Trek from PA to UT on dreaded I80...help!

I've done the drive from Columbus, OH to Jackson, WY. After using alternating drivers in an RV as well as hitting a gas station, losing the tread on a tire and nearly getting blown over on 80 in Wyoming, it took 32 hours each way, pure hell, but the 30 cases of beer we had helped.

Like they said, NE & WY seem to shut down after dark. Make sure to watch for towns and gas.

If you're into gambling, there are casinos along the way in Davenport I believe. Depending on your timing, hotel rooms were cheap and depending on how well you do in the casino, might get it comped.

No fries on salads? You have to make these on your own:
http://www.roadfood.com/photos/mini_897.jpg

But if you keep going to California, you can substitute one of these:
http://www.urbanphotos.net/images/lv/burger2.jpg

I would follow Lynx's advice and seriously think about taking I-70. Better scenery, more skiing to stop and do along the way (Loveland Pass, etc). Take it from someone who went to HS in Pittsburgh and college in Colorado with frequent trips to Alta and Squaw, I-70/US 50 are WAY better than I-80. I took I-80 across Wyoming ONCE in four years, and almost died in a horrible multi-car/semi wreck caused by those 60mph winds and blowing snow everyone talks about.

If you have one more day you can use US 34 and Rt 6 across Iowa and Nebraska and eastern Colorado. Then go through Fort Collins and take 14 to 40 and then go over Rabbit Ears and through Steamboat and out to Park City and then SLC. Almost all back roads and a much more attractive ride. There are towns about every 30 - 50 miles across the plains and then you need to plan your gas stops more carefully through the mountains. I made it from NYC to the Boat this way in 45 hours, solo.

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Originally Posted by acostiga

a few tips:

when you get out west they don't automatically put greasy french fries on salads- you've gotta order a side of fries and dump it on there yerself.

not every appetizer in every restaurant is deep-fried, and they ain't got no eat 'n parks neither. assemble a stash of smiley-face cookies.

they ain't got no ihrn city n'at, aluminum bottle or otherwise. rent a u-haul trailer to carry a sufficient supply that will tide you through the football season. imperial whisky is available though, so you should be able to make boilermakers as necessary.

worst of all, they ain't got no stillers broadcasts but yinz can listen to myron and hillgrove through the magic of 'dve over the internet. i don't wanna be a jagoff about it, but that's why they got that internet thing on computers these days.

be sure to make the according adjustments.

btw, [cbg]BEST AVATAR EVER![/cbg]

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YES! Thats awsome.

BY the way, the last thing I am doing before I am leaving is going to the Steelers v. Eagles game. I am leaving the next day.

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Originally Posted by Shake Zula

Buy your beer in Evanston, WY. There are several stores just off of I-80 that specalize in liquor, fireworks, firearms, prostitutes, etc... They are close to the border for a reason.

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And so are the cops looking for you coming out of Evanston.

Buy it somewhere else and cover it up. Do it all the time from Idaho. Techinally it is considered Bootlegging to bring more than 5 gallons of beer into Utah, (more than 3.2% beer). But that means you are selling it, bootlegging. That is 2.5 cases of beer roughly from my beer brewing days.

I have been pulled over once with 12 cases of beer. They searched for other stuff, but I told them it was for my own personal consumption and they let me off with a warning (verbal). I however lived 4 miles down the road from the Idaho beer store.

Done that drive 3 times. Still have my AAA triptik for it. 3 days, 12-13 hours a day pulling a 5x8' trailer with my V6 Dakota, never got above 10 over the limit. Had radar detector, went off a ton in Neb and Wy. No ticket ever though. Came from Yardley, PA, right on the border from Trenton NJ.

This time of year, I 70 MAY be easier as far as weather. Tough to tell. I never did, but I was blinded in WY and had to stop one night for a bit.

Done the Wisconsin to SLC drive three times, two of those by myself. Can't say much about east of Des Moines, IA, but west of that I-80 is the only way to go. Direct, high-speed (it's all relative when you're pulling a trailer) and faster than I-70 (total drive time). I drive I-80 between SLC and Cheyenne, WY at least once a month for work and know it well. I keep it under 85 as much as possible, 80 has always been safe. There are plenty of gas stops along the way, even the ones that look sketchy have been fine.

