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Let's see... Planes and busses are out. I assume that renting a car for the trip is also out due to the expense. That leaves making the trip inn your own car, a smart (Note that smart prefers no caps for any of its make/model names!?). That is decidedly NOT what I would consider a RoadTrip car. However, the one factor you have going for you is the amount of time you have to make the trip. What you should be looking at is treating the entire drive as a series of many, many relatively long commuting runs, say 75-100 miles at a clip, interspersed with relatively long time-outs in between to give the car a chance to cool down. You'll also have to stay off the Interstates for the most part. I would have nightmares just thinking about driving a smart on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. So, look instead at routes like the old National Road, (US-40 for the 'most part) that run parallel to the Interstates, but don't carry nearly the traffic load (especially big trucks whose slip stream could toss your car around like a toy) and don't have the high minimum speed limits. Also keep in mind that your car was never intended for, and was not built for, long sustained drives. You probably shouldn't try to drive more than about 300 miles day, which means - along with not using the most direct route, that you should plan on taking three days for this drive. Finally, there is nothing you can do about the weather other than be willing to sit it out. Again, serious winter driving is outside the design parameters of the smart. Schedule a possible weather delay day for both the outbound and home bound 'commutes'.

AZBuck