You Can't Get There From Here

[vakkotaur]

Well, I can get there from here, but I have to go somewhere else first. But which somewhere else works out best?

I've been looking at how to get from Fairmont, MN to Red Oak, IA (which is near Nodaway and is big enough to have a motel) and I've gotten some interesting results. Yahoo Maps suggests I take highway 71 down through Iowa, but that's not a good for two reasons. First, it's a two lane road that goes through many towns that slow things down and second the bit at the end of my trip is closed. Even if it were open, that would take an estimated six and a half hours. That estimate also assumes I never stop for food or gas or such, which will not be the case.

An obvious alternative is to go to Des Moines and take I-80 to highway 148 and then take that down to US 34. This would still take a bit over six hours.

Another choice would be to go to Sioux Falls and take I-29 south and make my way to US 34. This has less backtracking east and west (or west and east) than the Des Moines route as well as more (and higher) Interstate speed. The result is an estimated four and a half hours of travel.

I hadn't planned on going to Sioux Falls, Sioux City, and Omaha (well, Council Bluffs) but that seems to be the best route. Besides the time savings, it means that I'll be driving east to Red Oak in the afternoon or evening and have the sun behind me.

Comments

[wendyzski.livejournal.com]

Getting to KC from Chicago is much like that - you can either go via St. Louis or via Des Moines.

[nefaria.livejournal.com]

Why not just gallop there?

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

The distance is too large for that. Galloping is for relatively short bursts of speed, a long haul calls for trotting.

[foolscap001.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. Google maps says it's 4 hours 16 minutes from Fairmont to Osceola, but then, they say it's 2 hours 12 minutes from there to Red Oak. Drat...it's that last stretch that gets you (and it's only 80 miles?!).

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

Interesting, isn't it? I suppose US 34 is a two lane highway with a lower speed limit which drops lower for the towns it goes through.

I've got a choice to make about routing, still. I can take I-29 all the way down to US 34, which means I go right through Council Bluffs likely sometime around 5 PM. It's a simple route, but it might not be a good one. The other choice is to almost go Council Bluffs and then take I-280 (I think) to I-80 and take US 59 south to US 34. That might be slower according to speed limits, but possibly much less stressful considering the time of day.

[kinkyturtle.livejournal.com]

280? I think you mean 680.

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

Yep, 680.