Driving to Florida in December

[Debbs]

We are going to Florida for Christmas. We have driven to Florida in the spring but never in the winter as we always drive I81-83-95. My husband doesnt want to drive the mountains in Pennsylvania in the winter. He thinks flying is the best idea but I think if we drive then we dont have the cost of airfare for 4 plus rental of a vehicle for 2 weeks plus. Does anyone have any other routes that would be easier but not to add another days drive. We're leaving from the Ottawa area.
Thanks for your help

 

[candielips]

In the winter we take the I75 route as it is pretty straight & not winding like the mountains.
I'm not sure though the best route to get you to the I75 from Ottawa.

 

[MCFADDEN5]

We drive in the winter every year. Check THE WEATHER NETWORK and it will do a USA Highway report and if there is a big storm leave earlier or later but we have never had a problem. My father in-law was leaving and saw that there was a storm coming throught the Detriot area on the way home. So they left 4 hours early and missed it.

 

[nepean]

We always drive 81-66-95 in December-January. The mountains in PA are usually fine. We have hit one freezing rain storm but they had lots of salt/sand trucks out. We did stop that night near Harrisburg about midnight. This was on the way home. The mountains take about 5 hours max and we have never had a problem. We are leaving on Dec 26 returning Jan 8. We do watch the weather reports. We have never had conditions in PA as severe as right here at home. The worse storm/roads was in NC. They don't have the equipment to handle the storm. The only cars on 95 were Cdns. and NY and PA. I wouldn't worry too much

Linda

 

[nokidz]

We drive down that route all the time. We have gone in Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan and Feb. Always check the weather for different locations along your route and adjust your timing accordingly.
Make sure you have snowtires on. Bring a few blankets and make sure you have lots of window washer fluid.
Take your time and dont get too stressed out.
We are going down mid Oct and returning mid November this year, then mid Feb to mid March 2010.

 

[Debbs]

where abouts do you get 66? I dont remember seeing that on our map

 

[nepean]

We take 81 straight through PA, Maryland, West Virginia into Virginia. 66 is a left hand exit of 81 in Virginia. You cross along the Blue Ridge and arrive at 95 at Fredericksburg VA south of Washington. You miss all the Washington traffic. 66 is a little tricky when you turn on 17 but it is well marked. You keep following the signs to Fredericksburg. My teen DD drove this section last winter and did not get lost. We leave around 6 am and arrive in Fredericksburg between 5-6pm.

Linda

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

In the winter we take the I75 route as it is pretty straight & not winding like the mountains.
I'm not sure though the best route to get you to the I75 from Ottawa.

I agree with you that I-75 is the best route to take, however I am not sure how to pick it up from Quebec.

 

[murcor]

At which point are you generally guaranteed good weather?

 

[Alderbrook]

We drove down end of Feb one year (2003 or 2004), trip down was fine, trip home was scary. Freak ice storm went thru South Carolina the day we were leaving FL. They are not equip to deal with ice & snow. We knew there had been a storm but didn't think anything of it, hey we're Canadian eh?? As we approached where the storm had gone thru, cars were everywhere, abandoned in ditches, on the medians, huge chunks of ice in the middle of the roads like iceburgs. It looked like a war zone. We had snow tires on so we were doing ok, until we hit an overpass with different highways merging onto it in Columbia. Cars & 18 wheelers were sliding everywhere & we were doing like 10 miles an hour. I thought for sure we were dead. Once we made it safely off the overpass we stopped at the next rest stop to calm our nerves & decide what to do next.

So moral of my story is remember that even though you're equipped to drive in the snow, states down south are not, they do not have access to sand, salt or snow plows. They were apparently going to wait until it thawed. That highway (Can't remember which one) should have been CLOSED if they couldn't care for it.

So while most people are afraid of the mountains (ya they're scary too, but we didn't have any problems, they were cleared off & we go thru Buff, Penn, the Virginias, S & N Carolina & Georgia & we've driven this way for years, since the early 1980's) just be aware of the bad weather everywhere & be prepared to stop.

Personally we wouldn't drive again in the winter after that, we'll fly.

 

[Alderbrook]

Sorry dble post

 

[nepean]

We also have hit a major storm in the Carolinas and they can and will shut down I-95. Once you get off you can't get back on and usually the road is snow covered only and we wouldn't have a problem the locals sure do. They even closed the malls and that to me is a big statement in the US. The malls are king and if they close the weather is horrible. We drive at least once a year in the winter and watch accurate weather and plan accordingly. We might leave the night before or wait it out. We have never had to stop but came close once. Usually the weather is fine.

Linda

 

[krazy4crusing]

We are from Toronto so we take the 1 75 but from Quebec the best route would probably be 1 95.

When we drove down in March 2008 we left in a HUGE snowstorm. It snowed from here to Kentucky and the roads were attrocious!! The 401 east was completely closed and heading down through the states you couldn't see the car ahead of you because of the snow. Thank Goodness for 4x4. When we got to Tennessee we stopped for dinner and all the locals in the parking lot were completely shocked at the ice hanging off our truck. They must not watch the weather channel. They all asked where we had come from.

As another poster said, the only people on the road were CDNs and there was even a CDN with a tent trailer on the back of his van. That was crazy!!!

Before we left home I packed an emergency kit in the truck: extra blankets, candles, snacks, first aid kit, etc... in case we got stuck somewhere.

We had a GPS, CAA trip tix, maps and a wonderful book called Along I 75 (there is an I 95 version too). The book told us about interesting points of interest, restaurants, hotels and had mile by mile details about our route, speed traps etc.. it was a great buy. It made our drive down and back far more interesting that we expected.

Have a great road trip!!

 

[laurasc]

Hi folks. I just wanted to let you all in on a great place to stay close to Disney. Check out take5retreats dot com. We are from Alberta and bought this rental home in June and did some major redecorating.
L

 

[photomama]

As we approached where the storm had gone thru, cars were everywhere, abandoned in ditches, on the medians, huge chunks of ice in the middle of the roads like iceburgs. It looked like a war zone. We had snow tires on so we were doing ok, until we hit an overpass with different highways merging onto it in Columbia. Cars & 18 wheelers were sliding everywhere & we were doing like 10 miles an hour. I thought for sure we were dead. Once we made it safely off the overpass we stopped at the next rest stop to calm our nerves & decide what to do next.

So moral of my story is remember that even though you're equipped to drive in the snow, states down south are not, they do not have access to sand, salt or snow plows. They were apparently going to wait until it thawed. That highway (Can't remember which one) should have been CLOSED if they couldn't care for it.

Yep, they know as much about driving in the snow as Canadians do about driving in a Hurricane