Roadtrip questions: Nevada to Vancouver

[michelel72]

I've just found this community, so hello! It may be odd for a USian to be asking this question, but I live in New England and I've never driven anywhere west of Louisiana, so I hope this is all right.

I have a character (Rodney McKay of Stargate: Atlantis, in case that affects anyone's answers) who needs to drive from Nellis AFB, Nevada, to

Comments

[casusfere]

Right through my neck of the woods. :) My question is, is he used to driving in winter conditions in mountains? March in the mountains can be nasty, but it's usually decently clear roads at that time of the year. If it's been sunny or warm the last few days before his trip, I'd say sure, he could make the trip in roughly that time. If it's snowing or icy, I'd say not a chance. There's two passes he's got to get through in my area alone, and hours of delay aren't uncommon in bad conditions, when the passes aren't closed completely.

Of course, if he's NOT used to driving in the mountains in winter, he might not be expecting any trouble on the passes, and might be planning to make it in 20 hours even if it's unreasonable in the conditions.

[michelel72]

I expect that he has done very little winter mountain driving. (Canon doesn't state anything explicit, but he's a lab rat with an aversion to wilderness and outdoorsy pursuits, and he would likely normally fly for longer trips.) Spot-checking Salt Lake City and Nampa, ID, for that time period (through Wunderground) suggests that there was little to no precipitation, though, and mean temperatures in the low 40s, so I think it might be safe to assume no real impediments of snow or ice. (No apparent Famous Blizzard Any Idjit Should Remember, anyway!) So by that, the character thinking this might work wouldn't shock you, it seems, which is perfect. Thank you!

[phoenix_melody]

Having recently made a portion of that journey (May 2009 and December 2007), it is possible to make it in the 20 hours Google quoted. You will have to factor in an hour or two for stops

[michelel72]

This does help a lot, thanks. (I drove an East Coast trip that Google said was 18 hours, and it was two full days of driving with a stopover night, and I can only blame about one hour of that on traffic, so I'm not a good person to judge the accuracy of travel time projections!) I've checked the historical weather for the area by Wunderground, and it looks reasonable to presume there isn't any significant snow or ice to deal with.

There's a decent chance he'd hit that mountain area you mention in the predawn hours, though, if I'm figuring correctly. I wouldn't want to drive it in those conditions by your description, but this character is on the confident side (she understated). So it sounds as though his expectations aren't completely impossible, even if they don't prove accurate. Hooray

[phoenix_melody]

We made an 860 mile trip (most of which is along the route your character will be taking) somewhere between 13 and 14 hours, including stops and some heavy traffic in one of the bigger cities. We stayed very close to the speed limit (never going more than about 7 mph over), too. I think the 20 hours is a good estimate, but he will need an extra hour or two for stops. He could get away without food stops if he had enough time to prep--just get a little cooler and fill it with ice and food. The smaller ones would fit on the floor by the passenger seat.

FYI, in rural areas of Utah and Idaho, the speed limit goes up to 75 mph. In Oregon it drops down to 65 mph, no matter how rural the area.

I'm glad my info could help! Sounds like you have an interesting story to write. Best of luck.

[casusfere]

What, you don't like Cabbage Hill and the 6% downgrade and sheer drop off and runaway truck ramps? Try it in a fog, it's really fun then. :D

[sister_dear]

Just another something to consider; hitting the Seattle area at the wrong time on a weekday can easily add an hour or three onto his travel time. The worst of the afternoon traffic (usually heaviest between 3 and 6) will mostly be heading the other way. If he's been driving through the night and hits the morning commute into Seattle, though, chances are pretty good that he'll find himself very heavy traffic. I5, 405, and even parts of 90 can get pretty crowded. (It also depends on where you have him cross over the mountains - if he's already on I5 in Oregon then Portland and most everything between Tacoma and Seattle can also get crowded during rush times.)

[michelel72]

I think he would probably hit that area more towards early afternoon, if he stays reasonably on schedule. I'm using Google's I84 routing for my estimates, so I don't think he'd have to worry about other areas (though in my experience traffic jams can happen in the middle of absolutely nowhere!). So he might luck out ... but then again, he's not having a lucky time of things, heh. Thank you for the ideas -- and I love your icon!

[whizzy]

I've driven straight from Atlanta to NYC in one go. It took much longer than it should have thanks to the traffic jam from hell on the Turnpike (overturned car carrier had one branch entirely shut down, omg) and I was loopy as hell by the time I got to my hotel. But yeah, 900 miles is definitely doable if you're crazy.

[michelel72]

Oog. That sounds less than fun. Not my brand of crazy -- Providence to Hilton Head, SC, in two days did me in -- but I think McKay would likely go for it. Thanks!

[ms_nerd]

A couple of things as I live/d near/in Vancouver - the borders coming into Canada can get a bit crowded in the afternoons as us crazy Canadians really like to go shopping in the US. Also, once you hit the actual city of Vancouver, there's no freeway through the city so wherever he's going, it's going to be slower than freeway traffic.

[michelel72]

Yeah, that'd be the perfect end to about 20 hours of through driving, wouldn't it? I'll keep it in mind. Thank you! (Also, great icon!)