I-40 at New Years - California to Tennessee

[mikentosh]

We’ve got roughly three weeks from December 15-January 6 to make our way east and back from California. The current plan is to head I-40 east to Memphis then down to New Orleans and back along I-10 west. Obviously weather conditions can change by the day, but I’m interested to hear any stories from others who may have travelled these routes during this time of year in the past? Any recommendations along these routes? We’ve only travelled the westernmost states so everything past Arizona will be new for us.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

I'm assuming the AS will be along on the trip. If not, there's really no big deal involved.

One risk is wind. Yes, that's part of "weather" but it's not one that a lot of people dig into as much as the snow forecast.

Any time you come up to a city, traffic it going to pick up. That's just a fact of life these days. Understand your route ahead of the tangle in the middle of town, pick your lanes early and it's not going to be a big deal. Once out of California, I've never run into what I would call crazy traffic anywhere along either route. I'd avoid the "peak holiday rush" days if I could.

Most of the way, you are out in the middle of nowhere. On parts of I-10, very much in the middle of nowhere. Counting on a gas station popping up every 5 or 10 miles may not be a good plan.....

On either route, it could quickly get cold. It also could be in the 70's the whole time. If it gets cold, understand what impact that could have in terms of winterizing stuff.

The gotcha with recommending stopping points is that I'm not at all sure what is open or closed in late December / January. A lot of the places we use are very likely shut down at that point.

Bob

[GCinSC2]

Consider finding somewhere to park in the OKC OK area and visit the Murrah Memorial https://oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org/

Safe travels.

[vintageracer]

Typically the only weather issue with snow could possibly be that stretch of I-40 from Flagstaff thru northern New Mexico. Other than that an easy drive with a whole lotta nothin to look at.

Of course that's no different than I-10 or I-70 across that stretch of the world.

[mikentosh]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

I'm assuming the AS will be along on the trip. If not, there's really no big deal involved.

Yes, this will be us towing our FC 23d.

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

One risk is wind. Yes, that's part of "weather" but it's not one that a lot of people dig into as much as the snow forecast.

Great point, I hadn’t taken wind into account but I imagine it can get bad through the desert areas in AZ and NM. My schedule has some buffer in it for weather related issues, so I’ll add this to the list of things to check planning out each day.

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Any time you come up to a city, traffic it going to pick up. That's just a fact of life these days. Understand your route ahead of the tangle in the middle of town, pick your lanes early and it's not going to be a big deal. Once out of California, I've never run into what I would call crazy traffic anywhere along either route. I'd avoid the "peak holiday rush" days if I could.

Great point...I hope to be well out of California before the real holiday travel days start.

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

On either route, it could quickly get cold. It also could be in the 70's the whole time. If it gets cold, understand what impact that could have in terms of winterizing stuff.

Yes, there is so much variability in the weather along this route that we will just adjust our schedule and destinations accordingly. My main concern is cold temperatures. I’m going to keep the fresh water tank topped up as much as possible to avoid frozen water hookups overnight. This also means we won’t have a winterized water system. I’ve seen other recommendations on leaving the furnace set on while traveling to keep everything from freezing up.

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

The gotcha with recommending stopping points is that I'm not at all sure what is open or closed in late December / January. A lot of the places we use are very likely shut down at that point.

I’m planning to have a couple of overnight options identified in each city and check before we leave to make sure they are open through the winter.

[mikentosh]

Originally Posted by GCinSC2

Consider finding somewhere to park in the OKC OK area and visit the Murrah Memorial https://oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org/

Safe travels.

Thanks! Added this to the list for our stop in OKC.

[mikentosh]

Originally Posted by vintageracer

Typically the only weather issue with snow could possibly be that stretch of I-40 from Flagstaff thru northern New Mexico. Other than that an easy drive with a whole lotta nothin to look at.

Of course that's no different than I-10 or I-70 across that stretch of the world.

Yeah, I heard that from Kingman, AZ to Albuquerque, NM to be on the lookout for snow. We will only be driving during daylight hours and have prepared ourselves that we might be waiting out a storm along there for a day or two.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

If it's open when you are there, the Maumelle COE site in Little Rock is a gem. The price is right and it's not to far off of I-40.

Having lived for many years out in the "middle" (plains) part of your route. You can easily have wind or pretty cold weather / snow when you will be there. It's not likely, but it can happen.

Bob

[highfeather]

some of the worst weather i've ever been in is across the TX panhandle which you will go smack dab through... Ice storms, wind, bitter bitter cold and tornadoes. Hope you get through that with good weather. Flagstaff can have some surprisingly big snows and the Eastern plains of NM often see I-40 closed at Santa Rosa. G'luck. Plan for some unplanned layovers and you should be okie dokie.

