Vancouver to Texas

[jayhawkfan]

We plan to take our 40' Class A from Houston to southern Utah, then west and up Hwy 101 to Vancouver Island. From there, we want to go to Coeur d'Alene, ID, then to Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore before heading back to Texas. My wife cannot handle steep grades. Can we make this trip and avoid severe grades or is that impossible to do?

[Grey_Mountain]

PM sent.

GM

[Grey_Mountain]

I've been on 101 heading south from Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia River all the way to San Francisco. No problem at all. I don't recall any steep dropoffs, even heading south. South of San Francisco on Hwy 1 is another story.

Enjoy the trip.

When will you be on Vancouver Island? We will arrive there the middle June, stay seven weeks.

GM

[Quick_trip]

If you are going North on 101 you won't be looking down at the ocean as you will be on the right side of the road all the way?
Correct me if I am wrong!

[TexasShadow]

you can get to southern Utah and then up to Salt Lake and over to San Francisco without much in the way of scary roads.
Go from TX up through Albuquerque and take 550 up to Durango CO and then west on 160 to 191 and up to I 70.
Then up to I 80 at Salt Lake.... OR...
take highway 50 across NV to 395 and go north to I 80 on it, then on over to Frisco.
Coming back, your best bet is to take I 90 out of Seattle. An interstate is never more than 6 % grade..designed for big trucks, etc. Stay on 90 down to Bozeman MT and take 191 south to Yellowstone.
When you leave Yellowstone, go out the east gate to Cody, and here is your one, real challenge because there is no way across the BigHorn Mts without grades. You have to go around them if you want to avoid it.
Northeast to Billings and then down I 25 and I 90 east from Buffalo WY or south east to Casper and then east and over to Lusk and then north to Newcastle and highway 16 east over to Custer SD.

[amandasgramma]

hmmmmm I'd also question if she could handle 101 on the Oregon Coast. There ARE some steep grades.....nothing a rig can't handle, but you'll be looking way down at the ocean....

[Grandpere]

You are going to be crossing the Rockie Mountains, therefore it goes without saying that you will be pulling 6 & 7% grades on the freeways and more if you take some of the side roads over the mountains. Outside of retracing your steps back down the coast and going across back towards Houston then back up the east side of the Rockies you will not avoid mountain passes.