Excited to be ordering a 2021 Elite II

[Ray and Susan Huff]

We just secured a build date for a 2021 Elite II  !!!!!!!  The first available slots were Dec/Jan but we opted to wait for February delivery, when the weather is better and to avoid severe Mid-west weather conditions, realizing that no matter the time of year, the weather is very unpredictable. 

We will be traveling from SW Oregon (driving a 4wd F350 Super Duty ) with two possible routes:

1. I-5 South; hwy 395 to Reno/Las Vegas, then SE to I-40

2. I-5 South to I-40

Option 1 will be our first choice, to avoid I-5 through California; option 2 if conditions on hwy 395 are prohibitive. 

We would appreciate hearing from others who have made the trip to Tennessee around the same time of year (late Jan-early Feb) regarding:

Weather/road conditions along this route

Places to stay  enroute, especially on the return.

Any other information to help trip planning.

This is going to be a cross country adventure for us.  I made one similar trip (early March) from Oregon to Memphis - 50 years ago!  My husband came cross country from Mississippi 40 some years ago (September).  The furthest east we both have recently been (not counting air travel) is Payson, AZ; my husband to Weatherford, OK .

We have 7 months to plan . . . . the wait will be torturous! 

[topgun2]

Welcome to the Family (almost).  At least you have plenty of time to plan those trips and plan what things you will want to do to your Ollie when you get it.

Bill

[Mike and Carol]

Congratulations!  Weather that time of year can vary from nice to real bad.  In January we’re usually headed west on I-10 to Arizona.  We’ve done I-40 that time of year when it was nice but have also seen snow, especially around Flagstaff.  If you go home on 40 there is a nice Texas State Park just south of Amarillo - Palo Duro Canyon State Park.  It’s a great place to stay.  Mike

[DavidS]

1 hour ago, Susan Huff said:

We would appreciate hearing from others ... regarding:

Weather/road conditions along this route

We have found there are really good phone apps for road conditions. See this earlier post. 

[BackofBeyond]

Having traveled from Az to Tn for many years, in winter i10 can be a better route,I 40 is good, but may be worse weather wise, and at times, both are impassable in some areas

 I would guess I10/I20 would be your best bet, once you've gone far enough south. Good traveling and welcome to the club.

[Ray and Susan Huff]

1 hour ago, DavidS said:

We have found there are really good phone apps for road conditions. See this earlier post. 

Thanks . . . . we have used those on the road.  I want to know, in advance, what to expect.

[Ray and Susan Huff]

1 hour ago, BackofBeyond said:

Having traveled from Az to Tn for many years, in winter i10 can be a better route,I 40 is good, but may be worse weather wise, and at times, both are impassable in some areas

 I would guess I10/I20 would be your best bet, once you've gone far enough south. Good traveling and welcome to the club.

Thanks for your informed advice.  I was hoping we could take I-40 as we have friends near Oklahoma City we'd like to see.  I'll take a look at your suggested routes.

When we once drove from S. Cal to Memphis via I-40, it was the beginning of March.  We were held up, briefly, at Albuquerque for snow.  Do such events last long that time of year?  I'm not as worried going out, as we'll be driving a 4-wd.  It will be coming home, towing the Oliver.  But then, we will have a place to sleep and eat if we get held up.

Also, are their toll roads on the way?

Edited June 20, 2020 by Susan Huff

[WhatDa]

Congratulations.  I would take the extra time you have to build a few different plans.  Flexibility is key.  We went TN to NY to WA in late September to Early October.  IT was hot enough that we used the AC in NY, and the weather was supposed to be good the entire route when we started.  When we stopped in WI the forecast looked less good on 94 and for crossing the cascades, and potential dusting in Yellowstone so I had snow tires delivered to Rapid City and we opted to take 90.  We camped in Mitchell, SD with what was now a chance of snow on our route between there and Rapid City, SD - it was supposed to be like 3 hours 45 minutes and a short day.  We started out to a light rain, but still warmish weather, and suddenly blizzard conditions happened - snow and 40-50mph wind.  We pulled off into a KOA and rested after passing a few sites like the one below - there were about a dozen overturned semis .
 

