Title says it all really. Google maps says that taking I-90 to Buffalo and then driving through Canada will take 12.5 hours, versus 13.5 hours if we take I-84 to I-80. Will border crossing lines eat up that 1 hour difference?
Everybody has a recent passport.
ETA: Actually we’re heading for the north 'burbs of Detroit, so Google suggest crossing into the US through Sarnia rather than Windsor, if that makes a difference.
I did this when I moved out West many years ago, pulling a trailer full of all my earthly goods (except for my books – I sent them on ahead). It definitely cut down on the travel time, and I had no hassles with the trailer.
That was pre-9/11. I think if you’ve just got a car full of people, all with current passports, you shouldn’t have any problems. But i wouldn’t dream of bringing a loaded trailer through nowadays.
Beware of snow squalls.
By far the likeliest place to be caught in bad snow is in upstate New York. Taking the U.S. route won’t make snow any less likely. Everything south of the Great Lakes is Snow Central.
How long your border crossing will take depends on time of day, but these days the crossings generally do not take long. If you plan on getting to Buffalo at any time other than between 8 AM and 7 PM, it might not take five minutes. Take I-90 to I-290 to I-190N and cross at Lewiston/Queenston, which gets you to the QEW a bit faster (but tune in to the border crossing AM station; it’ll keep you posted on border wait time, and you can switch to I-190S to cross at Buffalo/Fort Erie if need be.
The Detroit crossing is rarely busy these days.
If the Border Control Agent separates your group and asks how you all know each other, don’t tell them you met in a Hamburg mosque.
They didn’t seem to think it was very funny…
I entered Canada at the Sarnia crossing a few months ago on a Saturday morning. It was somewhat busy, and it took about 15 minutes. The opposite direction entering the US was a lot longer, however, and I bet it took a bit longer than that.
I came back a week later at the Sault Ste Marie crossing on a Saturday afternoon. It SUCKED. The line was very long and moved at a glacial pace. It took almost two hours to get through. My car has a manual transmission too. Getting stuck in traffic while going up a bridge was painful. 
The price of gas alone makes it worth sticking to the Greatest Country On The Face Of The Planet (that has an *Ass *for a hat). I won’t trouble you with anything else.
Like the Clap, avoid Canada.
Thanks all. Sounds like we’ll save time even in the case of long lines at the border crossings.
Yeah, and having lived near Cleveland I can tell you that I-80 gets plenty of lake-effect snow. Still I’m going to keep an eye on forecasts, and if there’s a big storm predicted along the northern route we’ll take the southern instead.
Eh? Nothing like a bit of late-night drunken jingoistic posting…
And it only takes half of a tank to cross through Canada… plus I think I can cope with the horrors of paying an extra $10 for a tank of gas if it should come to that.
It really depends. On some days around the holidays there’s a lot of travelling. The longest I’ve had to wait at the border is maybe two and a half hours, but that’s usually restricted to the beginning or end of a long weekend (for instance).
Use this: Border wait times
Updated hourly so you will have a constant picture of how the crossing you’re planning will look.
Apparently they’ve also joined Twitter and you can have updates sent to you 