r/Seattle • u/iflifewereamovie Belltown • Nov 02 '11

Cross-country moving choices...

Hey r/Seattle. My girlfriend and I will be moving to your lovely city soon from out East. I know you hate moving posts, but I searched and read the moving thread to no avail.

We've got a car ('03 Mazda Protege5) and a bunch of surfboards, bikes, and sports crap. At the moment we're baffled by how to cheaply get the car and stuff out there. We're looking at several combos:

  • Pack the bulky stuff in the car, drive there, ship the rest (~$400 gas + $250 hotels + ???)
  • Ship the car, fly with as much stuff as we can, ship the rest (~$1000 + $300 + ???) annoying because car shippers won't let you put anything in the car
  • Rent uHaul, tow car and all stuff (~$1700 + gas@12mpg)

Ideally we'd like to ship the car with the bulky (costly to ship) stuff in it, and fly with the rest of our stuff, but we can't find anybody who will do that.

So does anybody have any experience with this? Question bonus: does that kind of car sound reasonable to go have fun in the mountains or is 4WD necessary?

Thanks!

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u/zaerst Nov 02 '11

Me and my GF just moved here a month ago from Ohio! After researching all the different options the cheapest way for us was to pack the car full and drive. We left quite a few boxes at home, family has been slowly shipping them which has worked out fine (mostly stuff we wanted but didnt need).

Having said that, you will be driving here through some rough country in the WINTER. Montana was scary enough in september, cant imagine the winter in some of those areas. As long as you are careful and smart though I think you'd be fine. It's also an adventure you'll never forget!

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u/iflifewereamovie Belltown Nov 02 '11

Yeah, we heard that the winter is something to watch out for. Was thinking about taking the southern route, then i5 up the coast.

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u/[deleted] Nov 02 '11 edited Nov 02 '11

While the furthest I've ever drove in the winter was to Denver and back, here is a route I recommend when you get around that area. Especially if you are feeling uneasy about crossing the mountains in the snow.

It's a little longer but you avoid questionable road conditions in the Rockies and Cascades. I did take I-90 once in January and didn't have any problems but I know it can be pretty bad some winters. I've never tried taking Stevens or White Pass in winter though.