truth be told, i’ve never been a “car person”. as long as a vehicle can get me from point a to point b, i’ve been pretty indifferent about all of the details. that said, we’ve been considering a pickup truck for a while — mostly for the extra cargo space and towing capacity required when camping with five people — so when ford approached us to participate in their #fordoutdoors program the same week we were planning our camping trip to southern alberta, the answer was easy; sign us up!
because of the mental and physical health boosting power of spending time outdoors, ford is encouraging canadians to escape the city this summer and get outside to reap the benefits for their health and well being. for a family who spent much of our summers outside rain or shine, this is messaging we can get behind.
the first thing mark and i did when we got on the road in “our” new f-150 was try out the built in active motion seat massage feature. remember what i said above about not being a car person?! turns out i just hadn’t ridden in a vehicle with cooling massaging seats for a six hour road trip before 🤣
having never travelled in a full sized truck before, the kids were super happy in the spacious back seat, with ample room for the bazillion toys and books they deem necessary for every road trip. and considering it has a two hour battery life, being able to charge her ancient ipod herself in the back seat entertainment centre was especially exciting for lila.
while comfort was obviously a highlight for me, there are also a lot of safety features that made me enjoy the ride. typically mark does all of the trailer towing on our camping adventures (while i’m constantly handing the kids the book or water or toy they dropped, haha) but with the extra control of the adaptive cruise and lane keeping system, i felt more than confident enough to take the driver’s seat to get out of the city.
one of many other features that makes towing extra simple with the f-150, is the blis (blind spot information system) that notifies you not only of vehicles travelling in the truck’s blind spot, but those in range of the trailer as well. i really didn’t think driving a different vehicle would make much difference, but the features included in this truck honestly took away so much of the stress of pulling a trailer for me.
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we usually toss the kids’ bikes into the trailer while heading out on camping trips, so it was great to have the additional cargo space to keep the associated dirt away from our beds and in the truck box; but let’s be serious here, the highlight for me was definitely having the extra room to transfer all of our floaties and paddle boards to the water for an epic float down the milk river.
(if you’re ever camping in the writing-on-stone area, ten thumbs up from the hankis for the paddle and float from weir bridge to the campground!)
honest review, the ford f-150 was such a comfortable way to explore the beautiful views across our province AND to get back home safely just in time for bedtime. i have the distinct feeling i’ll be seriously missing the built in massage on our next road trip.
while we did partner with ford canada for this blog post, all thoughts and opinions expressed are solely my own.
