Trip advice

[Scotty...B]

We are driving from Victoria to Portland for Christmas with our daughter. We are considering taking our 19' escape and continuing after Christmas, south to Arizona with stops in Vegas and Death Valley. Looking for advice on routing, weather and road conditions in January, Wondering about camping with this trailer if it is below freezing. It has the insulation package, but I would be concerned about pipes freezing. We are new to this, only two trips with it so far.

[Arthur John]

Hello Scotty. If you plan to go to Death Valley first you have a couple of options. Taking Interstate 5 all the way down past Bakersfield then east on State Route 58 over Tehachapi Pass (Elev. 3,793 ft.), then north on State Route 14 is one option. If you want to avoid driving thru most of California you can a take State Route 89 just past City of Mt. Shasta. ST 89 changes to State Route 44 at Old Station and you'll head east to Susanville. From there you'll be on US 395 going south which takes you thru Reno and all the way down to Bishop before you'd have some route options into Death Valley.

Hopefully you won't be on a strict schedule and can adjust to any adverse weather conditions should they arise.

Hope you have a great and safe trip if you decide to go! I plan to be in Laughlin, Nevada the second week in January.

Art

[Ron in BC]

[QUOTE=Scotty...B;223691. Looking for advice on routing, weather and road conditions in January, Wondering about camping with this trailer if it is below freezing. It has the insulation package, but I would be concerned about pipes freezing.[/QUOTE]

Originally Posted by Arthur John

Hopefully you won't be on a strict schedule and can adjust to any adverse weather conditions should they arise.

Art

That's about it. If you have flexibility to adjust your schedule you can sit out a few days of bad stuff. Nothing lasts forever.

We go South in January. This year was a little worse than most years but as long as the roads are open and clear there's no reason not to go. Portland was a little crazy with large ice ridges between lanes making lane changes impossible. You had to hope that you were in the correct lane.

The mountain passes are always a crap shoot. There are places nearby to sit out a few days if a storm is in the process of making a large dump. We've never had to sit out and wait for the pass to re-open though.

Ron