(no subject)

[alicebentley]

The days seem to swirl by faster than the leaves scatter off of the tree out front.

World Fantasy Con was a blast, OryCon was short but great fun, and Marty and I spent today's school holiday visiting friends in Seattle and interfering with them getting their work done.

My big plans for the weekend: Assemble our newly acquired lawn mover and attempt a neatening pass on the grass outside. Empty at least a dozen more boxes from the living room and kitchen areas. Bake cookies for the school's Recreation Night. Update LiveJournal more than once every other month.

My dilemma for later this month: Do I, or do I not, drive all the way from Seattle to Chicago and back? There's about a van load of stuff left behind from our move, some of which is now making its absence felt. If I pay to have the stuff moved, we're looking at around $1,200 to $1,500 - more than I'm willing to spend. If I fly over, and rent a van, that's ~$900 to $1,000 - still uncomfortably high. And I already own a van, so renting one seems particularly frustrating.

Present plan, assuming I get Mike to agree: take Marty along for company, leave the weekend before Thanksgiving, arrive probably Tuesday, pack the van, have big family dinner Thursday, leave Friday, get back Sunday or Monday. Lots of slack time built in for naps, rest stops. Biggest expense is gas (considerable, but not the same order of magnitude as movers) and hotels. Could be fun. Or, could be hideous.

Comments

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

Writing as someone who extended her current driving trip to include Minnesota, I'd suggest you tally up the gas, hotel, and other likely travel expenses. And look at the current condition of your van. You're adding on an oil change, 4,000 miles on your tires, etc. Will the road trip remain worth it if you incur a repair expense that would otherwise wait a few more months or more before popping up?

The other question is how much you and Marty enjoy road trips. I love them, though driving more than about 7-8 hours a day gets long.

It sounds like the big win is likely to be the family time, and the familiarity of your old home turf. I'm really enjoying seeing friends here in Minnesota in person, rather than just on Live Journal, email, and phone calls.

Good luck!

Regarding the option of having the stuff moved, if it's of shipping size, have you checked FedEx ground prices? When I moved, FedEx Ground/Home Delivery was about 60% the price of the professional movers. Are you talking hundreds of pounds worth of stuff, or a couple thousand pounds? The FedEx online calculator can give you a good idea of the cost/pound of shipping from Chicago to Seattle.

[alicebentley]

The van is in fairly good shape - and the plan is to trade it in once we no longer need it anymore and have puzzled out how to finance the next vehicle.

Marty and I both love long trips, and I like driving as long as I have someone to talk to. This car has a CD player too!

The stuff that needs moving is either Really Big (assembled 8' by 4' bookshelves, 8' lengths of wood), fragile (fish tanks, monitors) or too worthless to be worth shipping (old magazines, last year's SF books) but not quite worthless enough to just recycle. Hence the need for a van.

Mikie's off for the weekend, but we'll talk more about this when he returns.

[marykaykare.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Fishing for someone to go along on that trip or just thinking about trips in general when you asked if I liked long car trips?

Glad you enjoyed Orycon, I think it's the best general purpose con on the West Coast. However, as you may have noticed in my LJ, I wasn't very sociable that weekend.

MKK

[alicebentley]

Pretty much just thinking about trips in general - and that, as you take so many trips, this would be "something I think I would know about you, and don't".

I haven't seriously thought about dragging anyone else on this trip, although Mike would very much like me to take another driver, because it seems inconceivable to me that anyone would be able to take an entire week off from their lives like this. For the lat 20 years my life has been scheduled in 1/2 hour increments, with excursions requiring massive advance planning. I forget that not everyone lives like that, even as I attempt to adapt to my new (nonscheduled) life myself.

I was sorry not to run into you at OryCon. We came in late because of work and school, but left early because there didn't seem to be any motivation to stay. We enjoy each other's company, so the weekend was fine in that regard, but one of the reasons to go to conventions is to spend time with *other* people, and at least this time it just didn't happen much.

When is the next Vangard meeting?

[marykaykare.livejournal.com]

First Saturday in Dec., which iCal says is Dec 4. I'll probably be there since I'm not going to SMOFcon this year.

MKK

[alicebentley]

And now that you've got me thinking about it - WOULD you like to drive to Chicago and back? I realise "could you" is another, equally valid question. I still haven't talked to Mike about anything (he's getting back really late tonight) but I know his main objection to the idea was my being the only driver.

And it would be a great chance to actually get to know you.

[marykaykare.livejournal.com]

ack! You got buried in the inbox (there's a big fight on the SMOFCON list). If you had just asked day sooner I might have been able to say yes. Alas, the very day you asked I committed to cook Thanksgiving for some friends. If you and Marty end up going would Mike like to come to our Thanksgiving?