Question about Indianapolis IN -- San Jose, CA route

Here's what I'm planning:

Indianpolis -- Lincoln NE 11 hours
Lincoln NE -- Salt Lake City UT 11 hours
Salt Lake -- San Jose CA 11 hours

The route on Google maps: http://tinyurl.com/34fzz8

Does this sound reasonable? Which parts of the route are going to be
mountainous/twisty/slow and difficult at night or rain? The reason I'm
asking is that I may be driving a large truck, not my car.

Thanks very much in advance!

223rem wrote:
Here's what I'm planning:

Indianpolis -- Lincoln NE 11 hours
Lincoln NE -- Salt Lake City UT 11 hours
Salt Lake -- San Jose CA 11 hours

The route on Google maps: http://tinyurl.com/34fzz8

Does this sound reasonable? Which parts of the route are going to be
mountainous/twisty/slow and difficult at night or rain? The reason I'm
asking is that I may be driving a large truck, not my car.



That's the route. From Indy to Round Rock is easy and straight, then
there are some twisty bits. The only possible hassle east of Salt Lake City is
the crossing of the Medicine Bow range just west of Cheyenne, which
can get windy or even rarely snowy in summer. From Indy even Kearny NB
is easy in one day in a car. From Champaign I generally stop at
Ogalalla.

Doug McDonald

Doug McDonald wrote:
223rem wrote:
Here's what I'm planning:

Indianpolis -- Lincoln NE 11 hours
Lincoln NE -- Salt Lake City UT 11 hours
Salt Lake -- San Jose CA 11 hours

The route on Google maps: http://tinyurl.com/34fzz8

Does this sound reasonable? Which parts of the route are going to be
mountainous/twisty/slow and difficult at night or rain? The reason I'm
asking is that I may be driving a large truck, not my car.



That's the route. From Indy to Round Rock is easy and straight,

I only found a Round Rock in Texas...

223rem wrote:


That's the route. From Indy to Round Rock is easy and straight,

I only found a Round Rock in Texas...

Rock Springs. I should have refreshed my memory. I've been there
a dozen times, but all the Rocks seem to get mixed up ...



Doug

Doug McDonald wrote:
223rem wrote:


That's the route. From Indy to Round Rock is easy and straight,

I only found a Round Rock in Texas...

Rock Springs. I should have refreshed my memory. I've been there
a dozen times, but all the Rocks seem to get mixed up ...


Thanks!

223rem wrote:
Here's what I'm planning:

Indianpolis -- Lincoln NE 11 hours
Lincoln NE -- Salt Lake City UT 11 hours
Salt Lake -- San Jose CA 11 hours

The route on Google maps: http://tinyurl.com/34fzz8

Does this sound reasonable? Which parts of the route are going to be
mountainous/twisty/slow and difficult at night or rain? The reason I'm
asking is that I may be driving a large truck, not my car.

Thanks very much in advance!

In Utah I strongly recommend taking I-84 west to I-15 south rather than
staying on I-80. This adds about 8 miles to your trip. but it reduces
the difficult Rocky Mountain part from 50+ miles to less than 20, saving
time and aggravation, especially in a truck.

As for the time it will take: I'm not sure about the eastern part of the
route, but Salt Lake to San Jose in 11 hours in a big rig is an extreme
example of wishful thinking. Salt Lake to Reno, or possibly Winnemucca
to San Jose can be done in 11 hours if no bad weather, but Salt Lake to
San Jose is simply not possible unless you're driving a car and are
willing to go substantially over the speed limits.

John David Galt wrote:
In Utah I strongly recommend taking I-84 west to I-15 south rather than
staying on I-80. This adds about 8 miles to your trip. but it reduces
the difficult Rocky Mountain part from 50+ miles to less than 20, saving
time and aggravation, especially in a truck.

As for the time it will take: I'm not sure about the eastern part of the
route, but Salt Lake to San Jose in 11 hours in a big rig is an extreme
example of wishful thinking. Salt Lake to Reno, or possibly Winnemucca
to San Jose can be done in 11 hours if no bad weather, but Salt Lake to
San Jose is simply not possible unless you're driving a car and are
willing to go substantially over the speed limits.

Thanks John, that's exactly the kind of info I was looking for.

John David Galt wrote:
223rem wrote:
Here's what I'm planning:

Indianpolis -- Lincoln NE 11 hours
Lincoln NE -- Salt Lake City UT 11 hours
Salt Lake -- San Jose CA 11 hours

The route on Google maps: http://tinyurl.com/34fzz8

Does this sound reasonable? Which parts of the route are going to be
mountainous/twisty/slow and difficult at night or rain? The reason I'm
asking is that I may be driving a large truck, not my car.

Thanks very much in advance!

In Utah I strongly recommend taking I-84 west to I-15 south rather than
staying on I-80. This adds about 8 miles to your trip. but it reduces
the difficult Rocky Mountain part from 50+ miles to less than 20, saving
time and aggravation, especially in a truck.


What on earth are you talking about? Usually you make sense, but
this is simply outlandish. Even if you mean taking I-15 south and then
I-5 north, it looks like adding 80 or more miles, not 8. You are right
that the descent into California on I-80 is nasty, especially by truck,
but how I-84 comes into play I can't understand.

Patok wrote:
John David Galt wrote:

In Utah I strongly recommend taking I-84 west to I-15 south rather than
staying on I-80. This adds about 8 miles to your trip. but it reduces
the difficult Rocky Mountain part from 50+ miles to less than 20, saving
time and aggravation, especially in a truck.


What on earth are you talking about? Usually you make sense, but
this is simply outlandish. Even if you mean taking I-15 south and then
I-5 north, it looks like adding 80 or more miles, not 8. You are right
that the descent into California on I-80 is nasty, especially by truck,
but how I-84 comes into play I can't understand.



I think he means I80 West - I 84 (North) West - I 15 South - I 80 West.

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=4...9751&z=10&om=1

I may be driving a large truck, not my car.

Avoid Interstate 70 in Indianapolis. Construction zone and trucks
are not allowed on the Interstate 70 and they will enforce the speed
limit as well.

And if you're westbound on I-70 through the downtown, there's a sharp
turn that has caused many vehicles to bump the guardrail; I imagine
that someone not used to driving a truck could easily run into
problems if they tried that turn too fast.