Adventures Driving Cross Country with a U-Haul
Photos, story by Cassie Hepler
Somehow we made it… all the way across the country in a 2009 Kia with a U-Haul trailer hitch attached. Trying to move in the beginning of a bad winter was a horrible idea in retrospect but at least we took the Southern route. However, I had a lot of loose ends to wrap up along with moving out of a big ‘ol Philly row home I’d lived in for 12 years (!). It takes a while to sell most of your belongings and start fresh (thank goodness for Facebook Marketplace). I wanted to be out of there on New Years Eve day so I could hightail it down to D.C. to celebrate with my friend but Philly still had a hold on me…
I had two things working against me. One was that the U-Haul was waiting on a smaller trailer however the snow was putting a delay on everything so I had to go with a slightly larger one that was almost as big as my car. Two was that parking in Manayunk, Philadelphia is a joke. I found a spot that fit both my car and trailer hitch in the cul-de-sac down the street which seemed great at the time until it was loaded up and then I couldn’t back straight out. I then pulled forward into the mud and got stuck in the snow. So I called AAA and waited an hour and half to be told since I have a trailer, they can’t touch it and wouldn’t be arriving. During this time, a lone cardinal flew in front of my windshield, looked at me and flew on. I took that as a good sign and later realized the Arizona Cardinals may be saying hello in chilly Philly and helped lift my spirits. Somehow I creeped backwards, turning and barely grazing the abandoned house in the background. My environmental lawyer neighbor popped his head out to say he didn’t think I’d make it but I did and bon voyage to me! From then it was smooth sailing to D.C. with a pretty chill and sleepy (OK, exhausted) night of non-sleep as I was anxious to get on the road the next morning to Knoxville, Tenn. In a zombie-like state we made it to the closest U-Haul in Knoxville and having them rearrange the trailer chains as they were dragging (a fisherman helped us tie it up better at a gas station in the middle of nowhere at a gas station). That night I was out like a light and lit up to get on the road the next day after some delicious Mexican food and generous hospitality from my friend’s movie industry relatives!
We were going to drop down and visit one of my old school Manayunk friends in Austin, TX but had another hotel night booked in Santa Fe, NM so opted to save ourselves precious driving time instead. When you are pulling a U-Haul trailer hitch, it says maximum speed is 55 MPH so you’re driving like a granny ranging from 55-65 and not making good time. It is literally a time suck. We stopped in the middle of BFE Woodward, OK and crashed hard that night. It is a lot of hard work driving across the country no matter how liberating Hollywood portrays it – especially with a trailer hitch albatross.
As my dad recommended, I checked the fluids while gassing up (pretty much every bathroom/food break included getting gas). I shut the hood and drove on only to discover at the next rest stop, it was not shut properly as my car’s key fob would not lock the car completely. We then went through a not-so-fun process of troubleshooting with a chivalrous trucker from Alabama which involved me climbing around in the trailer for tools, WD-40 and our new friend jamming down the latch. At one point, we were opting to tie it down and here I am attaching it with my yoga strap! Fortunately, with enough WD-40 and brute strength, we tried to shut the hood one more time and it latched through the rust. We all hugged and were on our way once again!
We saw one large lone tumble weed and were on some winding back roads at points, and soon we were approaching New Mexico and very excited to get there. The funny thing about the GPS system is it kept getting us happy to arrive… only to find out we still had another hour or so to go. So not much fun time for us, just drive/sleep/eat/gas and repeat.
We ended up veering off to Route 66 at some point and it looked like it was quite the tourist trap in its hay day. We stopped and had some local food and go to meet my friend’s “Pappy” who gave her a great fortune!
It was shortly thereafter when we were approaching Santa Fe, NM that the car starting sounding like gears were grinding. A low level of anxiety was creeping up on me at this point as not only was I towing all of my things but also had a passenger to worry about. We parked it for the night and got some rest and I crossed my fingers we would make it to Arizona in one piece the next day. The sunshine and warm weather started to help uplift my energy and before we knew it, we were winding down through the top of Arizona’s gorgeous tree-lined mountains and impressed with the views. I tried to take it easy on the car and break minimally until we finally arrived at the AirBnB hobbit hole studio!
I was so happy to be there and we were quick to unload so we could get that trailer hitch off the car asap!
The irony is the guy who disconnected the U-Haul literally lifted it up with one arm. I asked to hold it and it barely weighed a thing much to my surprise. But my car was still grinding and squeaky so I took it in to Tempe Autocrafters where a pair of golden retriever dogs greet you with stuffed animals. The diagnosis: my back brakes were grinding against the rotors which all needed replaced (plus an oil change). So we made it… barely. My advice: get the U-Haul pod, pack it at your convenience and enjoy the ride across the country without the car/human stress of towing a trailer. I actually ended up spending more with the car repairs plus the hitch rental plus the installation of a trailer hitch. D’oh! Oh well, live and learn.
Now on to the next adventure, stay tuned!
