Routes to Las Vegas

[c214dick]

Louise and I are planning a trip to Las Vegas the end of August. I want to avoid mountain driving as much as possible. As we are leaving from the Chicago area it appears that we have three options.

80 will take us to Salt Lake City and than south on 15. 70 through Denver and the mountains also to 15, than south. 57 to 40 and west to 96 than north into LV. I need to avoid going above 7000 feet as much as possible since getting altitude sickness last year. I also would just like to avoid mountain driving as much as possible.

Any suggestions???

Thanks

[Art-n-Marge]

I have done all three routes but not with a trailer - 1.) I-80 to I-15 to LV, 2.) I-70 to I-15 to LV and 3.) I-57 to I-44 to I-40 to SR93 (I don't know 96) to LV. All routes have altitude especially routes 1 and 2. The lowest altitude route is the southern I-40 route but it is longer and does have altitude at Flagstaff, AZ at about 7,200 ft but not for very long distances. However, with proper hydration (drink plenty of water) altitude sickness can be avoided. To completely avoid altitudes, get down to I-10 then go north but THAT will be a long trip.

A funny thing about altitude sickness, unless you have a definite physical problem that is sensitive to it, it may or may not occur again. I have had mild bouts of it only twice in my life when I was younger. I have since been higher and the same altitudes with no problems dozens of times. I hope this was your case and you should have better luck next time. I have learned to drink plenty of water and haven't had it since and can go to over 10,000 with no affect.

Good luck with your trip.

[c214dick]

Thanks Art & Margie. We recently returned from visiting our son in Littleton, Co. We were there 2 weeks and when we were ready to leave my 02 levels had dropped to 91%. Two days later, in Missouri, I was back up to 97% and we never went above 6000 feet on that trip. My wife made me drink more water than a fish which did not seem to make much difference other than making a lot of bathroom stops.

40 looks like the route we will try as we have some friends in Arizona that we would like to visit. The down side is that Louise will want to come back through on 70 to visit our son. I'm hoping I can convince her that it would not be good for my health, LOL.