Question about Indianapolis IN -- San Jose, CA route

"Doug McDonald" wrote in message
...
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
snipped

From Indy even Kearny NB is easy in one day in a car. From Champaign I
generally stop at Ogalalla.

Doug McDonald

Doug,

We used to drive - Boston-Vegas and back each year. One year on the way
out, we stopped in Ogalalla, NB for lunch and a few day later were in
Vegas ( back in the days when a 'regular ticket' got you sitting at a
series of long tables ( like a VFW) and 2 drinks. Making small talk with
the folks next to us ... " Where are you from ?" " Their answer
"Ogalalla, NB". I said " Really - we were there a few days ago." They
thought I was kidding of course since it was a really small town. "No,
really " I said - " we ate at the Pizza Hut across from Boot Hill". ( I
still remember getting sucked in by the highway sign for " Boot Hill" -
tourist trap but we were hungry. ) They couldn't believe it - it's a
small world when you drive cross-country.

223rem wrote:
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


It makes sense, even though I don't remember that particular
stretch of I-80 as being difficult. It's true, I've driven that way just
once, so my memories are not necessarily relevant. Still, the difficult
part, as I remember it, was the climb and then descent into California.

Patok wrote:
223rem wrote:
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


It makes sense, even though I don't remember that particular stretch
of I-80 as being difficult. It's true, I've driven that way just once,
so my memories are not necessarily relevant. Still, the difficult part,
as I remember it, was the climb and then descent into California.
If you're driving a truck, and you're not experienced at it, the 15
miles of downhill from Park City, UT, into Salt Lake City can be
nervewracking. It's a 6% downhill grade, with some curves. There is a
"runaway truck" lane, too. There are trucks burning their brakes daily
on it (I smell them). If you are squeamish about downhills, the little
diversion from I-80 West at Echo to I-84 West to Odgen, where you catch
up with I-15, then down it back to I-80 West, may be better. I-84 has
some wicked curves on it, but no nasty downhills. I think it's all a
matter of your confidence level of driving the truck.

scabbardgirl wrote:


If you're driving a truck, and you're not experienced at it, the 15
miles of downhill from Park City, UT, into Salt Lake City can be
nervewracking. It's a 6% downhill grade, with some curves. There is a
"runaway truck" lane, too. There are trucks burning their brakes daily
on it (I smell them). If you are squeamish about downhills, the little
diversion from I-80 West at Echo to I-84 West to Odgen, where you catch
up with I-15, then down it back to I-80 West, may be better. I-84 has
some wicked curves on it, but no nasty downhills. I think it's all a
matter of your confidence level of driving the truck.

Thank you, very useful information.

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


I think those times are too short under the best of conditions.
Remember that parts of the route will be under construction.
Particularly in the mountains, the season for roadwork is short, so
there is always something going on in the summer.

MS Streets & Trips reports construction around Des Moines and Laramie.
I'm sure that's not all. Probably you can find info on the websites for
the state highway departments.

It will vary, too, depending on time of day. SLC during commute hours
can be very backed up. Avoid the stretch from Truckee, CA to Auburn on
Sunday afternoon. Lake Tahoe visitors will be returning to Sacramento
and the Bay Area.

On Sat, 26 May 2007 02:40:49 -0700, Jeff Lanam 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


I think those times are too short under the best of conditions.
Remember that parts of the route will be under construction.
Particularly in the mountains, the season for roadwork is short, so
there is always something going on in the summer.

MS Streets & Trips reports construction around Des Moines and Laramie.
I'm sure that's not all. Probably you can find info on the websites for
the state highway departments.

It will vary, too, depending on time of day. SLC during commute hours
can be very backed up. Avoid the stretch from Truckee, CA to Auburn on
Sunday afternoon. Lake Tahoe visitors will be returning to Sacramento
and the Bay Area.

Yep, I agree. It'll take longer than planned in a big truck.

Indy to Lincoln is 668 miles according to my Street Atlas USA. I could do that
in my car easy, beat it actually 'cuz these are interestates. But in a big
truck, you won't make a 60 mph average. You won't get there in 11 hours.

OTOH, 11 hours a day is not all that hard. You could drive 14 hours a day and
make this leg work.

Now, Lincoln to Salt Lake City is just short of 900 miles according to Street
Atlas USA. There's just no way. I couldn't make that in 11 hours in my car. I
remember that Orlando to Indy was about 850, I think, and my best run was
something like 12 hours and 50 minutes, in my car, and I was haulin'. It won't
likely be doable in a big truck in 14 hours. Pick a closer stopping point,
Expect this to be a 4 day trip, minimum.

And finally, Street Atlas has 769 mi from Salt Lake City to San Jose. Again,
No way. In a car, that'd be a pretty fatiguing drive, since it comes on the
last day of the drive when you've built up an accumulation of fatigue.

I think your best way to do this is to give yourself a week, start driving, and
stop where you're tired. Try to search for special events which might have all
the motels full, like some dang football game or state fair or something, and
if you're approaching that area tired, stop before you get into its area of
influence and then can't get a motel for the next 150 miles.

Otherwise, if you try extremely long distances per day, and are going to some
kind of extremes like wearing a catheter so you only have to stop with you need
fuel, and can sit there and pee without stopping, then good luck and don't fall
asleep at the wheel like the 18 wheeler drivers are always doing.

