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freds123

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Jul 19, 2010
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We are in a 38ft motorhome and will be heading out west for our first visit.  We will be leaving late August from Indiana and want to visit Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone National Park and head down to Las Vegas and into Arizona for the winter.  Then head up the coast of California and into Seattle.  My question is what would be a good way to come home from seattle because of the mountains.  Is I-90 a good road to travel or does anyone have a better route to come home.  We will try and come home sometime in  June of next year.
 
Nothing Too severe, Your coach will do fine. If i were a gasser I would be looking for the lowest place to cross. Any Interstate will be more than fine for you to run.
 
I just double checked and it is the preferred route for most trucks due to its grade. There are a couple short 5 1/2%  and  6% grades but they are very manageable . Google I-90 grades

Steve
 
Thanks guys, if there were too many steep grades I was going to have to plan a different route home.
 
For shear beauty and to avoid freeways you might consider hwy20 across the northern most part of the country.
 
The only way to avoid steep grades would be to retrace your steps. Even so, there are a couple of them on I-5. Slow down, let the diesel do what it does best and enjoy the ride. Gear down and don't ride the brakes.
 
freds123 said:
Yes it is a Diesel.  Are there a lot of steep grades to deal with?

We make the trip from Seattle east frequently as my Daughter is and my grand kids were in Western WA.  Heading east from Seattle the first pass is Snoqualmie.  It is long, scenic and no problem for a diesel -we have a 38' with 300 CAT and do fine.  There are a few short steep hills around western ID and the "Fourth of July" pass.  Not hard or particularly steep but winding and somewhat slow for that reason.  The pass East of Kellogg ID is long but again no problem.  It is slow and the MT side can be rough and it is winding and somewhat slow.  The next pass is east of Butte MT and is a long up hill, slow but no real curves.  The down hill is steep and curvy, recommended speed is 25 MPH per the signs, we usually do about 35, the trucks will be slower. 

Just east of Whitehall is  "non" pass that is steep,slow and some what winding but no issues.  The down hill side is fairly straight, long and you need to watch your speed as it is easy to get behind on speed control.  It should be no problem though.

The last "Pass" is about 12 miles east of Bozeman.  It is short, steep and no problem.  Again, watch your speed on the down hill as there is a 90? curve about 1 to 1 1/2 mile from the top.  It is an easy curve and banked and should be no problem if you are watching your speed, we do it about 60 mph with no problem.

Those are the "passes" but there are some short steep hills till you get to where I-90 turns east and starts out onto the prairie,
 
Thanks for all your advice.  It makes it nice to hear from someone who knows because I am real hesitate of the mountains.  This is a dream of my husband's and I'm trying to be very supportive of him.  We have been all up and down the east coast the last two years,  and going on 3 years of living in our motorhome, but for some reason our west coast trip has been more challenging to me.  Thanks again everyone.
 
I should add that you can avoid the big ones in CA and OR by coming up 101 to the OR border and staying on it through OR to Astoria and then head back to Portland and up I-5 to Seattle.  You will go through San Francisco this way but that can be avoided by crossing back to I-5 and then back to 101 above San Francisco.
 
Last year, in our 300 hp DP, we ran from Missoula, MT to Gillette, WY, late in August, on I-90 and had no real issues. Jim's right about the part east of Butte which is an interesting piece of Interstate, but speed management is the key to handling the grades, both up and down.

One of the rules of thumb we used as we got used to our coach in the mountains of the west was to use the speed warnings signs as gospel on the downhills. If it said 45 mph, we wanted to be at 45 mph, and steady, not increasing speed. We found that concept to be comfortable, reasonable, and there was never a feeling that we were on the edge of being out of control. My wife drove as much or more than I and she found that worked for her as well.

If you are not real confident, avoid getting in a pack of traffic and maintain some extra distances between you and the other traffic. That's not real hard in some of the remote areas of Wyoming!

Proper use of your engine brake will also go a long way towards helping you find your comfort level.

There are several posts in the Forum about mountain driving techniques and those will give you some good tips as well.

Take your time and enjoy the scenery! Everyone who has done it had a first time.
 

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