Driving To Disney On Interstate 5

[tinkerbelt]

The Grapevine is closed right now, but they're saying that it should re-open tomorrow.

 

[pixiewings71]

Well Let's all really hope that this once every decade type event, is going to be over with in the next little while...by the time we all go, it will be back to sunny, dry and warmish!

I'm with you Smiley!!!

 

[KelsiesMommy]

Glad to know Im not the only one trying to find alternate routes..
anyhow.. I leave Saturday 20th.. yeah.. its snowing now in Portland.. and more due on Saturday.. I will drive south to Salem on Friday to meet my DD and her DH. Pack the car.. and.. leave early Sat am.
I dont think I really want to drive the pass.. scares the gabeezzies out of me...
so.. I am looking at linking up in GrantsPass.. to 199 to go to Crescent City Ca. From there it will be HWY101.. south.. I will take that until I link up with I-20. I20 to I5 http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/do1map.htm
Once I am on I5 I will stay on I5 till Bakersfield I am thinking of going across on 58 to about Edwards then I will head south.. I DO NOT LIKE THE GRAPEVINE.. Trying to figure out if it is ok.. I think linking up to Anaheim via the east... kind a backway in to avoid some of the traffic things.. but then.. who knows what happens once I get south of the Oregon boarder... ..
Love to hear others input please...

Only problem with that is the 58 is closed too- we're tsupposed to leave for Vegas tomorrow from Bakersfield, and we're stuck in the valley...

 

[smiley_face2]

Glad to know Im not the only one trying to find alternate routes..
anyhow.. I leave Saturday 20th.. yeah.. its snowing now in Portland.. and more due on Saturday.. I will drive south to Salem on Friday to meet my DD and her DH. Pack the car.. and.. leave early Sat am.
I dont think I really want to drive the pass.. scares the gabeezzies out of me...
so.. I am looking at linking up in GrantsPass.. to 199 to go to Crescent City Ca. From there it will be HWY101.. south.. I will take that until I link up with I-20. I20 to I5 http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/do1map.htm
Once I am on I5 I will stay on I5 till Bakersfield I am thinking of going across on 58 to about Edwards then I will head south.. I DO NOT LIKE THE GRAPEVINE.. Trying to figure out if it is ok.. I think linking up to Anaheim via the east... kind a backway in to avoid some of the traffic things.. but then.. who knows what happens once I get south of the Oregon boarder... ..
Love to hear others input please...

I'm thinking, why don't you go back over to the coast rather than inland? Do you think it would really save a lot of time to go back to the I5.... what about just staying on the 101 from Grants Pass/Crescent City, right down to LA? I know it makes it a much longer trip... and driving the coast in winter with the fog can be really slow going.... I'm going to be doing a lot of research on this topic in the next couple of weeks....

 

[jmqidoc]

My reasons for going back over to I5.. one is to link up with a good friend for a evening.. the other is.. I am trying to avoid the LA traffic.. I think if i can enter to Anaheim via the east... It will be a much nicer ride..
6 of one 1/2 dozen of another... go figure.

 

[disneychrista]

Looks like 5 has reopened through the grapevine. This is something that I am keeping an eye on, we leave on Tuesday and lot of cold rainy weather is still to come.

 

[disneegrl4eva]

Looks like 5 has reopened through the grapevine. This is something that I am keeping an eye on, we leave on Tuesday and lot of cold rainy weather is still to come.

hmmm I would double check on that...I live 5 hours north of DL and have to cross the grapevine and we have signs all over our freeway that there is still a detour around the 5...we have to take 152 to 101S...so if we are getting that then that makes me think they havent actually reopened 5 yet....

 

[Melb]

I'm thinking, why don't you go back over to the coast rather than inland? Do you think it would really save a lot of time to go back to the I5.... what about just staying on the 101 from Grants Pass/Crescent City, right down to LA? I know it makes it a much longer trip... and driving the coast in winter with the fog can be really slow going.... I'm going to be doing a lot of research on this topic in the next couple of weeks....

