NYC-Seattle in November

Frank

I'm in the planning stages for a long road trip. Since our time in the US is coming to an end, the wife and I have decided to hit the road for 10 weeks and cross off some spots we haven't seen on previous trips and re-visit those we enjoyed most... the rough plan is NYC - Vancouver Island - Mendocino - San Diego - Tombstone - New Orleans - Memphis - NYC.

The only thing I'm totally unclear about is what route to pick to go from NYC to Vancouver Island. Since we have never been, I thought Niagara Falls would make for a nice stop and I also thought it might be beautiful to drive through Montana.

Does anybody know if that's still going to be possible in mid November?



We don't want to spend too much time on this first leg of the trip and have only calculated 7-8 days. With a total of 3.000 miles, that's 430 miles per day.. should be easy but I wouldn't want to risk getting snowed in for a day. I wouldn't want to arrive late because we will have reservations for the ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

Frank

meistromoco

I would suggest going through Yellowstone if time permits and you haven't been before. It won't be full of tourists in Nov. and is a pretty unique and incredible place.

Horseleech

meistromoco said:

I would suggest going through Yellowstone if time permits and you haven't been before. It won't be full of tourists in Nov. and is a pretty unique and incredible place.

A lot of Yellowstone is closed to cars starting at the beginning of November, and even the parts that remain open might be shut if there's snow, so check ahead before making your plans.

http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/hours.htm

jaysus

If you are comfortable driving with a little windblown snow the North Dakota, Montana, Idaho stretch should be no problem. The plows get out there immediately and they salt and sand the freeways. I have done this route mid-winter about 3 times in a mazda protege. 30 hours from minneapolis to seattle. Wouldn't hurt to have a set of chains although i never used them. The only risk of highway shutdown would be nighttime blowing snow in north dakota. They would divert you off the highway to a $50 hotel until morning, It's really not the worst thing. Much better than driving 50 miles on a farmers field until you realize you lost the road and freezing to death.

Did i mention it is the flattest and most desolate place on earth? Still better than nebraska.

Frank

Thanks Jaysus, you put my mind at ease. I'm comfortable driving in snow.

We've just been to Yellowstone last year so no need to revisit.

jaysus said:

Did i mention it is the flattest and most desolate place on earth? Still better than nebraska.

You're talking about North Dakota here? I like desolate -if I don't have to stick around for to long...

Hollafame

Despite what you may have been told, Montana DOES have a speed limit on its highways.

LaserWolf

That looks like a nice trip.
I like that you are skipping Indiana (my least favorite state to drive through) Ohio and Il.

I would add a few days so you don't have to push so hard.
I can't tell you what the weather will be like six weeks from now, but you will want to adjust your speed and driving hours to match the conditions.
Pack chains. Mountain passes are mountain passes.

As nice as Vancouver Island is I would add a few days to enjoy Seattle.
If you have time drop into Oregon and driving along the gorge. Hood River, Multnomah Falls and Portland.

Frank

LaserWolf said:

That looks like a nice trip.
I like that you are skipping Indiana (my least favorite state to drive through) Ohio and Il.

I would add a few days so you don't have to push so hard.
I can't tell you what the weather will be like six weeks from now, but you will want to adjust your speed and driving hours to match the conditions.
Pack chains. Mountain passes are mountain passes.

As nice as Vancouver Island is I would add a few days to enjoy Seattle.
If you have time drop into Oregon and driving along the gorge. Hood River, Multnomah Falls and Portland.

We usually keep an average of 600 miles/day so 430 miles should be fine but even that's calculated with 7 out of 8 days that we have to get from NYC to Port Angeles in case we lose a day in total to road conditions, when calculating all 8 days, it's 375 miles per day.

We're traveling with our dogs and plan on keeping it country... we'll skip all cities (except New Orleans & Memphis towards the end) and the plan is to stay on Vancouver Island for 10 days and then drive down the entire Pacific Coast until we reach San Diego with a one week stay around Mendocino. We have rented a cabin in the San Diego mountains for a week, after that we're hitting a horse ranch near Tombstone AZ for another week, then we'll spend a week in rural Louisiana, a week in New Orleans, couple of days in Memphis and then it's back up to NYC.

ketan

> Mountain passes are mountain passes.

My wife and I drove across the US using a more southern path (Utah/Wyoming/Colorado) in late October a few years back and the mountain roads were icy and dangerous at times. On one occasion, we were the first to come across an overturned car with a lone pregnant woman inside. She was freaking out but, thankfully, she seemed fine once we got her out. Needless to say, it was a bit of a wake-up call to slow down.

So have a great journey and take care in the mountains!

facesd

If you come to San Diego (city) feel free to hit me up.....

fishmongerfunk

if you're going to vancouver island then make sure you are able to do a side-trip to tofino.

Frank

crabmongerfunk said:

if you're going to vancouver island then make sure you are able to do a side-trip to tofino.

Looks amazing! We're definitely going to check this out.
I've actually rented a cabin in Ucluelet, less than an hour from Tofino, on the other end of Long Beach.

jaysus

Frank said:

You're talking about North Dakota here? I like desolate -if I don't have to stick around for to long...

Yes North Dakota, Most massive sky on earth, like it is swallowing the ground whole.

LaserWolf said:

Mountain passes are mountain passes.

The nice thing about the north route is there are very few passes and they are mellow compared to anything further south.

You have
1) Butte, MT
2) Coeur d'alene, ID
3) Snoqualmie (I-90)/Stevens (HWY-2), WA