[STi from DSM]

If I was retired, I would drive and have a great experience along the way. But being a working dude still, I have to say that flying is the way to go. I do road trips occasionally to the sister in laws place in Ohio (Roughly 13 hours) and always wish I would fly. Enjoy the time off in Florida (hopefully all the hurricane damage has been cleaned up) kick your feet up and have a Mai-Tai.

[M-technik-3]

I hate to fly commercial but in this case, I'd fly. Not going to need winter tires South of DC for that matter probably not south of NY we seem to seldom see snow now. But don't blame you on wanting to be prepared.

The drive is boring unless you toss in the blue ridge parkway with it's absurdly low speed limit and maybe the Tail of the Dragon to break up the mundane.

[xlover]

I’ll hit the tire angle, as you know florida temps are pretty variable in dec as well as a bunch of the SE US. If you hit a patch of warm/hot days those winter tires are going to turn to absolute mush and defeat the purpose of having the M. Not to mention 10x the wear.

I would say if you are gonna drive, throw your summers back on and bet the odds there won’t be a snow storm before you get out of the snow belt area.

[BMWbiker]

If it were summer and if it weren’t for hurricane damage, I’d say drive, and play on twisty two-lane roads.

But winter, an M3, and going through hurricane areas?

I’d fly, take Amtrak, or take the Amtrak auto train and bring the car.

[moriluvatar]

Originally Posted by BMWbiker

If it were summer and if it weren’t for hurricane damage, I’d say drive, and play on twisty two-lane roads.

But winter, an M3, and going through hurricane areas?

I’d fly, take Amtrak, or take the Amtrak auto train and bring the car.

Holy hell how did I not know about this!

https://www.amtrak.com/auto-train-ex...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

Amazing. I’m totally doing this for my next trip from Seattle to SoCal… oh poop it only does the east coast run. Damn it.

[pbonsalb]

Originally Posted by BMWbiker

If it were summer and if it weren’t for hurricane damage, I’d say drive, and play on twisty two-lane roads.

But winter, an M3, and going through hurricane areas?

I’d fly, take Amtrak, or take the Amtrak auto train and bring the car.

The OP is in Toronto and the Amtrak auto train starts in VA and is expensive and no faster than driving. It won’t reduce his travel costs or increase his vacation time. I think the hurricane season is over by the end of the year when he will be traveling. Winter storms have been few in recent years but it is possible he would have to depart a day early or a day late by a day to avoid one.

[David70]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

The OP is in Toronto and the Amtrak auto train starts in VA and is expensive and no faster than driving. It won’t reduce his travel costs or increase his vacation time. I think the hurricane season is over by the end of the year when he will be traveling. Winter storms have been few in recent years but it is possible he would have to depart a day early or a day late by a day to avoid one.

It's not a one way trip, he also has to come back in January and will possibly have to wait a day or two somewhere which may not work with his schedule and will increase the cost.

I have limited time/schedule for a vacation and wouldn't risk leaving a day or two late, getting back a day or two late. If I was retired things might be different.

[pbonsalb]

Yes, the OP might have to depart a day early or day late. I think that language covers departures from Canada and Florida. He is the one considering the drive in order to save money because he has determined it would be cheaper for him to drive than to fly, and knows doing so would eat into his vacation time. Read his original post. Saving money might not matter to you or me or might be outweighed by other factors like your limited time/schedule for vacation or my decision on how to get where I want to visit (in 2024, I will have driven close to 10,000 miles on road trips and flown about 35,000 miles).