Mami Moments: Escape the Everyday

A couple of weeks ago I had the chance to steal borrow the 2013 Escape from my friends at Ford. I didn’t have anything special planned or any out of town trips. I wanted to go about my business as I normally would and test it out in my real world: grocery shopping, sleeping in the car, the drive thru, drop off and pick up, the post office, hopscotch, pumpkin picking, etc.  What I found was a nice escape from the everyday (you like how I did that, didn’t you?). Where do I begin? Let’s start with the color: black/brown. In the shade my 2013 Escape (let’s call her Esperanza) was black but in the sun, it was a cool metallic brown. You almost wanted to lick the paint (but, I didn’t). Esperanza had a black leather interior and the second thing that struck me was how roomie she was. I seem to have more legroom here than in comparable SUV’s. If I had to choose one word to describe it? Luxurious. And I was surprised by that because honestly, I didn’t expect it.

Esperanza was rocking the technology. Let me tell you I felt like I was at the helm of the USS Enterprise. I found myself saying things like “make it so” and calling the frog princess #1 (if you never watched Star Trek: Next Generation, just ignore and keep reading).

Navigation, bluetooth, connections to your mp3 player, climate control…you name it, Esperanza was on it. And literally, you could name it. Through one of the controls on the steering wheel, I could ask Esperanza to raise the temperature, change the station, get directions or to dial a phone number thanks to MyFord Touch®. Everything seemed so much easier and streamlined, you know? I felt like I had a co-pilot on my drive.

Not only was Esperanza spacious but, the little things made me smile. Well, they weren’t all little. The frog princess and I found great joy in the double sunroof. I think that went a long way into making Esperanza feel roomier. I don’t know about you but at home, whenever there is sun shining in, all things are better. I was kind of hoping we got some rain so that we could watch it fall on the sunroof but alas, only bright days covered us while Esperanza visited.

On one of my outings to the grocery store, I found myself lamenting that I wouldn’t test out the hands-free liftgate as I’d seen it on the commercials where the lady has her hands full and uses her foot to open the liftgate. I did open the liftgate using my foot and it was kinda nifty although at first you find yourself jerking your leg all over the place because you’re not sure if you’re doing it right. I wonder how I looked to passersby? Just randomly jutting my leg out there like a maniac.

When I got home though, I realized the true use of the hands-free. I had my arms full of bags as I was unloading and normally, I’d have to finagle a way to get the liftgate down while not dropping whatever I have in my hands. Well, one (or two) leg movements later and voila! I didn’t have to set any of my bags down or injure myself in the process.

Oh so, let me tell you about what I found in the console! I was excited about this:

It’s a blogger’s version of heaven! Can I tell you that this was the second plug to charge all of my gadgets. Are you ready to see the third?!

Eeek! Isn’t that awesome?! Also, notice the AC vents. I was digging that because my SUV has no vents in the back and in the Florida summers we sometimes have a little heat situation with the frog princess in the backseat.

I loved that I got a chance to go about my business doing every day things while testing out this vehicle. It did feel like every time I was stepping into the car I was escaping whatever it was that was going on in my world. I got a chance to relax in a beautiful machine, use high tech innovations to ease my driving and lower my distractions and enjoy the ride.

The last thing I’m going to tell you about is this: Ford blessed me with helping me to make a change in my community. Not only was I allowed to drive this car around town for a few days but, I was also given a giftcard in the amount of $250 to give to a local non-profit community group of my choosing. I thought that was such a great gesture. It does my heart good to see companies reaching out locally to make an impact in our communities. I chose to pass on Ford’s gift to Collegiate Pathways for their Tech Sassy Girlz workshop which I was humbled to have spoken at this past weekend. I know the girls appreciated it and so did I.

For more information on how you can make a difference in your community, feel free to check out last week’s post about the upcoming Community Service Awards. I hope to see you there. Oh and if you want to try your hand at building your own 2013 Ford Escape, be sure to check out this link.

All this talk about Esperanza is making me want her back. I wonder if they’ll let me borrow her for a month or 2? I think she’d like it here.  Esperanza, I miss you! Feel free to come by and hang out with my family any time!