We made the 101 drive from Crescent City to LA and it took us 2x as long as the 5

 

[disneychrista]

hmmm I would double check on that...I live 5 hours north of DL and have to cross the grapevine and we have signs all over our freeway that there is still a detour around the 5...we have to take 152 to 101S...so if we are getting that then that makes me think they havent actually reopened 5 yet....

CalTrans has recently added this

SOME ICY SPOTS FROM 4 MI NORTH OF THE JCT OF SR 126 /AT LAKE HUGHES ROAD/
(LOS ANGELES CO) TO THE LOS ANGELES/KERN CO LINE /THE GRAPEVINE/ - MOTORISTS
ARE ADVISED TO DRIVE WITH CAUTION

This morning they said closed, earlier this afternoon nothing and now this.

 

[smiley_face2]

We made the 101 drive from Crescent City to LA and it took us 2x as long as the 5

Oh absolutely! it is something you do for the scenery but....if the I5 is closed, or has very treacherous driving conditions, then you don't have much choice. If you have to go really slowly because it is so bad, then you won't be "saving" time with the I5... Like Jmqidoc said... 6 of one, half dozen of the other. Unless of course it is actually closed, then you don't have a choice and in that case it's searching for the quickest, safest easiest route.

 

[smiley_face2]

Here are a few pics I just got from the webcams 15-20 mins. agao
This is the Siskiyou summit

and a wee bit south of the summit, Hilt

The Grapevine

Yreka, just south of the Oregon California border

and last but not least, the reason for even considering making your way through all of that.... Disneyland right at sunset, from the HoJo webcam...

 

[DisneyCruiser2008]

We are planning on driving to DL tomorrow (Friday) afternoon... we're coming from Modesto, so I am concerned about the Grapevine... is there a website that I can check right before we leave to see what the conditions are on the Grapevine? Also -- if it is closed, what do you guys suggest as an alternate rooute? We've only driven down south in the spring and summer.... but we're really wanting to see DL at Christmastime.....

 

[GregC]

I am wondering if it will be cool by then as well. The weather for Gorman and Lebec shows no more rain or snow fall til monday and only a small percentage at that until later in the week. Keep your fingers crossed

 

[LavenderPeach]

We are planning on driving to DL tomorrow (Friday) afternoon... we're coming from Modesto, so I am concerned about the Grapevine... is there a website that I can check right before we leave to see what the conditions are on the Grapevine? Also -- if it is closed, what do you guys suggest as an alternate rooute? We've only driven down south in the spring and summer.... but we're really wanting to see DL at Christmastime.....

As far as I know, they only close the grapevine if it's snowing so you should be fine since there's no rain/snow in the forecast for tomorrow. I guess it was on another thread where someone posted a good site for looking at road closures. I don't have the link but I believe it was somewhere on California's website and you can type in what freeway you want and it tells you about closures so maybe you can go there and find it or maybe someone else has the link. There also used to be a phone number that you could call, maybe through caltrans(?) that can give you the same info. Maybe if you google it you can find the number and call it while on the road too. But honestly, i wouldn't worry too much about it for tomorrow. My experience has also been that it is usually only closed during the night and early morning. Not that they couldn't close it other times if the weather was bad but that's when the closures usually happen i think. HTH! Sorry i don't actually have the link or the phone number but google should be able to help you find them.

 

[disneychrista]

You can check current conditions here Cal Trans Website

 

[NStramler]

We always use:
cad.chp.ca.gov

Then we check the Bakersfield Area and it will say what is happening on Interstate 5 and Highway 58. Also, by clicking on the other areas you can see weather, accidents, etc.

 

[smiley_face2]

this is a handy website for checking your travel, it has links to all the highway webcams in California and Oregon, all the different roads as well as the I5. Nothing like seeing it with your own eyes to figure out if you can make it or not! The Siskiyou cam looks really bad still.

http://www.medfordfuel.com/Medford_...w.medfordfuel.com/Interstate_5_California.htm

Here's the website with the actual cameras so you can see what they all look like...and at the bottom of the page are links to sites with hourly California road information, closures etc.

