My Youngest Son Got A Job
...in South Carolina.
I've chronicled some of the details of how that came to be elsewhere, so I won't get into that here. However, it does serve as the impetus for what became a 3,200-mile journey of 67 hours (actual time on the road, plus fuel, food, restroom and sightseeing stops) over 6 days, through 12 states.
Can You Say Epic?
If those numbers sound daunting, they should. I've planned and driven multi-day, multi-state trips before, but nothing like this. The longest I can remember undertaking prior to this last one was a trip our family took that looped from Western Oregon through Southern Idaho, down Utah, touched a tip of Northwestern Arizona, to Las Vegas, Nevada, and on to Southern California before returning home.
That earlier trip lasted nine days, covered a little less than 2,500 miles, and included some fun stops such as Circus Circus, Disneyland and visiting with my wife's family. Four people, one vehicle, four hotels, and all somewhat familiar territory at the time.
Last week's trip was two people, driving two separate vehicles (a filled up 15-foot Uhaul moving truck towing a 3,000-pound car, plus a second car), across Northern Oregon, Southern Idaho, Northeastern Utah, Southern Wyoming, Southern Nebraska, Western Missouri, Northeastern Arkansas, Memphis, Tennessee, and Northern Mississippi, before crisscrossing Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina.
While the segment of Northern Oregon through Northwestern Utah was very familiar (I've driven that way over or back at least a dozen times), everything after that was new.
And while there was some sightseeing involved, most of the places were along the way, which meant we had to get back on the road to make it to the next one, or to get to our final destination for the day. And mostly what we saw—college football stadiums—we saw only from the outside, thanks to renovations going on, and/or restrictions due to COVID-19.
So kind of fun, but kind of a letdown, even if we knew going in that would probably be the case.
Plus, neither of us had driven a Uhaul of any size before, let alone towed a car behind one.
So, given the magnitude of the undertaking, let me share with you what we did to plan and prepare for this cross country move.
The Route
Several weeks ago, well after the job was offered and accepted and the search for a house to move into was underway, my son began looking at potential routes to get there. Basically, he put in our location and our destination, and of the three routes Google Maps returned, he chose the one with the shortest time.
Since he knew we would be taking six days to get there, he then divided up the drive into six more or less equidistant segments. He then showed me his work and asked me what I thought.
This preliminary route was exactly the same for the first three days as the one I eventually devised. After that, instead of heading south and east through Missouri, we would head nearly due east from Kansas City to St. Louis, catch a corner of Kentucky into Tennessee, then head into North Carolina before dipping down into South Carolina.
Total mileage for the trip would have come in under 3,000 miles.
As is, it sounded perfectly fine to me. However, it didn't include really seeing anything other than what might be along the highway we were traveling, and as I checked into it, there were at least 18 different areas of road construction. Plus, it would take us through a couple more larger metropolitan areas that we wouldn't know much about as far as traffic, driver behavior or ease of getting through each section of freeway until we were upon them.
I didn't want us traveling exclusively through the middle of nowhere, but at the same time, I didn't want us getting lost on major highways, either, or stuck in the daily commutes, along with whatever construction their might be.
Plus, who knew if either one of us would have another opportunity to drive across the U.S. again. We should at least try to see something.
My son, however, couldn't come up with anything he particularly wanted to see. As I delved into it, places I might want to check in on, like Graceland, or the Parthenon replica, were closed in response to the coronavirus. After some time doing research for other places we might go, I eventually gave up.
Still, we had to see something. Thinking on it for a while, I got an idea that I thought both of us would enjoy. He and I share a love for college football. While not exactly the direct route, we could, by adding a couple hundred miles, see four stadiums within the SEC, plus a couple others.
For a while, I also considered a tour of the southern part of the PAC-12, which would have meant all four California schools, plus the two in Arizona. That trip would have come to over 3,500 miles.
Since I'm also very familiar with California, having made that trip up and back about as many times as the one into Utah, it didn't take long for me to nix it. I just didn't feel right about it. Better to just get going as far east as possible to begin with, and then maybe take some time to look at stadiums in the back half of the trip.
