Moving Advice Needed - U-haul trailer or moving company?

@ossobuco,

It just seems like it is going way out of the way to head into the LA area on the coast when I actually want to head to the eastern border of California. I don't know the number of that horizontal one below Death Valley that's on the map I posted. I'll have to look it up and see what the topography is like.

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@Butrflynet,

Ah, never mind. Just zoomed in on the map. It is 40 which heads into Lake Havasu City and is way above Blythe.

Okay, scratch that idea. It is LA and 10 all the way. I have a limited partnership in an Easy 8 motel in Lancaster. Maybe I'll just plan to stay there the first night rather than trying to make it to Blythe on the first day. It will be fun to see what I invested in and I'll get some of the money back via the partnership. Maybe they'll even give me a hefty discount.

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@Butrflynet,

Butrflynet wrote:

Moving Company

I won't be taking very many belongings so it will only fill a very small portion of the moving van.

does it matter if your belongings arrive before/after/with you? if not, talk to a couple of moving companies about a "less than load" option. Someone may have already booked a trip between the same general destinations and paid for the van. Some moving companies will take on your partial load at a significantly reduced cost.

hamburger suggested it to me some years ago when I needed to move some things still at their house to my home here. The price was about 1/10th of what I'd been quoted otherwise. I just needed to be willing to accept the delivery the same day the big order was being delivered. It was a smallish company then, has turned into a biggish one since.

Crossing my fingers that your moving experience will be as good as mine have generally been.

A useful tip about tips from hamburger re packing/unpacking. Figure out what you're going to be tipping the folks doing the packing/unpacking. Give 'em half up front "for coffee" since you can't make them "coffee". Let them know there will be more at the end of a good, clean, quick pack/unpack, load/unload (esp. if those parts are being paid by the hour). It's saved me time/money/frustration over the years.

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@Butrflynet,

Butrflynet wrote:

It is a 6 cylinder and has less than 50,000 miles on it, I'm the original owner but don't drive it much.

I bought 4 new tires when I moved to Sacramento 6 years ago. In that time, I've put less than 5,000 miles on my car. So, there isn't much wear on the tires, the age of the rubber would probably be a greater concern.

Talk to your mechanic about the trip. Having an older car with low mileage might be problematic heading out on a long trip - let him/her know what they're preparing the vehicle for.

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@Butrflynet,

I agree - that was in case info says there's snow on 5 - which I don't think there'll be.

Found my description of leaving Tucson and where the cafe was, and the cut off from Deming to Hatch/I 25.
http://able2know.org/topic/64987-15#post-1756113

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@ossobuco,

Thanks for the link. I was looking for that thread but hadn't found it yet. I'll read through it and see what all you were advised and experienced.

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@Butrflynet,

That makes sense, Lancaster. (I'm sure I've designed some lots there, long ago, but the boss was the one to do the site reviews then, so I still haven't been to Lancaster. Urrrgh, designing lots in Lancaster is part of why I changed design emphasis - I was "green" before my time.)

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@ehBeth,

Good ideas, eBeth. I'll add that to my list of questions for the movers. I don't have a deadline for the arrival of the stuff. It can arrive anytime.

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Found this in Osso's thread. Just posting this here because I can feel the stress level rising and I know she'd be telling me the same thing right about now.

Noddy24 wrote:

Osso--

My thoughts will be with you. Winnowing is hell and after weeks of winnowing setting off to an unknown street address, racing the moving van, is unseemly scuttling in the Prime of Life.

Hold your dominion.

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@Butrflynet,

Reading through the first couple of pages on your topic, Osso, it just dawned on me that I too will need some remedial learning regarding high altitude cooking and baking. Big difference going from below sea level to ABQ.

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I'm swiping posts from your thread and copying them here so it will all be in one place. This one contains the driving times I was interested in between LA and NM.

