IN THE SPRING; I will be driving across country from NJ to WA; some advice please鈥?

Ok, I thought I should clerify. My sister moved to WA (that is where her husband is from). I am going to buy a farm and help take care of my mother (coming with us, but live in a senior assisted living apartment [NOT a nursing home}). My sister needs to help me, for I can no longer do this alone. I can not do it alone, as well as raise my family by myself. Besides, a nice quiet farm (with little chickies) sounds good to me, along with the low payments. Seeing mount Rushmore on the way is a must.

Yes, I have driven across (& back) country a couple of times (been to most of our states), so I can navigate a map pretty dam well, but I just wanted to know what anyone else has experienced with our northern routes in the US.

My question is, what route can I take that will avoid Chicago? Does anyone have any tips about the travel itself I should know about of our northern part of the US?

NO I will not take a train.
NO I will not be flying.
DRIVING is my only option, with large family.

For starters, avoiding Chicago is smart. The problem is, it's hard to do.

If you're willing to take a little extra time, go through Michigan and across the Upper Peninsula (I-75 to US 2). Then, you can go through the northern parts of Wisconsin and Minnesota. You have several options from there depending on how long you want to take and what you want to see. Since you said you're good at reading a map, I'll leave that part up to you. (US hwy 2 would take you all the way into WA state.)

Option 2 would be still going through Michigan, but continuing up into Canada and going around the north shore of Lake Superiour on the Trans-Canada highway. This would take even more time, but would be a nice change.

Option 3 would be to take I-76 to I-70, cutting across the middle of Ohio and Indiana. In Indianapolis, you have the option of continuing on I-70 or starting to cut north on I-74. This would probably be the fastest of the non-Chicago options. Both 70 and 74 give you lots of options as you go further west. Again, you can make those choices as you look at a map.

Any other options take you even further south and into other congested areas. I personally would prefer the first option, as it's probably the most beautiful without having to go into Canada. If you choose to go into Canada it's recommended at this point, but not required, to have passports.

I hope you enjoy your new home in Washington. I've lived here for 21 years and I love it!

Drink alot of coffee.

while traveling u have uto stay in a hotel as it is a long journey as u can do it in oneday.

so just go through the following website.