spotdog14
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Finally have had the opportunity to sit down and get the Expedition all cleaned out after a spring break road trip with my wife, mother in law, brother in law and 1 year old son from Michigan to Florida to visit family.
First observation about the trip was I was amazed at how many late model Expeditions I saw on I-75 on the way to Florida. Second observation, Ohio drivers are worse than Iowa drivers by far (and apparently going 85 in a 65 is not enough to get you pulled over in Ohio when the cop is radaring you).
We ran into no problems on the way down or back, only issue we had was my wife attempting to kill the front passenger side tire by hitting a curb while parking. We averaged 19 mpg on the way down going 75, which I thought was pretty darn good, though we didn't need to put the cargo basket on top so that helped a lot too.
One thing I did not notice on my last road trip (From Michigan to South Dakota) was my new tires like to wander a lot going over 75. I probably didn't notice it was time because everyone in the state of Iowa drives the speed limit. Having the captains chairs in the second row was great because it allowed us to move around a little bit (since we had the child's seat in the passenger side captain). In the 3rd row I had the 40 part up while the 60 was folded to accommodate the luggage. I sat in the 3rd row while going through Atlanta and I have to say its not bad sitting back there, you get decent leg room and its nice actually having HVAC vents you can position if you are hot or cold, much better than a lot of other vehicles I have been in.
The DVD player in mine (2008) leaves a lot to be desired, though I do have to ask, with the newer ones that are in the headrests; how do the passengers in the 3rd row watch the movie? I wish there was a way to have the DVD audio play in the rear zone while just the drivers speaker can play Sirius, thats really my only gripe. Also the part of Florida we went to had a lot of new development and my old navigation disk in the head unit was severely lacking so I had to pull out the trusty phone. I know that a lot of people don't like the built in navigation but it was proved to be a valuable resource while we do some trail riding in Michigan's UP (for some reason the trails we always seem to be on are on the Atlas and the built in DVD but not on Google Maps).
Overall it was a lot of fun, and I look forward to more family trips like this in the future when we finally get around to having another child. I am really impressed with the way the Expedition handled everything as well, I was unsure if there was going to be enough room for a pack and play, stroller a luggage for 4 adults without having the entire third row folded down but everything fit fine and I was able to see out of the entire back window! Though I do know now not to have my wife drive through Atlanta at any time, she is better suited for Ohio or Florida driving!
Bonus pic of my son somewhere in Tennessee.
First observation about the trip was I was amazed at how many late model Expeditions I saw on I-75 on the way to Florida. Second observation, Ohio drivers are worse than Iowa drivers by far (and apparently going 85 in a 65 is not enough to get you pulled over in Ohio when the cop is radaring you).
We ran into no problems on the way down or back, only issue we had was my wife attempting to kill the front passenger side tire by hitting a curb while parking. We averaged 19 mpg on the way down going 75, which I thought was pretty darn good, though we didn't need to put the cargo basket on top so that helped a lot too.
One thing I did not notice on my last road trip (From Michigan to South Dakota) was my new tires like to wander a lot going over 75. I probably didn't notice it was time because everyone in the state of Iowa drives the speed limit. Having the captains chairs in the second row was great because it allowed us to move around a little bit (since we had the child's seat in the passenger side captain). In the 3rd row I had the 40 part up while the 60 was folded to accommodate the luggage. I sat in the 3rd row while going through Atlanta and I have to say its not bad sitting back there, you get decent leg room and its nice actually having HVAC vents you can position if you are hot or cold, much better than a lot of other vehicles I have been in.
The DVD player in mine (2008) leaves a lot to be desired, though I do have to ask, with the newer ones that are in the headrests; how do the passengers in the 3rd row watch the movie? I wish there was a way to have the DVD audio play in the rear zone while just the drivers speaker can play Sirius, thats really my only gripe. Also the part of Florida we went to had a lot of new development and my old navigation disk in the head unit was severely lacking so I had to pull out the trusty phone. I know that a lot of people don't like the built in navigation but it was proved to be a valuable resource while we do some trail riding in Michigan's UP (for some reason the trails we always seem to be on are on the Atlas and the built in DVD but not on Google Maps).
Overall it was a lot of fun, and I look forward to more family trips like this in the future when we finally get around to having another child. I am really impressed with the way the Expedition handled everything as well, I was unsure if there was going to be enough room for a pack and play, stroller a luggage for 4 adults without having the entire third row folded down but everything fit fine and I was able to see out of the entire back window! Though I do know now not to have my wife drive through Atlanta at any time, she is better suited for Ohio or Florida driving!
Bonus pic of my son somewhere in Tennessee.