[kenfconnor]

We made the trip from Las Vegas to Orlando with our 31' Airstream in tow early January. We took 10 to avoid the threat of winter weather. You never know what to expect. Ice and snow impacted the area between San Antonio and Lafayette so you might need several of your buffer days. A large section of 10 was closed for a day and the side roads were no better. At one point they closed the local road and there was no turn around so I had to back about 1 mile before I could. The KOA in San Antonio is a nice spot to stop. It was a great trip.

[Woosch]

I was driving I40 many years ago in late November and encountered white out conditions near Tucumcari NM. Stayed the night there and awoke to beautiful weather the next day. There was some ice on some of the overpasses as I recall.

[mykytiukr]

Yea! If it is snowing at one spot in the country it will be at Flagstaff. But I would be worried more about freezing rain and such east of there. Closely watch the forecast along your route and park it if any extremely slippery conditions are predicted!!!

Motor On!!!

[B00merang]

Maybe someone can update you on the latest I-10 condition west of New Orleans. Road conditions in terms of poor pavement used to be horrible...
and you'll be on long segments of fairly narrow bridges through the Atchafalaya Swamp. jon

[DR M]

We've always stayed at Enchanted Trails RV park just west of Albuquerque in late December, it will be on the north side on I40 right next to Camping World in case you need anything. We just too our Airstream to the Phoenix area for winter and want you to know that I40 thru Flagstaff can be pretty rough so pay attention to the pot holes in that section. Safe travels

[Kent M]

The I-10 route west of Nawlins has stretches that are, well, uh, somewhat, shall we say, horrible. The biggest problem is NOT the things you can see and slow down for (unless there are construction warnings). The real problem is extended stretches, unmarked, that have peaks and valleys in the the roadway that are just far enough apart to cause your tow vehicle and towed vehicle to start to oscillate up and down in disharmony. This might be for maybe 100 yards to as much as 1/4 mile or so.



If it happens on the open highway, and there's no one close behind, you can brake as fast as you feel safe, and get below the harmonic speed. A major change in speed is the only solution of which I'm aware. [Do NOT apply your brakes in a surprise panic stop!] If you have vehicles behind you up close, tap your brakes to warn the driver behind that all is not good with your situation, then start braking harder until the oscillations stop.



Note: this phenomenon does NOT happen to single vehicles and it does NOT happen to the big semi trailers, because the dynamics aren't the same.



I-10 has had these spots for at least five years, and the Highway Department budget isn't large enough to spend the fixit money for a small percentage of the traffic. Vacation trailer folks are in the minority.


Most of that stretch of I-10 is fair to excellent. That's why you have to keep your eyes open all the time. The other solution is to keep your speed to less than 55 mph or so.



Moving your route north to I-20 is no better, by the way. It's actually
worse.


Kent
Houston



Have a good trip, and be careful

[DOCBloom]

Use I 40 web sites like intellicast they give you the weather a along I 40 at a glance

[CruizinDux]

Originally Posted by mikentosh

We’ve got roughly three weeks from December 15-January 6 to make our way east and back from California. The current plan is to head I-40 east to Memphis then down to New Orleans and back along I-10 west. Obviously weather conditions can change by the day, but I’m interested to hear any stories from others who may have travelled these routes during this time of year in the past? Any recommendations along these routes? We’ve only travelled the westernmost states so everything past Arizona will be new for us.

Mikentosh, we did this trip last mar/april for 6 weeks...basically OR, the Paso Zinfest, then E to TN, via Pho, NM, OK, TX, AR, TN, MO/bransom SanteFe, Flagstaff, Lake Havasu, then back to Eug. I'll follow in a few days with RV park & other details.

Bob

P.s. 3 wks may be a !ittle agressive IMO

[Travel Pro]

It's been a while since the hurricane, but not all that long. Some of the I10 corridor from Miss/Ala line going east took a lot of damage. Fuel stops and repair facilities may not be as "available" as they were a year ago. You might want to look at stops, expected fuel mileage vs. capacity and check for fuel stops that are open and have fuel.

I suspect some of the repair facilities are still dealing with backlog. Not an issue with a perfect trailer, tow vehicle, and tires. For me, I might think about skipping the I10 pan handle trip and go further north and then straighter down a less risky corridor. I haven't been down there since the storm, but what I heard and saw wasn't pretty and looked like it would take a while to fix.

[mikentosh]

Thanks everybody for the feedback so far...very helpful!

@cruizindux I agree that the itinerary is a bit aggressive, however we don’t have firm plans so we can turn back at any point depending on how things progress.

@travel pro We picked I-10 as a default, but hearing your comments I’ll look into perhaps going more northwest from New Orleans and avoid lower Texas. Though as kmarsall mentioned road conditions on I-20 might not be any better.

[ted s hannon]

I would avoid I-10 thru Houston to Louisiana, bad road and traffic-- lots of potholes. I prefer I-20 thru Dallas and Shreveport. If you have time to visit south of I-10 go to Big Bend Nat. Park but camp at Maverick RV park in Lajitas, Tx---real nice weather most of time. Would not go the I-40 route that time of year.