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Everything else gets shipped.
Ship some in advance so it's waiting when you get there.
Costa Mesa to Beaverton is a 15 hour drive; 18 with a couple stops.
You should be able to tough it out in one looooooooong summer day.
Maybe one overnight (Redding? Yreka?) is still all that's needed.
When you say "shipped" do you mean like FedEx my stuff? Or ship it with the movers? Just curios what you're thinking.
And most likely I will do the drive in one shot if I can stay awake. I will stop if I'm falling asleep.
If the car-top carrier idea does not work out, is there a reason you can't pull a small u-haul-type trailer with your car ??
Also, if you were to rent a larger car/suv, what would you do with your current car ??
I would have the movers take my car. I don't feel comfortable pulling something, so I'd rather not go that route. However, someone mentioned a carrier, that may work, just no speeding I guess. LOL.
Thanks everyone. Great advice. My car is pretty new and I just got it checked out and oil changed, so I'm good there (I drove up in May and did all that before that drive, and had to take it in for service, so it got checked out again).
I have a Mazda 3 Hatchback (FWD). As I stated before, I'm not comfortable hauling anything, so I'd rather not do that for such a long drive. I also hope to drive it in one shot. Otherwise, I could pull my car behind a rental truck on a flat bed. Yeah, just not comfy driving such a long distance.
Plants. I am giving away most of them and will most likely keep one. I really want to take one with me, only because I'll miss them. I know, I'm attached to a plant. Alas, if it doesn't fit, I'll give it to my friend who lives nearby.
I never thought of shipping things up. I guess I could ask the front office to hold it for me until I get up there. Or send it to my cousin if they have space (I don't know them that well, so that's a bit awkward). Good idea. Never thought about it. However, I'd still be travelling with the same amount of stuff. Dogs, valuables, computer, and maybe one plant. Sigh. Okay, hating my small car now. LOL. And yes, paperwork for me and the dogs.
Maybe I'll ship up bigger "valuables" to my cousin. Like the stupid tripod. And see what else I can ship, maybe even my plant. I think I can ship it. I'll have to look into that and what else I can ship pretty safely.
I think the only issue with the rooftop carrier is that I don't have a roof rack. And I doubt it's worth it for me to buy one just for that. LOL. At that rate, I may as well ship everything minus the dogs. I'll need to look into this a bit more.
Thank you for all the great suggestions. I never thought about things like shipping it prior.
If you shipped some stuff up to your new address by say UPS or FEDEX Ground on a Friday, left on Saturday, you would have your box on Monday or Tuesday. Also they do make roof carriers for cars without roof racks RoofBag Car Top Carrier Installation | Cars With or Without Roof Rack
If you shipped some stuff up to your new address by say UPS or FEDEX Ground on a Friday, left on Saturday, you would have your box on Monday or Tuesday. Also they do make roof carriers for cars without roof racks RoofBag Car Top Carrier Installation | Cars With or Without Roof Rack
Good point about shipping something ground. All good points and maybe so I won't have to fill my car up with too much "valuables". I don't mind shipping some things, like that darn tripod.
So, I asked my brother about roof carriers and he made an excellent point about the ones that don't use a roof rack or that sit directly on the cars roof. I have a moonroof and therefore, the structure isn't quite as strong as a solid roof. So too much weight could be a bad thing. I will have to think about this. I'm moving to OR and will probably ride my bike more, so it may be worth it for me to get a roof rack. However, I'd be saving 8% if I purchase it there.
I just wanted to say thank you to everyone and all the great advice. I decided to purchase a roof rack system. It is expensive, however, I know I need one after my move (found a great deal online, that helped too). I'm going to see if I can possibly rent a storage roof thingy (or one of those wire bin types), versus buying it. It's an investment, but one I was planning on getting eventually anyways.
I also contacted my cousin who lives in Portland. Looks like he's fine with me sending him things and then getting it from them later. I am going to set aside what I think needs to go into my car and really evaluate what can go inside, go outside, and get shipped.
For some reason, my brain is set on stupid mode. I don't seem to think of the easy solutions (like shipping things). Duh! Thanks again. This helped a lot.
Glad you found a solution. Moving is stressful, so many details to think about sometimes the easy stuff just doesn't compute.
OMG. So very true. Nothing "simple" is computing. It's quite sad. I asked my gf if I could bounce off my lease options with her (I was freaking out and stressing). She said, "why don't you just do XYZ?" and I was like I'm an idiot! LOL. Yeah, that's been going on for the past few weeks.
Before you purchase the rack and I am not familiar with that type of car but having packed my car many times to move I have always been surprised at how much can fit. This may sound a little weird but for clothes and paperwork type items if you pack them in garbage bags that squish down better and you will be able to fit more items in your car. Boxes in themselves take up a lot of room.
Also if you don't have enough room and you do end up wanting to ship look at the items you are shipping and some items may be just cheaper to buy again. Lets take a vacuum for example because you could buy a cheap one at the new location. I have always been shocked at the prices of shipping etc.
Before you purchase the rack and I am not familiar with that type of car but having packed my car many times to move I have always been surprised at how much can fit. This may sound a little weird but for clothes and paperwork type items if you pack them in garbage bags that squish down better and you will be able to fit more items in your car. Boxes in themselves take up a lot of room.
Also if you don't have enough room and you do end up wanting to ship look at the items you are shipping and some items may be just cheaper to buy again. Lets take a vacuum for example because you could buy a cheap one at the new location. I have always been shocked at the prices of shipping etc.
I drove up to OR and stayed there for 2 weeks last month. My car was packed. Half of the car is taken up by the dogs, so unfortunately, I lost all that space. I had a full-sized cooler, which I probably won't need this time around (yay), so that opens a little more space up. Trust me, I utilized all the space. And this time around, I'll need all the same stuff (minus the cooler) PLUS all the valuables/necessities. I think the computer is the thing that will take up the most room (and a plant - if it fits and hopefully one of my stupid dogs won't eat it - he tries to eat everything).
Trust me, the vacuum is going with my other belongings. I can live without it. But I sooo hear ya on shipping. Even ground is expensive. And good idea about the trashbag. When I drove up, I used a lot of those reuseable bags, and you're right, sooo much more squashable than a box. I was thinking about that the other day. Use the bags, not boxes.
Lastly, my decision for purging goes like this. "Do I need this? No, toss it. Yes, is it cheap enough to replace? Yes, toss it. No, keep it." Granted, I don't want to have to repurchase a lot of things either. It will add up. I already have a list going of things I'll need or to replace. I'm already up to a few hundred dollars.
Thank you for the advice though. Trust me, any is good right now since I can't seem to think of simple things lately.
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I'm an idiot! LOL. Yeah, that's been going on for the past few weeks. 
