[saibot]

We'll be driving from Southern California to Oklahoma City in December, via I-40. We've been to Oklahoma before (have family there), but have always flown. And we'll be flying back this time; the purpose of driving out is to transfer a car from one place to the other. This isn't a sightseeing trip and we will mainly need to keep moving, but it seems like a shame if we can't stop somewhere for at least a couple of hours to see something new and interesting.

So, if there is anyone here who has made that drive and can recommend something we might enjoy, I'd appreciate it. Flagstaff? Albuquerque? We are "nature" people, so maybe the Petrified Forest? If you could only stop ONCE along this route to sightsee (sleeping overnight doesn't count), where would you stop?

Anything we should know about making this drive in later December, weather-wise? Thanks for any advice.

[eddie gein]

Oak Creek Canyon Flagstaff to Sedona and back.

[StillwaterTownie]

Originally Posted by saibot

Anything we should know about making this drive in later December, weather-wise? Thanks for any advice.

Yeah, better hope a snow storm doesn't come that is so heavy that part of I-40 has to be closed. Avoid trying to drive in heavy snow at night. In other words, avoid driving through white outs. It's too hard to see the snow covered road. I've done it once before and swore I would never do it again even though I made it home okay.

[saibot]

Originally Posted by StillwaterTownie

Yeah, better hope a snow storm doesn't come that is so heavy that part of I-40 has to be closed. Avoid trying to drive in heavy snow at night. In other words, avoid driving through white outs. It's too hard to see the snow covered road. I've done it once before and swore I would never do it again even though I made it home okay.

Yeah, that would be bad. We have little to no experience driving in snow!

[saibot]

Originally Posted by eddie gein

Oak Creek Canyon Flagstaff to Sedona and back.

That sounds like a great idea, if the weather is good (and I can talk my husband into a 2-hour detour)! Thanks.

[grampaTom]

Originally Posted by StillwaterTownie

Yeah, better hope a snow storm doesn't come that is so heavy that part of I-40 has to be closed. Avoid trying to drive in heavy snow at night. In other words, avoid driving through white outs. It's too hard to see the snow covered road. I've done it once before and swore I would never do it again even though I made it home okay.

Yes, watch the weather. Worst snow storm I was ever in was at Amarillo over Christmas years ago. Nothing moving on I-40.

[SluggoF16]

I drive the I-40 to Holbrook route almost every winter en route to Phoenix. I pick up I-40 at Amarillo, and have had to twice take the southern route through Tucson; when I lived in Tucson it was the other way, AZ to OK. I-40 has been closed a couple times in the past decade for a day or two due to snow, but normally the weather is clear, and of all the times I have done the trip, I have had to reroute once. Even then, I spent a day in Las Cruces because I-10 (!) was closed between Deming and Tucson, there are some higher-altitude areas subject to closure, and frankly the southern parts of AZ and NM are just not prepared or equipped the way they are on US 70 near Ruidoso. Every state from CA to OK has a web site that shows the road conditions, some are GIS-based and are very good at showing closures and road conditions, links below from my bookmarks. Plan ahead if you need to take I-10 through Tucson to either US 70 to Roswell or I-20 to the DFW area... it adds at least a half day.

In 2015 I had to leave the Phoenix area a day early to get ahead of the snow. The interstate was clear all the way but the subsequent ice storm and high winds left me somewhat without power in SW OK for a week; having learned the lessons of 2010, I have a generator that powers most of the home.

AZ: https://az511.com/

NM: https://nmroads.com/mapIndex.html?

TX: https://drivetexas.org/#/7/32.340/-99.500

OK: https://ok.maps.arcgis.com/apps/View...9ccfd58d92c3da

[saibot]

Originally Posted by SluggoF16

I drive the I-40 to Holbrook route almost every winter en route to Phoenix. I pick up I-40 at Amarillo, and have had to twice take the southern route through Tucson; when I lived in Tucson it was the other way, AZ to OK. I-40 has been closed a couple times in the past decade for a day or two due to snow, but normally the weather is clear, and of all the times I have done the trip, I have had to reroute once. Even then, I spent a day in Las Cruces because I-10 (!) was closed between Deming and Tucson, there are some higher-altitude areas subject to closure, and frankly the southern parts of AZ and NM are just not prepared or equipped the way they are on US 70 near Ruidoso. Every state from CA to OK has a web site that shows the road conditions, some are GIS-based and are very good at showing closures and road conditions, links below from my bookmarks. Plan ahead if you need to take I-10 through Tucson to either US 70 to Roswell or I-20 to the DFW area... it adds at least a half day.

In 2015 I had to leave the Phoenix area a day early to get ahead of the snow. The interstate was clear all the way but the subsequent ice storm and high winds left me somewhat without power in SW OK for a week; having learned the lessons of 2010, I have a generator that powers most of the home.

AZ: https://az511.com/

NM: https://nmroads.com/mapIndex.html?

TX: https://drivetexas.org/#/7/32.340/-99.500

OK: https://ok.maps.arcgis.com/apps/View...9ccfd58d92c3da

Thanks very much for this valuable info; I am going to save the links.

[StillwaterTownie]

Originally Posted by grampaTom

Yes, watch the weather. Worst snow storm I was ever in was at Amarillo over Christmas years ago. Nothing moving on I-40.

Years ago, one night shortly after I exited I-35 at Highway 51 during a heavy snowstorm, I-35 was closed north of Oklahoma City to no surprise of my own.

[bagster]

Stop in Amarillo for the big-steak challenge. If you can eat a 72oz steak, you get it free.

https://www.wideopeneats.com/big-texan-steak-challenge/