A full tank of gas. Good weather. And an open highway. All the ingredients were in place for a quintessential family road trip. Our destination was Klamath Falls, Oregon to take my mother-in-law home after her long visit with us.
We were fortunate to have a Toyota Sequoia for this trip (thank you Toyota for the vehicle loan!). And with only four of us in a vehicle that could seat seven, we had plenty of space for the luggage, books, plants, and other baubles that my mother-in-law insisted on bringing along. As I loaded up the vehicle, my son quickly disappeared into the third row with his headphones and Nintendo Switch. My mother-in-law took over the two captain chairs in the second row. And soon enough, I was blissfully in my own world up front in the driver’s seat.
Traffic and weather can make or break a road trip and we were lucky enough to have good conditions on both counts. The sunroof gave us a great view of the puffy white clouds as they passed overhead. And I rarely had to touch the gas pedal thanks to the adaptive cruise control which automatically adjusted our speed to match the cars ahead. Its hard to imagine a long road trip without this amazing feature.
The Toyota Sequoia is known for being a great vehicle for a road trip, and it really lived up to our high expectations. It may seem like a small thing, but having a three-zone climate control in the Sequoia probably saved us from hours of fights over the thermostat. The driver and passenger each have their own climate zones. In the second row, my mother-in-law could adjust from hot to cold and back again as many times as her heart desired. And my son had ample A/C back in the third row. My mother-in-law adjusted the temperature dozens of times over the 450-mile trip. But I stayed blissfully cool with the A/C blasting up front.
I breathed a sigh of relief when we finally reached our destination and my mother-in-law was comfortably back home with her cat.
The next day, we drove to Crater Lake and took in the amazing views of the deep blue water. Pictures really don’t do it justice. With the Sequoia, we drove around the entire lake and stopped at a few vantage points to take in the views. It was surprising to see snow still on the ground, even in the middle of summer.
On our way back to Washington, we stopped at an offbeat destination – the last Blockbuster Video store in America. Childhood memories of VHS tapes and movie nights came flooding back as we pulled up to the store in Bend, Oregon. It was fun to spend a few minutes in the store and to see the movie memorabilia on display. I even saw a few customers renting movies. But the longest line was outside, as a steady stream of people took selfies with the Blockbuster sign in front of the store.
As we drove through Mt. Hood national forest, and the front grill filled with bugs, I gained an appreciation for the Toyota Sequoia’s 5.7L V8 engine. We drove up the steep roads with ease and had plenty of power to pass slower traffic when necessary. The vehicle had a tow hitch and 4×4 capabilities, which I didn’t try out. But it was great to have the beefy engine and the roomy interior space during the long drive.
According to AAA, about half of traveling families (53 percent) expect to pack up their cars for a road trip this year. Whether you are taking grandma home or simply taking a family vacation, a road trip is a great way to travel to your vacation destination. We had a wonderful time test driving the Toyota Sequoia during our family’s road trip, and it will definitely be on our short list when it comes time to trade in our existing SUV.
