You. Guys.
Just last week my hubby and I did something amazing, we went on a mini vacation without our kids!! Now I know this doesn’t sound like an amazing thing to some of you, but for us, it was magic. The last time we spent a night away from our kids was about six years ago and at that time we only had one child (for the record we have three children now and they are almost seven, five and four). We love our kids and really do enjoy spending time with them but as many parents know, sometimes you just need a break and boy were we overdue for that!
So for our first trip sans kids, we decided to head to Banff and enjoy the fresh mountain air. It was a nice change to just hop in the vehicle and go; no need to worry about car seats, potty breaks and entertainment. While in Banff we were able to explore the town, take in the scenery and enjoy our meals at our own pace – again something huge for parents of preschoolers! We also visited the Cave and Basin National Historic Site and were quite taken with it’s story and beauty.
All in all, we had a really great trip and as much as I loved being away from the kids, I found myself thinking of them often and how much they would enjoy certain things that we did. Luckily for us though, they were quite happy to ride around Edmonton in the Ford Explorer and do the simple things that we usually do. Oh and did I mention there is a third row?! Our daily driver does not have a third row so my boys we thrilled that they were able to sit in a different row than their little sister.
Features we loved:
There were many reasons why we loved driving the 2018 Ford Explorer and I will list them below here! I also should mention that my children were very insistent on us “keep it”, so it’s safe to say they loved it as well.
- Adaptive Cruise Control
- This was amazing on the highway! For those who aren’t familiar with Adaptive Cruise Control it means that when you are cruising along the highway and a slower vehicle is in front of you, your vehicle will automatically adjust it’s speed to avoid a collision (and you don’t have take cruise control off). And once the vehicle in front of you has moved or sped up, your speed will increase to the original speed in which you set it at.
- Also important to note that you can adjust the gap size between your vehicle and the vehicle in front of you (when using cruise control)
- Blind Spot Monitoring
- This handy feature alerts you to vehicles that are driving alongside your vehicle by illuminating a small symbol on your side mirrors; this is especially handy when a smaller vehicle happens to be driving in your blindspot
- Lane Assist
- Lane Assist does exactly what it suggests; it assists you to stay within your lane. When your vehicle cross the lane line or moves toward the shoulder the steering wheel vibrates gently to alert you.
- Auto High beam Headlights
- This feature came as a surprise to me, while I am no stranger to automatic lights this was my first experience with automatic high beams. I loved that when I was driving on the highway I didn’t have to worry about switching my “brights” on and off as traffic flowed and lulled; the Explorer just handled it all for me.
- Power Liftgate
- As a parent of three young children there were two features that I especially appreciated, and one of those was the power liftgate. It was so simple and convenient to use, my six year old was able to help me load groceries in ad out with minimal assistance.
- Dual DVD Headrests
- This was the other features that I feel parents would especially appreciate, the dual DVD headrests. Just as it sounds, the driver and passenger seat headrests had DVD players built into them so the kids could easily see the screens and I didn’t have to worry about adjusting anything.
- Twin Panel Moonroof
- When I opened the Moonroof cover to unveil it to my kids, I was the coolest Mom ever (for a moment). Unfortunately for us, the winter weather (in Edmonton) has hung on through Spring and it was too cold to drive around with the Moonroof open.
- Large Screen Display
- I loved having such a large screen to glance at when backing up, that combined with the sensors letting me know when I was getting close to objects (ie parkade pillars), made me an expert level park-er in no time at all.
- Independent Temperature Controls
- While I know this isn’t a new feature, it is always something I appreciate! You see my husband and I are rarely the same temperature at any given time (read: I have mini hot flashes. all. the. time.) and having the ability to change the temperature on our sides of the vehicle was great.
While we aren’t looking at adding another vehicle to our family just yet, the Ford Explorer is definitely on my radar now!
**This was a sponsored post, however all opinions expressed above are my own.**