Ok the loving husband has decided that a road trip to for me to meet his mother is in order . We will be leaving sunny (not at the moment) California on March 31 and heading to Penrose CO for a week of memorable moments im sure.


So my question is can anybody give me an idea on what the weather will be like?? I will ask closer to that date but at this moment i hate the idea of having to buy the kids a new wardrobe for a week long "vacation".

As much as we would enjoy seeing other MINIS in our MINI we will not be bringing Angel on this trip. We are kicking around the idea of roadtripping to MINIs on the Mountain in Aug.

Thanks for the help

Heather

 

Here goes. my parents just took I-80 from Nebraska to Redding, CA. 3 days and as many snow storms later they have made it there. However looks like you will arrive on the east side of the Rockies and should have better conditions there. I doubt it will be that cold. However, as my Army recruiter said 20 years ago.....expect the worst and you wont be disapointed.

 

Fact is, March and April are still like winter around here, if it is storming. Otherwise, they are a lot like spring as the air is warmer. If you are on I-70 that gives you the very best odds, no matter what. Reason being, that is one of only two Interstates in Colorado, and no matter what - - - the road must stay open. And it does. The ONLY time the road closes is when there is SO MUCH snow that they cannot get it plowed fast enough. And that is usually only a matter of hours.

Two years ago on my way to AMVIV at the end of March it did snow a good measurable amount. While there was snow on the road in places, the most severe was over Vail pass, east of Vail. Even so, with a snowpacked road the traffic moves along fine, albeit at a much slower pace. PP around here are just not stopped by snow - you expect it. The other issue was cold that year as it was below zero at the top of the pass. Under those circumstances your waher jets will freeze and be inoperative. We had bottled water for just those occasions and when we got back to the lower valleys, they worked again just fine. Same thing with your NAV if you have it. Not operative at very cold temps.

We did not have snow tires or anything - just OEM runflats. Not a problem on the MINI.

Do it. Make the drive. Wear layers but don't buy stuff. Bring gloves, even light cotton ones and something for the head. Good shoes (not heels) in case you need to get out (who drives in heels, anyway??).

The weather forecasts are accurate. It is not hard to predict where and when the snow will be and the highway crews know exactly what to do about it.

Hope you enjoy the trip. Send a note to info@MINI5280.org and Rick the President can tell you if there are going to be MINIs in your area at the time.

Thanks for asking, welcome to Colorful Colorado!!

JPS