Why A Girls Road Trip Is Needed

Ford Motor Corp recently invited me on an #ExploreMore road trip adventure to test out the new Ford Explorer Platinum – their new top-of-the-line Explorer.  The Explorer Platinum commemorates the 25 years since the first Explorer was built.  I had a number of choices where to drive the car to.  In total, Ford planned a six-legged trip.  

Two legs started in Canada and the others started in Montana and will end up in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  As I have a love for International travel, I chose the first leg, which started in Vancouver.  It would be a 3-day trip, though only one day for driving, the other two were travel days.

Vancouver

I arrived into Vancouver anxiously awaiting my Ford Explorer Platinum experience, but not knowing who I would drive with.  There were approximately 20 of us there.  I didn’t know any of the other reporters/bloggers, except for one I briefly met from different Ford events.  

When I asked who I would be paired up with, they told me that we could choose our own partner.  Ugh.  Not knowing anyone, I was nervous how this would end up.  Would I end up with a road hog?  Someone who talked incessantly the whole way?  Or with two guys who talked car talk non-stop?

Ford started with an overview of all of the new features that make the Explorer Platinum the most unique and luxurious Ford ever.  They told us about the Platinum’s quilted-stitched Nirvana leather, the ultimate in car stereo sound – Sony’s 500 watt stereo,  its 10 inch digital command center, its back-up cameras…with wiper for adverse weather conditions, and its signature lighting around the LED lights, which gives the Platinum a cool continuous glow. 

As I began to tweet about what I was learning, I identified two twitter “friends” tweeting about the same info. live, that I knew by name only.  We began retweeting each other.

After the Platinum overview was over, we introduced ourselves.  It was great to meet Ashley Sears of QuirkyInspired and Scarlet  Paolicchi of FamilyFocusBlog.  We became instant friends, formed our driving team, and we were ready for an incredible girls road trip adventure!

Girls Road Trip Started

Early the next morning we set out on our girls road trip from Vancouver for Kamloops, Canada, an old gold-mining town in the Canadian Rockies.  Ford packed us up with beverages and snacks and we were on our way.  Ford also gave us a list of possible attractions/sites to visit, if we wanted to.  There were many to choose from, but not enough time, so we had to choose selectively.

Stanley Park

Cited as one of the best parks in the world to visit and rated the #2 top visitor attraction (out of 270) in TripAdvisor, we found Stanley Park to be a delight.  With over 1,000 acres of lush forest to explore, 5 miles of pedestrian/cycling road, hugging the edge of the park, and the fact that the park is nearly entirely surrounded by ocean.  It is really breathtaking.  It’s just 6 minutes outside the city center.

We found totem poles!

The rain was pouring down as we left Vancouver.  It’s been a long time since any of us have been on a girls road trip, so rain wasn’t going to stop us. Equipped with the Ford Umbrellas Ford had in the car, we hopped out.

Capilano Suspension Bridge

 The rain continued to pour down.  There were a couple of times as I drove in the fast lane of the freeway, where we hit a pocket of water and so did the car next to us.  Our windshield became a sheet of water, blocking our entire view for a few seconds.  Though I was a bit nervous, the Explorer never left it’s traction on the road.  We were all impressed with the car’s handling.

Just 10 minutes further along our trip, we stopped at the Capilano Suspension Bridge, located off the Sea to Sky Highway.  The Capilano Suspension Park is a seven-acre park and the #3 place to visited in North Vancouver, according to TripAdvisor. 

The Capilano Suspension Bridge spans 450 feet long over the Capilano River, which resides a breath-taking 230 feet below the bridge.  It was hard to resist the temptation to jump up and down on the bridge as we crossed.  OK, I totally jumped up and down, I admit it.  We were told the bridge is sturdy enough to hold a 747 jet, so it had to be secure, right?  🙂

Despite wearing Capilano Suspension Bridge rain slickers, we became very soaked, especially our shoes, the bottom part of our pants, and half of our sleeves where the slicker didn’t cover.  We didn’t care, we felt a certain freedom, a kind of invigoration that we hadn’t felt for a while.

It almost felt like we were kids again.  We were jumping up and down on the bridges, telling jokes, making fun of each other, thinking about lunch, and taking in God’s handcrafted nature.  We weren’t thinking of our kids’ school and practice schedules, carpooling, ensuring we had snacks for an after school snack or food for lunches to be packed.  We weren’t thinking of what to make for dinner and if we had all the ingredients.  We weren’t thinking of PTA, charity, or work responsibilities.  We were just living in the moment and breathing it all in.

Shannon Falls

We continued on Highway 99 for Shannon Falls after visiting Capilano Suspension Park, it took us about an hour’s drive.  We took comfort in the Explorer Platinum’s heated seats, available on each of the four seats in the two front rows of the car.  The front two seats even have air conditioned seats, though there was no need to try it!

