Moving suggestions

[Ron]

Gentle Giant. Also, to @Ron's point about not knowing who is going to show up - I spoke with the movers on both ends and chatted with them about how long they'd been with the company, etc. I felt very comfortable as a solo woman in their presence. I've a number of friends who worked with the company as movers in the late 1990s.

I don't doubt that I probably paid a little more for the move, but that's also why I did 75% of the packing and purged the heavier furniture.

glad that went well. sounds like you are familiar with this company. Did you work with them or know the owners? Any idea of the number of units they are running? to accomplish 100% self-haul, that would be quite the feat, I dont know of any van line doing this anymore especially on containerized shipments so that would be a great service. Yes, its important to note that often containerized shipments are more expensive and not all containerized services are the same. Some use paper pads, some will use international packing standards or even regular cloth moving pads. You also need to look at the transit guarantees and what penalties there are for late deliveries (all will cap the damages) . What happens if they cant locate the shipment? How many days do you have to wait until you can deem the shipment lost. This is not to say they lose a lot of shipments but it does happen. Seen it, been there.

 

[Nancy Hummel]

Not meaning to be negative as your parents may have many great years ahead, but since your Dad is age 87 and I have dealt with end of life issues with two sets of parents in that age range in recent years I would not just down-size, I would pretty much liquidate everything that either 1) other family members won't take personal possession of or 2) can't fit in your parents car trunk. I would settle them in the new place by having it fully furnished before they get there keeping in mind that the new place may very well be a relatively short destination before they go into an assisted living type of facility (and some of those can be very good), leading to another round of downsizing if that hasn't already been accomplished. When my folks finally gave up their long time single family home I was surprised at how little of their excess belongings were wanted by my siblings. Their real estate agent helped remove (throw away) excess items. I was executor of their estate. Only china, silverware, a few paintings, and about five other things were desired by family members. My parents had wisely distributed some of their valuables years before. You are doing a beautiful thing to help them. When they finally pass you will have no problem with closure because you were there for them at this time of need. I can't emphasize how important it is for you and them to be located fairly close (~within 20 miles) so you can easily keep an eye on them and advocate for them with their medical, financial and social needs.

I undertstand and agree with you. My soon to be husband and I are buying the house in Glenwood Springs. (4 miles from
sunlight but I digress). We will live there part time and spend the rest of the time in Snowmass where we have a tiny condo. I am transitioning to remote working and the house is large enough for everyone to have their own personal space.

I have made a list and have pictures of everything that we are going to move and it turns out to be much less than I originally envisioned.

Thanks to everyone for their fabulous suggestions. I will PM those of you who volunteered to provide extra info.

This is a very challenging and sad time for all of us. The good part is that moving was my Dad’s idea and they are looking forward to the adventure but sad about leaving their home which they have enjoyed for 30 years.

 

[Ron]

Moving even in the best of situations is stressful and just not fun. I wish you the very best of everything.

 

[Ken_R]

When I moved from El Paso to Denver I moved most of the stuff myself. My back did hurt for a few weeks though.

To reiterate, get rid of most stuff! Cheap furniture is great

 

[RachelV]

When I moved to Colorado from NYC the best choice I made was just getting @Ron to recommend a carrier and using them for everything, including packing. The actual physical moving part was pretty painless.

I was not moving much stuff, but to me it was worth the price of moving stuff to have my new place in Boulder feel familiar... moving long distance is hard, and having the familiarity of my stuff at the other end in a place where everything else was completely unfamiliar was really nice. It also let me focus on more fun activities as soon as the move was over, vs buying furniture, etc. YMMV on that point, but if there's sadness around the move I think that's something to consider.

Good luck with the move and I hope it all goes as well as it can!

 

[Pequenita]

glad that went well. sounds like you are familiar with this company. Did you work with them or know the owners? Any idea of the number of units they are running? to accomplish 100% self-haul, that would be quite the feat, I dont know of any van line doing this anymore especially on containerized shipments so that would be a great service. Yes, its important to note that often containerized shipments are more expensive and not all containerized services are the same. Some use paper pads, some will use international packing standards or even regular cloth moving pads. You also need to look at the transit guarantees and what penalties there are for late deliveries (all will cap the damages) . What happens if they cant locate the shipment? How many days do you have to wait until you can deem the shipment lost. This is not to say they lose a lot of shipments but it does happen. Seen it, been there.

They own their own fleet of long-haul trucks. But, they only operate in 20 cities.

 

[Ron]

They own their own fleet of long-haul trucks. But, they only operate in 20 cities.

gotcha, 20 locations is actually pretty decent size but what is really important is the number of straights, 53' trailers and power units. They also operate a logistics company which is where I'll bet they broker out shipments. now technically, you cant broker your own moves but you are allowed to move it as freight and/or interline so thats how those small shipments are typically routed.