I-80/Winter/Anti Freeze/year round RV parks?

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S.G.

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Call me crazy, but I plan on taking I-80 east from Northern California to Tennessee in January. I don't have an all seasons trailer either. I've never seen the states on that route or driven it before, so I really wanna go that way. If anyone has done it, especially in the winter, I'd like some advice (on pretty much every aspect since I'm a newbie to the RV world). Also, how much anti freeze do I need to put in my black and grey tanks before embarking on this madness? and are there any year round RV parks along the way?
 
Tough one! Good luck. Can't help with your question about open campgrounds and if you will need to drain all water from tanks and system, winterize and not use the system till you get to a warmer area. Maybe, if you watch the weather, along your intended route, you may find a few days "warm" weather and make the trip with water onboard.
 
If your travel dates are flexible and you can pick a time between storms you may have a chance but if you go through a storm I think it can really end in tears.

My kid was in a huyndai on I40 in NM and actually got blown off the road into a ditch. Tow service was backed up for hours and hours with no help in sight. He almost froze to death.
 

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I drove my daughter up into central Wyoming last year for a school assignment exactly out of the concerns above. I brought extra tow straps in case someone or myself was in trouble. I wanted to bring my TT but at the last minute decided not to. I know I made the right call because the winds were fierce. We just missed the highways being shutdown before we went and just after we left.
 
Call me crazy, but I plan on taking I-80 east from Northern California to Tennessee in January. I don't have an all seasons trailer either. I've never seen the states on that route or driven it before, so I really wanna go that way. If anyone has done it, especially in the winter, I'd like some advice (on pretty much every aspect since I'm a newbie to the RV world). Also, how much anti freeze do I need to put in my black and grey tanks before embarking on this madness? and are there any year round RV parks along the way?
We travel between CA and the MidWest in both directions twice a year. Summer time I-80 is our favored route. We consciously avoid I-80 in the winter, preferring to head south to Bakersfield, over Tehachapi Pass, and I-40 east. There are lots of warnings along I-80 about the fact that I-80 gets closed due to snow.

The first time we experienced an I-80 winter closure was on a scheduled 5.5 hours private bus trip from Santa Clara to Reno in 1981. We were stuck on Tioga Donner Pass for 5 hours due to snow closure. I recall this trip very well - my Dad suggested he and I entertain the bus passengers by singing for them. Those closures continue to happen.
 
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We didn't want my daughter breaking down, caught in a storm or any way stranded. Those states are huge with extremely long distances between services and help.
 
To S.G., keep it winterized if you expect to be in persistently freezing temps. Flush with gallon jugs of water. Drink and brush teeth with bottled water. Get camp wipes if you cannot shower. Truck stops have showers you can pay to use. Poor RV antifreeze in the drains if its expected to be cold and you've been using this bottled water method.

I know you prefer not to use credit cards (CC) but reservations nowadays are very dependent on CC. You could try a prepaid CC that you can buy at Walmart or pharmacy.

Look up KOAs along your planned route. They tend to have some that are open year around, especially on main routes. You can use propane to heat but your batteries will run down fast. 110 electric will help charge your batteries and run your furnace. If you get a campground and have 110 you can supplement with a space heater but be very careful.

Make sure you have extra blankets.
 
Expect to get really low gas mileage. If your truck is gas, expect 6-9 mpg depending upon a lot of factors. That means more gas $$$ and more frequent stops. Watch your gas guage and mileage on a tank. Dont wait until you are below a 1/4 tank to fill up. Pull in to gas stations about an arms length from the pump to allow yourself room to pull out. Plan your exit from every parking lot including gas station before you commit to pulling in. Sometimes you have to opt out of a station, etc. because there is no way to maneuver through and out.

Have basic tools that fit your rig...
 
We lived in Cheyenne, WY for 18 years and as part of my job I traveled I-80 between Sidney, NE and Green River, WY at least once each week all year around. My wife's family is all in CA and we have also traveled to the east and we were in WY this past summer so I am very familiar with that road in all seasons and weather conditions. Once you pass Sacramento, CA the entire trip will depend on the weather. I can't remember any winter that there were no periods when I-80 was closed to all travel in at least some major sections. There was 1 time that I was in Rawlins, WY when the road was closed for bad weather and I was there for 2 days before the roads were open to allow me to return to Cheyenne and I was not towing anything. The long-haul truckers used to say that I-80 in WY is the only road in the world that no matter what direction you travel it will be up hill and into the wind. That isn't far from true. In the winter time I have made the trip over I-80 with all roads dry and the weather sunny and I have also spent as much as 4 hours traveling 100 miles with my company van. At any time in the winter you could experience daytime temperatures as high as 50°+ or as low as -30° and with winds blowing anywhere from 5 mph to well over 60 mph. The record wind speed for I-80 in WY is well above 100 mph.

If you plan to sleep in the RV, expect to have great difficulty keeping above freezing if you should get caught in a bad storm but little or no trouble if you pass through without any storms at all. Nearly the entire trip across WY you will be higher than 6000' in altitude. The following comes from AAA road information: "East from Bridger Valley in Unita County, to the Red Desert/Great Divide Basin and Rawlins, Interstate 80 passes through high elevation desert steppes and plains with limited vegetation and modest elevation changes. Green River, Rock Springs, and Rawlins all have elevations well in excess of 6,000 feet above sea level. Interstate 80 will not drop below a mile high elevation (5,802 feet above sea level) until east of Cheyenne. Snow fences are placed all along Interstate 80 in Wyoming, from Evanston east to Cheyenne."
 