After not really having an opinion where to stop, when I told him we could go to places like the University of Alabama, Auburn and Georgia, he got pretty excited. I was glad, because as I told him, at least for me, it would probably be a once in a lifetime opportunity.
All Stops
With the route agreed upon, that meant modifying the stops. My son had only considered the places we might stay, but hadn't delved into where we might have to stop to get gas, eat, etc.
Typically, when I've prepared a trip of any great distance, I've known what kind of gas mileage my vehicle can get, and then map out stops accordingly. I like to coordinate restroom and eating within that one stop as much as possible. I try to find gas stations that are at least among the cheapest, to hopefully save some money.
This time around, though, what our ultimate miles per gallon might be was unknown. Uhaul offered some information for the 15-foot truck—a tank that could hold 33 gallons, and mpg that could range from 6-10. That meant we might be able to travel as far as 330 miles before running on fumes, or as little as 198.
Or, it could mean even less. Stated performance, in my experience, doesn't often match real world tests. So, even six mpg might be pushing it. For me, that meant we needed to account for the possibility we might be needing a gas station much more frequently than most cars.
It took a couple of attempts, but as I studied each segment of the route, I finally came up with a plan for stops that I believed would work. Nearly each day had possibly four gas stops, which included the place where the hotel we would stay in for the night was located.
I figured that the best gas mileage would occur on flat, straight stretches of road, while the worst would happen going up hill. Regardless, the Uhaul would be towing one of my son's cars, so that was bound to affect performance all the way. I decided 330 miles to the tank would be impossible, but banked on the possibility that we could at least nudge out 200.
I did all of this, though, knowing that we might end up improvising anyway. If the Uhaul could go longer without stopping to refuel, great. I'd rather have that problem than needing to stop more than four times in a day.
In addition, I took a look at total miles traveled in a day, and what that might mean in terms of time behind the wheel. I didn't want us to get so fatigued each day that we weren't functioning at our best for at least most of the next. The number of stops, eating things that energized and didn't require much to digest, keeping the cabin of the vehicle cool, listening to music, etc., were all things to aid in keeping up awake and alert, but if we didn't get sufficient rest in between time, the other strategies would go for naught.
It took some time to figure out our itinerary, and since I had other things to do, it took a couple weeks all told, but the final day by day breakdown looked like this:
Thursday, July 16—Leave home by 8 AM PT for Twin Falls, ID (624 miles) with potential stops in The Dalles, OR, La Grande, OR, and Boise, ID, with each leg somewhere between 128-178 miles.
Friday, July 17—Leave by 8 AM MT for Cheyenne, WY (619 miles), potential stops being Tremonton, UT, Little America, WY and Rawlins, WY, with segments between 147-178 miles.
Saturday, July 18—Leave by 8 AM MT for Independence, MO (653 miles—the longest distance for any of the six days), with Ogallala, NE, Kearney, NE, and Nebraska City, NE being fueling stops if needed. Segments between 149-179 miles.
You'll note that the first three days would have us travel nearly 1,900 miles, well over half the total. That's because I didn't expect there would be much to see or do in the first three days (and I was right), and I wanted to make sure we had enough time the last three days to do our stadiums tour and make it to our final destination with time to spare.
Sunday, July 19—Leave by 8 AM CT for West Plains, MO (279 miles), stopping in Springfield, MO if needs be, with distances of 170 and 109 miles.
Monday, July 20—Leave by 8 AM CT for Prattville, AL (522 miles). Stops for fuel including Memphis, TN, Starkville, MS, and Tuscaloosa, AL. Segments ranged between 85 and 175 miles.
Tuesday, July 21—Leave by 8 AM CT for West Columbia, SC (417 miles). Stops being Auburn, AL, College Park, GA, Athens, GA, and Augusta, GA. Traveling distances ranged between 68 to 101 miles.
