My lease ends on December 21st and I’m considering moving from southern Indiana to Eugene Oregon in a 10 foot Uhaul truck or just renting a Dodge Grand Caravan if I decide I don’t need to take as many things.
It would be going through southern Wyoming and Idaho.
Is this just a plain bad idea? Or is it just up to chance whether the roads would be okay enough? I would say January and February would be much worse. I wouldn’t be in a rush because I would have the Uhaul or Dodge for a week.
Another question, are there enough gas stations along the way where you don’t have to worry? Or do you really need to pay attention and plan ahead and fill up all the way every time one is available?
I’ve spent enough time in the Western USA to know to never play chicken with the gas tank. December 21 is also around the Winter Solstice. You’re dealing with some very short days.
I think if you plan ahead you should be fine with the gas tank. Just make sure you look at a map and have rough idea of where the next gas is. Don’t drop below half a tank and you should be fine.
Hopefully someone from the region will be along to tell you about the weather. I think it’s going to be one of those, “could be fine, could be stupid” type of things. Here in Oregon the storms start rolling through end of October, beginning of November. You could hit some bad stuff, based on that. The Dodge Caravan might be the way to go. You could always pull a smaller U-haul trailer with the Caravan. At least you’d have 4-wheel drive if you needed it. (Rental places aren’t always on board with trailers though, so you’d have to check for that).
Another option is something like a cube from ABF U-pack. You pack it and they move it. My memory is that it wasn’t too expensive at all for one cube. Other companies offer much larger cubes (like PODS).
I’ve had pretty good luck with U-haul’s U-Box for moving a small apartment’s worth of stuff. A few years back it cost ~$1600 to have one box moved from Pennsylvania to Arizona (I was able to tow the U-Box locally at each end). That’s similar to the cost of renting a truck for that distance. Flying out (assuming you don’t have a car you need to drive out) is going to be cheaper than hotels and meals en-route.
Keep track of the weather … the road crews will keep I-80 open as best they can but you’ll have problems even in Iowa if you’re driving through during a blizzard … once in the Rockies it might be slow going if the roads are snow-packed … correct me if I’m wrong but it does snow in Southern Indiana, the main difference is long winding grades in the mountains … just go slow and carry tire chains …
You’re best bet is stick to the Interstates … I-80 in Wyoming and Utah, then I-84 in Idaho and Eastern Oregon … I’m going to recommend taking I-84 all the way to Portland, then I-5 south to the People’s Republic of Eugene … there’s a cross-country shortcut using US-26, but that’s distinctly not recommended in December … and you’ll miss driving the Columbia Gorge, and that’s a mistake anytime of year for first time visitors …
Rain Gear … it rains everyday all day long … grey skies ten months a year … we don’t have beauty queens, we have slug queens … it’s pronounced ‘will-AM-et’ … and the water supply is too clean, you’ll have to buy bottled water to get that familiar chemical taste …
One thing you should do is to install the Gas Buddy app on your phone if you have a smart phone. It will use the phone’s GPS to tell you the distance to the closest gas station and the price per gallon.
My daughter elfbabe and I moved her stuff out from Montreal, across to the midwest, then to British Columbia via MN, ND, MT, ID and WA about 3 weeks earlier in the year than you plan to, a couple years ago. We kept an eye on the weather, but it was fine. Interstate all the way, plenty of service stations, motels, always someone else on the road.
So if you’re in no rush, and able to go to ground in a motel if the weather goes sour, it really should be fine. Mostly.
People probably make that trip in December with no problem, but I’ve been in snowstorms in Wyoming in July. Keep an eye on the 10 day forecast and plan accordingly.
As others have said, you should be fine sticking to interstates. You may be delayed by snow. There is nothing you can do about it. Gas wise, you should be fine. Try to do most of your driving during the day. Much of the drive is pretty and you miss that by driving at night.
