When will the snow start, realistically? I have to drive 3200 miles by 10/31.

[aries]

Could be bad through the middle part of the country, huh?  I've never been further east than Missoula Montana. 

I've never been further west, excluding stopovers on flights and Hawaii, than either Buffalo NY in the northeast, or Sarasota/Anna Maria Island Florida

[error]

I've never been further west than San Francisco, Portland, Seattle and Vancouver, and believe me, you aren't missing anything. The Wrong Coast is rapidly deteriorating into socialist authoritarianism, and anyone who loves liberty really should get out of there while they still can.

[Kat Kanning]

Now that's a bit excessive.  There are plenty of wonderful things to see on the west coast.  It's just the government that sucks.

[error]

Oh yes, there are plenty of wonderful things to see. But they tend to be far away from any government agents.

[9thmoon]

Which one of us is Sandy?  Did his/her Sub wagon have a breakdown on his/her way to NH or something?

[Kat Kanning]

Sandy is "Friday" on this forum.

[9thmoon]

Oh, of course  =)

[polyanarch]

Don't worry about the drive cross-country.  It's the FN INTERSTATE for chrissakes.  If it snows by some godaweful chance just pull over and get a motel and 12 hours later it will be clean and dry if you don't feel up to driving in it.

You will have a much greater chance of getting snow in the Dakotas than anywhere else but even then I would not worry too much about it.  Just take your time and don't push it.  You can rest your head in Chicago and maybe get a footrub if you ask really nice...

[9thmoon]

Don't worry about the drive cross-country.  It's the FN INTERSTATE for chrissakes.  If it snows by some godaweful chance just pull over and get a motel and 12 hours later it will be clean and dry if you don't feel up to driving in it.

Yeah, I know. And it's not like I'll be in a hurry.  I have all the freedom in the world, now.  *sad smile*

You can rest your head in Chicago and maybe get a footrub if you ask really nice...

But then I'd have to go to Chicago!  I don't want to get shot at!

[Russell Kanning]

It is hard to avoid Chicago between Seattle and NH ....... unless you want Canada.

[error]

Just stick to I-80 and you'll pass fairly well to the south of Chicago. The worst of it, anyway.

[polyanarch]

I-80 is a mess right now  You don't want to be on I-80 as it skimms past the southern part of Chicago  Maybe next year when it is done

Then again, as you come through Chicago on I-90/94 you will hit some nasty construction too but almost all the lanes are open all the time and you will peel off on the Skyway to Indiana before the worst of it anyhow (when it links up with the big mess on I-80)  Then I-80/90/94 are pretty much all one road for a few miles or at best are seperated by just a few miles

Plus, there might be some people in Chicago you might want to miss, who are staying right off of I-90/94 for a while when they are not in NH

[error]

I-80 has been a mess through south of Chicago for years. But it's nothing like the traffic you'll generally get trying to pass through Chicago.

Last time I looked, the Dan Ryan was a complete mess, all the way from the loop to the skyway and beyond. It took an hour to get from the loop to the skyway in early afternoon; I can't imagine how horrible it would have been during rush hour. Even IDOT is saying to avoid the Dan Ryan if possible.

And then you have the open road tolling upgrades going on, which tend to snarl traffic.

The I-80/94 project is minor in comparison, and shouldn't result in significant delays traveling through on I-80, while it can take three hours or more to cross Chicago.

All this reconstruction was long, long overdue, and you can count on the state to screw things up, even after the projects are finally finished...

[polyanarch]

Unless it is between the hours of 3-7PM or 7-10AM on a weekday the traffic through Chicago isn't that bad  I drive it almost every day  When I got here last week coming from NH we arrived at about 4PM on a weekday and we got through the Skyway and traffic was not bad.  Took probably 30 minutes from the skyway toll all the way up to the 90-94 split -which is almost what it would take at 2AM 

Then again, there have been a few times coming from Wisconsin at 7PM where it took 2 hours to get from the DesPlains toll (worst toll on the Kennedy still because of construction -and I do have an I-pass that I will use at times when it helps but at other times will keep in the glove box and pay double toll just to keep anonymity)  4 miles south to where my exit was  Since then I've learned the surface streets and found a route that will get me through in about 40 minutes even in rush hour at that point if the Kennedy Expressway is a parking lot.

[error]

My problem with the traffic isn't that I wind up stopped for hours, by itself -- it's that I wind up stopped for hours IN ILLINOIS, one of the least free places in the country, and one I try to avoid, or failing that, pass through as quickly as possible.

Fortunately, I'll only have to do that once more -- when I leave Madison for NH.