Filippa Eilhart Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 For phones it depends if they're simlocked or not. But you can break a simlock, although I don't think it's strictly legal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Ent Posted June 11, 2015 Author Share Posted June 11, 2015 Yes, I think we can put the phone question to rest. The car remains an issue, and (of course) access to fertiliser. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerraPrime Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 Yes, I think we can put the phone question to rest.The car remains an issue, and (of course) access to fertiliser. It is Berkeley. I will be entirely surprised if you can find fertilizer that is NOT compost made from totally free-range organic GMO-free fair-traded material. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonSnow4President Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 I'd recommend a mini-van to be honest. My family had one up until I graduated from high school (taking the total down to only 2 kids that needed to be ferried around). Plenty of room for older kids, any friends they make, luggage, etc. Hell, we towed a fishing boat behind ours (a small one), and built a break-down wooden deer stand and moved it out into the woods in one. They're like the swiss army knives of vehicles, just without any sort of appeal. Only looking at one Enterprise in California, you'd be looking at about $10k, although they might have special rates not on their website. By comparison, you can buy a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan with 97k miles on it for $5k at a dealer in California. You might be better off just poking around and buying a used car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuzzydaBear Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 Good luck Happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Kilmore Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 For the 4 months? That kind of money would be acceptable.Kat: both me and my wife will be visiting scholars at UCB. Kids will go to school in Berkeley; 2 middle schoolers, 1 high schooler.(This worries, me, but the Berkeley Unified School District promises that the children will be enrolled as soon as I show up. But apparently I can’t get this done from here, because I’m not yet a resident. So the idea is to show up a few weeks before school starts, get the paperwork filled out and kids enrolled. Sounds like the Wild West to me. But I’ve asked several times, and the School District confirms that that is the correct way of doing it, and there is absolutely no way to do it remotely.)That is how it works across most of the US. It's a constitutional rights thing. (Everyone gets access to public education and there is no restriction of movement, but denying kids the ability to get an education you are restricting movement.) At least, that is how it always was explained to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zelticgar Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 You may need to call around to a few car rental places to see what you can get for rates. I worked at a car rental place years ago and we never really published monthly rates. We would do it on a case by case basis. You may want to check with UCB to see if they have a corporate agreement with a particular company. My employer uses Avis and we get corp rates for personal rentals. You should consider a minivan or SUV. We have a Honda Pilot and it works pretty well for us. Enjoy your time in the US :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kat Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 Fertilizer should not be an issue. Berkeley, like SF, has municipal composting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tears of Lys Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 What madness is this?? Happy Ent is uprooting his Entwife and seedlings to travel far from their native soil. I'll bet the conversation over THIS took a loooooong time, even if it wasn't in Entish. I wonder how it would work out if you left the rental/leasing of an auto until you actually arrive here. Doing it long-distance is so cumbersome. Anyone care to weigh in on this option? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayyoth Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 What madness is this?? Happy Ent is uprooting his Entwife and seedlings to travel far from their native soil. I'll bet the conversation over THIS took a loooooong time, even if it wasn't in Entish.I wonder how it would work out if you left the rental/leasing of an auto until you actually arrive here. Doing it long-distance is so cumbersome.Anyone care to weigh in on this option?I'm not entirely sure how this is still up for advice? If he's moving to another country for half a year why on Earth would he want to rent a car instead of buy/lease one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Ent Posted June 12, 2015 Author Share Posted June 12, 2015 What madness is this?? Happy Ent is uprooting his Entwife and seedlings to travel far from their native soil. I'll bet the conversation over THIS took a loooooong time, even if it wasn't in Entish. Madness indeed! ’tis the Yosemite Entmoot, where I have to weigh in on important matters. I can say no more, but I suggest you dump all your stock in chainsaw factories. I'm not entirely sure how this is still up for advice? If he's moving to another country for half a year why on Earth would he want to rent a car instead of buy/lease one? This is exactly why I ask. Countries differ, also with respect to car prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitestripe Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 I'm not entirely sure how this is still up for advice? If he's moving to another country for half a year why on Earth would he want to rent a car instead of buy/lease one? Well, it's one heck of a process to buy a car (unless you plunk down the cash for it up front) and then you have to sell the darn thing when you are headed home. Seems like a huge headache to buy. A lease may be a good option, but I've never leased a car so I have no idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mouse Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 You can do a short-term lease of a car from a dealership by taking over someone else's longer-term lease. Alternatively, the major car rental companies do mini-lease programs. See, e.g.: http://www.avis.com/car-rental/content/display.ac?navId=T4M28S06 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howdyphillip Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 I would absolutely check out buying a vehicle. Renting for that amount of time is nothing short of throwing away money. Look for a vehicle that is around four to five years old that has low miles as that way, you can at least break even when you go to sell. Spending an afternoon at the DMV sucks, but it doesn't suck 3-5 thousand dollars worth. Find someone you know over here that has a mechanic that they trust, and then have whatever vehicle you are considering checked out. I personally use Craigslist when looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Ent Posted July 16, 2015 Author Share Posted July 16, 2015 Okidoki. Next question. Our first trip will be from Berkeley to San Diego (La Jolla). It sounds as if it would be best to split this into two parts instead of starting our California vacation with a gruelling 8-hour (?) trip in a foreign country with an unfamiliar car. So, board hive mind: what is the best place to stop, roughly half-way between Berkeley and La Jolla? Concrete tips for lodgings would be much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Meereense Knot Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 I actually did the trip from San Francisco to LA last November. The whole coastline through Big Sur is beautiful. Our hotel was at Lucia (sp?) Lodge, cabin on a cliff over the ocean. There's other places you can stay of course (larger hotels, camping). It's not exactly the most direct route there of course, and all the curves make the road look like some engineer was trying to write their name in cursive, but still very pretty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Thursday Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 While I don't have any knowledge of places to stay en-route, if you're looking to break up the journey a bit there's a Sea Lion Centre a few hours south of San Francisco that I enjoyed visiting when I did something similar. I don't know whether you're going at the right time of year to see them, but if you are they're a very impressive sight - there's a big beach area they colonise, and some of them are pretty monstrous in size. ST Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronn Stone Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 I have lived most of my life in two places. San Diego and Berkeley. Buy a used car. Use Craigslist, but have it checked by a reliable mechanic. If you PM me, I can give you the name of a reliable mechanic in either the Bay Area or San Diego. I've used the Bay Area guy for a decade and my family and I have used the SD guy for closer to two decades. Remember a private party seller must provide a RECENT (90 days?) smog certificate for a used car that is older than about five years. Do not take any excuses for not getting it, because the DMV will not. (most sellers either do not know this fact or pretend to not know) San Diego is a GREAT place to buy used cars. Cars there just don't take the beatings they do other places (the absence of actual weather means both the cars and the roads don't get beat up) and the number of short-term military servicemen mean a LOT of turnover in cars. Trucks and minivans tend to hold their value. Chances are you'll get back most of what you paid. I can also hook you up with a good place that offers short-term rentals of reliable used cars cheaper than the new ones so that you can make your purchase at leisure. I haven't done the Bay Area - SD drive in a while - if three days constitutes a while (Got in one day of Comic Con and visited family last weekend). Portable DVD/BluRay players are a life saver. The DMV will be a pain. But not a $5K pain. Welcome. Hope we find a way to meet up. Edited to add: Make sure you have a place to park before planning on getting a car. Parts of Berkeley near the campus can be very difficult for parking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanteGabriel Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 Okidoki. Next question. Our first trip will be from Berkeley to San Diego (La Jolla). It sounds as if it would be best to split this into two parts instead of starting our California vacation with a gruelling 8-hour (?) trip in a foreign country with an unfamiliar car. So, board hive mind: what is the best place to stop, roughly half-way between Berkeley and La Jolla? Concrete tips for lodgings would be much appreciated. Are you taking the inland route (5 Freeway) or the coastal route (Route 1)? Inland route is fast but super boring. Coastal route is longer but quite beautiful and occasionally treacherous (if there have been rockslides). If going the coastal route, Santa Barbara is beautiful and very pleasant. Trouble is, Route 1 from Berkeley to SB itself may be 8 hours in the car, so Route 101 (further inland, less scenic, more direct) might be the best choice to get there -- you can do that trip in 5-6 hours, and there'll be some scenic coastal driving on the southern end. If you go the inland route, you can get from Berkeley to LA on the 5 in about 6 hours, and there will be no shortage of lodging and entertainment options there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IheartIheartTesla Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 I have a slightly different suggestion (which will be more expensive because railways), which would be to take the Amtrak surfliner from SF to LA. its a beautiful route, about 5 hours long, and you leave the driving to the train driver. Then, drive the shorter distance from LA to San Diego and back. I know you were planning on taking all your luggage with you, but it might be doable by train. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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