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My husband and I are on a similar route. Moving from southern Oregon to Lancaster, PA. We packed a UHaul and it's towing our smaller car. My husband is driving the truck. I am driving our other car. We drive caravan style. We've been on the road for 3 days now, in Wyoming tonight. We've had some problems with the truck, but nothing that has left us on the side of the road. UHaul has had really good, prompt service, sending a roadside mechanic out. Unfortunately we've needed one twice now, but both times we'd arrived at our hotel and got service there while we were comfortable and settled for the night.
First we had a "check engine" light problem. That's still a pending issue, although they've cleared the light twice. Seems to be switching on due to a "mild misfire" problem. Then today when we got to our hotel we saw one of the tires was very low, almost flat. A guy came out and replaced it within 30 minutes.
Fingers crossed we just get to PA with no big issues. Moving is always pretty crazy. Especially when you're doing it DIY style! The traveling itself has been fine, no closure issues due to COVID, hotels have good protocols it seems. We're mostly eating groceries we brought with us, although today we got take-out Subway sandwiches. Special treat!
Wow, what are the odds that two households pack up and move from southern Oregon to southeastern PA in the matter of a week! I love Lancaster county. It's some of the most picturesque landscape I've seen. We usually go to Shady Maple (if you don't know it yet, you will soon!) for great produce and meat.
Sorry to hear about your traveling issues. Hopefully the rest of the trip goes smoothly!
Good idea to have a driver. I moved from the Bay Area to NH, and a year later back, with 2 German shepherds. Drove by myself. Never again. In fact, I don’t think I’ve driven further than to the airport since I returned 7 years ago. I was 50 at the time. Single female.
Wow! You're my hero! That is some serious driving alone. At least with two Sheppies you didn't have to worry about anyone menacing you on the road. I'm too old and I have an eye disease so my eyesight is terrible.
Yep, good idea to have driver, pets can be hard to move!
And a word about Zelda, my Siamese. Her first road trip was from St. Petersburg, Florida to Gold Beach, Oregon when she was five months old. She and her sister had the run of the back seat. Litter box on the floor, favorite throw that smells like home on the seat and some kibble in a small bowl. They were great.
Next, I took Zelda from Oregon to Tucson, Arizona for six weeks and back. This time she mostly hung out on the passenger's lap or perched on the center console. She'd go to the back seat for naps. So, I'm not anticipating any major problems.
I am actually one of those people who are very safety minded and everything I read about traveling with cats was "keep them in a carrier"! So we tried that on the first trip from Florida, but after two hours of crying, we gave in! They were very mellow. I think most animals are more stressed out by being confined than by the actual travel.
Thanks again for all the words of encouragement and support! It's very much appreciated.
You have my greatest admiration, and I will be reading your follow-up report with great interest!
We will be using U-Pack, but we will be driving ourselves with a cat and a dog, and I am quite nervous about it -- and we are in our mid-60's and driving "only" about 1,200 miles!
Again, huge KUDOs to you for making such a big change in your life at your age! You have my very best wishes!!
Hubby and I, in our sixties too, just made a 2400 mile move with three dogs. All went well and we're settling in nicely in our new home. I have an Ask Me Anything thread going so please feel free to AMA or PM me. The anticipation and worrying about all the things that could go wrong was the worst part. None of the things I worried about happened and now we're all safe and happy in our new place. We moved cross country thirty years ago with two toddlers. This time we moved with three dogs and it seemed harder to coordinate everything with the dogs than it was with the kids! Or maybe, I'm just older now ; )
Part one is complete. UPack dropped off the trailer on Friday and we loaded it over the weekend. Today another driver came and picked it up. I had my mechanic do a trip check on the car and change the oil. Tomorrow I finish packing the rest of my clothes and load the car. So far so good.
And a word about Zelda, my Siamese. Her first road trip was from St. Petersburg, Florida to Gold Beach, Oregon when she was five months old. She and her sister had the run of the back seat. Litter box on the floor, favorite throw that smells like home on the seat and some kibble in a small bowl. They were great.
Next, I took Zelda from Oregon to Tucson, Arizona for six weeks and back. This time she mostly hung out on the passenger's lap or perched on the center console. She'd go to the back seat for naps. So, I'm not anticipating any major problems.
I am actually one of those people who are very safety minded and everything I read about traveling with cats was "keep them in a carrier"! So we tried that on the first trip from Florida, but after two hours of crying, we gave in! They were very mellow. I think most animals are more stressed out by being confined than by the actual travel.
Thanks again for all the words of encouragement and support! It's very much appreciated.
I would get a cat harness & leash on your kitty just in case the car door gets opened or some such unexpected occurs.
Have a wonderful journey & great new chapter.
Part one is complete. UPack dropped off the trailer on Friday and we loaded it over the weekend. Today another driver came and picked it up. I had my mechanic do a trip check on the car and change the oil. Tomorrow I finish packing the rest of my clothes and load the car. So far so good.
Drive the car around town a little bit before the big trip to make sure everything's OK. I had an oil change last year and the tech knocked a hose out of place. The car was dead on the side of the road within an hour. You don't want that on your trip!
When our cats and dog were alive, we moved them cross country. They did good, but it wasn't easy. I hope you and kitty cat have a great trip and landing. I second the cat harness and leash. They're out of their element and you never know even w/ the carrier. They usually feel safer in the carrier. They adjust fine, but it takes a little time. I kept the carriers out w/ the doors open days before the trip so they could sniff around and get accustomed to it.
Wow, what are the odds that two households pack up and move from southern Oregon to southeastern PA in the matter of a week! I love Lancaster county. It's some of the most picturesque landscape I've seen. We usually go to Shady Maple (if you don't know it yet, you will soon!) for great produce and meat.
Sorry to hear about your traveling issues. Hopefully the rest of the trip goes smoothly!
Well, it wasn't totally smooth. We had more issues with the UHaul truck, including a tire completely blowing out on Interstate 80 just east of Toledo. That was scary. Three out of six of the tires failed on the truck. UHaul is refunding half of our rental fee... which I guess has a twisted logic to it since only half of the six tires failed.
Anyway, after sitting on the side of the freeway for 3.5 hours waiting for it to get fixed, we did get back on the road.
And we GOT HERE a couple days ago! Hooray. Happy to be done with the trip.
And yes, so odd to see another southern Oregon to Pennsylvania trip in the same week! Hope yours goes very smoothly.
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