Quite by accident, we discovered that the Explorer Platinum’s front two seats are massaging seats!  You can even adjust the settings to where you want the massaging to concentrate.  Your could select the intensity or even turn off the back, lower back, or bottom zones.  Adding the heated seat feature gave us a warm massage.  What’s better than a girlfriend road trip?  A girlfriend road trip with a massage the whole way!  We were in heaven. 

Shannon Falls  originates from Mount Habrich and Mount Sky Pilot.  The cliffs of the falls rises 1,100 feet above highway 99.  This is a great stop for a bathroom break too, as the bathrooms are nice, spacious, and clean.  And, they installed Dyson Airblade dryers.  We all took a turn at trying to dry out our soaking jackets and sweaters.

To see the base of the falls was only a quick, slightly elevated walk, probably took 2 minutes.  Our rain slickers came in handy, as the misted surrounded us as the falls pounded the rocks below.  We took another short path up some rocks to get closer to the falls, but the mist was so intense, our hair became plastered to our face and we could barely see.  It was so cool.

Once again, we were drenched and headed back to the heated seat warmth of our car.  As we drove along the curves of Highway 99, I found Ford’s BLISS system to be very useful.  If there is a car in either of your blind spots, an orange dot appears in your side mirrors, warning you of a car.  When no orange dot appears, it is safe to make a lane change.  So handy.

Whistler

It was now time for Whistler…and for lunch, we were hungry!  After 45 minutes on the road, we came to Whistler, home of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Winter games and one of the top places to ski in North America.  Whistler became our amazing backdrop for lunch.  We found Mongolie Grill where we could choose our ingredients and they cook it for us.  The food was expensive but amazing.  

We visited a few of the shops in this quaint alpine village, but found the rain hindered us a bit, as we were finally drying off from our morning adventures.  We did however stop by Cows Creamery for some great-tasting ice cream!

Once back in the parking garage where we left our car, we found ourselves stuck in a dead end area of the very tight garage.  Putting the car in reverse turned on the back-up camera on the 10-inch console screen.  The cameras sensed what was behind us and beside us, helping us to successfully back-up without hitting cars or cement posts.

Whistler is a beautiful city.  It was voted  #2 in the Top 10 Family Vacations in Canada by Traveler’s Choice 2011.  I would definitely like to come back with my family.

Narin Falls

About 20 minutes away from Whistler is Narin Falls Provincial Park.  Narin Falls had permanent port-a-potty type restrooms in this very scenic spot.  We took a beautiful 1-mile walk through forest alongside the Green River.  The hike was totally worth it, as we ended up at the base of the falls, they were just stunning.

We enjoyed the hike and chatting along the way.  We laughed as we met people who had already been to the falls and on their way back tell us, “it was worth it.”  After enjoying the falls, we continued the tradition and told newcomers on their way to the falls, “it was worth it.”  We had a new catchphrase we would use with each other the rest of the trip.

Back in the car, I took advantage of the great technology unit in the back seat of the car.  Besides being able to heat my seat and set my own temperature, there are two regular plugs and 2 USB outlets to keep all my electronics charged…yay!

Duffy Lake

Nearly 45 minutes later, we came upon Duffey Lake, using  Mount Rohr as its backdrop.  Though we didn’t have time to explore the lake, we did stop for a picture.  The color of the Explorer Platinum we chose is Blue Jean.  Do you like it?

As I got out to take pictures, Ashley jumped in the driver’s seat, anxious to drive forward.  What I took as enthusiasm to drive was more a plot to get out of the backseat and calm her motion-sickness stomach!  We all laughed.

Kamloops

It took us about 3 hours to arrive into Kamloops, around 9pm that night.  With nearly six hours of actual driving, we only needed to fill up the tank once…and really, we could have made it all the way, but we thought it better to error on the side of caution.  

 The Explorer Platinum boasts a 3.5-liter twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 engine.  The turbocharge engine forces more air into the engine which increases the power of your engine.  In essence, it gives you the power of a V8 with the fuel economy of a V6 engine.

Kamloops marked the end of our power girls road trip and a chance to collect our thoughts and finish posting our beautiful pics to Instagram.  See my Instagram account to view more of the spectacular sites we witnessed along the way.

A Mom’s Perspective

I laughed a lot on this unexpected girls road trip.  We laughed about life, we laughed about simple things, and we laughed at ourselves.  We talked about what is important to us, how we met our spouses, and traded wisdom on improving our blogs.  We enjoying exploring the Explorer and Canada’s beautiful majestic surroundings.  

But most of all, we enjoyed being just who we are – fun-loving women with a voracious desire to travel, learn, and live life to the fullest.  Thank you, Ford, for this amazing adventure, but even more for the chance to make friends with two good-hearted, down-to-earth women and take a girls  road trip of a lifetime!

*  Ford paid for transportation, lodging, and meals only.  All opinions are my own and were not edited by my sponsor.