Going to Florida

[napanee_ted]

I would like to know if anyone has traveled to Florida from
St Catharines Ontario down 219 to 77 and what the roads and weather can be like around late Dec early Jan

[Bea_PA]

17 is 15 miles longer but you do have some lights which add time, We get off 95 at Fredericksburg quite often if we are hitting DC at commuter time.

[Bea_PA]

Route 81 thru Virginia is a lot of mountains, had you thought about going over to 95 at Winchester VA, seldom ever get snow along the coast. We only use 77 to 81 sometimes in the spring when we come home. That would be rt 66 east to 17 s to 95 and it is shorter also. We used to drive a MH home with toad and those mountains in VA and 77 are heck on fuel. Now we use a van.

[sljohnson1938]

Dutch_12078 wrote:
I think the best idea at that time of year is to just keep an eye on the weather forecasts and be prepared to be a little flexible in your travel plans. We always build in a few extra travel days along the way that we can shuffle around before we reach any place where we have hard reservations. One of our last non-reserved stops before Florida is in an area we really like, so if we have a couple of extra days left when we get there, we don't mind staying there a little longer.

***********************************************************

excellent advise. let the wx be your guide. Check the wx a few days before you depart.
Traffic around Charlotte, NC is bad due to construction. But it is only for 20 miles or so. Try to hit it late at nite.

[moonstone]

Well we ended up taking our usual route (95-26-77-19-79-90) home from Florida a few days ago because the weather looked good. There used to be a map of Interstate driving forecasts on the web. It had the interstates colour coded depending on the road condition & you could change the date until about 5 days out. It seems to have disappeared and now this https://www.theweathernetwork.com/maps/us-highway-forecast/ is all I can find.

The only trouble we had, aside from the many miles of construction on I-95 & I-77, was a long detour around the Bluefield tunnel on I-77. We stopped for gas at a truck stop in Wytheville & a kind trucker saw our ONT licensce plates and told us he had just come southbound & saw traffic at a standstill for miles due to a big rig roll-over south of the tunnel. It was a scenic detour (on US-52) and added over an hour to our trip but at least we weren't stopped on the interstate (hubby hates that)!

[soren]

Before retiring, we spent almost two decades heading from PA. to FL. for the Christmas holidays. We were not able to be flexible at all with our travel times, and always took 81-77-26-95, regardless of anticipated weather. During that time we had weather issues exactly once, and it was the hundred year storm that shut DC down for nearly a week, and dumped 30" of snow in the lower half of VA. If 77 is your desired route, check the weather, and do it. Blocking out months at a time, because 77 is somehow "unsuitable for travel" due to potential weather danger, as some suggest, is simply irrational.

[PghBob]

Hi. We live in Western PA and have traveled the I77 & I26 to I95 route many times. We often leave for Florida the last week of January. Because of some weather issues last year, we took a different route.

Last year we went east on the PA turnpike and stayed on I70 exiting at Breezewood. When I70 comes into Maryland, we exit and follow US 522 to Winchester VA, then on VA route 37 south to I81, to I66 east, to US 17 south to I95 south near Fredericksburg VA. This route usually sees warmer temps because it is closer to the coast. It is also much easier on the RV engine requiring many fewer downshifts for hill climbing than I77. The downside to this route for us is that it adds about 90 more miles and about 1.5 to 2 hours to our trip to the Orlando area.

Best wishes on your trip.

[moonstone]

We have taken 219 (from Buffalo) a few times when we wanted a leisurely drive. Even though it is the shortest route it will take hours longer. You will pass through many small towns and at times the road is quite hilly & winding with narrow or no shoulders. I would not take it in the winter months. We have been driving to FL at least twice a year from near Barrie ON and have been taking the I-79,SR-19,I-77-26-95 route since it was completed nearly 40 years ago.

As previously mentioned there are some pretty big hills (one is 7 miles long on I-77 in VA) through the mountains in WV & VA and the roads are not always cleared well or right away.

If you must travel at that time of year and especially if towing an RV I'd take I-75 or even I-65 for a flatter run even though they are a few miles longer.

We are currently in FL and will be driving home in the middle of November. Even though we are in a car this trip, Hubby is considering taking I-75 home to avoid any bad road conditions.

~Diane

[midnightsadie]

X2 don,t wait till evening to decide to wait it out.

[theoldwizard1]

Dutch_12078 wrote:
We've run down 88-81-77-26-95 to Florida in early January for several years, and only once have we held up for an extra night at a planned over night stop.

... and that is the real answer !

Be flexible enough that you can add 1 or 2 nights to your trip. Watch the weather forecasts. Get off the road if it starts to get nasty.

[Dutch_12078]

I think the best idea at that time of year is to just keep an eye on the weather forecasts and be prepared to be a little flexible in your travel plans. We always build in a few extra travel days along the way that we can shuffle around before we reach any place where we have hard reservations. One of our last non-reserved stops before Florida is in an area we really like, so if we have a couple of extra days left when we get there, we don't mind staying there a little longer.

[routeforty]

Only time we've hit any "bad" weather was several years ago around Beckley WV. Some snow falling-slowed down to about 45 for about 10-15miles, then good weather the rest of the way. This was around Thanksgiving.

[Tripalot]

We live near Hamilton and always take the 401 and cross at Detroit to pick up I-75.

Friends of ours from the same area like to cross at Fort Erie and pick up I-71 near Cleveland and head towards Cincinnati to pick up I-75. So many times our friends got caught in lake effect snow off Lake Erie and had to wait out bad conditions in the Erie area. All routes are very weather dependent but the south side of Lake Erie seems more risky than the north side. I-77 is a great route in good weather, but we would never consider it in the winter. As others have said, too many hills and drivers with limited experience in icy conditions.

[Dutch_12078]

We've run down 88-81-77-26-95 to Florida in early January for several years, and only once have we held up for an extra night at a planned over night stop. That at Ft Chiswell, VA at the junction of 81 & 77, and we didn't want to risk a run down Fancy Gap hill on 77 due to possible road icing all the way to Charlotte that day. Every other year, we've never hit any real weather, just an occasional brief snow flurry along the way.

[Dog_Trainer]

I would stay clear of I-77 during that time of the year too many hiils along the route that could meen beter chances os snow and or ice. In addition we found places to stay to be much more difficult to find along that route