Driving from Miami to Portland - Leaving on Dec. 27

My girlfriend and i are driving a packed car to move to Portland next week and to be honest after watching the news for the past week and a 1/2....I am a bit freaked.

We have decided on taking the southern route to get there (Louisiana, Texas, AZ, CA and then drive on up through California up to Portland.

Are there any precautions O need to take once I get to the northern portion of Cali and into Oregon? I thought I-5 went through a valley, so i would not have problems, but i recently read that there are 2000ft passes on it!?!? I am a Miami kid, born and bred in FLAT Florida (I have been told it is insane to moving @ this time of the year, but my girl and I got pretty god jobs up there), so I am feeling more than a bit of trepidation.

ANY advice about any of the drive would be very appreciative and help me sleep @ night !!!

Driving from Miami to Portland - Leaving on Dec. 27

Watch the weather...

I-5 in N. Cal/S. OR goes over some pretty mountainous terrain-largest pass is Siskiyou on the border(~4000ft). With other somewhat big hills.

As long as you watch the weather/snow level you will be ok- as long as there isn%26#39;t a big storm right when you go over, you will be fine. Usually the DOT%26#39;s clear it up ASAP-as it is the interstate.

If you happen to be in the area when it is snowing, and you can justify it, just wait in Redding, CA until the storm is over. Much better than trying to navigate a fully loaded car on snowy roads(and getting out and putting on chains, etc!). The road most likely won;t be bad for more than 1 day--if it is bad. Just use your common sense and you will be fine.

Try tripcheck.com and look on the webcams for current road condtions in oregon.

Driving from Miami to Portland - Leaving on Dec. 27

chinnokgrrrl gives good advice.

Den

We lived in Redding 5 years and came back to oreg every year for Christmas, sometimes we had to pick the day we went, snow covered road ok, snowing not. we had all weather tires and chains if needed. Plus though no expert I have driven snow covered roads a fair amount.

Of the 5 years were were there maybe twice we had to alter plans in the ten trips made

I-5 at Mt Shasta can be as bad as the Siskiyous.

101 the coast highway is an option. It rarely has bad winter roads. cut over near Sacto. waiting till Redding will take you over 3500%26#39; summit on 299. Check Caltrans and odot sites somewhere along way. Modesto maybe.

You OR experts can correct me, but my SO tells me that vehicles, including cars, by law, must carry chains in winter.

ditto all of the above... If you decide to come over the Cal/Oregon boarder on I-5 in snow, do it during daylight hours only. It is a very long trip taking the coast highway all the way up. You can cut over at Williams if on I-5 or take hwy 16 to hwy 20 from I-505 and completely avoid the passes. It%26#39;s still a long haul but if there is snow coming down and snow/ice on the road, you may be playing bumpers cars all the way to Eugene on I-5. You can cut over from the coast at Newport or Lincoln City. The coastal range will sometimes get snow but not often. Oregon roads are pretty safe as long as you stick to the main highways in winter and sometimes early spring/later fall months. If you decide to take the coastal route and want to do a little sight seeing, write back and we%26#39;ll tell you where its worth stopping this time of year. Have a safe drive and welcome to Oregon.

voyaging, there are certain areas where you are required to carry chains in winter, like the different passes but no one is required to carry chains if they are only driving in the valley. I would suggest that anyone driving over the passes (I-5 at the Siskiyous, hwys 58, 126, 20, 22, etc) have chains as the weather can change in a matter of hours.

wurm, look at tripcheck.com once in California to check the road conditions up north.

Thanks, Julauf. BTW, I enjoy your posts.

Not sure if you posted this anywhere else, but stay south on I-10 in AZ. I-40 can be rough in winter. We were in Phoenix one early april headed for Alb NM and I-40 east of there was closed by sudden snowstorm. but that was sort of freakish I think

From Miami maybe LA traffic won%26#39;t bother you , but Cal 58 to Bakersfield way to avoid LA.

I believe you are only required to carry chains when posted by sign or over radio, etc-no matter where you travel if weather is bad.

If you always keep your chains in the car-then you don%26#39;t have to worry! :)

Don%26#39;t want to freak you out Wurm- but want to alert you to the all the weather possibilites.

Good advice phril on Albuquerque/ I-40.

Are you sleeping at night yet? :)

If you get to Redding and find chains are required over the Siskiyou%26#39;s, find a Les Schwab Tire Center and buy your chains there. If you don%26#39;t use them, they%26#39;ll buy them back. Of course if you%26#39;re gonna be living here, you%26#39;re gonna want to invest in a good set anyway.

phirl makes a good point about staying on I-10. Las Vegas/ Henderson had 3'; of snow the other day. It%26#39;s not unheard of to have snow in this region through February. Of course, while living in Scottsdale a few years ago, my middle son awoke one morning to over an inch of snow!! It happens, even in the desert!!

Den