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Ross, it's simple just head into the rising sun until you can't go any farther and then turn Left, Easy!
Wes

I had a very informative conversation with Paul Gilger who was the tour guide for the Lincoln Highway Convoy Tour in 2019. With the issues he raised especially cross the Rockies, Nevada and Utah, no cell coverage and possible hours between passing cars, I questioned taking this trip alone and with only one vehicle.

Another friend brought up all the issues with Co-vid I'd have to deal with...motel rooms, food, etc. My age and other conditions would mean a 1-way trip to the ER if I caught it.

So now I'm thinking about shipping the Duchess from Portland OR to Potomac MD. Any recommendations on a reliable company or method? I have a POD of my furnishings leaving on July 7.

Joe, I've been travelling extensively lately, and hotels and restaurants are not a problem. Also about covid (not trying to get political) I've had some family members getting tested positive without the symptoms (asymptomatic) and the doctors told them they're not contagious. It doesn't matter where anybody is politically: both sides are trying to use it to their advantage. Also the mortality rate is on par with the regular flu (I'm not saying that covid is like the regular flu but the mortality rate is).
I think I'd take the northern route (cooler) and go for it. I-80 or I-90 is busy enough to not to worry about being stranded. You'll probably never have another chance to take a Packard cross country.
If you go late summer than I-40/route 66 would be a nice route (right now I-40 from Arizona to Texas would be 100F.

Thanks, BDC. I was thinking of taking the Lincoln Hwy or Route 66. But now, with all the issues of moving, I'm thinking I'll ship the car. The hobby will have a lot of East Coast activity next year and then there's the Henry Joy tour, Hershey, Amelia Island. I'll have plenty of driving opportunities.

If I drove from here it would be the first week of October. I'm packing and it's not a lot of fun.

The only time I shipped the car was in the early '80s up from California. Red somebody was the trucker. I think he mainly ran north and south on I-5.

Thirty years ago I shipped my '67 Mercedes 600 with a major carrier. Did not think it was necessary to specify a closed trailer. I had dropped it off at the carrier's distribution center. When it arrived at my destination, it was on the top deck of an open rig. When the driver brought it down, he apologized for the 15 scratches from the hood ornament to the trunk lid. Somewhere in the 1000 miles he had gone under a tree branch.
Needless to say...the carrier paid for a new paint job.
Which carrier?
Sometimes the mind blots out unpleasant episodes...

Confucius said..."A word to the wise is sufficient!"

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Hell hath no fury like a woman whose new BMW is delivered with over 10K damage to the front end. And the driver called me(!) to come outside to deliver the news. Moral, if there is one, is stuff happens, whether the lowball company with sketchy insurance, or the big company that handles million dollar cars that expects you to have your new BMW repaired at the cheapest body shop...so what the heck, fill the tank and head east.
Hope for the best, plan for the worst. In your case, ship enclosed, top deck only. Chances are on a coast to coast run it will be transferred to another truck...so be sure CLEAR starting and driving instructions are affixed to the central dash. Go with the company that has a big insurance policy, in addition to discussing the transit with your insurer.
Unless you have a burning need to drive 3000 plus miles in an 80 year old car, leave the romance to novels.

I chickened out. I'm shipping the car by Passport Transport from Portland to Maryland. Moving creates just too many things to deal with. I'm having a couple of transmission issues that will need addressing when I get settled. Plus the co-vid. Shipping is about half the cost of driving given hotel, meals, and gas for a 3,000 mi trip. But I'm still tempted. I'll be looking for some long drives and tours once I'm on the East Coast.

Thanks, everyone, for egging me on. I appreciate the support had I decided to just go.

FWIW Joe, I think you made the right call there. I do not know the cost of shipping a car across the US (although I DID ship a 6-ton sailboat from Florida to Seattle) but imagine it would not be cheap. Based on the shipping damage horror stories, would there be any merit in renting an enclosed car trailer and a 3/4 ton/ 1-ton diesel truck and hauling it yourself?? I hauled my '39 on an open trailer behind a dualie 1-ton diesel that I borrowed from a friend, and I could hardly tell the trailer was back there, albeit for only a few hundred miles... Chris.

When I shipped the Clipper from Calif to Chicago, I used a company called United Routes. Which I think is a broker of sorts. But the same driver that picked up the car was the same driver that delivered it 5 days later. It was in the bottom deck of an enclosed two-story hauler towards the front on the truck and was in the same position when he delivered it. Basically he told me it shared company with 3 corvettes headed east. Those were picked up after me and delivered before me. So the car never was moved once loaded. The driver was local to the Chicago area.

Your decision to ship the Packard is the prudent thing to do. Maybe not as much potential fun but then maybe not so much chance for regret either.

" I'll be looking for some long drives and tours once I'm on the East Coast."

The area to which you are moving is a hotbed of Packard ownership and activity. Once you join in, local and regional tours with other Packards should be a benefit. Good luck.

Steve