Oakland, Ca. to Quartzsite, Az.

[rvgrammady]

I am planning on leaving Oakland Ca. across from San Francisco.
and going to Quartzsite Az. On Mon. Jan 13th.
I have a 35' Class A and Tow a car.

I was planning on going 99 to Visalia, then 58 to Spotlight 29 Casino by Indio, then I-10 on to Q.

Brother in Visalia has a bad cold, so now that stop is out. So re-thinking I might go I-5, but where to stop.. don't think I want to
go all the way to Indio in one day 491 miles. 350-375 most 400 miles per day is about it.

Now I'm confused & need some suggestions? So any route suggestions, stops, RV parks etc. I need a pull thru also, gas, and
am only two short trip into towing.. so I'm a rookie.

Moderator don't know if I need to break this in to two posts, one here and the other in RV Parks... not sure how the forum works.

Thanks in advance for all the great advice I'm gonna get...

Dy
Northern Calif.

[MarshaNichols]

oops...just saw you have already left...well, try this on the way home if 99 and 5 were ugly!!

[MarshaNichols]

I live in the Salinas area and have driven to Tucson twice and headed there again at the end of Feb. I have taken 5 and 99...99 is a mess...the road has huge holes and is always congested. 5 is, like said, boring! I tried 101...OK!! It's pretty and easy to connect to 10. Might take a little longer, but a much more enjoyable drive!! Happy trails! M

[CA_Traveler]

X2 5 = Boring.

Fuel prices vary but AZ is generally 20 cents/gallon less than CA. 😄

[Executive45]

CA Traveler wrote:
Executive,

Wondering why you prefer 99 vs 5. Prices in Q may be less than Ehrenburg and the Q Pilot is the same company. Plus the Ehrenburg station tends to get a lot of CA traffic/congestion due to the lower AZ prices. Ehrenburg has propane and I'm not sure about Q propane.

At any rate fire up Gas Buddy to check on prices.

Actually, I prefer the two lane backroads but there aren't any alternatives.....:(

They are finally getting 99 up to speed and there is a lot more to see so the trip "seems" shorter. Driving I-5 is a lot like driving across the panhandle of Texas.....look up the Texas panhandle and you'll find the word Boring!

As for the Flying J at Ehrenberg, we filled up there three weeks ago and they were the least expensive including Q........Dennis

[2oldman]

jbarry wrote:
Stayed in Lancaster at the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds. .

Looks like a neat place.. thanks.

[CA_Traveler]

Executive,

Wondering why you prefer 99 vs 5. Prices in Q may be less than Ehrenburg and the Q Pilot is the same company. Plus the Ehrenburg station tends to get a lot of CA traffic/congestion due to the lower AZ prices. Ehrenburg has propane and I'm not sure about Q propane.

At any rate fire up Gas Buddy to check on prices.

[CA_Traveler]

BTW There is a faster back door route for the Lancaster/138 route that avoids Palmdale. Take Avenue K east to east to 90th, south to Palmdale Avenue, east to 170th which becomes 165th at 138. Going west on 138 you may blow by 165 without a GPS.

From the Antelope CG I’d go east several miles and south to Avenue K but ask at the CG. And there are a number of roads north of Lancaster headed east that avoid the congested areas but not all cross the railroad.

[jbarry]

We recently did the trip from the east bay to Indio. Took 138 off of I-5. Stayed in Lancaster at the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds. I'd stay there again in a heartbeat...it's great for an overnight. Sure beat the noisy truck stops...very quiet...See my review on RV Park Reviews.

[CA_Traveler]

BTW Dont use the I5 truck route going into LA from the Grape Vine. Several years ago a truck broke down in the tunnel resulting in rear end crashes, fire and some died.

The above mentioned tunnel on 210 is reasonably short.

[rocmoc]

We have used the Harris Ranch exit on I5 in the past (Make a left/East turn off I5). There is a Shell Station on the West side of the Harris Ranch Hotel between the Hotel & I5. Between the Shell Station & I5 there is a LARGE parking area where you are allowed to overnight. We run the gen all night to white noise out I5 & Station noise as there is truck traffic all night. This also allows us to use our Heat Pumps as it can get cold this time of the year. Another location is near the In&Out Burger at the next exit, Kettleman City. Have stayed at both and prefer Harris Ranch. We take 5, 138, 210 & 10 as we hate to go thu LA basin. If you do take 210 thu the basin, beware of the 210 connection in Pasadena with the tunnel. Traffic can be a killer any time of the day in this location onward to the 605.

rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

[CA_Traveler]

Godfather2u wrote:
I've stopped for the night at Flying J's at the top of Tejon Pass. Then in the morning, gassed up and continued onto Palm Springs.

This would be the shortest route: 5, 210, 10. I've taken this route many times and midday LA traffic is not a problem.

The Grape Vine can be crazy. Last October we had heavy rain, then ice slush then heavy 1/4" hail that covered the road. Needless to say this happened in a two lane construction zone with changing lanes and surrounded by trucks. Not fun. :E

This was by far the worst weather of the entire Alaska trip!

[Executive45]

It's about a 10 hour trip..that said,

I would go:

I-580 east out of Oakland to
US 99 south to Bakersfield to CA 58 east.
Orangegrove RV Park is on 58 east and is a nice easy park but for an overnighter I'd stay at Loves in Tehachapi' Plus, they have better fuel prices than Bakersfield.

Tehachapi is 5 hours away from Oakland.

Continue on CA 58 East to US 395 South to I-15 to I-215 south to I-210 East to Redlands. Pick up I-10 in Redlands and head east to Q.
Fuel up at the Flying J in Ehrenburg Az just over the Ca/Az border.

This leg is also 5 hours.

Enjoy the trip....Dennis

[Godfather2u]

I've stopped for the night at Flying J's at the top of Tejon Pass. Then in the morning, gassed up and continued onto Palm Springs.

[CA_Traveler]

Another option on good 2 lane roads: 247 out of Barstow, 62 to 177 or 62 to CA 95, to 10 to Q or 62 to AZ 95 to Q.