And when my son got his next bike, locked it up even more securely…the seat was stolen!
I’m looking into a GPS tracker for DS’s bike. I’ve been following Sherlock, it looks very interesting. They are going to launch on Indiegogo on May 20th. I’m curious about the battery life.
It might be good to take a beater bike to campus. Leave the good one at home, unless you’re doing serious riding at school rather than just putzing.
Plus some cities have bike-share.
Re: move-in day, which is a Friday.
I’m trying to decide between renting a U-Haul van (so big!) and a large SUV (fold-down back seats?) to move D16’s stuff just an hour down the road. (Our own car can’t fit it all plus the three people traveling.) We’d drive the car plus a rental. I want to complete move-in during one day and not drag it out over a weekend.
Yes, the U-Haul van is “too big” but it does seem cheaper, at first glance. I have to check AARP and my union car-rental discounts (Enterprise, etc.) and compare. I’d prefer an SUV, just to look “normal.” 
One can pick up the U-Haul at 7 a.m. of move-in day. Return it by 7 p.m. But maybe it’s better to rent a vehicle overnight to pack it and leave very early on move-on day.
Advice? Which vehicle? Overnight or one-day rental? Cost control? Open to all ideas.
I think you might be better off renting an SUV than a U-Haul. Those usually charge by the mile, while car rentals usually include mileage in the fees. On our trips lately, we’ve found that EZ-Rent-a-Car and Advantage, with AARP. were cheaper than the others by a wide margin. SUV’s cost more than sedans, so take that into account.
I just picked up my D from UIUC yesterday! I can’t believe her junior year is over already! I was getting choked up seeing kids joyfully running around in their caps and gowns, posing for pictures in front of various campus landmarks. That will be us next year! —knock on wood—
D reports that LOTS of kids at UIUC have bikes. She says it’s easy to buy used things (including bikes) on the Buy/Sell forum, if you want to kick the decision down the road.
She elected to NOT bring a bike. She says she enjoys walking everywhere. She LOVES the bus system down there, and she is quite the public transportation critic. She and her roommate have also taken advantage of ZipCars on campus for a big run to Target, when they want to skip the bus.
It’s great to have our baby home!
@dyiu13 When we took our older D down to UIUC for move-in, we took our Honda Accord sedan. It worked out just fine, even with 3 people in the car!
There was no fridge or microwave to haul, as there’s an option to rent those and she & her roommate did just that.
She had a full length over-the-door mirror & an area rug, which were the only tricky things to pack in the car. No bike.
She reports that she brought way too many clothes (and shoes) down first semester; didn’t wear many of them. She ended up buying some new things at Target and at the college bookstore during the school year, and wearing a lot of the same things over and over.
YMMV!
Sure, I’ll avoid the cleaning/grad prep I should be doing and read through the boards on CC. 
@dyiu13, I will be doing similar research. Borrowing a larger SUV or getting a uhaul trailer to pull behind our small SUV. (I’d love to think we could fit everything in our vehicle, but that may be naive.)
I suggested to our S that he wait on a bike and see if he thinks he’d use it. The campus is not that big, and he learned he’d have to lock it outside at night, which seems like it would be an easy target for theft. Plus, I think it will take him more time to unlock/ride/lock everywhere he goes :). His college is about 3 hours drive from us, so if he finds he would really use it, we can bring it down when we come for a visit - my guess is he’ll find he wouldn’t use it much the way the campus is laid out.
We are going to try to fit all of our S’s stuff in the SUV with 4 people, and our stuff for spending 2 nights nearby. I think it will be a tight fit, but we might arrive the first day, unload the SUV, then go to Target or Walmart to get some of the essentials that we don’t pack. Then I might just order other stuff through Amazon Prime and ship it to him for free. He probably won’t need that much stuff for his dorm, or at least he doesn’t think so right now.
I’m finding that I obsess over one item at a time for D and her move. Who knew that this nesting phenomenon would come back 17 years later and so strongly. Right now I’m researching shower shoes. Is anti microbial important?
D is planning on biking on campus- very flat bikeable campus- we were thinking of swinging through the local walmart and buying the cheapest bike there rather than bringing hers from home.
I’ve figured out that D16 will likely learn of her assigned room/roommates (two doubles with shared bathroom) in late July. So, I probably won’t know until after D16’s roommate-consultation then if we have to haul any “big stuff” like a microwave, 8-cubby tower for the bathroom, and/or a fridge/freezer. We already have a bunch of items that can be shared, like some floor lamps, electric kettle, and the shower hanger thingy for shampoo, etc.
Thanks for the great idea of using Prime to ship some items rather than packing them. Thinking laundry soap, snacks, shampoo, paper towels and plates, and the ilk.
D16 won’t be taking many clothes/shoes. She’s already a minimalist. I did get two under-bed storage drawers units, as she’ll raise her bed. They’re not going to fit our car along with us and the other items, so we’re proably going to have to rent that other vehicle. So, I’m leaning toward the SUV and calling it my “summer vacation.”
What makes and models are your typical rental SUVs?
@dyui13, we have a minivan and with the rear seats taken out fit everything (3 people as passengers). You could bring what she figures she absolutely needs and then bring more stuff a week or two later (since it’s not far, might be nice to have an excuse for a visit and take her out to lunch).
Also if the drawer organizers are the reason you need to take anothef car, you could order them for pickup in the college town instead.
I recommend going online for dimensions of the dorm room. Most schools also have dimensions of the furniture so that you can plan well. We made our first dorm purchase last weekend , risers with USB port and an electrical outlet .
@dyiu13, If you could you rent one of those plastic carriers that attach to the roof rack, would that be large enough?
My D’s college doesn’t allow risers. But the beds can be adjusted to a couple different settings.
@mommdc Thats great that you have adjustability without risers .
S16 school - no bikes needed on campus…you can walk anywhere on campus in 2-5 minutes!
However, they have a program called GO BIKES which is his college’s public bicycle program. They have a dedicated group of students that work every semester to maintain a fleet of bicycles that students can use for trips to Needham or to cross-registered classes at Wellesley College and Babson College.
Nice there is a way to bicycle to places off campus without having to own your own bicycle! We will have to check into whether S16 needs own bike lock, or if the lock is included with the bike. Perhaps the bikes are painted an obnoxious color to deter thefts!
Shoot me now. (Shopping with D16 for her graduation shoes.)
@Reckless Oh! I will check on car-top case.