Hauling my own. I don't have much - pared down to the essentials when I did the first move. I'll mail the books (media rate...shouldn't be horribly expensive) and the rest should fit in the van.
I have depth perception issues...which is one reason driving in traffic isn't my bad. Otherwise I'd think about getting a trailer for the furniture. As it is...I'll just replace it. I don't have anything fancy anyway.
You're lucky you have a van. When I made my last big move, all I had was a Dodge Neon. I put the rest of my stuff in storage, and ended up chucking most of it after a while. It made me appreciate the concept of traveling light through life.
Heh. When I cleaned out my office, I made the mistake of getting boxes way too big for my books. I had eight boxes, some of which had to weigh at least 100 pounds -- I'm not exaggerating.
It was like a strongest man competition; by the time I carried the fourth box up the flight of stairs and into my apartment, my legs were wobbling like I was having muscle failure.
The next four stayed in the car until the next day.
I don't have any depth perception at all, so I understand your feelings on this point. Driving a U-Haul truck isn't too bad. I rented one in Nashville in '94 to move some furniture that I inherited. I brought it from Nashville to Louisiana. I was fortunate in that I didn't have to go through too many cities. I would think that the drive from Fort Collins to Washington shouldn't be too bad. Most of that part of the country is pretty rural.
Bill