We will be leaving WI with a 36' Pace Arrow and TOAD heading south through Phoenix with an ultimate destination of Fremont, CA. We should be traveling through NV about the 3rd week of March and I would like to avoid traveling the length of CA on freeways. Is going through Reno, NV a viable travel route this time of year?
Seeking route to San Fran area
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SeilerBird
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You can take 93 from Phoenix to Las Vegas and then take 95 north to Reno. From Reno take I-80 west to Freemont. It will add a few hundred miles to the trip. It is a great route with very little mountain driving except Donner Pass. Beautiful scenery.
Tom
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If you follow seilerbird's directions, from I-80 you'll take I-680 south from Fairfield down to Fremont. Avoid I-680 south into the Bay area during the morning commute (and I-680 north during the afternoon coomute); Traffic will be ugly for several hours.
Bob Buchanan
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You have a number of tradeoffs going thru Reno vs. up thru CA Freeways. If Phoenix is your starting point and Fremont your destination.
o The Reno route will be about 300 miles farther.
o More change of snow over Donner (than Tehachapi summit) -- however, Donner road crews are very efficient so a one or two day at most delay unless one of those really bad spring snows.
o The Reno route takes into the Bay Area from the North via Sacramento - so would be dealing with more traffic.
o If going the Southern route I would recommend taking the 10 to Redmonds, then moving up to the 215 North, then picking up the 138 West thru Lancaster over to Gorman on the 5. This eliminates driving the 10 thru LA. I would then pick up the 152 just South of Santa Nella, CA off the 5. Then over to the 101 at Gilroy -- then North to San Jose where you would merge into the 880 up to Fremont.
Another consideration might be that gas would most likely be higher in CA than NV -- but out on the desert on 95, it could also be very high.
o The Reno route will be about 300 miles farther.
o More change of snow over Donner (than Tehachapi summit) -- however, Donner road crews are very efficient so a one or two day at most delay unless one of those really bad spring snows.
o The Reno route takes into the Bay Area from the North via Sacramento - so would be dealing with more traffic.
o If going the Southern route I would recommend taking the 10 to Redmonds, then moving up to the 215 North, then picking up the 138 West thru Lancaster over to Gorman on the 5. This eliminates driving the 10 thru LA. I would then pick up the 152 just South of Santa Nella, CA off the 5. Then over to the 101 at Gilroy -- then North to San Jose where you would merge into the 880 up to Fremont.
Another consideration might be that gas would most likely be higher in CA than NV -- but out on the desert on 95, it could also be very high.
B
braindead
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Wave as you come through (if you go the Reno route) ;-)
We just had a storm pass through, might still be snowing in the pass.
This site will give you current travel restrictions: http://www.safetravelusa.com/nv/
Things are a mess right now, and windy.. But it'll not stay that way, I would think by the 3rd week in march the likelihood of snow in the passes will be pretty small.
We just had a storm pass through, might still be snowing in the pass.
This site will give you current travel restrictions: http://www.safetravelusa.com/nv/
Things are a mess right now, and windy.. But it'll not stay that way, I would think by the 3rd week in march the likelihood of snow in the passes will be pretty small.
JCZ
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Tom said:
If you go the Reno route, Tom has provided you with the best direction. It'll bring you in to Fremont the back way, avoiding all the bay area traffic.
Snow fall over Donner Summit (Reno route), I'd have to agree with braindead. The odds are against that at this point in time. We're just not getting our normal snow fall on the mountain this year......not even close.
I pulled our 5th wheel from Quartzsite in Jan. We came up I-395 to Reno and over Donner Pass against many that advised against it. Bob said it best.... Cal Trans does a heck of a job keeping that highway open and when it's closed, it's usually just for a few hours.