Wednesday, July 22—Leave by 8 AM ET for Eastern South Carolina, and my son's final destination (120 miles). Shouldn't need gas so I didn't factor a stop in.
You'll see the distances traveled the remaining days were much lighter, mainly because of our stadium stops in Memphis, Starkville, Tuscaloosa, Auburn and Athens. Sunday was short because I don't like to travel on Sunday. It's a purely faith based reason that I'm happy to go into if anyone wants details in the comments, but for the purpose of this post, I'll just leave it at that.
You'll also note that not only would we need to contend with distances, traffic, mpg, etc., but time zones. The continental U.S. has four—Pacific, Mountain, Central and Eastern. That meant every so often, we'd lose an hour.
The Hotels
As mentioned above, the fueling stops were not set in stone. The hard stops would be where we would spend the night, though they could potentially change, too, if absolutely necessary. To book the rooms, I used hotels.com, a site I've been using for years now because they offer a free night's stay for every ten nights you stay, and they generally have decent pricing along with some secret discounts.
There may be other newer sites that do the same or have other kinds of deals. I just haven't taken the time to look into them.
When deciding on a hotel, I normally look at price, guest rating, amenities, location as it relates to the highway we're traveling on, and the neighborhood it's in. Unless I'm traveling alone, I don't normally consider the cheapest hotels in the sketchier places. It's one thing to risk yourself, your belongings and your vehicle, and quite another to that with others.
My wife cleaned rooms at a five star resort before I met her, so she's super picky when it comes to hotels. She can tell if sheets and linens have been changed and how thoroughly a room has been cleaned just standing in the doorway. She never wants to spend more than $60 on a room, but she never likes those rooms. And just like everything else, hotel room costs go up and up.
This time around, not only did I have to factor in my son being with me, but his two cars, and most of his family's stuff. Nothing irreplaceable, but why tempt fate? There was no need to risk more than necessary just to save $10-$20 a night. And since I had decided to pay for the hotel rooms, I figured it was up to me to decide how much I was willing to spend.
Aside from the five things I mentioned above, I also tried to factor in ease of access in and out of the hotel parking area, and the size of the parking area itself. Thanks to Google Maps and at least their satellite view, if not the street view, it was possible to determine that to some extent. I didn't want us getting stuck in a situation where we didn't have somewhere on site or very nearby to park the Uhaul and trailer overnight, nor did I want us to have a problem getting out of there the next morning.
On top of that, I also ended up taking on the rooms that we would all stay in (me and my wife, my son and his family) Wednesday night. That wasn't originally in the plan, but after my daughter-in-law suggested we stay in Myrtle Beach (farther away and more expensive than where we really needed to be), I looked around for something closer.
In the end, after a booking error on my part (I apparently typed in Idaho Falls rather than Twin Falls the first time, but fortunately caught it), here's where we would stay:
Twin Falls—Hampton Inn
Cheyenne—Guest House Inn & Suites
Independence—Quality Inn & Suites
West Plains—Hampton Inn
Prattville—Days Inn & Suites
West Columbia—Quality Inn & Suites
Conway, SC—Comfort Suites
Looking at that list, I can see I have an affinity for inns and suites.
Cost of each room ranged from $67.85 on the low end to $114.91 on the high end, with most somewhere near or within the $90 range.
Every hotel room, except the two I booked at the Comfort Suites in Conway had two queen beds. The Comfort Suites rooms each had a King Bed, along with a sofa bed and access to a free crib. All hotels offered free WiFi, free parking, and supposedly some semblance of a free breakfast, which varied depending on COVID-19 restrictions at each location.
Unfortunately, without calling each hotel on the list as I was researching them, or going to their own website, there was no way to know which ones might offer a full breakfast, partial, to go bag, or none at all, with little difference in overall cost of the stay. In other words, the cost of the room remained the same, regardless of whether or not the breakfast they said they offered was actually available.
As someone who doesn't regularly eat much for breakfast, anyway, I figured that would be the least of our worries.
