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Florida car bound lots of questions - snow tires? i95 or i75?

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Apr 2, 2007
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stratusnine wrote: I can't seem to find where i71 & i26 meet??? Or do these highways share the road for a bit?
My bad should check my typing I77 not I71. I77 hits I26 in Columbia's circle road. Very easy and difficult to make a mistake. well marked.
Enjoy your drive and do take I75 unless weather is clear.

I always use this to check my weather driving conditions http://www.wunderground.com/roadtrip/ plus a US weather radar site to watch for storms coming from the mid west that might cross the mountains.
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Aug 5, 2006
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peano wrote: I75. Much easier drive and far more lodging and gas along the way. Leave your all seasons on.
Okay got it. Thanks
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GTT1 wrote: My bad should check my typing I77 not I71. I77 hits I26 in Columbia's circle road. Very easy and difficult to make a mistake. well marked.
Enjoy your drive and do take I75 unless weather is clear.

I always use this to check my weather driving conditions http://www.wunderground.com/roadtrip/ plus a US weather radar site to watch for storms coming from the mid west that might cross the mountains.
Got it...thanks very much for all your help.

I'm going to do the following:

1) Leave all seasons on.
2) Check the weather radar and roadtrip maps a couple of days prior to leaving.
3) If all clear, i79/77 route, otherwise i95.

The only reason why I'd like to take i95 is that there is a restaurant just off the i95 in Brunswick Georgia (connected to a holiday inn) that has amazing food. Everything that my family ordered was fabulous (salivating as I type). Otherwise I'll have to figure a way to get from i75 to i95 some where along Georgia ;)
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stratusnine wrote: Got it...thanks very much for all your help.

I'm going to do the following:

1) Leave all seasons on.
2) Check the weather radar and roadtrip maps a couple of days prior to leaving.
3) If all clear, i79/77 route, otherwise i95.

The only reason why I'd like to take i95 is that there is a restaurant just off the i95 in Brunswick Georgia (connected to a holiday inn) that has amazing food. Everything that my family ordered was fabulous (salivating as I type). Otherwise I'll have to figure a way to get from i75 to i95 some where along Georgia ;)
We are planning on doing the drive on the same day.

If you don't mind, what do people think is the best time to leave? Really early in the am or at night? Two adults and two kids.

Are you planning a night anywhere or driving through?

Still looking for a place to stay :(

Which restaurant are you going to in Brunswick?
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Aug 5, 2006
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cessnabmw wrote: We are planning on doing the drive on the same day.

If you don't mind, what do people think is the best time to leave? Really early in the am or at night? Two adults and two kids.

Are you planning a night anywhere or driving through?

Still looking for a place to stay :(

Which restaurant are you going to in Brunswick?
I usually leave between 2-4am. This way we run don't run into too much traffic. We only stop for gas and a quick bite to eat.

I drive about 16 hours until we hit http://www.reservation-desk.com/hotel/2 ... %203-29-13
I make reservations ahead of time. As I mentioned the restaurant attached to this hotel has been great. So much so that we want to return every time we go down.
Wake up around 8am, quick breakfast and another 6-7 hours till we hit Ft. Lauderdale.

Hope this helps.
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stratusnine wrote: I usually leave between 2-4am. This way we run don't run into too much traffic. We only stop for gas and a quick bite to eat.

I drive about 16 hours until we hit http://www.reservation-desk.com/hotel/2 ... %203-29-13
I make reservations ahead of time. As I mentioned the restaurant attached to this hotel has been great. So much so that we want to return every time we go down.
Wake up around 8am, quick breakfast and another 6-7 hours till we hit Ft. Lauderdale.

Hope this helps.
Thanks!

Was also thinking it would be better to leave early around 3am.

How much will tolls cost on the way?

We are hoping to not have a stopover and just get to Orlando and crash then...
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Jun 12, 2007
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I have a buddy with small kids who likes to leave after dinner, 7pm. The kids watch a movie for a couple of hours and then fall asleep in the car for the night.

When they wake up, it a normal daytime drive for them arriving around 6-7 pm in fl. There's less chance of tired cranky kids.

However, this is really hard on a driver because one person who was up during the day has to drive overnight with little or no sleep. There's a much greater chance of a driver nodding off. I would use the I75 in this case as there are many more places to stop and take a break vs the i79/77
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cessnabmw wrote: Thanks!

