Please help, just found out that I need to drive from Portland,Oregon to Orlando, Florida in January! I am thinking due to winter weather, I will have to pretty much stick to the southern route, I-5,I-40,I-10. In order to make it in under a week, I will have to drive 600 miles a day, and need help figuring where that will be each night?? ( I think the only enjoyment of this trip will be the stop for dinner and a motel with a lounge..) Is there anything scenic on this route?? Thank you so much for any help you can give me..

No one can predict the weather. Even I40 can get a little rough in AZ and NM. We hit a lot of black ice and frost on the road there one winter in December. I would not plan on pushing the miles per day or the trip. Allow a day or so extra in case you do get in a bad weather situation. Pack the things you will need to survive if something were to happen while on the road. Even something as simple as a flat tire can be magnified in bad weather. Fill your gas tank at half way each time so you will not run short of fuel. Have your vehicle checked and make sure it is ready and able to make the trip. Also stick to well traveled roads especially while in the mountainous areas. This site may come in handy.

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/trafficinfo/index.htm

Hi, we did the reverse trip, from Jax Florida to Pdx.
We went north to 80 then west..you are right, the southern route is best for you..Get AAA to map a tripticket for you, or whatever organisation you can use..our car maker did it for us.
We got up early, had coffee and took off, stopping whenever we needed to, had a bite of lunch and then drove til around 6 maybe 7..we stayed at hotels along the highways ( we had a dog with us so La Quintas were the choice) .. dinner, a little walk, some tv and to sleep..We did it in 5 days. It was not punishment, we were definitely glad to arrive at our destination but it was not that bad.
Our route was very scenic, yours might take you through more deserts and Texas which can be mind numbing in its boring long miles of sameness ( did that road trip a long time ago)..
Best suggestion, take a good travel partner or lots of audio books, good music etc.

Thank you both for your suggestions. Where in Arizona/New Mexico might there be black ice? I have never been to either state so didn't think about that. scary......I do want to be off the road by dusk each night, so would 500 miles be more realistic? I will have AAA do the trip tic for me,but still trying to figure out where to plan to stop each night providing roads are clear....?

You might skip I40 and just go I10 or go down to San Diego and take I8 to I10. I40 takes you through Flagstaff, Ariz and can get quite abit of snow. Main problems with the alternate route is the mentioned long drives across the deserts. Bring plenty of music also as we went through part of that route and only one station would come in.

Where in Arizona/New Mexico might there be black ice?

____________________________

The elevation is rather high from Flagstaff (6905) to Albuquerque (5355) that is where we hit the black ice and freezing frost, as was noted there could be snow. Then again it all depends on the weather. There are going to be some decisions that will have to be made once the trip has started. If they are forecasting good weather for a few days then you could have bright sunny days all the way across. Just be aware of what is going. Normally the local radio stations will keep you advised of any local driving problems and the weather...enjoy your trip...

Hi
We figured our trip days would be from around 8-9 am until around 6-7. In the summer, that got us to a hotel before dark.
We didn't want to drive in the dark either.
Because we had a large dog with us, we booked La Quintas ahead of time, to be sure we would have a dog friendly place to stay each night. You will have far more freedom to choose hotels. although most of the La Quintas were perfectly fine, the one in Nebraska was very fine.
We drove 600 miles a day, give or take a few..we arrived on the 5th day in the afternoon, so it was really 4 1/2 days
Bring plenty of audio books and cds Buy a Sirius Satellite Radio. LOL

Freetrip.com shows the shortest route at 3033 miles, 43:49 hours but that takes you diagonally across the country.

To take I-5 south through CA and pick up I-10 east, it is 3482 miles and 51:00 hours.

You can check it out for I-40 also by entering different starting and ending points. Be sure to check off hotels in your price range and it will list them for the entire trip in addition to miles and time to go and traveled.

Our trip was diagonally across the country but that takes you through snow country in winter.
South along the west coast then east would seem to be safest to me.
* After the tragic story of the Kim family here, I will be paranoid about trips in the winter now *

Sunset in January is gonna be somewhere around 5-5:30. That gives you about 10 hours of daylight, plus an extra hour or so of twilight. If being off the road by dusk is imperative (and I'm not sure why it would be) you'd have to average 60 mph for 10 hours to drive 600 miles per day. That's doable, especially since some of the interstates are posted at 75 mph, but you're not really going to have time for stopping at any scenic spots. And you'd have to be dedicated to getting up and going by 7am.

You really sure you want to stop by 5:30 every night?

I wouldn't bother making reservations and/or definite plans on where to stop every night. If you're ahead of schedule, you don't want to stop early. And if you're behind, you'd either have to drive in the dark or start cancelling your reservations for the rest of the trip. At most, I'd figure out a logical stopping point for the next night and call ahead to make a reservation when you stop each night.

We never make reservations, to restrictive, and never have a problem finding a place to stay. In January it will even be easier to find a place. Its always best to travel at your own pace and stop when you want to.

If you carry a wi-fi laptop with you (or stop at Kinko's), try www.accuweather.com. Choose either weather or traffic or both, select the state you are interested in, and you will get road conditions, construction delays, weather observations and forecasts, etc.

Thank you all for the great suggestions and links to the web sites-all very helpful. Looks like I will need to be flexible on this jaunt and hope for good weather!

Do not over plan this trip and don't book any hotels. Just check the weather forecast of the whole country, starting about 4-5 days before the trip. Remember that storm system moves west to east, which makes driving west to east easy if you're in the clear and ahead of any storm system.

If there's snow in the forecast up north, then take the more southernly routes.

As for daily distance, you can do more than 600 miles a day in the west, if weather permitting. Traffic will be very light and speed limit high. I've done 800-900 miles a day with no problem.

There are motels along the interstate apart from the smallest town. No need to worry about finding place to overnight.