{"id":318833,"date":"2026-11-01T10:22:24","date_gmt":"2026-11-01T10:22:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/318833\/"},"modified":"2026-11-01T10:22:24","modified_gmt":"2026-11-01T10:22:24","slug":"best-friends-begin-700-mile-toy-car-trip-from-philly-to-niagara-falls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/318833\/","title":{"rendered":"Best friends begin 700-mile toy car trip from Philly to Niagara Falls"},"content":{"rendered":"

\ud83d\udc8c Love Philly? So do we. Let\u2019s be friends. Sign up for the Billy Penn newsletter today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Content warning: This article contains mentions of depression, addiction and thoughts of self-harm or suicide.<\/p>\n

Cassie Aran<\/a> and Lauren Lee<\/a>, two best friends from Tampa, Florida, are attempting to set a Guinness world record<\/a> so unique it has only been attempted once before \u2014 by them.<\/p>\n

The pair of content creators are currently trying to trek roughly 700 miles across the eastern U.S., each driving a toy car<\/a> and raising funds to help people struggling with their mental health.<\/p>\n

And they started out from Philly.<\/p>\n

Aran and Lee dreamed up this barely-believable quest back when they were kids.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always wanted to see how far they could go, but our parents at the time obviously wouldn\u2019t let us even go out of the neighborhood,\u201d Aran recalled. \u201cSo now that we\u2019re adults, we had this crazy idea to see how far these things could actually go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their first attempt<\/a> at long-distance toy car travel was across the state of Florida<\/a> in 2024, from the Friendship Fountain in Jacksonville to the southernmost tip of the continental U.S. in Key West, where they were greeted with a welcome party and the keys to the city.<\/a><\/p>\n

That trip took about two months to travel about 600 miles. And the cars used barely held on till the end.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy car was limping to the finish line. Like it barely made it,\u201d Aran said. \u201cIt had to be pushed right after and it was unusable after that.\u201d<\/p>\n

That attempt didn\u2019t make it into Guinness\u2019 book. Aran said it was due to a dispute over a fee Guinness wanted for the record attempt, since the drivers were fundraising towards Best Friends Animal Society<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cBasically, we had a choice at that point, which was to either go for the record or to keep saving animals. We couldn\u2019t have both,\u201d she said \u201cSo, we decided to keep saving animals and to drop the record.\u201d<\/p>\n

This journey aims to cover an additional 100 miles in the same time span. Aran said it was hard to give a firm arrival date, since the trip is at the mercy of the weather, mechanical issues and anything else that might or has already come up. They hope to make it by the end of November.<\/p>\n

The cars they are using are the Freddo Rocket 2-Seater Kids\u2019 Ride-On<\/a>, a model that can go up to 11 miles per hour. Each one has two 24-volt batteries, a 600-Watt brushless motor, rubber tubeless air tires, suspension and LED lights.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Social media influencer Cassie Aran in her Freddo Rocket 2-Seater Kids\u2019 Ride-On during their Guinness World Record attempt to drive toy cars from Philadelphia to Niagara Falls, N.Y.. (Courtesy of Cassie Aran)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the best toy car on the planet that you could find for this journey, but at the end of the day we are humbled all the time with the amount of things that go wrong along the road because we\u2019re using it for something that it\u2019s not normally for,\u201d Aran said.<\/p>\n

Freddo Toys<\/a> is supporting the record attempt by shipping parts, providing a mechanic to call<\/a> when things break down and paying Guinness\u2019 fee.<\/p>\n

