Over the past six months, Roxy has become a part of our family in a way that we never expected. After all, she is just a “brilliant silver” 2010 Ford Fusion- a mere material possession. Maybe it’s the fact that we practically lived in her as we traversed the country during the final days before our marriage ceremony. Or maybe it’s that she represented a connection to the country at large every time we passed a Ford dealership. It may sound stupid to you, but it is very real to us.

We spent our last moments with Roxy on the coldest, dreariest day of the year. We took some pictures, shot some video, and listened to her Sync voice one more time.  As she drove off to meet her maker (Jason Camp of the Los Angeles Media Fleet Division), Chris and looked in the opposite direction to keep from bawling. We will miss Roxy, but the bottom line cost of purchasing a car of her quality just doesn’t jive with our current financial goals.

To borrow from Marley and Me, I have these final words about Roxy, arguably the world’s greatest car:

“What I really wanted to say was how this car had touched our souls and taught us some of the most important lessons of our lives. Roxy taught us about living each day with unbridled exuberance and joy, about seizing the moment and following your heart. She taught me to appreciate the simple things- a drive into the sunset, singing along to the radio, and traveling between the cities of the people you love most.”

Side note: To all the asshats who thought we changed our name to Ford because we wanted to get free stuff, I hope you’ll now find someone else to verbally assault. We’re Fordless Fords… and we’re cool with that.

At this point, if you are not a regular reader, you may be saying, “Wait, I thought they did a road trip instead of a wedding.” Actually we did a road trip in lieu of a huge event, visiting many of our out of state family and friends, but are still having a ceremony and dinner for some local family and friends.

Speaking of guests, we are also getting RSVPs from the invitees. Understandably, there are some regrets. But we have had at least one pleasant surprise – Roxy will be at our wedding!

Monday was the original date of her return to the media fleet, but Ford Motor Company has graciously allowed us to keep her for a few more weeks so we can keep Wedding Road Trip going. We’ve continued interviewing friends and family in California, and Roxy Fusion will be helping us visit places like Fresno, Los Angeles, Marin, and San Luis Obispo. If you’re coming to the wedding, be sure to say hello to her- she’ll be driving us up the aisle.

Just kidding. We’re not corporate shills.

This morning, as she drove Chris and me to Crunch, she even complimented me on my slightly-more-toned physique. We then shared a b0nding moment as Lady Gaga played over the radio. When the song finished, Chris uttered a sentence that stopped me cold:

“I could live outside of the City now, I mean, if you want to. I don’t think I mind driving anymore.”

I’m sorry, what? This from the guy who swore he’d never live outside of the City, would never drive a car more than once a month, and would never consider living somewhere like Napa or Sonoma and commute in a few days a week.

If he tells me that he’ll also live in a gated community (the equivalent of death to all urban planners), I will fully believe that Ford has been serving him the good punch behind my back.

So I ever-so-carefully tapped the bumper of the car in front of me, edging into the spot. In the matter of about two seconds, the vehicle shot down the hill, up onto the sidewalk and into a nearby planter. Luckily (or unluckily, perhaps?) there were no tourists on the sidewalk at that moment or they would have been as flat as road maps.

Needless to say, you can understand why I was nervous to take Roxy out for a spin on the streets of San Francisco. After all, just because she was a good highway vehicle for six weeks doesn’t guarantee that she can charge up the hills and take the hairpin corners on some of the busiest streets in California. However, having not driven in a day and a half, I was itching to get back on the road. In a strange way, Roxy has become like the family pet, requiring food, water, and a good spin around the block.

Roxy did not disappoint. I was impressed with how she held her ground on the top of Divisadero Street, which is so steep that you can see all of San Francisco in one glance before diving back down into the City (and sometimes into the car in front of you). She also earned my respect by being uncannily good at finding the perfect parking spaces. She slid into spots right in front of the gym, the grocery store, and the post office.

In short, Roxy completely failed me. Why? Because I still want to keep her. I was hoping that after taking her on a tour of the City, she’d cough, sputter, and begrudgingly chug her way around. But no. She fits in with all of the BMWs, Audis, and Priuses like she belongs here.

Maybe she does?

Dear god. That may have been the cheesiest sentence ever written.

But not the cheesiest sentence ever said, which I’ll have to credit to Jillian of The Bachelorette. As I was typing, she uttered the following puke worthy sentence:

“Every woman dreams of the day when she’s in the kitchen, worried about cooking the perfect meal, and a man walks up behind her and gives her a kiss.”

Jillian, honey, this is not 1959. It’s 2009, and all I dream of is Chris in the kitchen, cooking the perfect meal as I read yet another trashy ChickLit novel while simulataneously eating a handful of carb-free fudge. (hey, this is my fantasy- it could exist.)

The trip is not over yet.

With 36 days left until we get married, we’re just over halfway through with our journey. Sure, we’ve covered most of the major mileage (over 13,000 miles in 44 days!), but we still have California to consider. That’s right- we’re syncing up with the peeps we’ve loved and admired over the past two years. We’re going to head up to the North Bay to chat with Anna and Jim, parents of one of my favorite people in the universe, Leif. We’ll shoot out to the Central Valley to chat up Kindra, a former swim friend and faithful Wedding Road Trip follower. We’ll hit up the wedding of Will and Jenny, two young Republicans with an optimistic view on life and love.

At some point during the next 36 days, we’ll also talk with all four of my biological grandparents, our brothers and sisters, and several other people who have had an influence on our lives. By the time we get married, we hope to chat with everyone on our list about what they think about this whole marriage thing.

So buckle your seat belts, there’s more to come. California’s a big broke state and we’re going to cover all of it.

P.S. Yes, if we haven’t written about you, we’re going to- consider Monday and Tuesday of this week a little bit of catch up while Roxy gets a nice, long nap.

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.

Clearly, I was wrong.

However, that didn’t stop me from donning a huge pair of dark sunglasses and a pretentious look as I entered the parking structure to pick up the car. The parking attendants stopped and stared at me, jaws dropped, as I sauntered over to the Fusion, inserted the key, and drove off into the sunset.

Okay, so maybe that’s how things went down in my head. In reality, the parking attendants were probably yawning because they hadn’t had their coffee yet. And the sunglasses? Let’s just say that it was the foggiest morning of the year and I looked like a complete tool.

No matter.

I have to be honest. I wasn’t expecting much from the Ford Fusion. I thought it would just be an updated version of the world’s greatest granny and door-to-door salesman car, the Ford Taurus. I’d had the pleasure of driving in a Taurus while dating a pharma salesmen post-college and had felt myself age with every yawn-induced ride.

But then… I met Roxy Fusion*. Parked next to a silver Audi, Roxy looked like a superstar with her fancy grill and sweet wheels. The next moment can only be described as this: instant car love. Why I fell in love with Roxy is deeply personal, but I promise to share each moment with you as this trip evolves.

On my drive back to San Francisco, I asked my mom to snap a picture of her (above). Note how clean she is right now… ya… that’s gonna last about ten seconds. (Um… sorry Scott- I mean, we’re going to clean it with a toothbrush every night, I promise.)

* yes, we’ve named the car. Deal with it. You would have done it too.

At first, Chris was not convinced of my Green Box, Purple Box strategy. Separating his sundries from his clothes sounded way too complicated and pointless. I quickly won him over, however, when I pointed out how nice it would be to have our own space in Roxy’s trunk, versus everything being thrown into one big mess. I guess we’re not quite ready to cohabitate yet, because plastic box independence sounds like heaven to both of us.

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