I'm planning on driving from NY to CA in the winter. How should I prepare?
I come from California but will be staying in NYC from September until December. From there, I plan on moving a bunch of delicate equipment back to CA and shipping off and selling the rest. I've always wanted to do a roadtrip across the country, but somewhat expected it to be during the summertime. But given that I have some opportunity in December/January, why not?
So here are my questions:
- Obtaining a car in NYC: I know the northeast gets exposed to more extreme weather patterns and was thus warned about rust on cars. Is there anything I should look out for when buying a used car in the NYC metro area besides the rust? I don't plan on buying anything fancy, just some shitbox to get me from coast to coast with equipment in the boot. Any particular make/models to seek out that would be a good deal?
- Driving in the winter-y days: I've only ever driven in virtually perfect weather and sometimes heavier rains on freeways and thus never really got to learn how to drive in snowy conditions. Since I plan on driving in January, I'm a bit worried about encountering snow/black ice/etc while on the freeways. I am thinking of driving through the south instead of taking hwy 80 across, so realistically the only area of concern is just NY/NJ/PA/MD. Any tips on if I have to drive on snowy or icy roads?
- Places to stay along the way: I've never done a trip longer than SF -> LA -> back where I had to get a hotel room along the way before reaching my final destination where the room was already reserved. I don't know how many miles I'll realistically cover each day so I don't want to reserve ahead of time a hotel if I won't make it or if I feel like I can go further along the trip. How does that work? Do I just pull into a truck stop and sleep in the car or could I just drive up to a hotel and hope there's a room available?
- Routes: What are the suggested routes to get from NYC to SF?
Many thanks in advance!
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