Ok, so as some of you know, I am moving to Pennsylvania in less than a month.... in the middle of December... when it is all cold and snowy. So, being a native of Southern California, who can count the number of times she has been in snow on one hand, I need help.

First off, we are going to be driving there. Going I-40 until Texas when we cut up through Oklahoma on the Will Rogers Turnpike, into Missouri and up the 44 to St. Louis and the I-70. Through Illinois, Indiana and Ohio to the I-79 in Pennsylvania and up to Slippery Rock. I have no real idea of weather conditions on the road that time of year and so I look to the experience of you all for tips. Are all weather tires good enough for these major roads, or do we need chains? Clothing recommendations? How annoying is it to drive through St, Louis, Indianapolis, and Columbus? AAA trip books can only tell us so much.

I've been up thru Oklahoma, Missouri, and Illinois. St Louis is a PAIN to drive through, just a heads up. The hills and turns in Missouri are bad eniugh as it is, so with ice and or snow (if any) will only make them worse, so use caution. I couldn't tell you about tires though, so maybe someone else will. Hope I helped a little. Have a fun and safe trip and hope you enjoy your new home.

I'm a canuck.... I can help you

1. Layers! That is a big thing. You want to have 2-3 layers on at least. You'll also want some sort of hat that covers your ears, a scarf, gloves/mittens.... You'll want a brush for your car to wipe the snow off or to scrape the ice off.

You'll also want chains for your car. We have "winter" tires in Canada but coming from Cali you'll likely just want to grab chains and practice putting them on a few times. It's 10 times harder to do that when you're doing it right before going through a mountain pass or something.

Elara :
I'm from Mass, so I'm used to all seasons. I agree with geeogree. Wear layers (t-shirt, long sleeve shirt, sweater, jacket.). That way if it's too warm then you can take one of the layers off.

Have a warm hat (baseball type definitely don't count).

My advice for gloves is a particular type that I have and love. They are basically gloves with a fabric flap that can cover your fingers (aka it transforms a glove into a mitten). Good as a glove if you're driving or using your hands for something. Good as a mitten if you just want your hands to stay warm.

There are brushes designed for cleaning snow off your car. Many of them also have a scraper on the end for scraping ice off your windows. Never use the scraper on the actual car. It can chip the paint sometimes.

I'm not sure about chains, so go with geeogree's advice.

If you can get a GPS (I highly recommend TomTom), that could really help with your trip. If you hit bad traffic anywhere, then you can use the GPS to automatically plan an alternate route. It's also good in case you get lost.

Being new to New England area I don't know what you're prepared for regarding home life. Have blankets and sweatshirts. It will probably feel twice as cold for you since you're used to California. Have a heavy quilt for your bed. It gets cold at night.

When you arrive, you'll also be able to find plenty of stores that advertise winter clothes, etc.

If theres more than a foot of snow on the ground wear extra socks even with boots on eventually that cold creeps in on your toes so wear extra socks.
Dont forget to warm the car up before taking it out its not good on the engine to drive it while its still cold(not sure why)
DO NOT!! pour warm water on your windshield unless you wanna crack it dont use cold either.But a combination of room temp water and a scraper gets the snow and ice off much easier.
WATCH WHERE YOU STEP!! sometimes ice is hard to see and if you dont step lightly you just might fall and could cause some serious injuries.

AND DONT FORGET! to buy some buttons some coal and a corn cobb pipe cause your gonna want to build a snowman.(its fun try it)

dont go out side ha ha ha then you wont be cold

Don't worry, I've moved from Florida to New Jersey in the middle of winter a few years back. I was shocked. Cold was the only thing on my mind. Just follow geeogree's post. Another tip I have is start your car up about ten minutes before you leave so it warms up.

p.s.
under armor is heavenly in cold weather

Thanks guys, great advice so far.

Here is a bit more on the tire thing:

Ben's mom says that basically everyone out there just has all-weather tires and never use chains because they are so good about keeping the roads plowed. No one uses chains, and a few people use snow/winter tires. Right now Ben's car has regular old tires, which would require his buying chains. We plan on getting the all weather tires since he needs new tires anyway, and they will be fine for the roads out there. Problem is we don't know about the roads going out there... would they be okay, or should we get chains? They are major interstates, so in theory they should be fine... but I also don't know how bad the weather typically is this time of year back there.