wedding road trip

Foxy Roxy

As most of you know, Ford Motor Company graciously donated a car to us for our wedding road trip. She’s a 2010 Ford Fusion that we named Roxy. We get a lot of questions about her from our “guests,” so she deserves a little more explanation.

First, I need to make an awful confession: I don’t like cars and I don’t like driving. Never have. My Dad is really into cars, was an auto mechanic once upon a time, always changed the oil himself, explained carburetors to me when I was six, etc. He was sure that I’d share his love of cars.

But I just didn’t. Driving for hours bored me when I could instead walk or bike and explore a city in a very personal way, interacting with people and seeing storefronts and details instead of roaring past endless asphalt at 45 MPH. This feeling intensified when I moved to NYC and later SF, where cars are hard to park and go slower than subway trains.

However, for the Wedding Road Trip, we obviously needed a car (“wedding train excursion” and “wedding stagecoach ride” just don’t sound the same). We wanted to support the American car manufacturers in some way, and thought we could promote a car and get some people interested in buying a Ford instead of, for example, a Kia. This isn’t blind patriotism – rather a policy that keeps jobs and unique skills, as well as money, in the US at a tough time. Ford was interested in a partnership, particularly as they are looking at ways to reach out to younger generations through social media marketing via blogs, Facebook, and Twitter.

To make a long story short, I am happy to report that the Ford Fusion rocks. I have never liked a car before, but I love Roxy. Let me count the ways:

• 30 MPG on average – and she’s not a hybrid (though a hybrid version is available).
• Comfortable seats. Really. My butt tends to go numb after 90 minutes in the car, but I have been in total comfort despite driving more than eight hours some days.
• Little details that matter, like a USB port, multiple power plugs, a rear view camera for backing up, and separate temperature controls for driver and passenger.
• She easily fits 4 people plus a big trunk and yet is small enough to readily park on the streets on NYC. For reals…I didn’t know that was possible.
• The car has pickup – it barely hums at 70 MPH and we have accidentally driven above 90 many times because it feels like 40. And when you need to accelerate, Roxy takes off. She’s a speeding ticket waiting to happen – oh wait, it already happened.
• A stylish look – she’s a pretty car.

In short, Roxy Fusion has been the perfect road trip car – fuel efficient, fast, spacious but not too big, and cool. She works well in the city and the country. And let me be clear – if I didn’t like the Fusion, I would have no qualms about ripping it, and I certainly wouldn’t promote it. But take it from a car-hater: the Fusion is worth checking out.