<p>We live just outside Washington, DC, and I would second what vinceh says about shipping stuff rather than carting it along. Amazon and Overstock.com are your friends. I sent one set of sheets with my son and ordered a second set online to be delivered after he moved in, for example. When he moved into an apartment I bought some cookware online which he really appreciated. Nonetheless when he first got out there we did send along two big boxes on the plane, which was cheaper than paying shipping via the postal service.</p>
<p>The other big pain is airfare back and forth, of course. I watch for the Virgin sales like a hawk because they have a lot of nonstop flights and fortunately for us fly into Dulles. Once you’ve done this leg back and forth a few times you really appreciate the nonstop flights. Southwest of course is also good because of the two free bags but most SW flights have layovers.
I can’t even count at this point how many times now all of us in the family have flown back and forth to LA, as a group or singly.</p>