advice for military relocation driving route

It's 3,000 miles no matter how you slice it. For myself I would avoid the I-94 route BUT I would really watch and pay attention to the weather.

My preferred choice would be I-64 to I-70 west going north in Kansas (pick your own route) to I-80 west to Little America (exit 66 in Wyoming) and then going on route 30 to McCammon Id (you miss SLC and that weather) and then across the bottom of ID on I-84 up through Kennewick Wa to Seattle.

As I said, have him pay attention to the weather.

 

Try playing with Mapquest or Google maps.

As Mgfg said, the most direct route is a 3000 ride and will take your son through some states that are prone to nastier weather at this time of the year. If he isn't under a strict schedule, he can stay put on bad days until things clear up.

A more southerly route, due west to Bakersfield, CA, then north to Bremerton would add a little over 800 miles to the trip but might yield better weather. He can also sample the 72 oz steak in Amarillo and In-N-Out burgers in Bakersfield. Yippee!

 

MGFG has given you a pretty good route. Just make sure he avoids driving in NW Montana this time of year. Those passes can (and do) get bad.

 

Ha! This time of year you should take 95 south to 10. Take 10 to California and then jump on 5 and go all the way north!

 

OK,,,heres how I'd do it.

Run 81 south to 40 west. He doesn't even want to be on 80 or 91 at all. 70 thru to Denver isn't a good winter route either.
Look at an atlas and track this...run 40 to 93 in AZ xit# 48. Take 93 N. to Vegas. Run 15 No. to 95 north to Reno. Catch 395 No. from Reno into CA. toward Susanville,CA. At ALTURAS, CA. take 299 to CANBY & 139 into Oregon towards Klamath Falls. (139 becomes 39)

AT Klamath Falls, he can check the weather and decide there if he's gonna take 97 north to 58 to I-5 N.,,,,OR,,,,take 140 (the fishlake highway) over to 5 at Medford.

Be advised that from Susanville, Ca to I-5 is 2 lane. Its a prefered bad weather route for me because folks that know what they are doing go that way, and very few that don't,,,don't.
FYI,
Both my kids are in the military and that's how I'd tell them to go. The last place I'd want them to be is be on I-5 going over the Siskiyous into Medford in a storm! It'l be a parking-lot.

Tell him to get a set of cable chains and learn to "hang-em" before he heads out.

Hooah!
R.

 

Don't mess with the weather this time of year. It's too unpredictable.
Take the southern route I-81 to I-40. Even if it adds a day.
I-70 isn't that bad either. Crossing the Rockies at Vale, CO isn't that bad if there's no storm at the time.

This is a military relocation. He gets paid for it. And rather well I might add. I might even stop at Disney World!

 

Yer Welcome!

 

Sorry I forgot this...
If he chooses the route I lined-out, advise him to NOT drive that country from Reno north after dark or before sun-up. The deer stand beside the road in small herds like they are waiting on a bus. A friend of mine even hit a cow one night. It's beautiful country with alot of nice people.

The biggest thing in his routing decisions should be how to get North of the Siskiyous before he heads
west of the Sierras, or Cascades. Oregon has a great website that will show all the passes in real time.
You could watch the reports and tell him via cellphone which route looks the best each day.
Even if it adds an extra day of driving, that's way better than sitting stranded on some highway.

Any of the routes mentioned by any of us could be very good, or very bad depending on the weather.

Be safe & thank him for his service!
R.