My sister and I and our 3 girls are doing a "planes, trains, and automobile" trip across country in Aug. We have everything figured out except transportation from Denver to the Bay Area. We were going to Amtrak over the Rockies, but the date we need to go they are doing track work and would divert us around the mountains. We are definitely going over the rockies, so now we are trying to get creative about how to do that. Our first choice would be to find someone who wants their RV or minivan moved for them if they are moving to CA around that time. I put it on Craigslist, but no response yet. Any brilliant ideas for where to connect with people who may want their vehicle moved for free?

Our second choice would be to take a bus or shuttle over the rockies, and rent a car for the rest of the trip. I'm having trouble finding a bus service that goes all the way to Grand Junction (that looks on the map like the best place to get a car rental. Any ideas on different ways to go through the rockies besides driving and amtrak?

Thanks.

This is not making a lot sense for me. Why can you not just rent a car in Denver and drive? You cannot divert "around the mountains." They stretch from Alaska to Mexico. Amtrak may be following a different route but they will go through the mountains somewhere. I haven't checked recently but at one time there was regular bus service between Denver and Grand Junction.

This doesn't make sense to me either. Why do you want to take a bus to Grand Junction and then rent a car? I think it would be less expensive to rent a car in Denver rather than Grand Junction, especially if it is a one way rental. Also, if you have a car then you can take the time and enjoy the scenery at your own pace.

Sorry, I guess I wasn't clear. Amtrak is diverting the zepher so it will not go over the rockies when we need to go. We could rent a car in Denver, but the reason for taking the train was so we could all be passengers and enjoy the scenic trip without the difficulty of mountainous roads. Do you happen to know the name of the bus service from Denver to Grand Junction?

Where do you think you are going? It is I-70, a modern, four lane, divided interstate highway that is much easier to drive than the interstate mess around SF or Chicago or any other major city. Taking a car will allow you to take advantage of the many turn outs along the way. It is unfortunate that Amtrak is not available since it does go through a very back water area prior to Glenwood Canyon. I-70 is not as scenic but it is not bad either. Given a choice of bus or car, you should opt for the car. Your could drive the train route but it would be a lot of slow, gravel roads.