Driving Cross Country

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Shann

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Sep 2, 2004
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Starting Saturday morning I'm driving with my son from Vermont out to Washington to help him move for grad school.

Probably going to head mostly via 90W because our goal is to get out there and I'd like to see some of Seattle before I have to fly back.

Any pitfalls or pitstops I should know about?
 
It kind of depends on how/what you're driving. If you're in a U Haul or pulling a trailer I'd probably go 80 instead. There's a huge amount of nothing east of Billings and a lot of serious mountains between Billings and Spokane. I 80 is a bit flatter and has more "civilization" on the route. Eastern 90 will be hot with a chance of tornado's. Eastern 80 maybe less hot but still gets windy. Western 90 is mountains to Spokane and then 6 hours of flat land. Western 80 (from SLC) is hot and dry into Idaho and then a pretty drive (as long as it's not snowing).

You'll get some great scenery either way.

You didn't say where he's attending, but be prepared; Seattle rents are crazy. This is impacting the rest of the region. My property taxes went up 18% this year (and 11% last year). Unfortunately I'll be out of town starting tomorrow for 5 weeks, but if you want some specifics I can try and help with anything around the Sound.
 
Thanks for the input. We were going to do the Uhaul, but circumstances changed so he is just packing his car with whatever he can fit and off we go. Its a 2017 Impreza so it will be cramped but should be reliable. Rents are bad, although since he lived in CT, it wasn't as much of a shock as if he was going directly from Vermont. Since he didn't get the job he'd hoped for, he is renting space with other students. (BTW he is going to Digipen, which is a computer school in Redmond).
 
Once you get west of the Miss. you can pretty much just put cruise control at 80 and go. Check the State Dept. of Trans. websites for road work, that can really slow you down.

The Eastside (everything East of Lake Washington, North of Renton, and South of Woodinville) is the high tech suburbs/urban area that used to be commuter communities. It got smart and moved the tech industry local and got expensive. Nice parks and bicycling is very common for both commuting and exercise. Good luck to your son. Enjoy the trip.
 
Shann said:
Thanks for the input. We were going to do the Uhaul, but circumstances changed so he is just packing his car with whatever he can fit and off we go. Its a 2017 Impreza so it will be cramped but should be reliable. Rents are bad, although since he lived in CT, it wasn't as much of a shock as if he was going directly from Vermont. Since he didn't get the job he'd hoped for, he is renting space with other students. (BTW he is going to Digipen, which is a computer school in Redmond).
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I've heard of Digipen, good place for learning media arts. Very good location in particular for games or software, as Nintendo and Microsoft both have US HQ there.
 
You can count on Indiana being under construction from one end to the other and traffic to be a complete mess from I-65 through Chicago.

If you'd like to go around Chicago, where 90 runs into 94, stay on 94/80 toward Iowa then take I-355 north to reconnect with I-90 W. It's a bit longer but has a higher speed limit and moves much better.
 
Well, I made it back. 4 days of about 12 hours in the car with minimal stops during the day to change seats, use the facilities and gas up. We had a cooler with snacks so we didn't need to stop for lunch. We'd find a Motel 6 type of place and grab dinner and crash and start it again the next morning. We basically did 3 hour shifts which worked out well. We then spent a day in Seattle sight seeing and I took it easy for a couple days before flying back on Saturday.

We took 294 around Chicago and it was bad for a Sunday afternoon but since I'd expected it to be so terrible, it wasn't too bad. I can't imagine what its like during the week. Speed limit was basically 80 for the entire trip through the west, so we did make great time.

Did a minor detour to go see Mt. Rushmore. The village below the monument is touristy and kitschy but the monument and the area surrounding it is very professional. I can't believe how far out in the middle of nowhere it is, though.

It was great to spend so much time with my son. He is pretty committed to staying out there (computer programming is his profession) so I won't be seeing him as much any more.
 
I'm glad you made a good trip of it. No need to worry about seeing him, flights are easy and pretty cheap. And you can always Skype.
 
Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills are worth seeing if you haven't before. My grand son wants to move out there as he see's it as the place to be if you are into computers. Denver area is good too. Think I'd rather be in Denver myself. Glad the trip was safe and successful.
 
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