Misanthrope wrote:

Oh, come on.. Chicago in January builds character. Besides, after driving through a Chicago winter, you could teach your fellow Southerners how to drive. Lessons such as:

Goodness, someone needs their caffine fix.

Actually, I grew up in the snowbelt near Cleveland, Ohio (22 years), spent 3 years in Bowling Green, Ohio (a/k/a Blowing Greeen, a testament to the actic winds that would race down from Canada) and 5 1/2 years in the snowbelt known as South Bend, IN. I'm not concerned about Chicago, I'm concerned about the trek through the Rockies and Great Plains should an "Alberta Clipper" slide down and provide a January blizzard. The interstates may be closed and the back roads useless if that happens. In that case, I would have to alter the plans a bit, perhaps choose to go south through Arizona and New Mexico before jogging back up towards Chi-town. Perhaps even stop in DFW to pick up some BBQ and tex-mex to keep me warm for the remainder of the road trip!

Besides, with anti-lock brakes one has to counter their years of training and remember to punch down the brakes and hold rather than pumping the brakes (yes, I too learned the Old School method in the 70's and 80's.

Ooops, forgot the time. Have to stop, drink my caffinated beverage of choice and put my "London Calling" LP on the Hi-Fi, but only after removing "The Good, The Bad and The E-Street Shuffle"