 

[BurnsideMommy]

J8D - Sorry I didn't see this before. How cool that there's another DIS'er in Corvallis!

Good luck to you in this weather. Safe driving!

We typically stop in Santa Nella on our way down. It's a bit of a trek - more than halfway, but we like to get south enough of Sacramento. The trip usually takes us about 14 hours. However in the snow it took us 21-22. In Santa Nella (it's exit 430 I believe, CA starts at exit 796 or something, and Disneyland is exit 110B - I dont know why I remember these), we like the Holiday Inn Express. We've stayed at the Best Western too, and for an extra $10 a night the H.I. is MUCH nicer, with continental breakfast at both.

On the way back we've stayed in Red Bluff - yuck. The Travelodge there was the only thing with vacancy. It's a poor, run down town and the hotel was dirty. We've stayed in Redding and prefer it there much better.

This last trip I think we left town later than usual around 11am, or maybe it was noon? I want to say we were in Santa Nella by 9pm? It's roughly 10 hours away.

I think Redding is pretty much a central point. I would really stay on I-5 instead of 101, even though the Siskyou can get messy, the 101 is not a road I'd recommend in winter with or without this blizzard. Hopefully the pass will be open, and I5 too for that matter since the've both been closed on & off

We have a 4x4 suv too, and we slid around very little, but there were some semi drivers FLYING past us, and front wheel drive cars with no chains flying past us too. It's the over-confident folks and those who cant drive in the snow that slowed our trip down the most. They made us very nervous, and later we'd see them in the ditch.

Best of luck to you! Have a GREAT trip.

 

[disneychrista]

So how are the conditions on the grapevine now? CalTrans says icy conditions and windy. Anyone driven it the last couple days?

We will be heading down on Tuesday, hiting the grapevine area (if we go 5) at about 12-noon. I am concerned about the ice and high winds. Also the chance of more snow in the coming days.

 

[jmqidoc]

WHoo Hooo we made it..
We left Salem on Saturday morning about 7am. Drove South.. as we left Salem.. snow was falling.. not too bad.. a little slick but doable. continued on I5 till Grants Pass.. where we met up with my SNL friend.. had lunch at the Heaven and Earth cafe. (just north of Grants pass) .. hit the road about noonish.. since there was snow and ice on the road.. I didnt want to continue onto the Siskious.. instead did what I was thinking of.. and drove 199 west to Crescent City... LONG LONG LONG drive... we drove until 9pm when we stopped in Williams.. just off I5.. north of Sacramento at the Holiday Inn express.. excellent hotel.. full buffet breakfast.. biscuit gravey yoguart., bacon, scrambled eggs. milk bla bla bla ..enough to sooth the savage beastie in us..
Hit the road at 9am. a hour later than we had wished.
drove south on 5.. traffic was nuts... decided to link up with connection east 58. to Mojave. to 258.something to .to Palmdale. I15.south.. down back side of LA.. thank goodness... drove in slow lane with the trucks.. yeah.. came into LA I15 to 10.. .. arrived Disney.. to our simple motel Super 8 checked in at 9pm.. whoot.. just got back from going to DTD... Rainforest cafe. a few Myers Rum/coke.. now about ready for sleep..

got a few picks. if itsok with y-all ill post em a tad later.. Im in need of some sleep..
Just side note.. in talking with another family this morning at breakfast.. they said they did the Siskious.. said drivign was dicy.. drove like 35 mph.. saw one car spinn out.. sorry but not my cup of tea.
even tho my trip added a large amount of time to our trip.. my sanity is there. and we are here in one piece.... yeah...
Glad we got out of Portland when we did... heard there is like 8 + inches of snow at the house.. augh.. on top of that.. ICE>. yuck..

please all.. drive carefully..