Vegas to Chicago in a box truck

Why would you go thru texas?

With a 14' truck, normally loaded, you shouldn't have any problems with the mountains so there's really no need to take the Texas route unless you like the scenery.

If you were driving a heavily loaded 26 footer I would definitely recommend the southern route so you don't get into trouble sliding down the east side of the Rockies.

Since you're going to be taking the normal route you can plan it either way. Unless I know exactly where I'm going to stop, I always put in my final destination and then look for other stops on my "current route" as the mood strikes me.

in December would be to avoid Colorado because
of "possible" weather problems..
I would drop down from Vegas to I-40 thru
AZ & NM to OK. Then maybe take I-44 North
Routing should be easy from there !
Use Mapsource to help you !

If the interstates are shut down (like last October) because of snow, you'll wish you went the southern route.

RT

Because coming down the Rockies into Denver is a "E Ticket Ride" in a snow storm.

Ah, I get it now.

Thanks for the tips everyone.

How quickly can one of these storms come up? If I check the Weather as I am leaving vegas and looks clear can I be completely hosed by the time I hit CO?

Also would it be a ggod Idea to bring my CB along. I'll have my cell. But I dont know what kind of signal I'm going to get. Are CBs still in wide spread usage on the open Highways?

There are many pages out there for weather, but I prefer to use the National Weather Service. It is add free, and gives you a 7 day outlook by zipcode, as well as current national maps. nws.noaa.gov.

CB - yes it is used some, but folks have been using MURS, FRS or GMRS as well. You can get weather reports from listening or asking on the CB, and if a big storm is coming you should hear about it in time.

Daniel

I use a CB all the time when I travel for work. Many many ppl still use it (mostly truckers though). I use it for speed traps and traffic jams. It is a great tool for travel.

The problem with driving the mountains in the winter is sometimes the snow is unpredictable. We have a friend who winters in NV. Driving from IA last year he left Denver ... beautiful day ... but by the time he was near the top of the pass the clouds decided to drop and it started dumping. He had 4-wheel drive, but didn't help any. He spent most of the day waiting for the wrecks to clear. It'll probably depend on what kind of luck you had in Vegas!!

RT

Well I guess I'll play it by ear. Atleast if I decide on the CO route I have an uncle that lives there if I need to hide out for a night.

Any body have any poi recomendations for this trip?

I just saw on the news that I-70 was closed today due to heavy snow. Thought of you. Did you make it to your destination ok? Which route did you take? Did you run into any snow? Hope all came out safe and sound.

RT