Uhaul And Trailer
The next major consideration for the trip was choosing the moving rental company to choose from, the size of the truck and the trailer. My son took care of this, but I did help a little by looking up the costs for Budget. While the costs were up to $500 or more less, he ultimately went with Uhaul because of convenience of pick up and drop off locations. Uhaul simply had more, and closer to where we needed them.
A friend of ours rents Uhauls out of his auto body shop seven minutes away, so that's where we rented the 15-foot truck. My son settled on that size because it seemed to match the amount of stuff they would be taking. He also decided to get the towing dolly rather than the full-blown car trailer, again, because of price. The former was about half the cost of the latter.
The difference between the two was whether or not all of the car sat on the trailer, or if just the front part of it did. The car to be towed was a smaller sedan, and it was determined that it would do just fine on the tow dolly. As it turned out, though, we had to pick up the trailer at another location, again about seven minutes away but in a different direction.
I'm not exactly sure how much he ended up spending on the Uhaul and trailer (it was north of $2,000, probably closer to $2,500), but it paid for 10 days of rental and total miles and some insurance coverage. Gas would be paid separately. We started out with 5/8 of a tank, so the truck would need to be returned with at least that much in it.
Flight Back
So, we had our means of travel to get there, our route, and stops, but I still needed to figure out a flight for my wife and I to get back home from South Carolina. We'd be flying into Portland International, but where we would fly out of, I felt, was up in the air. Within two hours of where my son and his family now live are at least four airports, including Myrtle Beach, where my daughter-in-law arranged for she, her two little ones and my wife to fly into. (I told you, she has a thing for Myrtle Beach).
To be fair the Myrtle Beach airport is the closest to their home, which meant we didn't have to go far to pick them up from where we would be handling the final logistics of Uhaul and trailer, and she did get a decent price for it ($180 per person, one-way, which included a seat for the 15-month old grandson).
However, the flight times, in my mind, was one of the worst possible. Takeoff was 6 AM PT on Wednesday, July 22, which meant getting to the airport at 4:30 AM (thanks to the 1.5 hour lead time for domestic flights to get through check-in for tickets and luggage, the TSA line, and to the gate so you can board ahead of takeoff). We live about 75 minutes from the airport, so at the very latest, that meant leaving at 3:15 AM. Which meant getting up at 2:30 AM or so for whatever last minute preparations.
Or just not going to sleep at all, so you could be at your crankiest upon arrival.
The flight itself went from Portland to Charlotte, NC, a good five hours or so, with a layover there of close to three hours, with another 50 minutes or so on to Myrtle Beach. Because they would lose three hours in flight, the arrival time was 5:50 pm ET.
I don't remember the alternatives now, but I know there were flights that left later, got there more or less the same time, with one stop, for maybe a little more money. There would have been a two hour drive after that, but depending on which airport, we probably would have been in its vicinity, anyway.
She did what she thought was best. That's fine. I just didn't want to duplicate the times if I could help it.
And I could. I had better options to begin with, including a stop in Houston which would have split up the trip nicely, but I took too long to make a decision. Still, I managed to get something with Alaska Airlines I thought would work out just fine, even if the first leg was longer than I wanted. Our expected flight time ended up being 9:20 AM ET from Charleston, SC (just over a two hour drive from my son's new home), arriving in Seattle, WA at 12:20 PM PT (six hours of flight time, but we would get the three hours back), with a short layover just long enough to board a commuter for the 55 minute flight to Portland. We were supposed to be there by 2:40 PT pm.
The cost of the two one way tickets came out to $329.20 (or just shy of $165 per person).
Getting from the airport to home would be accomplished thanks to my older son, who was enlisted to drive the four up to the airport to begin with. My wife asked he and his wife and son to house sit from Wednesday to Saturday, which they were happy to do.
Clothes And Snacks
Whatever I took to wear on the trip would have to come back with me. That meant containing it within one suitcase that could fit into an overhead bin, since most airlines charge for checked-in luggage.