Was also thinking it would be better to leave early around 3am.

How much will tolls cost on the way?

We are hoping to not have a stopover and just get to Orlando and crash then...
I don't recall the toll fees as I just chalk it up to the cost of travel. It is what it is.

As for the stop over, yes I guess we could drive through, which we've done prior to last year. I didn't realize how tired I was until I crashed that night at the stop over. When I woke up in the morning I was so refreshed and it was that much more enjoyable.
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We drove down to Atlanta, GA, last Dec on the 19th and went the I75 route because we wanted to visit the KFC Museum in Kentucky and we made a stop over in Lexington. The drive down was very very smooth without a lot of hazards except for the stretch between London and Windsor, where we counted at least 27 cars and trucks in the ditch in the middle of the night since we took off at 4am. After Atlanta we drove to Savannah and stayed there for 4 days so we took the I77/I79 from Savannah to return to Toronto. We stopped over at Charleston, WV, and the drive was quite scenic for us, but yes, the roads were quite winding and when there was ice and snow on the ground it made the drive less enjoyable for us. We did not see much snow on the ground until we hit PA so North and South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia were all good to us.
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When driving back from Orlando, what's a good place to stop for the night on the way back to Toronto?

Going down we are hoping to stop at Chattanooga or Atlanta.

Help please.

Thanks!
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Aug 5, 2006
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cessnabmw wrote: When driving back from Orlando, what's a good place to stop for the night on the way back to Toronto?

Going down we are hoping to stop at Chattanooga or Atlanta.

Help please.

Thanks!
I'm not really sure as I never had stopped on the way back. I usually just drive straight through.
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Aug 5, 2006
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Well I'm just about to get ready to leave. We plan on leave later tonight.

I looked at I77/I79 and it doesn't look at that bad? http://www.wunderground.com/roadtrip/
Radar shows some weather to the west, not sure if I should take I75?

Any suggestions?
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cessnabmw wrote: When driving back from Orlando, what's a good place to stop for the night on the way back to Toronto?
Going down we are hoping to stop at Chattanooga or Atlanta.
Help please.
Thanks!
Returning from our trip to Orlando last Christmas, we took the I95/I77 route back and stayed overnight in Beckley, West Virginia.
There are some well priced hotels there off the Interstate.

If you are coming back via I75, then Lexington, Kentucky or Cincinnati would be a good choice.
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nalababe wrote: We go down on the 75 and back on the 95 usually detouring to see visit somewhere (Charleston, Savannah).
Worst part of any drive is along the south shore of Erie...never been in such whiteouts...
Yeah, all the way across I90 from Erie, Pa to Buffalo, we've run into those same whiteouts. Right in the heart of the snow belt.
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Bumping up this thread. Any suggestions on a safe/clean place to stay thats approx 12 hours away from Toronto driving through Detroit? Can anyone explain how the I175 is...like similar to 401 just with a lot of truckers???
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mmhassa2 wrote: Bumping up this thread. Any suggestions on a safe/clean place to stay thats approx 12 hours away from Toronto driving through Detroit? Can anyone explain how the I175 is...like similar to 401 just with a lot of truckers???
We did the drive in Dec 2013 from To to Miami. Spent the night on the way down in Atlanta. Yes, just like the 401...
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Simaahoy wrote: Knoxville, TN
Thanks...any hotel recommendation thats near stores/malls? :)
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cessnabmw wrote: We did the drive in Dec 2013 from To to Miami. Spent the night on the way down in Atlanta. Yes, just like the 401...
Thanks..Atlanta is a bit of a longer drive than we want to do the first day. Last year when we drove to FL but using the PA route, we left at 3am and drove 12 hours which took us approx 15 hours and felt it was a good stopping point. Gave us enough time to shower/dinner/shop around a bit and then head to bed for the remainder of the driving. Hoping to do the same this time around but with the I175 route :)
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Jan 18, 2013
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mmhassa2 wrote: Bumping up this thread. Any suggestions on a safe/clean place to stay thats approx 12 hours away from Toronto driving through Detroit? Can anyone explain how the I175 is...like similar to 401 just with a lot of truckers???
Nothing is as bad as the traffic on 401.

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