just got back from driving to the World

[heathandhail]

In case anyone is curious about the drive, we just got back and here are my notes/advice:

On the way down we took I81 to 66 to 17 to 95......we originally were going to take I81 to I77 to I95 BUT.... at our first hotel stop in Pine Grove, PA the weather forecast was reporting a major storm down the I77. We quickly decided we would not be travelling that way. There was 2-4cm of snow being called for in Richmond, VA which was the alternate route, but it wasn't until the evening and we would be through there by then.

The rest of the drive down was uneventful.

On the way back(Tues Mar 3-Wed Mar 4), winterstorm Thor was being predicted. This was trickier as it was along I81 and we really didn't have an alternate route for the 81 that wouldn't take way more time. We kept monitoring the status of the weather on Wednesday as we drove(we would travel the I81 for most of Wednesday), and luckily it was just an advisory until 7pm, and we should have well reached the border by then.

Now, watching the news today (Thurs March 5th), I see we just missed the storm and some of the places we drove through are getting over 8 inches of snow!

Moral of my story is REALLY keep an eye on the weather and definitely have an alternate route planned! (or plan extra days to ride out the storm which is what we woul've done if we got caught in it)

 

[minnie mum]

We've had to do a lot of last minute changes on our trip, too. We originally planned the same route (81/77/26/95). But a storm was going to go through New England and down into the Carolinas on the day we were supposed to leave. So we left a day early and left the 81 at Hagerstown and veered over to the 95 at Washington DC. We managed to beat the storm all the way down past Richmond by just a couple of hours. This was on Feb 20/21. I've never seen snow that far south on our previous drives - the fields weren't completely bare till well into the Carolinas.

We are on our way home right now. Because of Thor, we opted to stay an extra day in Orlando and let it pass. We made it as far as Charlotte NC where rain and darkness, plus travel advisories about freezing + snow tonight made the decision to stop a prudent one. A huge temperature drop as we hit the front. The temp (according to the car thermometer) at the I95/I26 interchange was 29°C. By the time we reached the I77, 90 minutes later, the temp had dropped to 9°!!! Hopefully the remainder of our trip will be uneventful. Forecasts for tomorrow are for clear and cold. That we can handle.

Sure glad we've got our winter tires on. And have the flexibility to adjust our travel days. Glad you made it home safe and sound.

 

[migel]

Driving down next Friday with a stopover in South Carolina. Right now the weather looks promising (no precipitation +1) for our planned departure date, but considering it's still -14 this morning, we're keeping our fingers crossed.

 

[bankr63]

Leaving Tuesday morning, weather looking pretty good for the drive down, but I will be paying a lot more attention tomorrow before we set our final route.