Road Trip - Sacramento, CA to Rochester

[dwa12479]

Bought a truck out of CA today to replace my current one that's worn out. This one was born in Tuscon, AZ and has been in Sacramento area the last few years, so never seen snow and salt. My favorite kind.

This will be my first road trip of this length alone. Looking to go through Reno, Salt Lake City, Denver, Kansas City, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Columbus, Cleveland on the way home. Not the most direct route, but whatever, I'm not on a time crunch to get home. Could try and detour slightly in Kentucky area if thughes wants some company, probably be heading through there late on Saturday. Looking forward to a few days on the road alone with my thoughts. Not going to pre-book any hotels, I'll drive til I get tired and figure out a place to bunk then.

Not sure of the pitfalls of traveling through some of the very barren areas through Nevada and Kansas, and mountains through Denver and Utah. Any tips, tricks, personal stories on things to see/do/have with me to make sure the trip goes to plan?

[Rufus]

Contential divide does winter a lot harder for a longer so be careful. Other than that sounds like a great time, have fun.

[Norm Deguerre x2]

Full gas tank is a good friend in Kansas. ..

[thughes]

Follow I-80 to @ Omaha NE and then pick up US 30. This route is basically the Lincoln Highway: first transcontinental highway (way before Rt 66!)....and it gets you through most of the cities that you named on your wish list. (Cheyenne, WY is pretty cool)

https://www.lincolnhighwayassoc.org/map/

Regarding hotels on the road, when I'm traveling cross country on the bike I just open google maps and search for a hotel somewhere within an hour or so down the road......you can get some awesome deals booking on-line last minute like this. There were a few times I actually booked a hotel on-line while I was siting in their parking lot and got a much better rate that I would have by walking in and trying to book a room I person.

Awesome experience doing the solo x-country drive with no agenda or timeline....enjoy it man.

That said, I'd love to entertain you in KY but I'm headed back up to Roc on the 12th. :-(

[Norm DeGuerre]

You sure ride that thing
Tires must be killing you. .5000 miles on the back, maybe 8000 on the front tire
And
. time for new

[Norm DeGuerre]

Would you like to do some Rustproofing assuming this would be a daily driver ??

[Norm DeGuerre]

Cab mounts and corners are rust prone on these
Fluid Film, or such is called for here
I have the technology

[dwa12479]

Truck is a 2003 Tahoe Z71 with 166k miles. I won't really bother with too much for rustproofing as it'll age out mileage wise most likely before it rots out. I'll run this one probably 6-7 years and then most likely repeat this process. I've always had good luck running older southern trucks forever. I'm only dumping my '05 Escalade with 233k on it now because I hit a deer a couple weeks ago and it totaled. Didn't take much, just the headlight assembly alone was over $1500 with the HID setup.

[Norm Deguerre x2]

I buy old people cars
Usually 40k miles even tho 15 years old
Not stylish
But who cares ??? ????

[dwa12479]

Follow I-80 to @ Omaha NE and then pick up US 30. This route is basically the Lincoln Highway: first transcontinental highway (way before Rt 66!)....and it gets you through most of the cities that you named on your wish list. (Cheyenne, WY is pretty cool)

https://www.lincolnhighwayassoc.org/map/

Regarding hotels on the road, when I'm traveling cross country on the bike I just open google maps and search for a hotel somewhere within an hour or so down the road......you can get some awesome deals booking on-line last minute like this. There were a few times I actually booked a hotel on-line while I was siting in their parking lot and got a much better rate that I would have by walking in and trying to book a room I person.

Awesome experience doing the solo x-country drive with no agenda or timeline....enjoy it man.

That said, I'd love to entertain you in KY but I'm headed back up to Roc on the 12th. :-(

I've done exactly this a few times as well. I never know how I'm gonna feel while driving, and hate to either push too far or stop too early.

The first time my brother drove from ROC to Fort Bliss, El Paso, he let my Mom plan the route out for him just to humor her, she loves that kind of thing. (He's a Staff Sergeant in the Army whos led fire teams through the mountains of Afghanistan and my Mom wanted to plan his drive in the US, LOL) She pre-booked all his stops through her hotel rewards, and he was getting in to all of them at 2 pm and sitting around the rest of the day doing nothing (beer time....)