I thought about taking five changes of clothes instead of ten, and rely on washing clothes at a hotel, but ultimately brought enough for the entire trip. Fortunately, it all fit in the smaller suitcase my wife gave me.
I also considered lighter clothing that might be more comfortable in hot weather, but in the end, I didn't really have shirts or pants that were mainly for 90-degree and 80% humidity. I'm not into shorts, so I didn't pack any.
Snacks were arranged by my wife. For each day of the drive, we were given a fruit roll up, a protein bar, and a small bag of trail mix. In addition there were vegetable crisps in a large Ziploc bag, a medium-sized bag of jerky, and oversized bottles of water.
The idea was to eat breakfast at the hotel, eat snacks and drink water to keep us from being totally hungry and dehydrated, then eat an evening meal somewhere, mainly to shorten our gas and restroom stops, as well as to cut down on our expenses. Of course, the fact that my wife didn't want either one of us pigging out on fast food and gaining more weight also came into play.
Unknowns
Even with all the planning and considerations, there would still be unknowns. Some, I've already mentioned. Until we got on the road, we wouldn't know how the Uhaul and trailer would perform, from handling, to maneuverability and gas mileage, nor would my son and I know how well we would be able to drive them. We intended to take turns driving the moving truck.
We ultimately didn't know what traffic or adverse road conditions we might find, even though the route was designed to minimizing them. We didn't know exactly what the weather would be like, though it looked to be pretty hot and more humid the farther east we traveled.
We didn't know all of the restrictions concerning COVID-19 in each state we would stay in. On top of that, the closer we got to leaving, the more it felt like to me Oregon might return to heavier restrictions, which had me worried about a travel ban. None were ever mentioned before my son and I left, but with daily positive cases mounting, the governor was making it known that former restrictions might return, along with new ones, if the number of cases didn't come under control.
If our flight home got cancelled, or any of our hotels along the way were forced to shutter, that would put us in a world of hurt for at least a while. There could be possible alternatives for us, but not all would be easy to pull off or cheap to procure, adding expense to an already mounting mound of expenses.
While I did my best to know about the hotel locations, ultimately, we wouldn't be able to determine parking and ease of access until we got there. We also wouldn't really know what things were like on the ground, and whether or not that might put my son's stuff, if not our own well-being, at risk.
However, I felt that we were as prepared as we could be going in. We would just have to be flexible, divert to possible contingencies when needed, and keep our wits about us.
Have a plan. Execute the plan. If something in the plan wasn't working, try Plan B, and so on. Leave as little to chance as possible, knowing it was impossible to fully prepared for every less detail. When all else failed, improvise.
The End
That's a good look at what it took to plan for this trip. In a subsequent post, I will talk about driving the Uhaul and any situations we may have encountered along the way.
Screenshots from Google Maps and Alaska Airlines. Photos courtesy of Glen Anthony Albrethsen
You were a lot braver drive miles wise than I would have planned on. When I plan, I very very rarely plan on more than 500 miles a day. But I also generally plan on food stops for lunch. Moving though is a different animal, it is like, lets leave and get there, that was our two trips through Canada. No plans other than just get in the car and go, and not to cross at the Vancouver check point and to avoid Seattle.
Hey, @bashadow.
I was inclined at first to push for more to begin with, but my wife didn't want us actually driving for more than 8 to 9 hours each day. I'm glad she did.
re: moving
Yeah. It's the reason for the trip, and all the stuff is in the truck and cars, and the more it just sits around, the more opportunities for someone to want to break in.
If it were just me, I might plan things a little differently, though as I get older, I seem to trust my ability to get out of jams less and less, so the types of places I might spend the night might look the same anyway.
I don't blame you for missing Seattle. That place is a traffic nightmare miles before you even get close. Not sure why you wanted to avoid the Vancouver checkpoint. It's been at least 20 years since I was there. Too many people? Too strict?
To long of lines, way way to many people. The Great Falls, MT to Lethbridge Canada, was also getting pretty busy, so the last time we went in at the top of Idaho crossing. That was a lot less busy both ways.