The cars are very heavy and to get them over obstacles like fallen trees requires about 45 minutes of unloading and reloading them so they are light enough to be lifted. Though they plan to spend their nights in hotels, driving after dark has to happen when things often and inevitably go wrong<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To be recognized by Guinness World Records, their cars are carrying multiple trackers that are constantly monitoring their speed, pace and location. Whenever they stop and start, they need to find someone to sign their witness book for Guinness to verify with. Local police that have pulled them over are often the reliable signees for this book. They also have to keep a logbook of the entire process and a 10-minute video summarizing their entire day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While they\u2019ll be meeting some friends along the way \u2014 and making some new ones \u2014 no one is following them with supplies. So all they have is what they can fit in the cars.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Social media influencers Laura Lee (left) and Cassie Aran during their Guinness World Record attempt to drive toy cars from Philadelphia to Niagara Falls, N.Y. (Courtesy of Cassie Aran)<\/p>\n

The Florida trip was in sunny weather. This one is along the Northeast during fall and winter. Lee said that the sun has been a saving grace so far, but the nights are already getting too chilly for the hoodies they\u2019re currently using.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe other night when we got stuck, I was so cold, and I just kept thinking like, \u2018Wow, we\u2019re just starting. Like, how is this going to feel in two months up North? And I\u2019m this cold now,\u2019\u201d Aran said. \u201cI do think I\u2019m going to need just a little bit more supplies, but unfortunately for me to get more supplies in my bag, something is going to have to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

The route took months of planning to figure out a workable route for the toy cars, one that had usable sidewalks and bike lanes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d be driving and (Lee) would be like, \u2018Sidewalk, sidewalk, sidewalk \u2014 shoot the sidewalk ended.\u2019 And we would have to back it up and test another route,\u201d Aran explained. \u201cSo, it took weeks of sleeping in a car and just trying to find the perfect route to submit to Guinness World Records so they could see that this was truly possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Aran witnessed someone attempting to take their life at Niagara Falls, New York, which is why that was chosen as the finish line and why the pair are also fundraising for To Write Love On Her Arms<\/a>, a nonprofit that helps people struggling with depression, addiction and thoughts of self-harm or suicide.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis particular cause really touches us,\u201d Aran said. \u201cSo after that happened we decided to choose this route as the main route, so that we can make a difference, so that happens to less people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pair wanted to start from somewhere iconic and weighed up between Philadelphia, New York City and Washington D.C. The nation\u2019s capital seemed too far a distance for the cars to make. Even though this record attempt is the first of its kind, they wanted to set it with the highest distance possible, and Philly felt like the spot to do that.<\/p>\n

Aran went to Rowan University for school, so she was pretty familiar with trips into Philly. Thankfully, neither of them knew of the fate of of hitchBOT more than a decade ago<\/a>, or the violence some Philadelphians have wrought on other small vehicles<\/a> taking over the sidewalks.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Philly portion of the trip was one of their shortest times in a single state. They got in their cars at Independence Mall and then made their way to the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, where they crossed into Camden and New Jersey.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Social media influencers Cassie Aran (left) and Laura Lee pose in front of Independence Hall at the beginning their Guinness World Record attempt to drive toy cars from Philadelphia to Niagara Falls, N.Y. (Courtesy of Cassie Aran)<\/p>\n

They described their relatively short stay as \u201camazing\u201d and \u201cmagical\u201d though.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery single person we passed just had a smile on their face, they had nothing but curiosity and positive good vibes, nothing but nice things to say,\u201d Lee said. \u201cWe stopped for a long time on the Ben Franklin Bridge when we were between Philly and Jersey, just to take it in and, honestly, just take a moment to say goodbye to Philly because we really did enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reaching Niagara Falls and setting the world record would be fulfilling a childhood dream for the pair, but the fact they are doing it with each other means more than the achievement.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs nice as it is to get on a page in the book, it\u2019s all these nights of being in the hotel with each other and on the road, only having each other as support,\u201d\u00a0 Lee said. \u201cThat really is so much deeper than like us getting printed on a page.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Social media influencers Cassie Aran (right) and Laura Lee during their Guinness World Record attempt to drive toy cars from Philadelphia to Niagara Falls, N.Y. (Courtesy of Cassie Aran)<\/p>\n

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline<\/a> at 988. The hotline is staffed 24\/7 by trained counselors who can offer free, confidential support.<\/p>\n

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