Traveler wrote:
Be aware that Tehachapi Pass on 58 into Bakersfield could be closed for weather. Ditto the Grape Vine Pass on I5 north of LA. You could always go through LA to 101 and north. One crossing back to I5 would be route 46.

101 north of Santa Barbara is a beautiful route and RV friendly route. Find an RV Park in Pismo Beach for a couple of days. Great place to spend time at the Ocean, go to a clam chowder resturant "Splash":) You can actually stay on 101 all the way up to Hwy. 152. Hwy. 46 is more direct and faster but not as much calif. scenery.

[CA_Traveler]

I'd be inclined to go south and take I10 into LA. If the Grape Vine is open then 210 and I5 to Sac. Otherwise I10 to 101, not an interstate but a good road and a few miles around Ventura along the coast.

For rush hour in Phoenix take I8 to 85 to I10. Limited rush hour options in LA if any but one is to head up to the high dessert and 58. So avoid LA in rush hour, instead transit LA mid day or midnight.

Maybe one of the better LA rush routes is 210 to I5 or to 118 to 101. I'll leave that to the locals to suggest a route.

Or you could consider I8 to SD early mid day, I5, I405 and either 101 or I5.

[yrusoslo]

Bad time of year to avoid snow from where you are coming from to where you are going, no matter what route you take. It's a **** shoot!

[coolbreeze01]

At that time of year, the southern route would be first for me.

[CA_Traveler]

Be aware that Tehachapi Pass on 58 into Bakersfield could be closed for weather. Ditto the Grape Vine Pass on I5 north of LA. You could always go through LA to 101 and north. One crossing back to I5 would be route 46.

[mikim]

I-10 would have the least amount of snow....anything else higher more of a chance especially crossing the Sierra's. Now the warning.....El Nino is 90% chance of occurring probably starting in January 2016....That means a lot of rain for California, Arizona....epic amounts up to 50 inches. This is going to make for some rough travel so be prepared to hold up if necessary.

[BB_TX]

Be flexible. There are two main routes across Texas east to west. I-20 across north central TX merging with I-10 out toward El Paso. And I-10 across south Texas. I-20 would be the shorter route. We don't get a lot of ice/snow in this area. But it does happen. And it does sometimes happen in December. The good news is that the highways are rarely a problem longer than 2-3 days.

But even I-10 farther south can also get its share of ice/snow, especially out west of I-35. Once again rarely a problem more than 2-3 days.

But there have been many years when you could go across I-40 thru OKC and the TX panhandle in Dec and not see snow.

Just have to keep up with the weather forecast and be prepared for unplanned stop overs and/or route changes. You could start out on a shorter more northerly route and drop to the south as needed. There are lots of options at getting from one interstate down to the next one.