Phoenix is just east of Quartzsite (where we started from). Here's a blog of our journey in late Jan.....a sneak preview of this route if you so choose.... http://jczquartzsitejourney.blogspot.com/
ArdraF
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The shortest route from Las Vegas is south on I-15 to Barstow, west on CA 58 over the Tehachapis to Bakersfield, then west to I-5, north on I-5 to CA 152 over Pachecho Pass, north on U.S. 101 to I-880 which takes you to Fremont. We almost always take this route to the Bay area from Las Vegas. Weather is less "iffy" and there are no 6,000' elevations like there are on U.S. 95 between Las Vegas and Reno and then on I-80 over the Sierra range. The highest is about 4,000' at Tehachapi. We usually make this a two-day drive because it's over 500 miles. Also, there are sights along the way. Barstow has a museum that features the "Harvey Girls" from Fred Harvey's railroad hotels. At Tehachapi you can see the famous Tehachapi Loop where the railroad crosses over itself. If you stop at Mojave you can see where they store airplanes in the desert. The drive up I-5 is now full of orchards and other crops - in an area that was bare desert until they constructed the California Aqueduct and I-5 opened.
By the way, it's snowing and 32* at Lake Tahoe right now and more expected over the next couple of days.
ArdraF
By the way, it's snowing and 32* at Lake Tahoe right now and more expected over the next couple of days.
ArdraF
Bob Buchanan
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ArdraF said:
I would lean towards the south route thru CA too, Ardra. Reno is way North of Fremont - whereas from Phoenix to and up thru CA, they will most of the route be wending their way North. Coming "down" 680 from North of Fremont vs. up 880 with less traffic having started their trek way South of Fremont is why it is 300 miles or so farther. If I draw a horizontal from Fremont to the 95 in Nevada, it will intersect way South of Tonopah.
BTW, Donner is over 7,000'.
Tom
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Personally, I'd take the southern route too. However, abenz still needs to avoid commute traffic. Although I mentioned avoiding the southbound morning commute on I-680, northbound I-680 to Fremont is equally bad, as is I-880. I speak as someone who commuted to two companies in Fremont from the southwest and from the north over a number of years.
I used to joke that it was "easier for me to go to Singapore than to go to the office"; A limo would pick me up at home (so I didn't have to drive), get to SFO and sit in the Biz or 1st Class lounge, have a comfy seat (or sleeper) for 18-20 hours, sleep/eat as I wished, and arrive "fresh". OTOH on the "parking lot" (the commute) I'd watch people eat their breakfast, brush their teeth, put on their makeup, read the newspaper, do crossword puzzles, talk on their cell phone, get mad with everyone around them, and more.
Nowadays, I avoid the Santa Clara Valley (aka Silicon Valley) like the plague; There's just too much traffic, and "commute hour" lasts 4-5 hours.
I'm still curious to read JCZ's "... into Fremont the back way, avoiding all the Bay Area traffic". I don't know any way into Fremont during commute hours that avoids traffic.
I used to joke that it was "easier for me to go to Singapore than to go to the office"; A limo would pick me up at home (so I didn't have to drive), get to SFO and sit in the Biz or 1st Class lounge, have a comfy seat (or sleeper) for 18-20 hours, sleep/eat as I wished, and arrive "fresh". OTOH on the "parking lot" (the commute) I'd watch people eat their breakfast, brush their teeth, put on their makeup, read the newspaper, do crossword puzzles, talk on their cell phone, get mad with everyone around them, and more.
Nowadays, I avoid the Santa Clara Valley (aka Silicon Valley) like the plague; There's just too much traffic, and "commute hour" lasts 4-5 hours.
I'm still curious to read JCZ's "... into Fremont the back way, avoiding all the Bay Area traffic". I don't know any way into Fremont during commute hours that avoids traffic.
SeilerBird
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Simple, just use a helicopter...Tom said:
Tom
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When we first moved from the West Valley to Livermore (NE of the valley), the first words out of my boss' mouth were "we need to fly you into work by helicopter" ;D The 22 miles commute (from both homes) was initially cut from 40 mins to 20 minutes, but eventually grew to 90 minutes. A few years of that and I was ready to retire.
