Road Trip

The first Mitsubishi that I ever came into close contact with was my dad’s Colt hatchback. Rebadged as a Dodge, the five-door was a daily-driven delight. With a manual gearbox, stellar fuel economy, room aplenty for baby seats, and nary a mechanical issue to be seen over multiple years.

Today’s tale begins with the background behind this crazy caper. Instead of going to Japan to visit my wife’s family like we normally do annually, they opted instead to come to the States this year. That’s all fine and dandy in my book, but there was one stipulation: They were flying into LA instead of Cincinnati, and all four adults and two children wanted to go on a “Wild West Road Trip.”

There’s a wildfire burning in the Pacific northwest right now that is roughly the size of Maryland. Evacuations are in order, roads are blocked, hundreds of firefighters deployed, and everywhere you look, a fine layer of ash cloaks all that it touches with a carcinogen-rich coating.

When Chevrolet reached out to ask if I wanted to borrow a new 2016 SS for a week, I was pretty excited. But when they said they’d like me to drive it from Chicago all the way to Florida to go see the Daytona 500, I was even more stoked.

Chevrolet recently kicked off an epic 48-state tour of the U.S. with a convoy of its new 2016 Camaros leading the way. I was fortunate to be chosen for the trip, and got to drive the leg that kicked off in Salt Lake City, Utah, and ended in Bozeman, Montana.

Say the name “RAV4,” and most people think of a compact grocery getter for the soccer mom set. But the last several days have shown me that the Toyota RAV4 is much more. I had the opportunity to take the 2015 RAV4 on a Pacific Northwest adventure, going off-road, and even witnessing a RAV4 run a rally race.