So we changed our plans yet again, and it took us three days longer to get to Yellowstone. 

So I'd make a plan for each of the corridors -- 40 might be rough in the winter -- or it might be fine, or maybe 70/80 end up being fine.  Make sure you know what is open on your route as many parks/sites will close for the season.  If you do 10/20 - there are some nice sights to see, but it depends on what interests you, what is the COVID-19 situation, and how circuitous you are willing to be.

For planning we used google "my maps" https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/ which let us plot everything that interested us, friends and family, etc...  Based on that we had an idea of what we could see on a given route, and if enough stuff was clustered together it might be worth the detour.

  

 

[Ray and Susan Huff]

On 6/20/2020 at 2:49 PM, WhatDa said:

Congratulations.  I would take the extra time you have to build a few different plans.  Flexibility is key.  We went TN to NY to WA in late September to Early October.  IT was hot enough that we used the AC in NY, and the weather was supposed to be good the entire route when we started.  When we stopped in WI the forecast looked less good on 94 and for crossing the cascades, and potential dusting in Yellowstone so I had snow tires delivered to Rapid City and we opted to take 90.  We camped in Mitchell, SD with what was now a chance of snow on our route between there and Rapid City, SD - it was supposed to be like 3 hours 45 minutes and a short day.  We started out to a light rain, but still warmish weather, and suddenly blizzard conditions happened - snow and 40-50mph wind.  We pulled off into a KOA and rested after passing a few sites like the one below - there were about a dozen overturned semis .
 

So we changed our plans yet again, and it took us three days longer to get to Yellowstone. 

So I'd make a plan for each of the corridors -- 40 might be rough in the winter -- or it might be fine, or maybe 70/80 end up being fine.  Make sure you know what is open on your route as many parks/sites will close for the season.  If you do 10/20 - there are some nice sights to see, but it depends on what interests you, what is the COVID-19 situation, and how circuitous you are willing to be.

For planning we used google "my maps" https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/ which let us plot everything that interested us, friends and family, etc...  Based on that we had an idea of what we could see on a given route, and if enough stuff was clustered together it might be worth the detour.

  

 

I heard about this storm . . . . Glad we weren't out there.  We had planned a road trip up through Washington, into Montana and across Wyoming to Devil's Tower.  Changed our plans, thank goodness. For the trip to Tennessee, we have no intention of taking a northern route.  Driving in windy conditions really wears you down, limiting the time you spend on the road.

I'm sure there are a lot of things we'd like to see along the southern route; might be we don't make it that far south again.  Hopefully Covid-19 won't be too much of an issue next year, but that's probably wishful thinking.

Thanks for your valuable insight ☺️

[WhatDa]

If you're willing to detour.  Here are the things I've enjoyed on I10/20:

Palm Springs - just the lifestyles of the rich and famous and some cool 70s architecture too

Joshua Tree NP - interesting NP

Quartzsite - great boondocking

Picacho Peak (need to be in good shape for this one - definitely read up on the hike)

Saguaro NP - different country than the PNW for sure

Pima Air + Space Museum

Mt Lemmon - drivable

Kartchner Caverns - COVID might rule this out

Coronado Overlook - great chance to see the border

Bisbee, AZ  - Copper Mine/Art town

Tombstone, AZ - the legend of the movie meets a version of Disneyland where everyone has guns and might be drunk too

Hatch. NM - home of the Hatch Chile

Truth or Consequences, NM (cool name) - next to Elephant Butte Lake park -- also a cool name interesting view

Texas: headwinds and barbecue.  

Dublin, TX - Old Doc's Soda Shop - used to be where I stopped for Dr Pepper made with cane sugar, they don't make that anymore but still interesting.

Ozarks

 

 

[SeaDawg]

2 hours ago, WhatDa said:

Palm Springs - just the lifestyles of the rich and famous and some cool 70s architecture too

Modernism week is in February each year in Palm Springs. Tour some great examples of desert modern mcm architecture. I'd love to visit during that week, some year.

Here's info on next year's events, if you're interested:

https://www.modernismweek.com/what/

Sherry