The next two days, I'm driving from Madison to DC and flying right back

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein) 04/16/2018 at 09:32 • Filed to: None

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Things are coming together for my move out to DC. Because of the timing with when I finally figured out my job search and when my lease ends in Madison, we’re having to slap together a cross-country move of 2 humans, 2 cars, and 3 cats, in a matter of weeks.

When I was out in DC for job interviews, I looked at a couple places to live. But since I wouldn’t know if I was actually moving to DC until I had an interview in Madison after my DC interviews, the places I looked at were all rented by the time we knew for sure we were moving. Last week my mom checked out a couple places for us since she’s local, and we’ve got a finalist but haven’t actually seen it in person.

My wife has moved cats cross country before, and I haven’t. Based on her experience, the best way to do it is for us to put the cats in their carriers, load them up in our Impreza hatch, and both of us to do stints behind the wheel from Madison to DC. But then that means we need to somehow also get my car out there. The ways to do that were:

Move our stuff in a U-Haul truck, put my car on a trailer behind it. I’d drive the U-Haul and my wife would drive the Impreza.

Have my car shipped out to DC.

Drive/fly back shenanigans.

Option 1 wasn’t really viable, because that would stick my wife with the cats all on her own except for times we pull over at a rest stop, and also given the timing of things we’d need to arrange for some kind of professional help loading the truck up in Madison and unloading it in DC.

Turns out, a one-way return flight was a lot cheaper than shipping my car would have been. Plus this way I get to see the townhouse we’re renting in person before signing the lease. Sure my mom has checked it out but this feels better for all parties involved. Except, you know, the part about where I have to drive 13 hours from Madison to DC in one day, and then fly back to Madison the next day, while leaving my car at my parents’ house.

Oh, and this driving out flying back idea was my wife’s. Which I’ve made sure to give her credit for multiple times.

So, tomorrow morning, bright and early, I’m hitting the road. Yay?

UPDATE: My dad has provided these profound words of wisdom about the trip:

Drive carefully. Stop if you get drowsy. It’s a long haul.

Thanks, dad.

Little Black Coupe Turned Silver > Textured Soy Protein 04/16/2018 at 10:01

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I put together a 700 mile move of all my stuff, 2 cats and 2 vehicles in 4.5 weeks.

I ended up driving the cats out ASAP and they then stayed with my parents for 3 weeks without me. Had a moving company take all my stuff in their truck. Then me and a friend drove my truck which was pulling my car on a trailer.

Textured Soy Protein > Little Black Coupe Turned Silver 04/16/2018 at 10:07

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My parents are willing to put us and the cats up for a few days while we wait for our stuff to make the trip, but leaving the cats with them for an extended period of time without us wouldn’t work. Our oldest cat has assorted medical needs and gets pills in her food, plus we give her IV fluids to help her kidneys.