I'm not a big fan of the $25/night hotels along the way. Got stuck in one in Rawlins, WY with, I shit you not, a birds nest coming through the wall and bird shit on the bathroom counter. Not to mention the 2 inch gap under the door that led out to an unbelievable storm.

Since I work in Wyoming regularly and drive that stretch often, I've become the unofficial beer importer for all of my friends. Often have multiple cases with me and have never had even the slightest incident with it.

The most important advice I can offer is this: No matter how well you drive, do not pass a Wyoming State Trooper in a snowstorm when he has his lights on. It doesn't matter if you're still under the speed limit or not, he will not be happy and you might get to visit a beautiful Wyoming jail (I avoided that, but I'm not sure how).

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Originally Posted by SkiingBear

The most important advice I can offer is this: No matter how well you drive, do not pass a Wyoming State Trooper in a snowstorm when he has his lights on. It doesn't matter if you're still under the speed limit or not, he will not be happy and you might get to visit a beautiful Wyoming jail (I avoided that, but I'm not sure how).

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Are you saying just in a snowstorm or anytime? From what I have heard, you are supposed to slow down to 25mph to pass him if he has someone stopped with his lights running. If there is an accident, they will usually have traffic directed somehow, but a good pass through is to ask him if they need any help (this is what I do) and most of the time thay say no and waive you through. Sometimes they will need some help, especially if they are trying to get someone unstuck or if there are injuries. I used to be an EMT, so I've stopped to help with injuries before. Most of the time, if the weather is bad, they'd just as soon have you move along than stop and cause the chance for a chain reaction, like what happened on I-80 a few months ago between Laramie and Cheyenne.

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Originally Posted by Buzzworthy

And so are the cops looking for you coming out of Evanston.

Buy it somewhere else and cover it up. Do it all the time from Idaho. Techinally it is considered Bootlegging to bring more than 5 gallons of beer into Utah, (more than 3.2% beer). But that means you are selling it, bootlegging. That is 2.5 cases of beer roughly from my beer brewing days.

I have been pulled over once with 12 cases of beer. They searched for other stuff, but I told them it was for my own personal consumption and they let me off with a warning (verbal). I however lived 4 miles down the road from the Idaho beer store.

Done that drive 3 times. Still have my AAA triptik for it. 3 days, 12-13 hours a day pulling a 5x8' trailer with my V6 Dakota, never got above 10 over the limit. Had radar detector, went off a ton in Neb and Wy. No ticket ever though. Came from Yardley, PA, right on the border from Trenton NJ.

This time of year, I 70 MAY be easier as far as weather. Tough to tell. I never did, but I was blinded in WY and had to stop one night for a bit.

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Yardley..no way. My girlfriend and her family dwell there. Gotta love Yardley Ice House, and Isaac Newtons for beer selection. I almost moved out there too. ...hmm Yardley or SLC?

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Originally Posted by SteelPSUer

Yardley..no way. My girlfriend and her family dwell there. Gotta love Yardley Ice House, and Isaac Newtons for beer selection. I almost moved out there too. ...hmm Yardley or SLC?

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If you stay in Yardley, you need to say hi to like 500 people for me. :wink:
Never made it back for my 10 year HS reunion, Pennsbury '92.



I think you will like a skiing here just a bit better than Blue Mountain, Camelback, Jack Frost, Big Boulder or Shawnee, Ski Roundtop, 7 Springs, Wisp. Just a bit though. :wink: :p

Be safe out here man! The snow will be here whether you do it in 3 days or 5. It is a long drive solo. Be careful.


PM me when you are out here. Spent a lot of time up in Pittsburg to party from WVU. Not like I needed to leave WVU to party, but had some good friends go to Pitt, plus a chick I :cool: up there. Hehe. Then I met my wife and never looked back!! :D :D :D

Go Eagles!! :rolleyes:

Only football team I like is WVU!


edit: There is a bar in Newtown I frequented but can't remember the name. Yummy beers!

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Originally Posted by Buzzworthy

If you stay in Yardley, you need to say hi to like 500 people for me. :wink:
Never made it back for my 10 year HS reunion, Pennsbury '92.