ArdraF
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We used to take a "back way in" through Hayward. Maybe that's what he meant. Still too far around.
ArdraF
ArdraF
Tom
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What time of day was that Ardra?
JCZ
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Tom said:
Oh, I agree with you on all accounts of your assesment of the bay area Tom. I worked over there for seven years on both the pennisula (Palo Alto) as well as Sunnyvale, San Jose and Fremont....so I'm accutely aware of the bay area shuffle that you speak of.
My comment is just that if I have to go to Fremont, of course I'd rather go in the non commute hours......like 3:00 a.m.......but regardless of the time I may have to go, coming from this direction, I'd much rather do it coming in from I-680 through Niles canyon rather than down I-880 from Oakland. However, knowing what the bay area traffic is at any given time, I try to avoid it entirely.
The OP said he wanted to avoid driving the length of California on our freeways (don't blame him) and I have to say that taking the long way was much more relaxing and beautiful going up 395 and over Donner than the Calif. routes suggested (the way we went down to Q).
My DW just informed me that she is looking at CG Coyote Valley, in San Jose, which ads to the southern route discussion. She was also considering Saratoga Springs RV both of which would allow us a commute via our TOAD. Any feedback on the CGs or recommendations for others?
JCZ
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Coyote Valley is a very nice RV park with full ammenities. It's on the old Hwy. 101 (I believe it's now Business 101) before the freeway was finished. It's right next to the Jack Nicholas golf course, Coyote Creek Golf Course. And on the other side (west) is Cinnabar Hills Golf Club. Morgan Hill is just south of San Jose....maybe 8-10 miles and while it can still get busy during the commute hours, there's much less traffic than San Jose northward throughout the bay area.
Saratoga Springs.....I've been there a couple of times for company functions. Never realized they even had RVs in there.....just knew of it as a day use area. Looking at RV Park Reviews web site, it looks like they just put you in the parking lot. The reviews aren't favorable however, much like the town.....it's a very nice park right there in the trees and hills on the Saratoga side of the Santa Cruz mountains.
Saratoga Springs.....I've been there a couple of times for company functions. Never realized they even had RVs in there.....just knew of it as a day use area. Looking at RV Park Reviews web site, it looks like they just put you in the parking lot. The reviews aren't favorable however, much like the town.....it's a very nice park right there in the trees and hills on the Saratoga side of the Santa Cruz mountains.
Tom
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It's been a few years, but every time I passed Saratoga Springs on the narrow, winding, hilly Hwy 9 (Big Basin Way), I always thought it might be tough to get in there with an RV and toad. But, a great location for visiting the neat little town of Saratoga and, continuing up Hwy 9 to the summit, Boulder Creek, Felton, and over the hill to Santa Cruz. As I say, it's been a few years since I lived and traveled on that side of the valley.
ArdraF
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Daytime - but remember I said "used to" which was 20 or more years ago. The traffic in the bay area is much worse now than it was then. Every time we visit we miss the nice weather but definitely not the traffic. When we first moved to Redwood Shores in 1972 my commute to SRI was about ten minutes. By the time I retired from there in 1983 it was more like a half hour even though the route was shorter and more direct because another road opened to San Carlos. If there was an accident on the 101 it could be more like 45 minutes as I wound my way on surface streets.
ArdraF
JCZ
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Archie & Linda....in your first post you said you're going to Fremont. Much closer to Fremont and less traffic that the other side of the hill (bay area side) is the town of Pleasanton where you have the Fair Park RV park.... http://www.thefairparkrv.com/
Pleasanton also has a nice little downtown area with some nice restaurants, etc.
Pleasanton also has a nice little downtown area with some nice restaurants, etc.
Tom
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Ah yes, I believe that's the old Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton, or it's right next door. Good choice for commuting to Fremont, although I-680 southbound will be busy at commute time.
