Sojourn Days 2-4: Kurtz Residence, Massachusetts

Barry:

I've spent the past three days cudgeling my brains for the cheapest possible way to move from Maine to California.

Consider my dilemma: one coracle + three coracle-loads of impedimenta + "the magical answer X" = 
Maine-->California on a starving newly married student's budget.

At first, a Uhaul sport trailer seemed like the answer, but adding everything up changed my mind: $530 trailer rental, $180 for hitch installation, $90 extra in gas = $800. Plus the less convenient driving and increased wear on the coracle...

So we looked into shipping

There were two main ways to ship: (1) lots of boxes UPS or Fed Ex (2) one big pallet shipped freight

Option 1.

UPS and Fed Ex ship boxes at different rates depending on weight and dimensions. I discovered that relatively small boxes of heavy items (like books) in the 80-100lbs range would ship for about a dollar per pound. That was a decent rate. Large boxes of light items (like clothes), ended up in the 2-3 dollar per pound range. That was a terrible rate.

Option 2

aprox $500 for 521lbs

You do the math. That's an incredible rate. Mind you, that took literally dozens of phone calls and quote requests. Furthermore, we are angling to load and unload at businesses with loading docks, which cuts about $150 off the shipping price. We won't ship the freight for another 10 days because we don't want the pallet to arrive before us. 

Stay posted for final price details:)

_____________________

Christy:

But packing wasn't the only thing we did during our sojourn in Massachusetts.  We also spent some good time with my parents, ate lots of good food, went hiking in the rain, and almost got eaten by savages!! (See accompanying video)

Now we're off to Maryland where we'll visit my Grammy, and Barry's Papa, Aunt, and Uncle for a couple of days :)