The U-Haul Experience

Ok to paint the picture – we are moving up to DC with more than a little stuff, most inherited. We have a Toyota Camry (yes I know – boring!). So needless to say we needed help. So to U-Haul we turn…



We picked up a rather large truck and a full flat bed trailer and have every intention of doing this all ourselves. We manage to pack the truck and load the car onto the trailer and off we go!




About 3 hours into the drive we realize that the gas is going down faster than we anticipated and we now have the mammoth task of getting this rig through a gas station – thank goodness for Americans and their Truck stops.



14 hours later and about 4 more tanks of gas we find ourselves almost into the city. Now comes the thought that even with “The Other Half’s” amazing truck driving skills, there is no way we are firstly going to be able to maneuver this all through the downtown DC streets, and secondly if we do, there is no ways we are going to find space to offload the car off the trailer.

So an abandoned parking lot we find and proceed to offload the car there. We then drive the final few minutes in separate vehicles. (I will not get into the fact that I got caught at a red light and left behind with an almost dead phone and no idea where I’m going – I got there eventually).

We finally arrive at our destination (a few minutes apart because of my detours). We are very happy to discover that there is a barely used alley behind our house where we can park and offload the truck – which we proceed to do.

So as we are unloading we discover that the majority of our inherited furniture does not actually fit through the door of the apartment and we are forced to leave it in the truck and find something to do with it the next day. (I’m gonna take this opportunity to throw in an “I told you so”).

Next day arrives and we are up bright and early to find a furniture store to buy the furniture and then return the truck and trailer. All I’m gonna say is that the odds were against us on this particular morning and the furniture now sits in the U-Haul storage facility (minus half a glass table cause I broke it).

The bottom line is that I am still in two minds as to whether I will ever use U-Haul again due to some complications. The final moral of the story is that I hope to not have to move again or a very long time!