Dave Head

You have all the rights that you're willing to fight for.

It will take me a week? ****. But your post makes sense.

Dave Head wrote:
On Sat, 26 May 2007 02:40:49 -0700, Jeff Lanam 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

I think those times are too short under the best of conditions.
Remember that parts of the route will be under construction.
Particularly in the mountains, the season for roadwork is short, so
there is always something going on in the summer.

MS Streets & Trips reports construction around Des Moines and Laramie.
I'm sure that's not all. Probably you can find info on the websites for
the state highway departments.

It will vary, too, depending on time of day. SLC during commute hours
can be very backed up. Avoid the stretch from Truckee, CA to Auburn on
Sunday afternoon. Lake Tahoe visitors will be returning to Sacramento
and the Bay Area.

Yep, I agree. It'll take longer than planned in a big truck.

Indy to Lincoln is 668 miles according to my Street Atlas USA. I could do that
in my car easy, beat it actually 'cuz these are interestates. But in a big
truck, you won't make a 60 mph average. You won't get there in 11 hours.

OTOH, 11 hours a day is not all that hard. You could drive 14 hours a day and
make this leg work.

Now, Lincoln to Salt Lake City is just short of 900 miles according to Street
Atlas USA. There's just no way. I couldn't make that in 11 hours in my car. I
remember that Orlando to Indy was about 850, I think, and my best run was
something like 12 hours and 50 minutes, in my car, and I was haulin'. It won't
likely be doable in a big truck in 14 hours. Pick a closer stopping point,
Expect this to be a 4 day trip, minimum.

And finally, Street Atlas has 769 mi from Salt Lake City to San Jose. Again,
No way. In a car, that'd be a pretty fatiguing drive, since it comes on the
last day of the drive when you've built up an accumulation of fatigue.

I think your best way to do this is to give yourself a week, start driving, and
stop where you're tired. Try to search for special events which might have all
the motels full, like some dang football game or state fair or something, and
if you're approaching that area tired, stop before you get into its area of
influence and then can't get a motel for the next 150 miles.

Otherwise, if you try extremely long distances per day, and are going to some
kind of extremes like wearing a catheter so you only have to stop with you need
fuel, and can sit there and pee without stopping, then good luck and don't fall
asleep at the wheel like the 18 wheeler drivers are always doing.


All very good points. So here's my suggestion (that's how I did
that trip, starting from Chicago) - make the first section the longest,
and each subsequent one shorter. That way, as fatigue increases, you'll
have to drive less. My first stop was in Laramie, WY, which is a tad
extreme in your case, being about 1150 miles from Indy. You can stop
somewhere west of Lincoln - let's say Ogallala, which would be ~940
miles, then in Elko, NV, ~840 miles, and leave the shortest stretch to
San Jose ~540 miles for dessert. BTW, how fast can that truck go - does
it have a governor?

On Sat, 26 May 2007 15:45:39 -0400, 223rem wrote:

It will take me a week? ****. But your post makes sense.

I think you should just allocate a week, to take the pressure off. One of the
biggest killers for airplane pilots is, "I gotta get there" and he goes flying
off into mucky skies and gets himself killed. You have a truck, not an
airplane, but the same principle would be at work if you allocated some set
amount of time that was on the edge of doable or not doable. If you're into
the 4th day of the trip, that you've allocated 4 days for, and there's a good
road that's longer, and a bad road that's shorter, you're liable to make a
dangerous decision like that, plus making the trip less fun because of that
stress.

Just allocate a week, and then get there when you get there. And have a good
time, as much as one can when driving a big truck. No worries. Dial up good
tunes. Relax.

And, BTW, I hope you got a _real_ good reason to go moving to California.
California is a high cost area, just like Virginia is. I live in Virginia, and
will move back to Indy when I retire. I'm not sure you can realize how good
you have it there until you move and start missing things you're prolly taking
for granted now. Indy is the amateur sports capital of the world. There's
always _something_ going on and, BTW, its almost always affordable. Not so in
coastal areas. And, if there is something going on in a coastal state, it is
probably at the other end of such a hideous drive, that it isn't worth doing
anyway. I live about 70 miles from DC. I get up there for any sort of
recreation about once or twice a year. Why? Because the traffic is always a
nightmare, with people grinding abuptly to a halt for no discernable reason
whatever on I-95, not only exposing me to a decent chance of hitting the car in
front of me, but of getting killed by the asleep truck driver behind me that
just doesn't know what happened.

If there's any uncertainty at all about the move, then think about it, or
you'll be like me, planning my return to one of the best places to live I've
ever actually lived in before.

Dave Head
You have all the rights that you're willing to fight for.

Patok wrote:

All very good points. So here's my suggestion (that's how I did that
trip, starting from Chicago) - make the first section the longest, and
each subsequent one shorter. That way, as fatigue increases, you'll have
to drive less. My first stop was in Laramie, WY, which is a tad extreme
in your case, being about 1150 miles from Indy. You can stop somewhere
west of Lincoln - let's say Ogallala, which would be ~940 miles, then in
Elko, NV, ~840 miles, and leave the shortest stretch to San Jose ~540
miles for dessert. BTW, how fast can that truck go - does it have a
governor?

About 60 mph, I guess, being loaded and pulling a trailer with a car on it.