JimFromJersey
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Re: best route from south lake tahoe to sacramento
Probably way late for this, but I have an interesting story about US 50 vs I-80 into Sacto from the Lake. In 1976, my new bride and I rented a 22' U-Haul truck to move to Sacramento, from here outside of Philly. I was finishing school at CSU there. We took I-80 most of the way west, rumbling along at 55 all day long. We stopped at Tahoe for the night on our last day. For some reason, I was under the impression that I-80 was a real "horror" for trucks with all the curves and grades and such, so I somewhat foolishly decided to use US 50 instead. The next morning we navigated around the lake, and then headed down 50. At the time, at least to a young 23 year old not used to mountain roads, in a big truck, it was far more of a white knuckle drive than 80 would have been, but I still remember as clear as day the swooping curves coming down past Placerville and the other towns up there in the foothills, and seeing the golden California fields stretching off into the distance. It seemed like we were driving in a magical land. We finally made the flats, and as luck would have it, US 50 went right by the married student housing complex we were scheduled to live in, right off Howe Avenue near the CSUS campus. If we'd taken I-80, we'd have been way north of town, of course, and would probably have gotten lost finding the college :)1.2KViews0likes0CommentsRe: 80 or 76 across Pennsylvania
Like many other states in the northeast, PA has only two seasons - Winter, and Road Construction. In terms of your question, I don't think there's a huge difference in the hills factor between either one especially in the western half of the state. The turnpike has undergone some rebuilding between H'burg and New Stanton, but I haven't driven it since 2014 so I'm probably out out date.464Views0likes0CommentsRe: Rt. 301 in MD & VA
I realize the OP is probably past it all by now but thought I'd add a little bit, hopefully it adds some value. 1. I-95 between the Susquehanna River and Richmond VA is almost completely done being widened, repaved, rebuilt and or repaired. Between Baltimore and DC there are 8 or so lanes in both directions, so barring a major traffic mishap or bad weather, you should be able to slide right down with no problems, especially at non-peak times. Between 10pm and 4am you'll feel like you're 60 miles west of Amarillo. South of DC, there are EZ-Pass lanes and plenty of room pretty much all the way to Richmond. 2. Between Wilmington and Annapolis on US-301/50, there are about three traffic lights (around Middletown) and then half a dozen or so in Queenstown. The only really busy stretch of the road is south of Bowie, as mentioned, after it splits from US-50. Waldorf, La Plata, Bel Alton can be stop-and-go on US 301. Once over the Potomac and headed towards Bowling Green and then Richmond, it's not bad at all. So the bottom line is, all other things being equal, 301 is good for a change of scenery, and for my money is still more "relaxing" from Wilmington to Richmond, but is probably not any quicker or easier, now that I-95 has improved, and US 301 has gotten more built up.643Views0likes0CommentsRe: RV Travel Restrictions due to snow on PA interstates
Yeah, it's a relatively new route and runs up through State College and towards Williamsport. It "officially" ends in between those two places, but then if you continue north from W'port on US 15 towards Corning, as soon as you cross over the PA/NY border, it becomes I-99 again...odd. Wikipedia says "Unlike most Interstate Highway numbers, which were assigned by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) to fit into a grid, I-99's number was written into Section 332 of the National Highway System Designation Act of 1995 by Bud Shuster, then-chair of the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, the bill's sponsor, and the representative of the district through which the highway runs. I-99 violates the AASHTO numbering convention associated with Interstate Highways, since it lies east of I-79 but west of I-81." Here's the Wiki map...269Views0likes0CommentsRe: Interstates safer than "Blue Highways?"TRIP UPDATE
Another point to possibly consider is support services - generally, gas, food, medical care, repairs, etc etc will be more concentrated along interstates, especially in the wide open spaces out west (notwithstanding that stretch of I-70 where you go 105 miles between exits...) Out on the blue highways (or Blue Star highways, which not all blue highways are...) if you break down, it may be a longer wait for service. There are benefits to using either - Interstates for speed and convenience getting from point to point, less formal highways and byways for scenery, local flavor, and (in most cases...) lower blood pressure.508Views0likes0CommentsRe: Newburgh KOA to Phil/West Chester KOA
