Types of Tranportation for Getting Out of Dodge

Transportation for Relocating Your Belongings

Part 2

The Silver Bullet

This week was filled with errands. Some were long-standing items on my To-do List. Others were more spur-of-the-moment.

Like buying a license plate for our pig trailer. Marked that one off my list today.

The trailer was a needed purchase that I made a few years ago.

It was getting difficult to find people willing to transport our 4H pigs from our home in Filer to the fairgrounds.

The fairgrounds are where the weigh-in scales were located. 4H pigs have to be weighed frequently leading up to the county fair.

"You ain't gettin' us in no trailer boy!"

You see, pigs are disqualified from being shown at the fair if they don't weigh over a certain weight.

If they can't get into the fair, they can't be auctioned off at the end. That's where the girls make their money for next year's pig.

Since the scales were at the fairgrounds, I needed to transport our pigs there about once a month while raising them from May-August.

That's why I bought the cheapest little trailer that I could find. It was a Senior Project built by a local high school young man. Nothing fancy but it got the job done.

And it was only $200.

But it had no license plates. So today, while marking other things off my To-do List at the DMV, I decided to get a plate for The Silver Bullet.

The Silver Bullet aka Senior Project Pig Trailer

It got that name from friends who would see me zipping around town during Fair time on the back streets. Back streets because it had no plates. Zipping, as in hurried, so I wouldn't get caught.

Obtaining my Star Card

The main reason that I was at the DMV was to finally get my Star Card. If you want to travel by air after October 2020, your Driver's License has to be upgraded to a Star Card to get you on the plane.

Of course, a U.S. Passport and military ID still work too.

Moving to a new town means we won't know where anything is for a while. Five years in Filer means that I know the town and many of the town's people.

Getting in and out of the DNV quickly is no small feat. But in Filer, not only was I in and out in under 45 minutes but I accomplished three To-dos:

1. Obtained my Star Card for airline travel
2. Switched the plates from my recently sold Suburban to my wife's car
3. Registered new plates for The Silver Bullet

Tip: When it comes to Getting Out of Dodge, you want to tie off as many loose ends as possible while still in your familiar environment.

In a big city where busy passersby don't even look at each other, it could take hours to accomplish ONE item at the DMV... let alone three.

That's one of the benefits that I enjoy while living in a small rural town in the American Redoubt.

Sis is Staying Put for Now

Earlier last year we helped Sis (our eldest) buy her first home. At 21, she's ahead of the curve on that front.

This was possible by taking out one credit card when she was 18 and using it once each month. Then paying it off.

She had a great credit score by the time she was 21 years old and she bought her first home. We call it a "Starter Home" as it is about 600 sq ft total. But it has all the amenities she needs.

She's following a career path in healthcare just like her parents. She completed the CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) school program and is in the middle of an LPN (Limited Practice Nurse) program. Next will be an RN (Registered Nurse) school at the same local community college.

If you are looking for a career, it is hard to go wrong with nursing. It pays a good salary and the demand is through-the-roof.

These facts are why she will be staying behind in Filer for a while.

Continue Downsizing Your Stuff

Part of our plan is to get rid of unnecessary assets. We have 5 cars so I gave our Suburban to Sis. 

I signed the title over to her and she went to the DMV to get her own license plates.

This left me holding my original plates which were just renewed last month in January.

Idaho doesn't allow for refunds so I transferred my plates to Lisa's car. Hers expire in April so in the end I only lose March and April on her plates.

This accomplishes three things:

1. I have one less vehicle to keep on my property, 
2. One less vehicle to carry insurance on, and 
3. One less vehicle to keep a monthly maintenance schedule (it drinks oil like cool-aid on a hot summer's day.)

I think I said that last line in my head with Forrest Gump's voice...

But I bought it back from the insurance company for a mere $400 after the fire. It was parked close enough to the house during the fire that the back half melted. So the insurance company totaled it but it still ran just fine.

We named it Frosty: it is white and melts in the heat. 

It just looked like a droopy Picasso painting on the backend. Now Sis gets it until it finally quits.

A Uhaul Hunting We Will Go

I started at the Uhaul location with the most positive feedback on Google but they were out of auto haulers.

Tip: pay attention to reviews keeping in mind they can be manipulated. 

The employee was still helpful even though he was short on trailers. A few clicks on his keyboard and I had reservations down the street at a Uhaul location that had two car haulers left.

Jordan runs a tight ship at her Uhaul branch. While she filled out the technical paperwork, I played fetch with her chocolate lab that hangs out in her office.

Jordan's Uhaul location is clean and professional in Filer.

With the trailer attached to my van, I found that I had a new problem. No turn signals on the trailer.

A quick inspection of the harness and I could see it had seen better days. 

Which turned into no turn signals at all somehow. Luckily, FSS (our local Filer auto mechanic shop) is right across the street from my house.

Another great benefit of where my house is situated. Remember, if you are looking to move to Idaho, my home is for sale here. 

Which reminds me, don't forget to BOOKMARK this site so you can "Keep up with the Joneses."

They worked my van into their busy schedule that same day because Eric knew I  was leaving for north Idaho soon. Eric runs a clean shop, has fair prices, and does really good work.

Sure enough, my 1999 Chevy Express needed a whole new wiring harness and "brain."

By 5 pm I had the orange Jeep loaded and all lights were working.

We don't need no stinking ground clearance.

But as you can see, this idea looked way better in my head. My 1/2 ton Chevy van was no match for the load. The data said it could handle it but I could tell the suspension in my passenger van wasn't made for this.

I  could move the jeep halfway back and center it on the trailer... but then there's the tire problem.

33 inch tires were too big for the webbed tire straps. I would have to get four axle straps to secure this jeep down.

Tires were too big for the straps.

At the end of the day, I just wasn't comfortable with the rig. So I decided that this first trip would just be for scouting. My van has 238,xxx miles on it as it is. I'm not in the mood for more problems.

It is planned to be just a short trip anyway. I was going up to fill out paperwork and scout for a property to rent. I thought it would put me one step ahead if I towed the CJ7 up there with me and left it at the hospital.

But given that there is still some ice up north and this rig was not the most secure, I'll leave the CJ until I can tow it with a big Uhaul truck.

Jordan was quick to refund me and wished me safe travels. 

Transportation for Getting Out of Dodge

So you always have a few options when moving your things to a new location.

• A Uhaul-type business that rents trucks and trailers for DIY
• Your own pickup trucks and trailers which is the least expensive way to go
• Pods or boxes that can be dropped off at your home and filled up. Then the transportation company delivers the pod to your new location. This is an expensive option.
• A full-service moving company that does it all. You box it up. They load it, haul it, and unload it. By far, the most expensive option. 

For your notes, here are the prices I've seen on some of these while researching for our move (or on previous moves):

Uhaul car hauler: $50/day with insurance

Pods dropped off at your location: $699 each (and we would need several pods)

Full service: we did this when moving from Mesa to Flagstaff - $11,000 for a family of eight. And a fair amount of our stuff was scratched/broken/ruined.

If I owned an enclosed trailer, I would certainly go that route. It would depend on the size but it would definitely be the least expensive transportation.

Of course, there's always the Nuclear Option. Get rid of all your stuff before you move. I've seen folks do this when moving out of the country to Ireland and such.

It would be somewhat liberating. But I'm an American. I love my stuff. I need a house just to put my stuff somewhere. And a garage for all my extra stuff.

That's an old George Carlin bit. That was one funny dude.

Time to get back to the To-Do list.