[dwa12479]

Looks like I-80 goes north of Denver into Wyoming, I could cut back down into Denver from up there. Is that a pretty scenic route? I was looking at going Salt Lake to Provo and right across the Rockies into Denver.

I def want to drop down to I-70 at some point though and go through KC and St. Louis.

[Norm DeGuerre]

Not much to look at arouhd Salt Lake

[thughes]

Skip Denver, Fort Collins is a much cooler town. I-70 is a beautiful ride straight from CA all the way east, might make more sense too since some of the passes further north are still going to be closed this time of year.

[thughes]

Vail is absolutely beautiful, I took I70 from Vegas back home to KY last year on the return from my Rt 66 trip. Utah blew my mind, especially the Moab and Arches areas but Colorado is on a whole other level. I'm jealous....need to get back that way soon.

[dwa12479]

I guess I70 it is then. Can't wait.

[big flash]

good call. i70 will be more beautiful

[Norm Deguerre x2]

I have 5 gallons of Fluid Film that I will never use up I would like to at least do your Brake and Fuel lines

[dwa12479]

Sounds good to me. We'll hook up sometime after I get back. Thanks E!

[big flash]

man i'm jealous, that will be awesome! i've done a bunch of parts of that trip in the last few years but it's been a long time since i've gone on a good old fashioned cross-country trip like that and one-way will be awesome.
definitely as Rufus mentioned above, there will be some passes where you will be at the mercy of the weather. even donner pass getting out of sac can be rough.

[Norm Deguerre x2]

Thought I would add to the rustproof thing, so it doesn't get forgot The C and Kmodels have the Cab corners rot out from the outside it is from spray from the tires taking off the Paint
SEM Chipguad works well here

[dwa12479]

man i'm jealous, that will be awesome! i've done a bunch of parts of that trip in the last few years but it's been a long time since i've gone on a good old fashioned cross-country trip like that and one-way will be awesome.
definitely as Rufus mentioned above, there will be some passes where you will be at the mercy of the weather. even donner pass getting out of sac can be rough.

I was actually planning to take route 50 through Echo Summitt into South Tahoe and then up to Reno to drive along the Lake. Truck is 4WD, so shouldn't need snow chains.

[big flash]

you won't be disappointed. i love lake tahoe, definitely worth the detour. i've done it both ways, 80 is obviously quite a bit faster but 50 is great and then you can go either way up the lake and over to reno. i have family outside of sacramento and friends that are like family in reno so we get out there every few years if we can. was more often before our kid too bad you don't ski or snowboard!

[camper4lyfe]

Ever watch Vice Grip Garage on YouTube? That’s all I can think of with your trip.

He’s a mechanic that rescues old cars and trucks from fields and barns, getting them running after sitting for years (or decades), then attempting to drive then a few hundred miles home.

[Norm Deguerre x2]

Eh .
Hoser
They are Canuks I believe

[camper4lyfe]

Close, he was in Minnesota or Wisconsin, but just moved to TN.

[dwa12479]

Ever watch Vice Grip Garage on YouTube? That’s all I can think of with your trip.

He’s a mechanic that rescues old cars and trucks from fields and barns, getting them running after sitting for years (or decades), then attempting to drive then a few hundred miles home.

Never seen it. Sounds like my kind of guy though!

The used car market is ridiculous right now, I'm aggravated as hell at paying what I paid. My last couple of trucks were ones that were traded in and needed a bunch of work, so I got them super cheap and kept them running forever. I hit a deer a few weeks ago that totaled my truck, and I've been home from work with a knee injury since the beginning of January, so I don't have the luxury of time to shop around right now. Plus I don't have the time or energy for project cars anymore.

[Norm Deguerre x2]

I used to buy Dorschel back lot stuff Trade ins that needed too much work
That's all I drove

[Norm Deguerre x2]

My friends father was finance manager
Stanley Freeman