Good luck making it in 15 hours. I went to school in Boulder and have done the round trip drive 3 times. Every time it's taken me 20 hours. What's wierd is that it always seems to take that long regardless of how fast I choose to go. I'm not sure which route you'll be taking, but I always went 80 to Wyoming and dropped down from there. I made the drive straight one time and the other times stopped in/around Salt Lake overnight. If you've got any more questions feel free to ask.

-Brian

 

traffic info? find the local AM stations in the area. and then find like the KGO equivalent.

i just did the fremont to downtown portland last month. i did tons of pre-prep like finding gas stations and stuff.

i just did a fremont to denver (you didnt say your start and stop cities) route and it says 20 hours and 1288 miles.

 

I'd suggest you should count on having AT LEAST 20 hours driving (never mind eating, peeing, filling with gas, etc...) to get to Boulder like Brian said.

Hopping on I-80 to Cheyenne then south to Boulder is the most direct, but probably the least scenic, and certainly the "most boring roads" route possible.

A similar travel time can be made taking 50 from Fallon NV to Salina UT then taking 70 to Denver, this is far more scenic and a lot less traffic, although depending on the time of day you get there, the Denver to Boulder slog can be nasty with traffic.

But if you can possibly afford the time, I'd highly suggest spending an extra day or two checking out backroads in southern Utah and the Colorado Rockies.

Arches National Park and Canyondland have some really cool stuff to see (although it can be hot there this time of year).

And there are some really awesome mountain passes and side trips in the Rockies that are well worth taking the extra time to check out.

Maybe it's just me, but I'd much rather spend 4 days exploring fun roads than spending half that time sitting in the car tooling down the Interstate with the cruise control on.

Averaging 90 is a nice idea, but only practical for an hour or two at a time between towns in Nevada, anywhere else you will encounter traffic and have no choise but to slow down, so you'd need to spend considerable time well in excess of 90 to make it up, and even in Nevada they won't hesitate to write a ticket if you get caught going 90, in Utah you might wind up spending a night in jail



As for "safe or not"? I'd have to say trying to average 90 falls distinctly in the "not safe" catagory, and really, driving more than 12 hours straight is getting into an unsafe realm in itself.

Personally I've done a lot of massive marathon drives, (the Alcan 5000 rally in 2000 and 2002, 16 hour Pan-Am rallies in southern cal, my parents live in Montana and I've been known to make that a day trip, stuff like that,) but even I won't try to push much beyond a thousand miles in one stretch without stopping for a few hours of rest, and certainly wouldn't suggest that you should either.

 

no change from san jose to boulder (like an hour away from denver).

it's boring. make sure you check with gas since there's a spot in northern nevada that might be tricky.

80 is quickest. kalif to nevada to utah, then wyoming then heading south to boulder...

 

i drove back from denver to oakland once and it took me 18 hours. its not a drive u want to do yourself. so boring!

 

I wouldn't try to do it solo in one stretch. The only time I did it in one shot was with someone else who drove for an hour while I slept. I drove the other 19 hours and I really shouldn't have been behind the wheel for hours 15 - 18 (~3AM to sunrise). The nighttime driving is much harder than the daytime driving IMO. I'd suggest going to Salt Lake and staying somewhere on the outskirts for the night. It's a LOT easier breaking it into a 12 hour chunk and another 8 hour chunk. Trust me.

-Brian

P.S. Make sure you load up on the SWEEET fireworks in Wyoming. They'll come in handy later in the year...trust me!

 

A radar detector you mean?

It only tells you when someone is using radar near you, if there is lots of traffic or if the troopers are cruising with radar on continuously, a good radar detector will let you know well in advance of them measuring your speed, so that you should be driving the speed limit when they do get a lock on you.

If there isn't much traffic and they are using "instant on" radar or laser, no detector made can help you out there.

But laser and radar are not the only tools used by the law, they have planes, stopwatches, and other means- especially on I-80 in CA they write a lot of the citations based on pacing, if they have to drive over 80 to catch up with you, you are toast.

Also, I'd suggest that you might re-consider your comment about scenic routes, Highway 1 is admittedly one of the classic "scenic" routes, but it is also one of the hairy-est twisty-est and slowest RV laden roads around.

On the other hand going to Colorado via 50 and I-70 is wide open valleys, gently twisting mountain passes and mountains on the horizon with NO traffic most of the way to Colorado, then it climbs into the western slope of the Rockies up Glenwood Canyon and past Vail before the Tunnel and descent to Denver.
For Nevada and Utah there is practically no police presence on this route (especially in comparison to I-80) so I would still strongly reccomend that over 80.

 

It's probably about the same travel time, 1261 miles via I80 vs 1255 via 50 and 70, and you can pretty well keep interstate pace on 50, just be sure to stop in Fallon for a full tank of Gas (the next town, Austin has criminally expensive gas prices) and throw a couple of gallons in at Eureka (still a little pricy, but better than Austin) if you have any question of making it to Ely on what you have when you get there.

 

Go to a AAA office....they have services that will plan your route for you, however you wanna go....(ex. scenic route, fastest route, easiest route, etc.) and the service is free, plus they will provide you with road maps too!

-Ted