Moving cross country, couple questions..

NYSpeed Automotive NYSpeed Off Topic
1

I’ve been going back and forth to Austin Texas for the past couple weeks getting set up.

I took an IT position with the City of Cedar Park (about 30 minutes north of Austin), and got a house right in Cedar Park.

My new commute is 3.1 miles one way.

My friends thought I was crazy when I bought my latest car, but I had plans on driving this thing down to Austin. I picked up a 08 Grand Marquis GS with nearly zero miles on it.

I sold everything here, except for three pallets of household goods. I shrinkwrapped them on to pallets, just need to find a freight company to pick them up. Anyone recommend a freight company for such a small LTL load?

I’m traveling with three GPS devices. An android phone on Tmobile running google navigation, a garmin (somewhat outdated), and a new iphone.

Can someone recommend an android app that is very good at booking hotel rooms on the fly based on location?

It’s not going to be too tough of a drive. 8 hours to Kentucky, 8 hours to Arkansas, 8 hours to Cedar Park.

2

No clue for that app. When I moved across the country we did it in one shot with a 4 hour stop to sleep because we couldn’t keep our eyes open anymore.

3

I drove from Texas to Buffalo with a paper map multiple times :lol:

It’s extremely easy

If you know you’re segmenting the trip why don’t you just book ahead of time?

4

try using U-Ship

5

Get a V1

6

I would do 2, 12 hour stints as opposed to 3 8s.

7

The Kayak mobile app always gets me where I need to be… but like others said, if you know where youll be already just save yourself the hassle and lock yourself in somehwhere ahead of time. Also google maps local does pretty well with finding hotels.

8

Figure out how to cache the route on the droid or just stick with the Garmin.

+1 on picking your stops ahead of time and reserving rooms.

Why not toss a hitch on the car and just tow a small uhaul trailer with your stuff? 3 pallets of stuff should fit in a pretty small uhaul trailer.

Also, agreed on doing two 12 hour driving days.

9

This. You’re not going to sleep for 16 hours in between the 8 hours shifts, and this will save you the cost of a night in a motel.

10

What if you break an axle or get dysentary?

11

Laughed out loud… so loud!

Just dont waste your time shooting over 200 lbs of food or caulking the wagon and floating it… trust me ive tried it.

12

lol I’m just saying, he’s planning like he’s going to be trekking through the Amazon or something with all the shipping of pallets and redundant navigation devices. You’re just fucking driving down the road for an extended period of time.

You better bring some gold in case you have an equipment failure and the locals don’t accept American currency!

13

Personally, I would rent a U-haul van and a car carrier. Hook the car carrier to the van, load the van with your stuff and be on your way.

14

App for a hotel? why not drive till your tired then just pull into the nearest one. Seemed to always work for me on my trips to florida and texas.

15

I like backup strategies :slight_smile:

16

You’re getting a lot of good advice here. If I were you I would

Unwrap the pallets, take your stuff off, and burn them. Get a hitch from ebay and put it on the Grand Marquis. Or Uhaul will put one on for you at a reasonable price. Rent a big enough trailer to fit your stuff. 5x8 enclosed has more capacity than 3 4x4 pallets stacked 4’ high. It will cost you $410 dollars total. If you can squeeze everything into a 4x4 it will only be $308. Your car can tow either one.

As for hotels, either plan your stop ahead of time or just look for the blue signs on the side of the highway announcing exits with hotels. I like Holiday Inn Expresses, Hamptons, and Comfort Suites. Plan on $80-100 for a decent hotel that isn’t in a big city.

---------- Post added at 02:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:11 PM ----------

Well then bring a spare axle and some quinine pills. :tup:

17

agreed on the renting a uhaul trailer idea. you got that big v8 boat of a car, might as well use it.

i use the google maps on my android all the time whenever im on the road and looking for something. works great.

18

Well that just got easier. Everything I was going to ship on pallets, I decided is not worth the cost of transporting to Texas.

I gave the stuff to my brother instead for his new house.

I was looking at 275 for a hitch installed and around 250 for the trailer rental. Household goods and furniture can be bought at Ikea fairly cheaply, its not like I had anything great to start with.

Looks like I’ll be rolling down to the lone star state with a garbage bag full of clothes and a few personal items.

The 12 hour driving thing sounds much better, going to do that for sure.

19

Yeahaw… now just set those rations to meager and get moving at a grueling pace

20

lol

Audiobooks get me through long drives.