Hello there. I am moving from CA to NC and I am planning on leaving on Christmas day, 2010. I have never done this before (driven cross country or driven in snow/ice conditions) and I am kinda nervous. My brother is going with me so at least I will have someone to help with navigation and to take over for several hours.

My plan is to head south on 99 from Sacramento and connect to I40. Take I40 until Amarillo then head south and connect with I20 and drive to Atlanta, then connect with I85 and head to Charlotte. I decided on departing from I40 because I did not want to drive through the mountains once I got to the TN/NC border. But with the recent storms that have been blowing through Atlanta, I am starting to wonder if I should drive I10 all the way to Florida then north to Charlotte.

I have planned on stops around every 150 miles so that we can stretch and take a break. I would like to make it to Shreveport before we really stop and spend the night in a hotel. My brother needs to be in Charlotte by Dec 30 so he can make a flight the next morning.

I realize that I will have to go through snow/ice at some point, seeing as how it's winter. If anyone has any thoughts on what would be a better alternative, that would be great.

I have read through the other postings under Fall and Winter Road Trips but I decided to create this new thread so that I could lay out my plan.