Research and decisions

Now that the plan seems to be ironed out, and the GO date is getting closer, it's time to start locking in reservations.

Up first - vehicle shipping companies.  The truck will be shipped by the Army, and fortunately there's a drop-off point seemingly next door to family in the St. Louis area.  Score!  Darrell will drive it down, drop it off, spend a day or two with family, and fly back.  Very convenient, and the flight back didn't cost as much as we expected.  Excellent.

Shipping the car, though, is on us.  We looked into prices - it's MUCH less expensive to ship from the west coast, and that works into the plan quite nicely.  We'll be driving from PA to CA, stopping along the way to visit family and friends.  There are many options, but after some investigating and suggestions from those who have been there and done that, we're going with Horizon.  It's about $1100, and should take a week and a half between dropping off Monday morning and arriving Wednesday.

We're hoping/expecting his truck to arrive before we do.  However, we'll need another vehicle to get the boys to school and for me to take care of other things during the three days in between Darrell's return to work and the arrival of my car.  We're USAA customers, so I looked into all four companies they have deals with.  Enterprise wins by a mile.  After discovering which locations are open on Sundays and comparing prices with the others, it looks like we can get a three day rental for under $100, including all taxes and fees.  Excellent!!

Next up - hotel reservations for the road trip.