Thanks for this advice- I’ll wave.
Alice has convinced me, she is going to die. So why don’t we make the best of it and start a pool as to the actual day and time of her demise? I’ll take Friday at 11:00 for ten bucks.
Oooh a Death Pool! Hmmm… I’m going to say she loses the top of the truck from an ancient low bridge in some Georgia backwater Saturday 11:30 PM
Weeeerrrreewolllessss…at Midnight!
Or, Bigfoot ambushes her in the Ladies Can, at 3pm, when she stops at a Dairy Queen.
I saw the title of your OP and thought “No you aren’t” and then moused over the part where you’re driving a moving truck and thought, Oh geez, she IS going to die. From annoyance, by the way, not through some horrible crime or disaster. Driving a rented truck with your stuff in it is a pain in the rear.
My contribution: Always remember that the difference between an ordeal and an adventure is ATTITUDE. Ha ha.
Just kidding. Lots of good advice here about the truck and getting around with it. You’ll be fine.
Good luck!
Ha! Can one be in their own death pool? I’ll take Saturday at 10:15pm. If I win, give them money to a charity for people with a poor sense of direction.
Just don’t get lost and sidetracked to the Titty Twister just across the border in Mexico.
Just don’t.
"Cause then, all bets are off.
Until you show up that morning and they say," We don’t got none of those left, but take one of the 26 footers". People were amused as I pulled up to my brand new 500 sq foot apartment, and opened my cavernously empty truck.
(people were someone less amused as I navigated my way through unfamiliar icy streets in a big honkin truck I wasn’t used to driving.)
It was still about one third of the price I was quoted on the size appropriate uhall though.
Alice, please look at a map before you follow any of the directions people have posted here*. You have almost a straight line between Tucson and Asheville. You take I-10 to I-20 to I-30 to I-40 and it puts you directly in Asheville. You’ll have to come pretty close to Dallas, Memphis and Nashville, which shouldn’t be a big deal, and best of all, it will avoid Atlanta completely, which I’m pretty sure you’d suffer death by anxiety attack if you had to go anywhere near…trust me, I’ve driven all over the country, and the roads in and around Atlanta are really chaotic.
You’ll be fine, just take your time and if you can figure out what your average speed is going to be, time things so that you’re not passing through the big cities at rush hour.
*ETA: with the exception of SCSimmons who makes a good point about Dallas, which is almost as crazy as Atlanta.
Note–
That route takes you up Mont Eagle Mountain. In Winter. In a truck!
Bad mojo, even for an experienced driver.
Do not go that route.
So…what time do you leave? I’m also strongly in favor of getting updates from you en route.
Is jasonh trying to skew the death pool…?
:dubious:
Hey! No skewing the death pool!
Oh, man!
Texan (thinking he’s bragging about the size of his ranch): “You know, I can leave my house in the morning, get in my car and head out in any direction I want, and when the sun goes down I’ll still be on my own land.”
Okie: “Yeah, I had a car like that once myself.”
One of my favorite jokes. Only the accent of the final line is Vermonter, not Okie.
Depends on the part of the country you’re from I guess. I always attributed the “Okie” response to the fact that there’s a lot of rivalry between Texas and Oklahoma.
Maybe you’re really just super-excited and nervous and adrenaline is ramping you up? Having just uprooted my entire existence from Alaska to the Seattle area slightly over 2 months ago, I know exactly how you’re feeling.
I’m not going to tell you not to worry, because your endocrine system won’t listen anyway, but what helped me was to make a little “bible” of all the things I needed to do, and some I didn’t, I referred to it, updated it, and consulted it constantly. It helped keep me busy AND organized.
The driving part? It’s an adventure! If I could have afforded it I would have driven down the Alcan one last time. Best of luck and Congrats!
I just made a (much shorter) move - from NYC to Baltimore - but drove the exact same kind(s) o of truck (made three trips, actually - using a 10’, 12’, and 15’). Be aware of braking differences (do a highway-speed “slam on the brakes” test), and be aware that the weight distribution is different from your average sedan (more like a pickup, but that depends on the weight of your cargo).
You won’t have a rearview mirror, obviously, so be aware of vehicle length/visibility tolerances. It’s not that hard to do - if I could do it in NYC/Baltimore, you can do it where you’re driving. Hell, St. Louis traffic - sorry, that post just made me laugh - it’s not bad, by comparison.
Oooh, oooh - my entry into the death pool for your trip.
Dec. 21, 2012 - it’s going to take longer than you planned.
Of course, that’s when we’re all going to go;)
when the Maya’s “Long Count” calendar marks the end of a 5,126-year era.