I think you will like a skiing here just a bit better than Blue Mountain, Camelback, Jack Frost, Big Boulder or Shawnee, Ski Roundtop, 7 Springs, Wisp. Just a bit though. :wink: :p

Be safe out here man! The snow will be here whether you do it in 3 days or 5. It is a long drive solo. Be careful.


PM me when you are out here. Spent a lot of time up in Pittsburg to party from WVU. Not like I needed to leave WVU to party, but had some good friends go to Pitt, plus a chick I :cool: up there. Hehe. Then I met my wife and never looked back!! :D :D :D

Go Eagles!! :rolleyes:

Only football team I like is WVU!


edit: There is a bar in Newtown I frequented but can't remember the name. Yummy beers!

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Cool man. I learned to ski at Seven Springs. THis is my second season in UT working at the Canyons. Its good to know there are some PA transplants in the area. I may end up staying for good this time if all goes according to plan.

WVU is looking way better than my Nittany Lions these days. :confused:

Stoy is a Jack Froster, Bum Z is a Ski Roundtoper, Hardrider and Tyrone are from PA, Kush is back and forth out in Tahoe area, there is a ton of us, alot I am missing. Powho is from Michigan, 13 too, Skiguide from Maine, Logan Andy from VT, way more. Crinkle in Co is a Philly dude. Tons man. I should have stuck with skiing, all the good skiers are from PA.

There must be some reason we all moved west. Just can't put my finger on it. :biggrin:

Well this is it..im leaving tomorrow (Nov8) ...looks like its I80 the whole way. I dont think I can make it in 3 days on I70...i cant drive more than 10 hrs a day. I think im stopping in Davenport, IA and Ogallala, NE. Im gonna scope out the weather before I take on Wyoming, if its sketchy im gonna head south.

See all you Utards soon!

PS. Here we go Steelers, Here we go....

Drive safe man. I80 is the way to go. Drove I35 to Des Moines from MSP and then took I80 the whole way here. Kind of a weird feeling to be on a highway that runs through P.C. from so far away.

Yo steel, I've done the NY to Utah twice and the only adice I got is that if you stay in Salina Kansas spend the extra cash and get a nice hotel. Me and my girl stayed there for about twenty minutes, and after woke up with some kind of weird bites all over our bodies-Sketch shit.
Have a great trip, its a fun trip.

Oh yeah, Steel,
See as many cities you can.
Skip Prairie dog land.
Get gas whenever you can in Wy.
And stay away from Fentanyl.(At least don't drive on the shit)

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Originally Posted by Buzzworthy

There must be some reason we all moved west.

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Hmmm.... As I sit here in lovely Penndel, PA I can't quite figure out why...

It's only 2 days...no way is it three!....Angola Indiana (just out of Ohio) to Denver is only 1 day...ok it was a long day but a day.....just set crise for 10 over, no more and only stop for gass and you'll be there in 24 hours or less...

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Originally Posted by Buzzworthy

Stoy is a Jack Froster, Bum Z is a Ski Roundtoper, Hardrider and Tyrone are from PA, Kush is back and forth out in Tahoe area, there is a ton of us, alot I am missing. Powho is from Michigan, 13 too, Skiguide from Maine, Logan Andy from VT, way more. Crinkle in Co is a Philly dude. Tons man. I should have stuck with skiing, all the good skiers are from PA.

There must be some reason we all moved west. Just can't put my finger on it. :biggrin:

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Despite carving my first turns at Squaw down the Palisades at the tneder age of 3 (or maybe it was Bailey's Beach...I forget), I learned to ski at 7 Springs as well...anyone else remember the "Rat Pack" there around 1992-1996? Makes me cring thinking of how hard we used to hit the ice ruts/VW bumps on Goosebumps and Avalanche and Stowe.

A nationwide cellphone with free nights/weekends(with a headset of course) helps - call everyone you ever knew - helps those hours pass - I haven't used satellite radio yet and don't know how good the coverage thru the wastelands is, but may be a thought.. Radar detector doesn't hurt. Super-8's are always good for free ice.. :wink:

Rat pack! Holy shit, I've heard of/met a few of those guys, I think. Remind me of who they are.

I still hit those icy ass vw sized bumps on Stowe and Goosebumps whenever possible. Good times.

