Anyone westbound here? Nuke worker or otherwise?

[tgrucelski]

Headed west - almost as far west as we can go - working the upcoming Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant SGR outage.

Rolling from Plymouth, WI on Monday the 12th.

Course plotted as follows:

Day 1 - South to St. Louis and then on to Springfield, MO. ~650 miles.

Day 2 - West past Tulsa, destination Tucumcari, NM. ~650 miles.

Day 3 - West to Flagstaff, AZ. ~500 miles.

Decision time: (dependent on weather and/or any advice)

Option A: Continue on to Kingman, AZ bound for Pismo Beach, CA. ~650 miles.

Day 4 - Continue to Pismo Beach, CA. ~500 miles.

Option B: Drop down into Phoenix bound for San Diego. ~650 miles.

Day 4 - Phoenix to San Diego. ~350 miles. Drop family off with relatives.

Day 5 - San Diego to Pismo Beach. ~300 miles.

Any 'Tana or SOB owners on the forum familiar with this route in the middle of winter with any advice?

First and foremost concerned with the weather.

Second, grades on the interstate pulling though NM and AZ. Colleague of mine made the drive last year and couldn't recall anything too severe. Never personally been to this area of the country before.

Any words of advice appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Todd Grucelski

[firetrucker]

Todd, Flagstaff at this time of year could be a problem. Altitude is 7000 ft, so it will at least be cold. I just checked the NWS forecast, and it shows clear weather for more than a week, with highs in the 40's and 50's, and low in the teens and 20's (of course, coming from Wisconsin, that may be tropical to you). We stayed at J&H RV resort, a small place just out of town, last April. Pretty sparse accomodations in that part of the country, but there shouldn't be much traffic.

I haven't driven 40 for a lot of years, but I don't remember anything that should give your rig a problem.

I don't envy the miles you'll be driving, and I don't envy the hours you'll be putting in during that outage.

Bob

[sgtpp214]

Our first trip to Sun City West to visit father we took I-40 and weather was windy and snowing in Tucumcari area. Stopped in NM and news reported I-25 in Las Vegas, NM was closed which was about 40 miles north of our route. This trip was in second half of March. Since then we have taken 35 South to I-20W to I-10 with no problems. The grades are no problem. From Flagstaff to Pheonix I would just coast down the grade and when I hit about 75 mph I would hard brake down to 45 mph and repeat the process. Have a safe trip.

[Andy]

Hi, we picked up I40 in Tenn. came through Flagstaff on Tuesday 6th. We had run into some snow just east of Albuquerque and spent two days waiting for the roads to clear. There was plenty of snow in Flagstaff, but the roads were clear. There’s always the possibility of strong wind, so I would take that into consideration. Just watch the weather and you should be fine. We’re currently set up in Kingman enjoying some breezy, sonny, mild temps.