How are the roads?

[Wifeofdano]

Okay, Dano and I are taking a roadtrip this weekend without the Montana. I would like to know from those of you who have been on these roads recently, if there are any places we should avoid or at least be aware of bad conditions. I'll be keeping track of things along the way for the next time we go WITH the Montana. Thanks in advance for any input!

Labor Day Roadtrip

Leave Thursday Night
From Newnan, GA on I-75 N
to I-40 E
to I-81 N
Stay the night in Greenville,TN with friends

Leave Friday Morning
From Greenville, TN on I-81 N
to I-77 N
to 19 N
to 79 N
Stay in Washington, PA til Sunday noon with friends

Leave Sunday Noon
From Washington, PA on I-70 W
Stay in Columbus, OH til Monday morning with family

Leave Monday Morning
Leave Columbus, OH on I-71 S
to I-75 S
If traffic's not so bad we should be home in time to open the store Tuesday morning!
If not, I think that would be a really good excuse!


I wanted to take the car......


But Dano insists on driving his truck!!

[bncinwv]

The only advice I have is to try to get the southern portion of I-77 from Wytheville to Charleston, WV over early in the day. The tunnels and the toll booths are usually major congestion areas on Holiday weekends. We will be going up I-79 late afternoon, early evening on the way to Elkins (with the Montana in tow). Good luck and safe travels.
Bingo

[Wifeofdano]

Bingo, I was wondering about the toll road part of it. I have never been this way before. We plan on leaving Friday morning right after watching the sunrise atop a mountain where my friend lives! Should be through to Charleston early enough. We're not in any rush, but do plan on taking turns driving. I'm sure the holiday traffic will be interesting. Always is. Thanks alot for the info. Safe travels to you as well.
Lisa & Dano

[bncinwv]

You also may want to consider taking Route 119 (4-lane) from Beckley North, to I-79, which takes you into Pennsylvania via Morgantown. I believe it is a shorter route. Then with your time savings you can make a stop at the New River Gorge Bridge at Fayetteville on the way. Scenery is unreal (I believe it is the world's second longest Arch bridge. The New River is one of the East's best White Water rivers and they let out of the river right below the bridge. If you do go 119 be sure to watch the speed limits through all of the towns, particularly Summersville. Driving directions on Yahoo maps from Beckley, WV to Washington, PA will give you this route. Here is a web site with some bridge info:
http://www.roadstothefuture.com/New_River_Gorge_Br.html
Bingo

[Wifeofdano]

Bingo,
Thank you so much! I knew that our route would change! This sounds much better! We really don't like the interstate so great anyway. So, just north of Beckley, we'll take 19 on up to catch 79 straight into Washington! I love this forum!
Lisa

[bncinwv]

Lisa,
You will definitely enjoy the route. I-79 from Flatwoods north to Weston goes along some georgeous ridge tops where you can see the West Virginia highlands for miles. There are also some very scenic areas on the northern portion of Route 19 (sorry about the typo in the original post and glad you caught it). Let us know how you enjoyed the drive and the scenery if you go this way.
Bingo

[Wifeofdano]

Route officially changed.

[Wifeofdano]

Friday 5:30 pm.
Well, we just crossed over the New River Bridge!
I'm so glad we came this way.
What a beautiful drive.
Wished it would have been about 6 hours earlier,
but that's another story.
Thanks again Bingo for this recommendation!
Gotta love this Verizon card!

[Chuck and Carol]

You got your Verizon card to work? Nothing of mine that is Verizon has worked since Northern Ohio. Have to pay to use campground WIFI.
Tried it all the way from Austinburg, Ohio and Jefferson, Ohio

[Wifeofdano]

Have lost signal twice, but have connected immediently back on. No problems, have all bars.
Go figure. OMG! This scenery is too beautiful! Gotta go !!

[bncinwv]

Wild, wonderful West Virginia!!!! Glad you enjoyed the scenery, I hope the six hours never had anything to do with the tunnels at the Va, WV line. My favorite stretch of road in the state is from mile marker 79 (Glenville exit) to 99 (Weston exit). Miles and miles of WV mountains. Just got back from there coming south from Elkins.
Bingo

[Wifeofdano]

The traffic has been wonderful. We've only seen 2 accidents. Lots of campers on the road today. Saw 4 Montanas going thru Kentucky that were headed north. Roads all turned out to be pretty good, Kentucky was the roughest. The weather has been great. Only rain was when we left the store Thursday night, it was coming down but stopped before we got out of Atlanta. Only one traffic delay just north of Chatt TN, took us half hour to go 2 miles. We had a great time visiting family and friends. Our 6 hour delay happened on Friday morning. Dano went out to start up the Dodge, and nothing. Called Dodge dealership in Greenville, TN. From the time we called to the time we were on the highway was 6 hours, this included an hour for lunch for the men working on the truck. Turns out it was a short in the electrical system somewhere. The good thing about it all was, we were not stranded on the highway anywhere and we still had 900 miles left on the warranty, so it cost us zero! We are about an hour and a half from the house. It has been a fun long weekend, although it wasn't the same without the Montana, but some trips, you just can't take the house with you!

On edit:
Dano got a kick out of the fact that
when the tow truck dirver got there,
the Dodge's axle was too big for the hooks!