The Plan, Schedule and the Preparation

We have driven cross country before, from New York on the East Coast to Idaho on the West, in December of 2003. We completed the 2400 miles in about three and a half days of driving. This time though, while driving from California on the West Coast to New York on the East, we decided to stop at a few places - Reno In Nevada, Jackson in Wyoming and Chicago in Illinois. Fortunately for us, all of them lay at a very short deviation from interstate I-80 East.

This is a map of our drive route.

A few tips for cross country drives

• Plan and know the major Interstate highways and the major milestones
• If you are driving in winter try to avoid the smaller roads
• Keep one map book with you apart from any other print outs that you may be carrying
• Keep ample time in your hand
• Check your vehicle - an oil change a few days prior to the trip, the essential papers, tire pressues & windshield fluid. Check the fuses to the lights, the wipers and the windshield fuild motors
• Check for the tires. If you are planning to drive on snow, it helps to have snow tires or chains in the car
• If you are carrying load, plan for the luggage ahead of time. Keep a carry bag in your reach always. Have essentials like mittens, caps, dry fruits & copies of essential documents
• Keep a torch, a swiss-army knife and a few batteries
• Carry drinking water and about 2 day’s worth of dry food in the vehicle
• Have a spare car key and the roadside assistance number on you, always
• Always let a friend or a relative know your route. Keep them posted daily on your location and if you foresee any problem

We had decided that we should start driving at around 12:00 noon & drive about 500 miles per day or till about 7:30 PM local time, whichever comes earlier. Generally, you could cover about 400 to 500 highway miles in a day with enough time for a few stops every couple of hundred miles on the way. It is very important not to stress yourself while driving. And if the weather is good, you could cover some more miles and save some for later.

Our drive was across thirteen states and we had planned to stay an additional night in Jackson Hole in Wyoming and Chicago in Illinois. Primarily to rest a little and then to see the area a little bit more too.

Day 1 of 10 - California to Nevada (Reno)

We started at about 5:00 PM in the afternoon after having loaded our SUV with about 500 pounds of cargo. We headed off onto our first leg of the trip, to Reno in Nevada. Half an hour into the trip we came to know that we are heading straight into a snow storm. As we started to climb the mountains we started to get rain, storms and snow. Though the Donner summit had quite some snow, it was not bad enough to stop driving but it definitely slowed us down. We covered the approximate 260 miles drive in about 5 hours reaching Reno close to 10:00 PM PST.

Reno was as glittering on the year’s end as it does on any other day. The slots were bubbling with people and the sound of the winners. The snow was rather pleasant till the storm caught up again later in the night.

Day 2 of 10 - Nevada to Utah (Salt Lake City)

Nevada for the most part of the northern drive is mountainous. The snow from the night before had been removed from the highway, but the ice still remained on the shoulders. Our destination for the coming night was about 500 miles northeast in Salt Lake City. Driving on I-80 East in this part saw through the almost desolate landspace and white snow all around. We had breakfast with us in the car and should we get more snow on the way, we had enough food for lunch and dinner too.

As we entered Utah, the weather took a turn for the worse. The rain turned into snow and sleet and by the time we reached our destination, Salt Lake City, it was windy and very cold. It was almost 11:00 PM Mountain Time in the night and we were lucky to have a local Mexican restaurant cook us some burritos and fajitas.

Day 3 & 4 of 10 - Utah to Wyoming (Jackson Hole)

The drive from Salt Lake City, UT to Jackson Hole, WY is a challenge as well as a marvel. Driving for miles on end with nothing but snow as far as the eyes could see on either side of the road. Though the day began with rain and snow, the sky soon became bright and sunny by the time we were about 100 miles north of Salt Lake City. The wind was blowing at over 35 miles an hour and blowing all the loose snow along with it from over the hills into the valleys.

We were on plan till we reached Idaho Falls in Idaho where the state highway 26, which was to take us to Jackson Hole, was closed. Instead of resting in Idaho Falls for the night and heading back to I-80, we decided to take our chances on a different route.

We drove up on Interstate 15 and then took Route 33 East through Idaho into Wyoming, finally taking the Teton Pass into Jackson Hole. The pass had just opened after days of closure and Chain Laws were in force. We made the 20 miles of the pass in good time to reach the town of Jackson by 8:00 PM Mountain Time.

The next day was New Year’s eve (December 31, 2007). We woke up to a gorgeous sun shining over Jackson. The small town was brimming with tourists - skiers, snow mobilers and simple tourists heading off to Yellowstone. We spent the day leisurely in the Tetons and enjoyed the downtown shopping experience in the afternoon. Close to the hospital on one corner of the town, the residents gather every new year’s eve to celebrate the next year with some firework and food.