More seriously, along the interstates, there’s probably an exit every ten miles or so and probably a gas station at every exit. In areas where the probablies still come up short, there will be a sign, “Next gas 80 miles” or whatever. You might look up what the mpg/tank size is on your rental to get an idea of the range might be at a particular tank level. Gas Buddy mentioned by cochrane is a good idea. It will show for sure any gas stations ahead and also might let you know if driving 5 miles off of the interstate will save you 50-cents a gallon.
The biggest worry is the weather. The interstates are big commercial arteries so closure of more than 12 hours are rare, but they do happen. The National Weather Service site has closure advisories if you have connectivity.
Because of the time I’m thinking it would be a better option to have my belongings shipped there and take a flight.
As long as I pay my rent for December and have the move-out inspection then I could leave in early December before the holiday rush. I don’t have to stay in my apartment until the 21st if my rent is paid and the inspection is done, that’s what the apartment cares about.
What is the best and most trustworthy way to have my belongings shipped there?
Eugene, Oregon. Hippie capital of the USA. One day there was more than enough for me. To each his own…
Gas stations galore I would say. The only time I almost ran out in that area was driving from Alberta to Montana and I’m pretty sure I didn’t fill up the car before we left.
As stated before, going through Nevada and possibly California will only take a few more hours. Definitely doable in one week.
Another vote for sticking to interstates for a newbie driving a truck in the winter.
And most definitely take the northern route on I-84 to Portland and then I-5 S to Eugene. Going the very long way thru Nev. and Ca. on Interstates is not worth it at all.
Here’s what you going to run into on I-84 from Utah:
A lot of (relatively) mild hills and curves until you get to Farewell Bend on the Snake River in Oregon. The usual open winter road hazards of blowing snow, etc.
Leaving Farewell Bend there’s a fun section of very curvy highway passing thru low mountains. If there’s no ice or blowing snow, you just take it easy. It’s not so curvy then thru Baker to LaGrande. Outside LaGrande you get into a good upgrade with some curves heading up into the Blue Mts. Surprisingly straight and flat as you cross the mountains. But they are mountains so the winter weather effects are stronger, otherwise not a long or difficult section.
Then the fun stuff: the downgrade on Cabbage Hill towards Pendleton. A steep, curvy run. One of the funnest sections of Interstate around. Pay attention to the signs. Take it slooow down the mountain. Downshift, don’t rely on your brakes.
Then a flat run across the cold desert to the Columbia River Gorge. There is a chance of strong east winds with freezing rain/sleet in the gorge. But most of the time it’s clear.
Once in the valley it should be fairly problem free to Eugene. (And take I-205 to I-5 to avoid downtown Portland.)
Whatever route you take prepare yourself for the possibility of very cold weather in the Intermountain area. Temps in the single digits or lower with even lower wind chills. Lots of warm clothing, top notch gloves, etc. in case of emergency.
Buy gas at the major truck stops, avoid the small, independent places. You don’t want poor gas when the weather is cold.
Oh it can get nasty, it certainly can. But consider how busy those interstates are, and how many vehicles have zero problem no matter what time of year.
Yes, watch your gas, and certainly watch the forecast.
I wouldn’t hesitate myself (but would keep an eye on the weather), but then I drive in snow 6 months out of the year.
When my wife and i moved from Baltimore to California nine years ago, we used a company called Door to Door, but it’s no longer in business.
Going to its old web address (http://doortodoor.com/) gets you redirected to UHaul’s UBox program, along with a note that “Existing Door To Door customers and their containers have been transferred to U-Haul.” I guess they must have been bought up by the big guy.
Anyway, when we used them, Door to Door were really good. We had a LOT of shit to move, and it took four of their containers. They drop them on the street, you load them up, and they come and pick them up and take them to your destination. After we moved, we were out of the country for six weeks, and the company stored our containers at one of their warehouses and then delivered them when we were ready to move into our new place in San Diego. We then hired some guys to unload for us.
The main thing to be careful of with these container companies is that the container itself is well sealed (you don’t want all your stuff to get wet if it rains), and that you pack the container well so that your gear doesn’t move around during loading, transit, and unloading from the truck. We were careful to pack our stuff nice and tight, and i don’t think a single thing got broken.
