Am I Crazy or Could This Be Done Safely

[tamugrad2013]

Good Afternoon, 

 

I am starting to make some Summer vacation plans and I am thinking about taking another long road trip, but this would be the longest yet. I want to drive from Odessa, TX to Redwoods National Park in California. Just some prelim information it is about 1800 mile trip one way which I would break up over 4 or 5 days. I would also spend about 7 days there and in the surrounding area and then drive back home over 4 or 5 days along a different route. On the way their I would basically take I-20 and I-10 to California and then the roads that run North/South in California around LA and Oakland/San Fransisco up to the National Park. On the way back I would take a route that would take me through Las Vegas down till I hit I-40 and then head west until I get to Albuquerque. I do not mind driving at all, but I do worry about the mileage on my Edge because it has at the moment 104,777 miles by the time this summer gets her I would expect it to have around 107,000 miles on it and this trip would add another 5,000 easily. Before anyone suggests it flying is not an option. I absolutely hate flying and to me the journey is half of the adventure. The last long trip I went on put about 3,100 miles on my car in the span of 9 days and their was no incidents with the car along the way then again the biggest city I encountered on that trip was Denver. One reason I choose Redwoods National Park is because it is further North and I would be close to Oregon so I can knock that state off my list as well as Arizona and California. I would also be able to visit the Pacific Ocean and then I would have seen both the Atlantic and the Pacific. So am I crazy or does this sound like a fun adventure. 

 

Any thoughts would be appreciated. 

[Nick Halstead]

May 6th 2018, my car left Hawaii and sat at a friends house till June 1st. June 2nd, my wife, two teenagers, 1 70lb Lab and 2 cats drove to Abilene, Tx, then drove to Springfield, Mo, then Drove to Harrisburg, Pa. Altogether the trip took a week and over 3,000 miles. You will be fine.

[dkbrandi87]

I'd expect that so long as you do a proper pre-trip inspection / service (and one when you get back) you'd be fine.

 

Also, any chance you'd want to reverse the order of the trip?  I think driving south on the Pacific Coast Highway would be better since you'd be on the "exterior" (ocean-side) vs. the "interior" (land-side).

[IWRBB]

People drive cars to a million miles.  100K is nothing.

[tamugrad2013]

Maybe reversing the order would be best thanks dkbrandi87 and I know people drive many more miles than this, but my Edge has been kind of temperamental at times. 

 

[PrinzII]

Given that I have driven the I-20/I-10  and I-40 routes and the time you are going, here are the things to watch out for:

 

a) Dust Storms when you get west of El Paso

That stretch of I-10 has been known to get hit with some severe dust storms that have resulted in some catastrophic accidents.  The worst I have seen was on the E/B I-10 outside of Tucson where a semi turned a Cadillac into the size of a Honda Civic.  If anyone survived sitting in the back seat of that Caddy, it was miraculous.  Parts of I-40 in NM are also prone to dust storms as well.  You will see plenty of warning signs advising you of such.

 

b) Wildfires/Forest Fires

The time I drove to DFW for a wedding via I-10 and I-20 there were a couple of wildfires on the route in AZ.  Luckily, they were off in the distance.  I-40 cuts through Flagstaff where the likelihood is higher.

 

c) Lack of services on I-10

This is the area where I-40 tends to shine as you have more places to stop, gas, eat, etc.  On I-10, you will have VERY long stretches where amenities are few and far between until you hit El Paso, Deming, NM, and near Tucson, AZ. I-20 was way better IMO.

 

d) Safety Corridors in NM/NM State Police

Some of these corridors can stretch for 20 miles or greater.  If you get nailed, fines double.  God forbid it's a construction zone within the corridor.  

 

e) Elk/Deer at night

This is more of an issue with I-40 than with I-10.  When you get into AZ and you start seeing those signs for elk, they are not just for decoration.  In driving back from Chicago, we had so many deer that we had to slow down to a crawl to keep from hitting them.

 

f) AZ Highway Patrol

They are running unmarked Mustangs, Challenger R/Ts, and Chargers for speed enforcement and aggressive driving.  You may see more of those around Phoenix/Tucson than anywhere else.  The motorcycles are ever present in both cities as well.  

 

g) Tribal Police

I had to give them their own due to the Gila River PD patrolling parts of I-10 between Casa Grande and Phoenix.  Tribal cops are as bad or worse than the Highway Patrol with enforcement because they have their own set of laws.