??? Michigan to New York (in December) ???

Ready ...
I-96 to US-23 south (no surprise there, but just to be complete.)
US-23S to I-475N, I-475N exit 20 to I-75N, <= Really north here Honest
I-75N to I-280S I-280S to exit 6 - OH 51
OH 51 is very short to a left to OH 579 west watch out for Williston (speed trap)
OH579 to OH2 E. Near Port Clinton 2 becomes limited access
Be aware of the Ohio Airforce - they do target out of state.
OH 2 to I-90, (Cleveland) I-90 to exit 170B- I-71 South
I-71 to exit 246 - I-176South, I-176S to I-480East.
I-480E to Exit 20A - I-77 South, (Akron) I-77S to Exit 129 - I-76 East
I-76E (Youngstown) to I-80East (no exit number)
I-80 can take you to the Hudson

The route number are correct, but the exits are from memory.

You will be with a lot of trucks on this route. Guess Why?

This by-passes the OH tolls. With your 5er, they will be a bend over..
They used to be reasonable, but the last time we took out coach over the OH Turnpike, we found out it had changed.
We used to live in Chelsea and went east to family regularly. When we did go east for Christmas, I always padded an extra day for weather and we needed it about half the time.

Matt

I-80 all the way. I've driven that road so many times, I've lost count.

No major metro areas, no tolls (except for partial OH tpk), max elevation is slightly higher than 3,000 feet. You'll have a few long grades, but nothing like the Rockies.

90/Thruway is out of the way, and expensive.

76 in PA is an older road, also a toll road, and narrower shoulders.

I-80 is a good choice if staying in the US.

I-90 to I-86 also works and avoids most tolls. There are some up and down bits on I-86 towards the eastern areas, but nothing too major that I can remember. But I don't see any particular advantage over I-80.

I-90 across to the northway (I-87) is as flat as a pancake, and I think I-87 is more or less flat too, but that's the only thing going for it. It's somewhat out of the way and has expensive tolls and hugs the lake long enough to get a good wallop or two of lake effect snow.

Greydennyhawk wrote:
Why don't you go over Sarnia and across Canada? I go that way often to Lansing, from Buffalo, and the ride and road is great

That would be the ideal route but one child doesn't have a pass port... :S

From I 75 pickup the Ohio turnpike (I80/I90) east stay on I80, I90 will branch off near Cleveland. Near Niles, Ohio the Ohio turnpike will become I 76 and head towards Pittsburgh, PA stay on I 80 (toll free ) all the way across PA and into NJ to the George Washington bridge. Ohio doesn't have any big hills, Pa has some hills but nothing major but it is hilly all the way across PA. You could take the Ohio turnpike into the PA turnpike into the NJ turnpike but it is just as hilly and cost a small fortune to run on. No way would I take all those toll roads.

Why don't you go over Sarnia and across Canada? I go that way often to Lansing, from Buffalo, and the ride and road is great