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Good news is: the route you have selected; North to Minnesota, across North Dakota and Montana to Washington State means you will have a minimum number of mountain passes to cross.
The bad news is: you will have worry about blizzards, blowing winds, blowing snow and closed highways.

Every winter my brother & I used to drive from Chicago to Butte Montana on I-90/I-94 to ski. Out of the 6 years we went, we got stopped by blizzards twice; and this was in a 4 wheel drive truck. Both times, the highway patrol closed the interstate in North Dakota.

Yes, you can make the trip in your Hyundai. You will have to buy chains. (it’s good insurance) The roads can be dry and clear, and they also can be full of snow, just depends. Watch the national weather forecasts, be prepared, and understand that if the highways closes, you could spend a couple of days waiting until it reopens.

Don’t push your luck/drive all night, out in the middle of North Dakota, if you drive off the road in the middle of the night it could be hours before someone finds you. See the road side emergency kit items in the link below.

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As a follow up to Tori’s answers – Mt. Baker is great skiing – they were the first ski resort to openly welcome snowboarders, and they have the record for the highest amount of snowfall in a single season.

Snoqualmie Pass is the closest to Seattle – but it’s also at the lowest elevation. That makes the snow conditions not as good as other places during some winters (and during the beginning and end of the seasons).

The other two places that are reasonably close to Seattle are Crystal Mountain – 2-2.5 hours southeast and Stevens Pass – 2 hours northeast.

Serious skiers would tell you that from Seattle Crystal Mountain has the best skiing. Mt. Baker is as good or better if going from Bellingham.

From Bellingham, with your passport, you can also head for the ski hills in Vancouver BC (Cypress and others), and Whistler is about a 3 hour drive not including the border wait. And Whistler/Blackcomb has been ranked the best destination resort in North America. It’s worth the drive up (for a day, or for a weekend).

Edited to add: Tiny has it wrong in a few of the comments made:

Stevens Pass is has a single operator ski resort. One lift ticket covers all of the lifts at the pass.
Mt. Baker is in the US, east of Bellingham. No need for a passport or border crossing to get there. And yes, they often have the best snow.

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You don’t have to be banished from the choir forever. There are many ways to treat hoarseness and get your instrument back in tune.

Rest your voice. Total silence is the most healing gift you can give your worn-out voice, says Howard Levine, M.D., director of the Mount Sinai Nasal Sinus Center in Cleveland. At the least, avoid the extremes—whispering and shouting. „Whispering puts tremendous stress on the vocal cords,“ Dr. Levine says. „If you must speak, you’re better off using a soft voice.“

Humidify, inside and out. „Inhaling the steam from a good old hot shower is one of the best treatments,“ says Glenn Bunting, a senior speech pathologist at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston. Or try a steam inhaler. „It’s like getting a facial,“ he says. You also might consider using a humidifier in your bedroom to offset the damage from dry indoor heat, he adds.

You need to get enough water inside your body, too. He suggests this guideline for healthy water intake: Increase your water consumption until your urine is clear. If you’re taking vitamins like beta-carotene or medications that change the color of your urine, then simply consume 10 to 12 eight-ounce glasses of water daily.

Invite a chicken to lunch. If your hoarseness is from a cold, try chicken soup. „There’s a good scientific basis for chicken soup,“ says Dr. Levine. The heat creates humidity, and the garlic is a good mucus thinner. If chicken soup isn’t your favorite dish, he suggests taking a garlic supplement. Follow the manufacturer’s suggestions for the recommended amount.

Thin secretions. Robitussin syrup is good for thinning out mucus, says Dr. Levine. But avoid antihistamines, which have a drying effect. A decongestant can also help reduce the flow of mucus, he says, but if you have a heart condition, check with your doctor before taking them. Certain oral decongestants may increase blood pressure.

Avoid aspirin. If your cold has produced a lot of inflammation, aspirin can cause more bruising of the vocal cords, says Dr. Levine, which can make your hoarseness worse. Choose a nonaspirin pain reliever instead.

Control your cough. Use a cough suppressant and expectorant to prevent coughing from further damaging your vocal cords, says C. Thomas Yarington, M.D., clinical professor of otolaryngology at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Don’t gargle. Contrary to popular belief, gargling with mouthwash actually makes hoarseness worse, says David Alessi, M.D., an otolaryngologist in Los Angeles. Most mouthwashes contain alcohol, which irritates mucous membranes and dehydrates vocal cords. The gargled liquid doesn’t actually get anywhere near the vocal cords, and the action of gargling itself is harmful. It will bang your vocal cords together and increase swelling.

Skip that drink. The alcohol in your cocktail has the same drying effect as the alcohol in a mouthwash, Dr. Alessi adds. If you’re hoarse, soothe your throat with a nonalcoholic beverage instead.

Pass on the caffeine. „Stay away from caffeine—in coffee, sodas or chocolate,“ says Bunting. Caffeine is a drying agent, which won’t help those inflamed vocal cords.

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It seems to be mainly environmental.

Epigenetics can be defined as any change in gene expression which has been caused by means other than changes to the underlying DNA. These epigenetic changes remain during subsequent cell divisions and can be passed down through subsequent generations. It is a burgeoning scientific field that is overturning much of what we thought we knew about inheritance.

There is plenty of evidence that demonstrates how epigenetic changes (and not changes in the DNA of a gene) have been passed on to the next generation. For example:

Drosophila melanogaster —- the fruit fly has white eyes. Embryos develop in temperatures of 25 degrees Celsius. However, in an experiment this was raised to 37 degrees Celsius and the flies developed red eyes. When these were crossed again the offspring were partly red-eyed. Scientists from ETH, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology were able to show that the DNA of the gene responsible for eye colour was no different for red or white-eyed fruit flies. So the heritable changes had not taken place in the DNA.

Fruit flies again! —- When fruit flies were exposed to certain chemicals, 13 generations of their descendants had bristly outgrowths on their eyes – these were not caused by any changes in the DNA, rather the changes were by epigenetic means.

Twin studies —- monozygotic, or identical twins are just that – identical – they have identical DNA. However, during their lifetimes there are differences in their phenotypes, such as susceptibility to some diseases. One possible explanation could be changes in the epigentic factors that affect genes and modify gene expression. Scientists at the University of Washington, Seattle have shown that in monozygotic twins some epigenetic factors are identical in early life, but they acquire differences as time passes. It could be that these differences modify genes in such a way as to create the phenotype differences that have been observed.

There are several epigenetic ways that a gene can be modified, that is having its expression altered without changes to its DNA. Two of the most widely studied are DNA methylation and histone modification.

1) DNA methylation – where methyl groups latch onto parts of a DNA sequence and can switch a gene on or off.

2) Histone modification – DNA winds around histone proteins for compaction and gene regulation, but certain epigenetic factors can bind to the histones which affects the extent to which DNA winds around the protein. This effects gene expression.

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Katie Flyte has passed away