Quote:
Originally Posted by Workman
New to long haul travel in a motor home and planning a trip next month from Yulee FL (just 30 miles North of Jacksonville) to Olathe CO. I will be driving a Thor Windsport 34P with a Harley motorcycle on a Hydralift and flat towing a Jeep Wrangler Sport. The jeep has a Aux brake system installed.
Looking for some experienced advice on the route.
I plugged the start and end points into the Good Sam Trip Planner which gives me a route thru Atlanta GA (that doesn't thrill me much) and over Monarch Pass on US Hwy 50 in CO.
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Hi, I wrote a nice long message to you about this route and it didn't make it on here. So here goes again.
I live near Olathe, CO and have driven every road on the western slope of Colorado. Monarch Pass has a 6.4 degree grade which is right in line with most of them in Colorado. Some more and some less. Anyway, a suggestion would be taking Interstate 70 with tons of lanes and a little less grade up and down, except for Vail Pass which is 7 for about 4 miles on the west side going into Vail. But it's multilaned and you can gear down and go slow. Anyway, if you are driving to Colorado by way of 50 through Pueblo, Co and Canon City you can turn north at Salida and get on 24 to Leadville and then down to I-70. That avoids Monarch. Then once on 70 head for Grand Junction, CO and turn south on highway 50 to Olathe. Once you are past Vail, it's flat. Plus you get to see Glenwood Canyon, a modern marvel. $300 million dollars of cantilevered roadway through 13 miles and 2 billion years of Geology right before your eyes. LOL All the interstates have emergency turnouts for over the road heavy trucks in case you get too much speed and burn your brakes up. Scary thought actually. Monarch isn't terrible but it's a little tricky. Hope that helps