Shipping your Belongings

NedRN · May 25, 2014

I don't think you want to do that to save two days of driving. It is going to you big in in money and hassle. You can't put your stuff in your car if you ship it, but send separately. Your car may not arrive when promised, but no matter what, you will pay for airfare for yourself and up to a week of car rental. Sometimes cars arrive with damage. You may be without your stuff for several days as well.

Get yourself some good tunes and blast the drive from TX to SD. Speed limit is 75/80 most of the way.

shoegalRN, RN · May 25, 2014

I was gonna ship my car from MO to CA and the lowest I could find for shipment was $850! And no, you can't put your stuff in the car and you need to have an empty tank or only a fourth of gas in it. You would have to ship it one week prior to you arriving, and it's no promise you will get the car as promised. All in all, it cost me $200 in gas to drive from MO to CA and I slept at rest stops in my car when I needed a break.

Also, I hear it's a pretty drive from TX to CA, especially if you go down through I-40, through NM and AZ and then up to San Diego. I had to go I-70 to I-80 through KS, CO, WY, UT, NV and then to CA since I'm northern.

wanderlust99 · May 28, 2014

No but I second it's a beautiful drive. Stop in Santa Fe nm, the painted desert in az. We went to Sedona for a few days too. Tx to CA isn't that bad or that far.

raindrop · May 28, 2014

Give yourself 2-3 days and do the drive.

AmantesDelSol · May 29, 2014

I shipped a car from CA to MN and it cost me $650. I dropped my car off two days before I left CA and it arrived in MN a week and a half after I did. I am sure I could have had it sooner, but it would cost more money. I also had to travel an hour to pick up at their drop off location.

SkyIsTheLimit86, BSN · May 29, 2014

I, too, am in this predicament of getting my car from St. Louis to northern California. To make it extra fun I need to bring my two cats. To those of you who have travelled a similar distance, what do you use for directions? A garmin? Navigation on your phone?

raindrop · May 29, 2014

I use Garmin. It has never gotten me lost, but my maps are always updated. I also make a print off of Google directions before leaving and I compare the directions from Google with the Garmjn while driving. I would feel more comfy if I had a 3rd backup, so I think I will download an app on my phone. It makes me nervous, too. I wish I had more faith in reading Atlas, Ive never really

used one and I get confused when I look at one.

shoegalRN, RN · May 29, 2014

I, too, am in this predicament of getting my car from St. Louis to northern California. To make it extra fun I need to bring my two cats. To those of you who have travelled a similar distance, what do you use for directions? A garmin? Navigation on your phone?

I, too, come from a similar distance, I traveled from KCMO to northern California and I printed off directions prior to traveling. I also have navigation on my phone that is updated often. The route I took was I-70 W through KS, CO and then I-25 N through Ft Collins CO to Cheyenne WY to I-80 W through WY, UT, NV and then CA. That was printed on my directions and it was on my phone's navigation as well.

Since the drive was so boring in KS, when I go back home, I gonna go through Southern CA via I-5 hop on I-40 through AZ and NM to TX, then I-35 N through TX and OK and up to KS back to KC.

raindrop · May 29, 2014

Which navigation do u use on ur phone?

shoegalRN, RN · May 29, 2014

AT&T Navigator, with spoken directions. I also have Google maps with spoken direction.

eager1hasbegun · Jun 5, 2014

Waze is a great navigation app (and recently acquired by Google). Theres real time traffic updates and social communication between drivers so that you know or report if there's a road closure, a speed trap, nearby gas prices, standstill traffic due to an accident, etc.

However, I would still use a back up GPS or paper print out. I usually just take screen shots of the full route from my phone. Having driven from VT to TX and TX to WA, I've been in some remote locations with no cell service, and if your phone cuts off or the app idles for any reason (you stop for a nap or gas and a bite to eat), you can lose the directions until you get near another cell tower (which could be a few hours in some places!)