Date:         Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:24:25 -0400
Reply-To:     John Brush <vanagonvw@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         John Brush <vanagonvw@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Anyone have experience driving a Westy through the mountains?

>
>> Hey Volks,
>>
>> In a little less than a month, myself and three others will be traveling
>> from Omaha to Boise in mid July and was hoping for some insight as to some
>> Vanagon friendly routes.  I have two routes in mind and would appreciate
>> some input.  Being from the midwest, I've never driven through the
>> mountains
>> before and don't want to do something foolish.


Big hint, major clue, coming up .....

Watch the road ahead of you, and when you see a major grade or long incline
in the offing, accelerate BEFORE you get to  the start of it. I live on the
west side of the Rockies, and stare in awe at the people, both van, and
other large vehicle types, who merrily move along 5mph under the limit, till
they reach the hill, and suddenly think all they have to do is floor it, to
reach the summit with no loss of speed.

No, don't ramp it up to 100mph :-) but no highway patrol officer is gonna
give grief to a VW vanagon that moves ten miles an hour over the limit with
a large grade in the offing.

Even my air cooled can waste a Westy that didn't watch ahead, and is
suddenly struggling to keep from getting run over by small sedans.

Good drivers don't need worry that much about long grades or steep inclines.
Just pay attention. Drive is a verb. :-)

BTW, your original question was about routes :-) If you wanna just get
there, I-80 is not very taxing through to SLC, just one big climb that
doesn't last very long, and then I-15 north to Idaho only has one long grade
that will not be a big deal. I-90 to the north, has much steeper grades, I
figure because they graded the main truck route through to SLC better to
keep the big rigs moving along. If you come back through I-80, you WILL find
the climb up out of the SL Valley to be a bit stressfull, but there are no
real options that are any better, that are not 'the long way around'

John