Crossing the USA in a U-Haul Truck and Toy Hauler
- William Golde
- Nov 5
- 6 min read
The Great American Road Trip Dream:
If you have never done it before, a road trip from the East Coast (Maryland for us) to Colorado might sound like a fun adventure. Who doesn’t love a good old fashioned American road trip? Sure, you might be able to make the trip fun if you add lots of miles and hours (maybe days) driving off-course to find hidden gems, but for us we were seeking our new home in the mountains of Colorado and taking the shortest possible route to get there - which just happened to be over 2,000 miles and 27 hours of driving.
Quick Backstory:
A little back story - around this time last year we had been happily living in our tiny home on wheels (a lifted 4x4 Tacoma RV) for about 2 years when the wheels came off the bus, literally. A devastating accident totaled our little home knocking us completely off course. We naively assumed insurance would be quick to solve all of our problems, but after 2 weeks of hotel surfing, we decided to pack everything we own into a U-Haul truck and move in with family on the east coast until we got word from insurance.
It took over 6 months for insurance to give us a settlement and while we tried to find the perfect new RV to buy, that turned out to be a struggle as well. We decided to pivot - how fun would it be to have a ski winter in Colorado? Living in an RV meant that we skipped winter and went to Baja instead, it was time for us to get back on the hill!
This presented an issue though… we were in Maryland - and we now have 2 cars (1 our Overlanding Rig) and lots of newly acquired possessions (how does that happen so fast when you are stationary?) that we would need to get out west.
Meeting The Folks at U-Haul:
Then something amazing happened - we met U-Haul at Overland Expo East in Virginia and told them our story. U-Haul was immediately empathetic and also just happened to have a fairly new product: the U-Haul Toy Hauler trailer which would be perfect for towing our Land Rover. Within a week we had a 15’ U-Haul truck and Toy Hauler that we were loading up.
Loading up the truck and Toy Hauler was a breeze and we set out on our road trip into the unknown - a cabin in the mountains of Colorado that we rented sight-unseen. How would the 2,000 mile trip go driving over 30 feet worth of truck and trailer? Would the cabin be as charming as we hoped, or a mouse infested disaster? How was our 4-year-old going to handle driving over 6 hours daily to get there in the 6 days we planned out? Approximately how many snacks would we need to stock up on for this type of journey to avoid eating gas station food?
So many unknowns.
The Epic Journey Begins:
Day 1:
Eastern Shore of Maryland to Cumberland, MD
Drive Time: Approx. 4 Hours
Challenges: Lots of DC traffic, driving in the dark, windy mountain roads
By the time we finished packing and getting on the road, it was around 3pm. This was later than we would have liked, but it would have to do. We set a manageable goal and headed for Cumberland MD. With sandwiches packed so we wouldn’t have to stop for dinner, we trudged through DC area traffic until we finally hit the scenic area of mountainous Maryland (yeah, MD has mountains - not just beaches and crabs) and tested our driving skills on windy mountain roads. The U-Haul setup was surprisingly easy to drive given its length and we had zero issues. We stayed at a cheap roadside hotel and planned an early escape in the morning.
Day 2:
Cumberland to Friendsville, Friendsville to Cincinnati
Drive Time: 40 Mins. to Stop 1, 5 Hours to Destination
Challenges: Getting lost, windy mountain roads, stopping to see friends
Despite our ambitious goals of getting out early and going far, we were surprised by friends who (after seeing where we were on social media) reached out and said they were only 40 mins away - in Friendsville of all places (life is hilarious). We had to stop and say hello, it was exactly on our way and our kids are the exact same age and besties (we met in Baja!). After a fun morning of petting baby cows, we travelled on to Cincinnati. Unfortunately, William got off course and set back about 2 hours - not fun. But otherwise, smooth sailing. Another night, another mediocre hotel.
Day 3:
Cincinnati to Saint Louis
Driving Time: 5 ½ Hours
Challenges: Rain, Halloween events, traffic and construction, having a 4-year-old
We planned to make it to Kansas City but once again, plans changed and this time for a completely ridiculous but equally important reason. The day started with heavy downpour rain, not fun. This combined with traffic and road construction made for a stressful driving day. We were grateful for our reliable U-Haul truck that championed through every condition so far without a hitch (pun intended).
After over 5 hours of non-stop driving (jk we stopped about 4 times for potty breaks), we decided to stop in St. Charles - a town we had found before on our adventures that is surprisingly cute and right outside of St. Louis. This is where our delay happened. They were having the most epic Halloween event, and we couldn’t possibly deprive our 4-year-old of enjoying it. So, we spent hours walking around the city meeting costumed characters. We would clearly not be making it to Kansas City and instead booked an insanely overpriced hotel that was definitely not the cleanest (I found an old puzzle piece next to the bed and I’m pretty sure the hair in the bed wasn't mine…) but we survived the night.
Day 4:
St. Louis to Topeka
Drive Time: 5 Hours
Challenges: Intense Winds, Traffic, Construction, Low Morale
This was the most challenging day of all. Extreme winds made driving an intense experience. We set out to try and get to the Colorado border but were only able to make it as far as Topeka. Stress levels were high and the small human was over it. After 300 episodes of “Silly Stories for Kids” (highly recommend the podcast for screen-free driving with kids btw) she was bored and sick of all of her snacks. We stopped in Topeka to get some much needed playground time, takeout, and movies.
Day 5: The Full Pull
Topeka to the Mountains of Colorado
Drive Time: 8-9ish Hours
Challenges: Long Drive Day
Our final day was oddly the easiest. Topeka to Colorado was a breeze, the wind died and the highway was long and wide. A wee bit of traffic near Denver, but nothing crazy. We didn’t plan on making the full pull, but the day went so smoothly it just happened. We only stopped for gas and bathroom breaks. We ate snacks from 7am until arrival around 3pm where we found our new local sushi joint and got a big early dinner. The excitement of seeing our cabin for the first time was very real. The U-Haul truck and Toy Hauler made it smoothly up our windy mountain road, and didn’t even get mad at us when the pavement turned to dirt.
Day 6: Home Sweet Home
Spent the day unpacking - and magically absolutely nothing, I mean not even a mug or plate, was broken! Talk about smooth sailing. We got the Land Rover off the Toy Hauler and by evening were able to return the whole setup to a close by drop off location. Despite some weather challenges and the reality of travelling with a 4-year-old (did I mention we have a dog too?) I’d say things truly couldn’t have gone better.
A huge thank you to our friends at U-Haul who made this trip safe, reliable, and just overall much more manageable!
Oh and the cabin? Well you’ll have to keep following along to see how it turned out!!
Comments