7500+ Mile Roadtrip in Prius about to begin

While you're in Estes Park area are you going to drive up Mt Evans, the highest road in the 48 states?

Mount Evans - Highest Paved Road in North America

 

One month? Wow. I just high tail it for a day straight and cross it.

Advice in general learned from many cross country road trips:

In metro areas you don't know, tuck behind a semi truck.

In general, don't tailgate. Not just because it is safer, but because you wont get as many dings in your paint.

If you see a car on the side of the road, move over! One instance of a guy opening his driver door directly into the right most lane with a constant flow of high speed traffic and the other of a lady that decided to retrieve something she dropped on the road in the middle of the night. Blinking truck was all you could see until you see the reflection in her eyes as you whiz past at 90mph in the left lane...

If you see a shredded truck tire in the middle of the road, brace the wheel and ram it. Bumper damage, and plastic shield damage is likely. But you wont swerve into a median or another car. In one month and 7500 miles, you will more than likely hit more than one so be careful.

The sections between J and K... Well, fill up before you get to Wyoming and don't anticipate having anywhere to fillup while there if you are there at night. This is the state where I have almost run out of gas 2 times because all service stations off of interstate exits close at ungodly early hours.

When driving through Kansas, do not go more than 70mph. Kansas is 65-70mph versus Nebraska's 65/70/75 speed limit. For a state that takes 8 hours to cross, it makes a difference. And cops have nothing better to do than hide out in the middle of the divided highway. It is the longest and most boring 8 hours, but do not try to make it shorter.

And one closer to home, use B mode when going down the I-70 passes from Vail through the Eisenhower Tunnel.

 

The Prius is a beast. It makes it up the steepest I-70 grades at full speed.

 

If visiting Badlands NP and Mt. Rushmore, spend at least a day in and around Custer State Park.

I would suggest either adding more time, or cutting back on the distance. Don't spend more time driving than visiting and sightseeing.

Three months after getting my Prius, we took a month long trip from WA as far east as Badlands NP, through CO including four days in Rocky Mountain NP, through AZ and into CA to visit friends before returning home, and visiting very many parks and other sites/sights along the way. This loop rolled up nearly 6000 miles, despite never getting even half way across the country. This was actually the third broadly similar loop in just two years, but the only one in this car.

Your route could easily roll up much more than the expected miles, and cause considerable road fatigue. Try to spend a larger fraction of it not driving.

Re: Mt. Evans:

Mt. Evans was closed, but I did climb Pikes Peak up to the snow closure at the Devils Playground. No problem going up. Descent was a bit of a challenge due to traffic going too slow for B mode to generate much compression.

 

In WY, you won't find gas stations for 200 miles in some stretches.

Very true about Kansas highway being the most boring 8 hours. This is coming from someone who loved driving through Nebraska...

 

I've been up it in cars with less power than a Prius. IIRC, our 1983 Camry had 90 hp, when I was in the Air Force in 1961 I rode up in a friends well worn 1950 Chevy. 36 HP VW Microbuses and Ford Model Ts have been driven up it.

It is surprisingly non-steep.

If you try to do more than sit or walk a bit, you will have more problems at 14,000+ feet than the car will.

Google Maps street view included the road and parking area at the top.

 

I'm sure you're cognizant of your oil change intervals, but if you forgot, change your oil.

 

Make sure you tell family when and where you'll be, in case you get stranded and need assistance. Bring plenty of drinkable water. Check your car fluid levels and tire pressure before your trip. Use a gas price website like gasbuddy.com to find local cheap gas.

 

Wow, I've been thinking about my upcoming summer road trip a lot, delivering a car (that gobbles up twice as much fuel as my Prius - yikes!) from Iowa back here to Orange County, CA. But wow, this is much more ambitious.

I'm still deciding on my route. I'll probably go south and then follow as much of Route 66 as I like, but I may go to Colorado first.

I just noticed on your Google Maps routing, between points H and I, it has you going past my starting point - Clear Lake, IA. I'll be there around August 1; I guess you'll probably be long past there by then.

BTW - last weekend I took my Prius on its only road trip so far: to your corner of the world, San Diego (old town and Mission Bay).

 

That is a tradeoff between comfort and fuel economy that only you can decide. But I know of no reason why this type of trip calls for a setting different than your ordinary daily driving.

40-44 works for me, except on the washboard that masquerades as a road to Chaco Canyon. My older car needed some air let out.

 

KS speed limit on the turnpike (Wichita to KC) just raised to 75 mph on 7/1/11.

You should get great fuel economy coming across KS to Wichita. Through the Flint Hills east of Wichita, not so much, but not horrible. Watch the weather in these parts for strong T-storms and try to avoid monsters with potential for large hail and tornados.

You'll pass within 1/2 mile of my house.

Enjoy the trip!

 

Just east of the Grand Canyon be careful of your speed up to four corners. I got a speeding ticket there in 1987 going down a 7 mile downgrade in my 1987 LeBaron. 107mph! The car didn't go that fast on it's own power, without the hill. It was in Keyenta, IIRC, just past Monument Valley. That's where Hollywood came to shoot many famous Western movies. Stunning!
Be sure to stop at four corners. It's fun to be in 4 states at the same time! Be sure to get your picture taken doing a "crab" over the monument, with each foot and hand in a different state!
Looks like you're going the same way I went up through Durango, Silverton, Ouray then east to Denver. It's a beautiful drive.

 

Run the same pressures you normally run for fuel economy, 42 front 40 rear is popular on.

When you check your tire pressure, check it in the morning before you have driven more than a mile. If you have your own gauge and check it before you leave your hotel, that's even better.

Your tire pressure will go up about 1 psi for each 10F temperature increase and also up about 1 psi for each 2,000 feet elevation increase. Fortunately, as elevation increases, average temperature usually drops. I would suggest ignoring those changes, it's a waste of time to adjust your tire pressure every time you change altitude a few thousand feet or the temperature changes 40 degrees, changes you will experience on several days.

A big advantage to higher than stock tire pressure is that the tires flex less, so heat up less. Tire heat is what damages tires in hot weather, not pressure.

The hard part is staying awake. And, the previous poster wasn't exaggerating about police radar in Kansas. They should put up microwave radiation warning signs at the Kansas border.