Personally I would try the Southern Route. I've had the opportunity??? to drive the entire length of I-80 from San Francisco to it's eastern terminus just west of New York City. There are some extremely high altitude until you reach Nebraska. Not sure I would try it in the Winter. One time it took me 7 hours to travel the 100 miles from Reno, NV to Auburn, CA. For a January trip I would seriously consider I-40 although you still have snow and freezing temps in north eastern Arizona (Flagstaff) and through New Mexico. Depending on the weather reports I might even consider going I-10 through Phoenix.

Just my 2 cents worth.
 
Crazy... I think you have your answer. There are no campgrounds open, the highway is highly likely to be closed at least part of the way, you probably don't have enough fuel in your tow vehicle to reliably get between fuel stops in bad weather, and you provbably don't have enough propane in your rig to \keep you and the RV from freezing to death. Literally.
 
Go the southern route, along I-40 or even I-10. You really don't want to tow in snow or ice. Unlike commercial trucks, RV trailers are light and tend to float on top instead of breaking through slippery surfaces. Caltrans prohibits RV trailers over the mountains if chains are required and conditions won't get any better until you're past Denver. Even I-40 can get snowed in through Arizona where places like Flagstaff are as high as Lake Tahoe. Besides, the southern route is actually shorter by about 300 miles.

YouTuber Nomadic Fanatic tried driving through Nevada last winter, he has a series of videos about his experience. Among other problems he couldn't find any place open to refill his propane tank and the resulting lack of heat made him change his plans and detour to warmer areas.
 
Yes, Crazy, perhaps even Stupid. Just to add to the list, if you have a death wish then go ahead, but while it is POSSIBLE to get through with little trouble, it is also POSSIBLE (some years VERY LIKELY) that, given your reported equipment you'd be stuck literally in the middle of nowhere with no town or facilities of any kind as close to you as an hour away at normal highway speeds, and in the bad storms it can be 3 to 10 times that long, IF you live to get there in the first place.

And watch that fuel supply carefully, as was mentioned above, because it can literally be the difference between life and death.

So, as others have suggested above, it would be prudent and a WHOLE LOT SAFER to take I-40, even though it is a little longer, and even there you have to be careful. The winters through Nevada, Wyoming and Nebraska are nothing to fool with, especially if you aren't familiar with and prepared to deal with the kinds of weather and isolation you'll encounter there. Sometimes it's as dangerous across there as it was in the 1800s, and some people HAVE died over the years from getting stuck in those conditions.

So if you choose to risk it and go anyway, be prepared to keep a very close eye on the weather and on forecasts for a few days ahead (keeping in mind that they sometimes blow the forecast), being prepared to stop in motels for several days if necessary before moving on.
 
Call me crazy, but I plan on taking I-80 east from Northern California to Tennessee in January. I don't have an all seasons trailer either. I've never seen the states on that route or driven it before, so I really wanna go that way. If anyone has done it, especially in the winter, I'd like some advice (on pretty much every aspect since I'm a newbie to the RV world). Also, how much anti freeze do I need to put in my black and grey tanks before embarking on this madness? and are there any year round RV parks along the way?
I-80 is a tough run in the winter. You really do not want to do that. Campgrounds are mostly shut down between Salt Lake City and Chicago. Any that are open will likely have water shut down.
The wind across Wyoming is a killer. If you are not familiar with winter driving, you are asking for trouble.
If you are patient, and have a good heater, and are in no hurry, you could maybe sit for a while, waiting for the weather to clear before moving on, but it can take days for that to happen.
You have to be mindful of weather fluctuations, and plan accordingly. Even Iowa and Nebraska can see deadly blizzards.
I would highly recommend that you reconsider, and take a more southerly route.
 
Well, there seems to be a unanimous DON'T DO THAT coming from the community here. lol. As I'm inexperienced and you folks are seasoned vets, I think I'll take your advice and avoid I-80 in favor of the southern route. Are RV parks open along I-40 during the winter? How much antifreeze do I need to put in my tanks?
 
The areas around low elevation Arizona (the I-8 and I-10 corridors) are popular winter snowbird destinations because of the warm winter weather so you'll have no issues with things freezing until possibly New Mexico. I-10 has plenty of open parks, etc. pretty much all across the country as it runs along the Gulf Coast after leaving the southwest. It's only north of the Mogollon Rim (running roughly east-west between Phoenix and Flagstaff) where snow and ice are likely.
 
We usually travel I-40 from Oklahoma City to at least Albuquerque and sometimes farther before heading south. There is still a possibility of snow storms around Flagstaff, AZ and through New Mexico. Even Texas sometimes gets storms bad enough to close highways. These are usually widely forecast with plenty of time to hunker down if needed. Most of the time we can go right through, but I will repeat that you need to watch the forecasts. As for open campgrounds, look at a good Campground app for that information. Almost all will have an “Open all year” filter. Once you have a candidate, call to find out if they have open, winterized sites. Some are open with electric, but with only central water and dump. Some only have a few winterized sites and they might be occupied. We generally don’t have any trouble though. Try to time your overnight spots to the lowest elevation. That helps a lot with the weather.
 

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