[DawnsMinstrel]

Thanks Char. Yeah, I'm very tempted to do the drive for the sake of the adventure and the natural beauty, but I'm worried about the truck being underpowered, about scarcity of fuel out that way, unfamiliar roads and weather, cell-phone reception in case of emergency and so on. I've got time to prepare. We'll be moving during the latter half of May.

I've driven a Uhaul before several times - once while pulling a trailer carrying my car. I have to admit, I was unprepared for the difficulty of using a trailer that first time, and the truck i used was huge. In the present case, I'd be using a much smaller truck, which I think will make it easier. Also I plan to prepare myself a little better for the problem of hauling a trailer. I'm really mainly concerned with the truck being underpowered for the terrain and for being far away from fuel, help, food, and lodging. Having never traveled through there before I don't know what to expect.

About the job: It's a post-doctoral research fellowship at the geophysical institute. It's an odd position for me to take as I've been "post-doctoral" for several years now, but jobs in my field are scarce at the moment, and it's a great opportunity to work with a prominent colleague. Professionally I'm a theoretical/computational plasma physicist with a focus on problems in space science ( and formerly astrophysics.) The guy is hiring me mainly for my computational skills.

Anyway, thanks for getting back to me. I'll be grateful for any advice, suggestions and so on I receive, and if I do wind up doing the drive, and anyone out there in corfid land happens to live along the route we're taking, maybe I can stop by for some jamming along the way :-).