The "Philadelphia/West Chester KOA" is actually not in Philadelphia, or West Chester, for that matter. It's in the wilds of Chester County, about a dozen miles west of WC, and a bit north of Kennett Square and the World Famous Longwood Gardens. Now that I look at your first route, it's probably not all that bad - we did a trip north along very much the same route two years ago, from home here in Salem up to Croton-on-the-Hudson. I-287 was busy, but didn't present any major problems, and we took it across the Tappan Zee to Tarrytown. When you get on US 202 near Bridgewater, NJ, you can pretty much cruise, with only minor congestion around the Flemington-New Hope area. Once in PA, it's not all that bad either, unless you hit it on a Friday in the summer at 5:30 in a thunderstorm... Take 202 all the way to West Chester. Doylestown to Norristown may be a little busy, but it's not all that bad, IIRC. If you check out a map, you'll see how 202 takes a major left turn just west of Norristown, heading SSW towards West Chester. Four lanes all the way, basically. Once you get to WC, the GPS will probably have you heading out on Route 162 west to the KOA, which means you'll be going straight through WC proper on Gay Street. Meh, I'm a native of that area, and learned to drive those roads in a creepy 1955 VW Bug in the snow, so it wouldn't bother me, but you might look at looping around town to the south, staying on US 202, and taking Route 926 west for a bit and then north up to the KOA on Rt 82 to Rt 162 and sneaking up on the campers from the south. :) Check out Google Maps of the area. You'll see that the KOA is plopped down between two major east-west routes in that part of PA, US 30 to the north, and US 1 to the south. The roads between there, in the aforementioned wilds of Chester County, are scenic, upsy-downsy and spots, and tight turns are the norm. Your Silverado and 32'er might be a little tight, but hell, they take 52' semis up and down those roads all the time, so it can be done.266Views0likes0CommentsRe: New York to California - best route
Take I-287 off the Island to I-78. Follow it to just east of Harrisburg, where it kinda turns into I-81. Follow I-81 down to Hagerstown MD. Hop on I-70 but just for a little bit to Hancock MD, then get on I-68. Follow I-68 to Morgantown VA then get on I-79 NORTH. That will hook you back up to I-70 in Washington, PA. It sounds complex but it's not. The drive is easy, not a lot of city-congestion anywhere along the route. Follow I-70 west all the way to Indianapolis, then grab I-74 and follow it north-westerly through Champaign, Bloomington and Peoria, make a hard right at Galesburg, and follow to I-80 just east of the Quad Cities area. Make a LEFT on I-80, and don't stop 'till you hit the East Bay. :) Going west, it's all very slight, slow climbing from about Lincoln, Nebraska to Cheyenne. You hit the high point of I-80 just east of Laramie, it's very easy to do. Then pretty much flat all across southern Wyoming, not very scenic but quick. On the other side of Evanston, the downhiller into the Salt Lake City valley can be fun. Back in 2012, we branched off at Echo to take I-84 down to Ogden instead, it was quite nice. I-80 across the Great Salt Lake flats and Nevada will be a revelation after the LIE, if you know what I mean. :) Coming back, there are a million ways to do it. North, south, all good. Depends on time of year and your own timing. Relax and have fun. If you're used to driving in the NYC metro area, a couple of dingbat trucks on I-80 shouldn't scare you at all. Once you get west of Piscataway, it's all golden. You won't see the kind of traffic you're used to again, until the outskirts of San Francisco.331Views0likes0CommentsRe: Commerce, TX to Dover AFB
Oh jeeze, there are several dozen routes that get you from there to here. All I can suggest is that on the closing leg, you forgo the adventure that is I-95 between Richmond and Boston, and instead Go East, Young Man - get to the Norfolk/Va Beach area by hook or by crook, then take the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (CBBT) from there to the DelMarVa peninsula, OTW known as the Eastern Shore. Take the leisurely US-13 north through the Delmarva, and follow the signs to Dover AFB.151Views0likes0CommentsRe: Best Route Pulling 39' TH Salt Lake to Denver
GaryUT wrote: If you are coming from the north and don't need to go to Salt Lake City, take I84 in Ogden to I80 at Echo. No point doing the climb over Parleys summit if you don't have to. Gary I agree - the I-84 leg from Ogden to Echo Park is much less of a strain. Then you hook back up to I-80 and except for a little downhill'er east of Laramie, it's almost flat all the way to...well, Allentown, PA. :) Here's typical I-84, summer 2012395Views0likes0CommentsRe: NY/NJ to outer banks, NC
Can't add anything but to confirm the DelMem Bridge to DE Route 1 suggestion - take 13 South from the bridge a couple of miles and then either DE 273 at Hare's Corner or down a bit to US 40 west to get over to DE 1. Take it to Milford, follow signs to US 113 and then stay there all the way to Pokomoke City where you hook back up with 13. Then you have all those rustic little burgs along the DelMarVa like Onley, Painter, Melfa, etc etc. Done it a million times. The CBBT is, as noted, not a big deal at all unless very windy. It can be a little hectic around Va Beach/Norfolk then for a while until you get out of town in whatever direction your going.435Views0likes0Comments
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