JLNobody wrote:

Osso, good. If you start out at 7 a.m. and stop at 3 p.m., that's a hefty 8 hours, and with two hours of break time that's still a hefty 6 hours of driving. When I drive to L.A., I stop (after only three hours driving) in Blythe, Calif, and then the next day do four hours to L.A.. Since there is no rush (being retired) that's enough. My only concern is this race with the movers. How does THAT work? If they get there before you, does someone in Albuquerque accept the shipment and check to see that everything is there? Heaven forbid that it should Dys. He's have a great garage sale.
Or do they just deliver everything, if you're not there, to the storage facility that you've hired?
I'm just genuinely curious about the mechanism of this process; I know you have it all under control. I don't want to sound like a worry wort--like auntie Olga.

JLNobody wrote:

Yeah, I'm not worried, only about your worrying. Yes, it's a 7 hour jaunt from L.A. to Phoenix, then another 2 hours on Highway 10 southeast to Tucson on the way to Las Cruces, New Mexico. There, of course, you take Highway 25 up to Albuquerque. But I'm sure that's not news.
I'll be in the rider's seat with you, so, for the sake of my spirit, drive mindfully.

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I posted the map and the big pdf file on my blog page. That way it is available for people to advise about the route but won't require you to download the 4 mg file to do so. Just click on the link in the blog and if you have Adobe Reader, you'll see it.

Here's the blog page:

http://butrfly.net/2009/01/making-final-preparations-for-my-move.html

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@Butrflynet,

Noddy was very present on that thread... I've been rereading it. The thread is important to me. Noddy... Anon.. Ellpus... Gus... Dys... Lash, well, a bunch.

Quick correction - I didn't stay at the Red Lion in Tucson (which I keep misspelling) but the Red Roof Inn - not that you should but as a point of reference.

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@ossobuco,

I wonder where Mr. and Mrs. JLN stay in Blythe.....
or, if they were going to stay around Phoenix, or Dys was, or Gus, or Ticomaya...
where would they suggest?

Besides the place in Scottsdale that FLWright (I can't remember, have to go google).
Similar to me, I didn't know where to get off the highway to get a nice (but, y'know, not toooo nice) breakfast or lunch.

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@ossobuco,

Again, in my case, I'd been thinking of a nice little cafe or coffee shop - I ended up getting a donut at a gas station in Chandler.

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@ossobuco,

The great thing about that AAA trip kit I posted is that it lists all the local motels, points of interest and any long term road constructions. The individual maps are really detailed too, right down to alleys in the towns and cities. So, if I happen to make a wrong turn somewhere it won't be difficult to figure out a detour if needed.

After looking in more detail at the file, I feel a lot more comfortable doing this with very little trouble as long as my car holds up. So, that will have to be a top priority while I'm in the middle of packing and schlepping stuff to the Good Will. So now the biggest worry is going to be just disposing of most of my stuff in some way other than trash bins as a last resort and attempting to do it all in small trips down the stairs of my apartment.

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@Butrflynet,

Understand.

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@ossobuco,

What I'll probably do is stop off at a grocery store along the way the first day and get a couple bags of salad mixes, apples, carrots, some crackers and cheese, rolls and deli meat for sandwich fixings, and a couple disposable paper plates, bowls and plasticware. A box of instant oatmeal and tea bags will do for breakfasts. That should be enough to snack on during the evenings at the motel and give me something to munch on during the day while driving. I can keep myself well fed for the duration for about $20 in groceries.

If I decide to take Hwy 99 rather than 5, I'll also be on the lookout for some good produce stands (if they aren't all closed for the winter) and stock up on some for BBB if the prices are good.

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@Butrflynet,

I'm really in no position to advise, Butrflynet, never having attempted such a big move. But I'm reading this with interest.

I'm crossing my fingers that it goes smoothly for you.
Good luck! Smile

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@Butrflynet,

Haven't taken 99 in years, interested. Doubtful about produce stands, but there still might be good places..

I know you're busy, but the recent mark bittman diary has him describing what he eats on a book promo tour to the northwest u.s. - including what he tucked in to eat on the plane. Much as you are saying... but maybe some hints there (just google Bitten..)

Me, I'm a sick little thing who likes old coffee shops and strange cafes. Must be something from my formative years...
But, those are harder to find now, especially in a hurry.

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Moving Advice Needed - U-haul trailer or moving company?

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