Driving from Chicago to Sacramento
 

I will be moving to Sacramento in January. My son will be helping with the move and we will be using a medium U-Haul truck to help with a hitch on the back for my car. Additionally, I have a cat that will be travelling with us. My main question is this. What route is the best to take in case of snow? And any tips for travelling with a senior cat, who does not like to ride in the car?

I have no advice on either route or cat, but just want to say welcome to Sacramento. We moved here 3 years ago to be closer to family, and really enjoy our life here.

I-80 all the way. Be prepared to spend an extra night somewhere between Cheyenne WY and Reno NV.
Buy 10 to 14 feet on a UPAK moving truck and drive the car with brand new snow tires.
Another option is a PODS that you load for delivery to you in Sacramento.
Check with Amtrak on whether you can bring the cat in a carrier on the California Zephyr. They do have a time limit for pets on the train.

I-80 is the only route that makes sense . . . IF there is no snow. Unfortunately there likely will be snow in many places. January is the snowiest month. To avoid most of it you'd have to go the (VERY) long way around south and then north through the Central Valley.


Before planing a cross country move in January I would price out having my things and car shipped out and flying to SMF. You'd have several days of hotels, food, gas, U-Haul rental, etc. So shipping the stuff might be expensive but maybe not outrageously more.

I won't suggest shipping, because I've done that. It really won't be cheaper than driving.

I think Tom's advice makes a lot of sense. I wouldn't tow anything. One of you drives the truck, one of you drives the car. Or ship in a pod, both ride in the car if you need company.

Even if zephyr allows it, I wouldn't take a cat on a train for that long. No way. You need time out of the car for the poor cat. Get a carrier and a harness with a leash, and probably some kitty sedatives. It won't be a fun trip.

The cat will hate it, and will be vocal about it. Best kept in a large carrier, and definitely yes to a harness and leash. A long leash.

It is likely the cat will not want to do its business in the carrier . . . at least mine didn't when I took mine from the U.S. to live with me in France years ago. When I finally got her out of the carrier, she kind of crept out of it then shot off for a place to pee. She ended up in a woody area in kind of a ravine where toilet waste went. it was gross. Then I had to find her . . . she only came back when I took a cat treat box out and started shaking it. The sound of the box and my calls out to her got her to come back.

So yeah, a leash is super important.

She was actually quite fine staying in hotel rooms before settling into my apartment.

>>It really won't be cheaper than driving. <<

I wouldn't think so - but it would be soooooo much easier if there are winter storms, or even blizzards, along their route (which is very likely)

I'm not disagreeing with that, Janis, but generally when people plan to make a move across country by driving, it's because they don't have the money to hire movers. It's not just a little bit of money. The difference is in the thousands. That's even before shipping the car. A lot of people just flat out don't have the money, and those that do would not be asking how to do this trip with a cat, because this trip wouldn't even sound fun to a broke 20- something.

With a storm, worst case scenario is that they'd just find a town to hunker down in for a day or two. I'm assuming they're not strangers to winter driving if they're from Chicago. It's fairly unusual that interstates are blocked off longer than that. If they are prepared to take it nice and easy, watch the weather reports, and not have a firm deadline, it's no big deal.

It is very likely U-Haul does not allow chains so be prepared to find a place in Reno for a few days . . . (Driving in midwest snow is not the same as driving in Sierra snow)

I have done the 18 hour drive several times across I 80 from Denver to San Jose and twice with cats. Get pills from your vet for the cat. Our vet gave us anxiety meds and the cats hardly made a sound all day. We got a hotel that took pets and they did fine in the room that night and then they got another pill the next morning for the second day of driving. They were happier and we were happier.

Winter is very tricky on I 80. One trip we had to go south to I 40 and all the way up the Central Valley of California as Donner Pass had too much snow and you had to have chains to get through. The southern route added 5 hours to an already long drive but we made it with no snow.

Just check the road conditions and if you can have some flexibility to change departure days if the weather is bad, that helps.

Or they could cut south at salt lake and give the sierras a pass entirely. Or just take the southern route the whole way.There's not a reason I can see that they'd have to take i80.

Even IF chains were allowed, I'm not sure I'd want to take a uhaul through the sierras, which is why I like Tom's pod idea. It would be more expensive than a truck but not by much when you consider the price of gas.

(Snow is snow, Janis. If they were from Florida and had never driven in snow, my advice would be entirely different.)

I'm assuming you do have snow driving experience, OP, and realize that storms could mean delays. Driving an unfamiliar vehicle in any kind of inclement weather will slow you down. Towing will slow you down further. It won't be a fast trip and I wouldn't do it on a tight schedule, assuming that both you or your son have limited vacation days off work.

*no* reason I can see, sorry!

In 2005 we moved from central PA to central Oregon. The stuff we moved was in 14 feet of an ABF 55' trailer. We drove 2 Honda Civics with stuff we could not have in the trailer.
We used 2 way radios and stayed within 2 miles of each other.
In front of our stuff in the trailer was someone else's car.
When it was delivered in Oregon, the car was not there so they must have removed our stuff and repacked the trailer somewhere along the way.
Unless you really love the car, you might want to buy a used car in California or Oregon.