October 23, 2026
Provided image/Cassie Aran
Cassie Aran, standing in back, and Lauren Lee, front, cross the Benjamin Franklin Bridge on the first day of their journey from Philadelphia to Niagara Falls by toy car.
Cassie Aran and Lauren Lee kicked off their 750-mile road trip outside Independence Hall. Over the course of the afternoon, they rerouted, tinkered with their car batteries, debated stopping for McDonald's and actually stopped for ice cream to stay on schedule.
The drive from Philadelphia to Niagara Falls takes roughly seven hours on a typical day. But as the sun began to set, Aran and Lee checked into a hotel in Cinnaminson. They still had about two months' of travel ahead of them, because the friends aren't taking sedans or trucks to the New York landmark. They're driving two-seaters made for children.
"Way back when, we used to ride toy Jeeps for fun when we were kids," Lee said. "And what kid doesn't dream about how far you can go with those things?"
Aran and Lee, both 32, are in the middle of an attempt for the Guinness World Record of longest journey by toy car. Their rides are 48-volt electric vehicles that measure just under 6 feet in length and top out around 10 mph. (The company that makes them, Freddo, also sells ride-on dinosaurs.) Along the way, the pair is posting video diaries and raising money for To Write Love on Her Arms, a nonprofit that helps people struggling with depression and suicidal ideation.
This is the second attempt at the record for longest toy car journey for the Tampa residents, who have been best friends since kindergarten. In 2024, they drove a roughly 600-mile route from Jacksonville to Key West in a pair of toy vehicles. But since they were also crowdfunding on that trip, Aran and Lee said, they ran into problems with Guinness World Records. They would have to either abandon the donation drive or pay a stiff fee to continue fundraising, so they put their record pursuit on hold and kept fundraising. Their ride generated $17,470 for the Best Friends Animal Society.
According to Aran and Lee, Guinness agreed to waive the fee for their second ride. But they still have numerous stipulations. To prove they actually drove from Philly to Niagara Falls in toy cars, the women must carry a GPS tracker and photograph stops that take more than five minutes. Any receipt from a gas station or restaurant goes in the logbook. They're also collecting signatures from witnesses who will confirm they saw them at documented locations; some of those have been police officers executing anything-but-routine traffic stops.
"We have some cops that recognize us from social media and they are excited to see us and they pull over," Aran explained. "Everyone's on edge when you see a cop, so there's still that instinctual like, 'oh my God.' But then every single time they come up and they're like, 'I just wanna know what's happening.'"
Though their first day included a trek across the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, Aran and Lee planned their route meticulously to prioritize quiet bike lanes, sidewalks and woodsy paths. They also chose areas with hotels in close proximity. Though they can spend up to 10 hours a day in transit, the cars are only traveling 7-20 miles — and they are always trying to avoid driving at night. (It still happens, which is why they have headlamps, lanterns and light-up scrunchies, in addition to their cars' LED headlights.) Packing was another logistical nightmare. The cars can only fit a backpack and smaller bag in each passenger seat. A ton of luggage space is reserved for tools of the trade — screwdrivers, spare batteries, chargers, electrical tape, lights, safety goggles and gloves for when they have to lift or push the cars. That leaves precious little room for their actual clothing.
This was less of an issue when the friends were driving through Florida. But with the winter ahead, Aran is hoping the two hoodies, heated vest and pair of fleece-lined leggings she packed will be enough to brave the cold. They're trying not to think about what happens if it snows.
"We've made jokes about this and right now they're jokes," Aran said. "But they could become ... I mean, if we have to ask a friend to come and shovel or plow in front of us or something, then we might have to."
"Or Velcro a plow on the front of the car," Lee joked.
The drivers landed on their Philly-to-Niagara Falls route after considering journeys all over America and even abroad. What sealed their selection was an experience Aran had at Niagara Falls, when she and her boyfriend witnessed someone attempt to take their life. They were rattled by the incident, but even more shocked to learn how common it was; local police told them it happened about once a week. So she and Lee decided to make suicide prevention their cause, and Niagara Falls their destination.
"Mental health for both of us is really important," Aran said. "And we really want to make a difference with (this) and help more people not have to feel alone and go through that."
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