Day 5 of 10 - Cross Wyoming (Jackson Hole to Cheyenne)

Almost the whole of the fifth day was spent driving from Jackson Hole on the north western corner of Wyoming to Cheyenne to the south east. We had earlier planned to stay in Laramie but then decided to drive a little further east for the night. The landscape changed abruptly as we moved out of the Tetons into the flat landscape of central and eastern Wyoming. The beautiful mountains of the Tetons gradually gave way to flatter lands as we drove eastwards. Either side of the highway was open space! You could see the horizon in the icy cold of the snow.

 

The land changed from Table Rocks to sandy desserts and occasional mounds. Although the land looked flat, a closer look would reveal quite some undulations. The Table Rock, Sand Desert and the regions of Continental Divide along I-80 East, with an average altitude of about 6900 feet, had unique rocks structures on one side and flat lands on the other, as we reached the eastern ond of Wyoming into Cheyenne.

 

The drive was approximately 550 miles and took us about 7 hours to complete.

Day 6 of 10 - Wyoming to Iowa (Council Bluffs)

Our main purpose for the sixth day was to reach Omaha on the eastern edge of Nebraska. The flat ground and low cross winds helped us to keep sufficient speed and reach Omaha well ahead of time. Since our next major stopover was planned in Chicago, we decided to drive a few more minutes and cross into Iowa. About a couple of miles east of Omaha on interstate 80, is the first town of Iowa - Council Bluffs. We were hungry for some Chinese food and Council Bluffs had a few of the Asian restaurants right up on the exit.

Day 7 & 8 of 10 - Iowa to Illinois (Chicago)

By now we have clocked almost 2700 miles on our odometer. Council Bluffs in Iowa to Chicago in Illinois is a drive of about 650 miles north of I-80 on I-88. The winds were very strong, sometimes reaching 25 mph, and slowed us down for most of the way. It took us almost 8 hours to reach downtown Chicago. Now, I said before that we were not carrying any directions with us. The one we had from the beginning took us right onto Michigan Avenue, the most “happening place” of the downtown. So at 8:30 PM local time, we were stranded unable to find an affordable accommodation. Fortunately for us, we found Travelodge right on Michigan Avenue.

Too eager to have a night time view of downtown Chicago, I left the hotel room at about nine o’clock with my Nikon D200 tucked in my jacket. I barely had ear-muffs and the North Face winter gloves proved useless in the biting cold. The wind chill was about 2° F and by the time I could get a few shots, it was 10:00 PM and I had lost all sensation in my limbs and my fingers. My face was numb from the wind and I could hardly feel my lips.

 

The 8th day was not as bad though. The winds had died down, and although it was chilly and cloudy, it was quite bearable. The five things we wanted to see are the Shedd

Since they were all along the Michigan Avenue, a walk from the Shedd Aquarium to the Millennium Park was enough to see all of them. The Buckingham Fountain does not operate in the winter months. Though 1 day is by all means insufficient to see a city as historic as Chicago, it did give us some time to rest and bear bofore the last leg of our drive.

Day 9 of 10 - Illinois to Pennsylvania (Hermitage)

This was one of the longest routes in our journey. We would be crossing Illinois into Indiana into Ohio and then into Pennsylvania. We had not decided where to rest for the night before we began, but we wanted to reach as far into Pennsylvania as possible by the night so that we could keep the next day, the final day, a bit easy on the drive. Although we were to cross three states, the drive was only about 430 miles, but there were strong surface winds and rain was in the forecast.

The day was cloudy for the most part, and there were occasional light rain and snow as we moved into Ohio. For the first time in this trip, we saw farm lands!

Though most of it were snow covered, we could smell the wet land from under. We stopped at the first big town of Hermitage, east of the Pennsylvania Ohio border. We had covered about 400 miles in about 8 hours - one of the slowest we recorded in this journey!

Day 10 of 10 - Pennsylvania to New York / Connecticut (Danbury)

The day had varied from mildly cloudy to occasional peeping of the sun to completely dark with snow storms. The roads through Pennsylvania and upstate New York is very scenic and quite winding. We had to slow down to as low as 40 miles an hour when the fog and the mist were heavy.

It is always a pleasure to drive through Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania. The landscape always amazes me. This time too, the snow and the mild wind created magical situations in the ravines & the trenches. Everytime we crossed over a bridge, the view down was magnificent!

We crossed over to Interstate 84 East, finally giving up I-80 which had been our constant route for over 3000 miles now, as we moved from Pennsylvania into New York and then into our final destination, Connecticut. Though I-84 is not as good to drive as we would have wanted, the 400 miles of the final lap took us almost 6 hours. It was 6:30 PM Eastern Time when we finally ended our winter cross country drive in Danbury, CT. We had covered a total of 3425 miles in our 10 days of travel.

[Dec 2007 - Jan 2008]

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