SteelPSUer, guess you're on the road now. [Funny man] "Catch you on the flip side."[fm] Lucky bastard, moving to Utah the day after watching the Stillers spank on T.O. and the Iggles in person.

rat pack at the springs? i'm not sure i know who you mean? i graduated from a pgh area high school in '95 and was up there just about every weekend for a few years.

was the rat pack something like that old guy juan who used to ride around on a monoboard now and then, or that old guy matt who used to always ski the bumps wearing a hat that looked "where's waldo"-esque? this was back in the days when the ski patrol would stop anybody who would leave the snow or had any kind of attitude. we'd have a jump on some days with a short in-run that started up by the condo buildings, ran across that green circle slop and then jumped through the pine trees onto goosebumps. good times. slapper, hard landings- but good times.

me and my buddies had our own nicknames for a bunch of those regular types... also had nicknames for the lifites. somewhere around my apartment i have a t-shirt with a picture of a guy who was always on the stowe lift. his nickname was "teeth covered in pig's twat juice" or "them teeth is so yellow i can't believe it's not buttah".

i remember fondly my last encounter with lars, the year he stopped recording the ski report updates. think i actually have a recording of his last-ever report also. guy is a legend, a goddamn machine. you know he's sweedish? i may have to dig up some old stoke if this kind of seven springs revival continues...

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Originally Posted by acostiga

rat pack at the springs? i'm not sure i know who you mean? i graduated from a pgh area high school in '95 and was up there just about every weekend for a few years.

was the rat pack something like that old guy juan who used to ride around on a monoboard now and then, or that old guy matt who used to always ski the bumps wearing a hat that looked "where's waldo"-esque? this was back in the days when the ski patrol would stop anybody who would leave the snow or had any kind of attitude. we'd have a jump on some days with a short in-run that started up by the condo buildings, ran across that green circle slop and then jumped through the pine trees onto goosebumps. good times. slapper, hard landings- but good times.

me and my buddies had our own nicknames for a bunch of those regular types... also had nicknames for the lifites. somewhere around my apartment i have a t-shirt with a picture of a guy who was always on the stowe lift. his nickname was "teeth covered in pig's twat juice" or "them teeth is so yellow i can't believe it's not buttah".

i remember fondly my last encounter with lars, the year he stopped recording the ski report updates. think i actually have a recording of his last-ever report also. guy is a legend, a goddamn machine. you know he's sweedish? i may have to dig up some old stoke if this kind of seven springs revival continues...

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Juan is still around. He's a funny guy. Full of back seat arm swingin' monoboard bump steeze. Not sure who Matt is. There are a bunch of older bump skiers on Mamba's. I think one of the older ones may be Matt. Not sure though. The rat pack was a bunch of teenaged kids that spent a lot of time in the park and the bumps, I think. I know some formerly WPRC kids, and they said there used to be a big rivalry between the WPRC racers and the rat pack people. It sounded amusing to me.

Refresh my memory, does Dick Barron do the snow report now?

yep, dick baron. not nearly cool as the way lars used to say "wo-dults" or "barespots and limitations does exist" during his reports.

the park didn't exist when i was in high school. we had to torture ourselves on the ice bumps, and get ski safety lectures in the old hut that was next to the little pond where the new willi's building stands.

the racer kids were a primarily a bunch of douchebags. i think it was just last year that i saw a kid at fatheads who used to always be up there, i think he and his buddies called their posse something like "fita". it was funny because he totally remembered me and my roomate- and we laughed about all of the stupid shit we used to do back in the day.

the fondest memories, however, are of those freezing cold friday night fights with the busloads of school groups. so many starter jackets and blaze orange overalls. hot damn.

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Originally Posted by acostiga

the fondest memories, however, are of those freezing cold friday night fights with the busloads of school groups. so many starter jackets and blaze orange overalls. hot damn.

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I was on those buses myself back in the day, and I even remember skiing with none other than LaneMeyer. Mr. Herschel (sp?), our piss drunk 'chaperone' was hysterical.

My little brother knows Juan, we still ski there together every xmas. I'll be at the springs on some 1995 gear around the holidays.

Lars Skylling snow reports were the best. "Conditions are groomed granular surface on most of our slopes and trails."