There are many people (like my mother) who routinely say things like “Ugh. I can’t believe how often you drive between the mainland and Key West. How can you stand it? Isn’t it boring?” I normally shrug off such comments and go about my business. The truth is, it is a pretty long drive – somewhere between 3.5 and 4 hours. And we do it often.
But I am used to it, and it really isn’t so bad. It is a beautiful drive, and if there are no accidents, a pleasant one, too.
This week, however, I have taken “driving to and from Key West often” to new, stupid levels. The nice people at Chevy loaned me a car to test drive for a week. It is a Suburban and it is the size of an entire suburb. It is also awesome. But more on that in a moment. So, since we are moving into a new house next week, and neither IKEA nor Costco exist in the Keys, we have a lot of stuff to schlep, and the Suburban is up to the challenge.
This morning, my mom and I are driving south with a bunch of furniture, bookcases, and shelving units packed into the Chevy Suburban. Tomorrow, we return north, and Friday, FKGuy, Babka and I will head south, presumably with less stuff packed in, because Babka needs a seat. We’ll see how it goes.
Meanwhile, this car (truck? bus?) is fantastic. I may have already mentioned how huge it is, but there are some awesome features, too. Like the side step (which probably has a name), which enable short people, like me to actually get in the car. Then there are the heated and air conditioned seats. Yes, your tush gets to be cool, too. There are not one, but two DVD players (with headphones), but I doubt Babka will watch a movie in the back. She is not too good with headphones.
Then there are the safety features, which also happen to be incredibly cool. If you veer into another lane, even slightly, your seat vibrates. That’ll wake you up. There is a blind spot indicator on the giant rear view mirrors. The radio/pandora/phone/navigation set up seems to be quite good. It took all of 12 seconds to pair my phone. But I have yet to use the navigation or On Star, as I haven’t gone anywhere out of the norm. Plus, the road to the keys is fairly straight.
Overall, even though I have only had the car for a couple of days, it is fantastic. I am not sure I could drive something this big on a regular basis (and I am not sure I will ever get the hang of parking it.) But if you need a car with seating for 7 and loads of bells and whistles, this is a good one! I’ll report more when the week long test drive is up, but meanwhile, follow me on Twitter or Facebook for photos and updates.
