A friend who is recovering from a collapsed lung needs a low-altitude driving route from San Diego, CA, to Madison, WI.
A friend who is recovering from a collapsed lung needs to drive from San Diego, CA, to Madison, WI, to begin graduate studies. Her doctor says she cannot fly in an airplane, and that she must find a low-altitude route from San Diego to Madison. I don't see any route that wouldn't take her up to 4500 feet. Is there a way?
Reply to this Only thing I could imagine would be I-8 out of San Diego to I-10, taking that to Dallas/Ft. Worth. Then head north on I-35 to Minneapolis to I-94 east to Madison. That said, with a quick look on some maps such as www.usgs.gov, I didn't get a strong sense you would avoid the Rockies by going that far south - that route just seemed to be the most likely route. Anything further north would take you into the Rockies and to at least 4500 foot altitude.
Other than that, I can only imagine finding a route that went into Mexico to avoid the Rockies.
Reply to this Thanks. As far as I can tell, the only way to stay below 4000 while crossing the continental divide is to go all the way down to Oaxaca, Mexico.
Reply to this Sorry I wasn't much help...I took that route some time back and it seemed low, but apparently not low enough! Well, going to Oaxaca would be quite a storyteller trip, though I realize not the best circumstances. It seems, unfortunately, the answer to your question is no, at least not without a lot of compromise. Is there any give from your doctor? Any suggestions he/she has given the situation?
Reply to this Well, turns out... I originally thought staying well below 4000 ft elevation was a strict requirement but my friend's not sure that it is, that the doctors implied that she just needs to minimize going up to high altitudes. So going down to Oaxaca won't be necessary. She'll just go through Tucson, AZ, and southern NM.
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