Downshifting - you gotta know it ----- Avoiding hills is simply not an option. Mountain driving is a lot like a roller coaster. It works really hard going up a long, long uphill, and then on the long downhill, **gravity takes it** and it goes like a rocket. On mountain driving, *especially with trucks*, you will *often* find yourself needing brakes just to avoid exceeding the speed limit. **This is a huge problem**. *"Why?"*, you say. *"I can push the brake all day."* Maybe, but it won't work for long. Brakes are made for stopping at red lights, not descending long grades, and they will overheat, **warp** (which means a $400 bill on a car replacing them), **fade** (meaning they will lose braking power) and stop working, and you're a juggernaut. Happens all the time with trucks, and that's why they have runaway ramps. If a cop catches you smoking a truck's brakes down a grade, he'll pull you over and not let you drive further, easier for him than scraping your body off a cliff. Enter the **gears you never use on your shifter** - P R N D ***3 2 1***, those. You have noticed when you lift off the gas on your car, the car "feels a little bit draggy", like it's actively being slowed down. If you select a lower gear (and you *can* select them while moving), it will become *more draggy*. Quite a lot more draggy the lower you go. **That is for descending long hills**. The way I explain this is to downshift enough that you don't need to use your brakes **at all**. You're in the zone when you need to use a little bit of gas to keep the vehicle at desired speed. That keeps you safe. Going uphill is hard too ----- With modern automatic transmissions, it's easy - just put it in top gear and push the gas until you're at the top of the hill. (***then*** downshift.) However, there's a different gotcha -- this will make the engine much warmer than you're used to. **Running this *and air conditioning too* can overheat your car/truck**. So you have to keep a close eye on your "Engine temp" gauge. First, you must know what "normal" looks like, so you must learn to watch it ordinarily. Then, on up-hill sections, keep an eye for it. If it climbs a little bit, no big deal, but if it climbs any more, turn off the A/C immediately -- most likely the overheat will cure itself. Different deal going downhill, blast the A/C, it's free and helps slow the vehicle. Routes: the Union Pacific way ------ Generally any viable route is going to take you through Laramie, Wyoming. From there, does the vehicle handle wind well? If so, proceed west on I-80, which was built through a terrible wind area. Otherwise take US-30 west via Medicine Bow, paralleling the original Union Pacific Railroad and rejoining I-80 near Rawlins. Wyoming is desolate, so be careful with fuel. Continue west on I-80 via the Wasatch range, paralleling the Union Pacific the entire way. It's the best route, and it's flatter, which is why UP chose it. Once in Utah, you'll hit a branch at Echo where I-84 turns northwest. **Take it**. It's your way anyway, and it's *much* flatter - still following Union Pacific. (Staying on I-80 will go an hour out of your way and put you on Parley's Summit, the worst grade on the entire 3000 mile length of I-80 - you certainly don't want to *learn* downshifting here!) Congratulations, you have crossed the Rockies the easy way (the Union Pacific way). From here, the only sensible road is I-84 west (actual northwest) - some time around Boise you should be planning your route into Oregon proper.