"We usually crossover from I95 to I81 in Fredericksburg VA via Rt. 17 to I66." This is indeed a slow-down point (most of the day, every day of the week). Your "work-around/ride-around" is a good option/solution.
"On a previous return trip to NY, we were greeted with a broken copper water pipe I failed to drain properly." We moved from VA to upstate-NY (Castleton-on-Hudson) in 1978. We did not know about northern "deep freeze" over the winter. Stupidly, we shut off the heat and went to VA for Christmas (a very cold Christmas on the east coast).
Luckily only a few copper water pipes burst near the outside basement walls. We found them quickly after we turned on the heat. But, they were a surprise for us Southerners.
The other slight freezing damage was all water drainage traps under sinks cracked and leaked. We lucked-out - no toilets cracked. My NY friends laughed at our ignorance (and, quickly helped me do the repairs). They said "why do you think that people with large trailers blow-out their pipes, empty water heaters, and put anti-freeze in toilets/traps"? Of course I said 'you do"?
We had two -30 nights during our 35 years (just below the Adirondacks). We never lowered the thermostat below 50 degrees after that mini-disaster.
