Moving back cross country

queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

Ok, I feel like a wimp posting this but I need some hopeful advice from my friends here.

After a rocky 9 months here in California, my bf and I are going back to Wisconsin. Not only am I very sad about this and I feel like a failure for not being able to secure a job out here but I am terrified of the drive back.

We will be driving back from Northern California to Milwaukee and the best way there is I-80.

Before I moved out here I had never gone through any mountains before in my life. Our experiences driving through them were during times when they had the bad storms last year. So, none of my mountain driving experiences have been plesant so far. Plus I have a fear of heights so driving up mountains does not help that.

I am so scared of this trip – not only do I not trust rental trucks but I will have my three cats between the seats in the front – each in their carriers. I have dreams of snow storms and driving off the mountain roads and plunging the mile down to our deaths.

I know that road trips should be fun and I used to love them – but that was probably because I never road tripped through mountains before.

Has anyone driven cross country before (from west to east) and successfully avoided mountains? My bf said we could drive down to Arizona and there are no mountains in most of that (My first bad mountain driving experience was driving from Flagstaff to Sedona in a blizzard) but it is pretty out of the way and will add a few days (and more money) to our trip.

I swear if I had the money I would pay for a mover and fly each cat back itself but I don’t think I can afford that.

We will be leaving Nov 11.

Eek! Help!

Comments

  • drgonflydrgonfly Raw Newbie

    Wow Queenfluff, sorry you have to move back. Being from Wisconsin, my husband & I have taken that route out west, but not at this time of year. We are used to snow & storms, but the mountains can be terrible at this time of year. I guess I’d check the forcast & consider taking the longer route through Arizona for safety’s sake. I don’t know the actual route, so can’t help you there, but wish you a safe trip back.

    Wing to your wings!

  • omshantiomshanti Raw Newbie

    ohh queen fluff, im so sorry Cali didnt work for you, damn the place!!! as per your travel well mts are inevitable but i have taken the southern route across and the mid route through kansas city, after Co. its all flat, an the roads are so good in Co that driving off a cliff is unlikely, i got stuck in snow with my two horses in their trailer on loveland pass for 6 hours once…it was not to bad, when they let us roll the roads where wet but clear..so try not to worry….best of luck….

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    Thanks for your replies so far.

    Yeah, the states I am afraid of are Nevada, Utah and Wyoming – once we hit Nebraska I am fine because it is all flat. I wish I could have some sort of “sky road” to drive over those states and get to the flat boring Nebraska. I am used to snow and stuff being from Chicago – although I always hated driving in it – but snow in mountains is different. Why don’t they have guard rails on all those roads? I can’t imagine that more people don’t fly off those cliff roads and plunge to their deaths.

    Yeah, bad experiences in Colorado too last year. I am definatley not driving through that state. I hadn’t been their before I moved out this way and I have to say I was pretty disappointed with it. We went to Boulder and after reading it about I thought it was going to be so cool – it just a town with a ton of strip malls, all crowded together.

    I would rather take I-80 only because it is easier to plan on places to stay and eat on the way back. Not as easy if we go through some non-vegan place like Texas. Plus, I have to make sure we can stay at places that allow cats.

    My bf is going to drive through the mountains of course. I think I might just blindfold myself so I can’t see anything.

    Oh, also anyone have any recommendations for which rental truck company to use? On the way out we used Penske – there were a bunch of problems with the truck (we didn’t drive it though our friend did but he had problems). But I see they got relative good reviews online compared to other places. The other place we are considering is Budget because they are cheaper. Definatley NO Uhaul – the brakes on those things are horrible!

  • zinfandelzinfandel Raw Newbie

    girl, suck it up. beggers can’t be choosers. we don’t have time for fearful people on this earth. get over it.

  • newbienewbie Raw Newbie

    are you sure you have to leave CA? my rule of thumb is that you have to spend at least one year somewhere before deciding whether or not to leave. you can’t really give it a fair chance with less than one year.. (IMO)

  • troublesjustabubbletroublesjustabubble Raw Newbie

    awww queenfluff! My mom has the exact same problem with mountains and what not. I know it really sucks. She pretty much closes her eyes and tries to think about other things. It’s all about trust. I know you trust your bf so let him do his thing. It sounds like you two really got a good thing going:)

    Much luck and love! I hope it turns out really well!

    zin-sheesh! a little sensitivity! you don’t have to be so freaking rude

  • beanybeeganbeanybeegan Raw Newbie

    Since we will be getting a new President, things should be changing with the job situation. If you do have to move then I would suggest taking the Arizona drive as you are in southern Cal. any way and it will be different scenery. Try and have fun what ever you do.

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    zinfandel – Yeah, that was pretty rude. If you don’t have any helpful advice, please don’t bother to post in my thread. Some people have issues with certain things like heights and such. I am sure you are not perfect either. I don’t know anyone who isn’t afraid of something or has had a bad experience that has left them a bit rattled. We also don’t have time for rude people on Gone Raw – people are here to support each other not knock them down.

    newbie – Yes, I do – I am practically out of money. Believe me I have tried (can’t even remember how many jobs I have applied for). I would love to stay but I am running out of money for rent, bills etc. It is not that I want to leave but more like I have too – in Wisconsin, we can live in a duplex with my bf’s mom and not pay any rent. Plus, my bf has friends there that can get us jobs almost.right away. I would rather go now than find out I can’t pay my bills in a few months and than have no money to even be able to leave.

    troublesjustabubble – Thanks for the support! Yes, those who don’t have certain problems will never understand what others are going through.

    beany – Thanks! I hope so! I think it may take a while for things to recover where I am at. It is the 4th highest in the nation for unemployment right now (Silcion Valley – lots of people are getting laid off here and it is only going to get worse). I was looking at the weather forcast and hopefully the weather on I-80 doesn’t look too bad – yet – but they can’t predict the weather anyhow so I will have to wing it until next week. :) I actually have driven through the Arizona/New Mexico way once and it was very pretty.

    I ended up getting a Penske truck and negotiated a lower rate – Customer Service girl was so nice there! Hopefully the cats will fit in the front. :)

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