Well I cant offer anything but a good luck.
I was thinkin’, Dem and a dog on a three thousand mile trip?..hmm I hope dem can stand to be with an animal that long!
ha ha ha, just kidding dem. Sorry :).
I suppose the kids could handle the plane if its nonstop.
If you’re planning on ‘seeing the sites’ on the way out to California, I’d have to recommend the moving company. Just moving from Texas to CA, my wife and I were going to do the truck plus dolly-for-the-car thing, and all we had was a cat. But when you added in the headache of the backbreaking hauling of the furniture, and the fact the trucks only go about 60mph with the petal to the floor, we chose to go the moving company route. Actually, when we added up the cost of the moving van versus doing it ourselves, we figured out it was only about $500 more for a two bedroom 2 bath aprtment.
Besides, you may find yourself stopping for the night in a sketchy area of some random state on your way to CA, and how shitty would it be if someone broke into the back of the truck, or stole it outright while you were asleep at some random motel. After stopping for the night in El Paso (where car theft is their main export) I was GLAD we used the moving company.
Funny thing is that we had also planned to see the sites, but quickly discovered just how much cats LOVE to travel. You would have thought the cat was receiving electric anal shock treatment. By the time we got to Phoenix, the cat was refusing to eat or drink because she just barfed everything up anyway, so we just drove straight through the night to get her to the apartment as quick as possible.
Once on solid ground though, the cat recovered just fine.
Don’t miss the Grand Canyon. It’s one natural wonder that actually measures up to all the hype. (Sorry, Niagara Falls. :D)
Peace,
mangeorge