Recently my husband and I planned a trip to Las Vegas and Los Angeles for our second honeymoon (one-year anniversary). And with me being unemployed, we had to do it on a shoestring budget.
We were really lucky. His father and brother were heading to Vegas and had an extra comp room for three nights at the Paris. And the best man from our wedding invited us to stay with him and his fiance for the rest of our vacation.
We ended up getting a great deal on flights and landed a rental from Toyota to review too, so the cost of the trip was a fraction of what it would normally be.
Since we didn’t need the rental in Vegas, we picked it up at the valet on our last day there. The lovely people at Toyota set us up with a brand-new Sienna with all the bells and whistles. It wasn’t my first choice of vehicles since it was just the two of us driving through the desert to LA and normally I wouldn’t be caught dead in a minivan – but I withheld judgment until I was able to experience it.
I was pleasantly surprised.
My favorite part? Cup holders galore! I counted six in the front and there must’ve been at least four in the back. Every car should have at least four cup holders in the front seat. Especially for long drives.
It took us a while to figure out how to start the car. It’s one of those cards that doesn’t require a key, but a fob that the driver keeps in its pocket. Once the car senses that the fob is in the vicinity all the drive has to do is step on the break and press a button (it was the break part that we had a hard time figuring out.)
The model that we drove had a full in-dash navigation system that, once you read the instructions, is fairly easy to “navigate.” Being used to my trusty Garmin, I found this system to be less intuitive, but had a wider range of functionality.
This was the first time we had driven a car with satellite radio, and really enjoyed some commercial-free calming jazz as we took in the mountainous desert scenery.
Looking back into the back seats, I noticed that the first row contained two captain chairs similar to the front ones except that these ones reclined and had foot rests. I wondered how safe these recliners were compared to regular seats, but once I experienced one myself, all I could focus on was the comfort. The pull-down sun screens blocked the hot western sun while I watched Ferris Bueller on the wide-screen DVD player that popped out of the ceiling. Wow-ee. This is a big upgrade from the Brandy Bunch station wagon of my childhood with an analog radio, roll-up windows and seat belts that were lost in the seat crevice for all eternity.
Boy were we surprised the first time we backed up and could see what was behind us on the nav/audio screen thanks to a panoramic camera (!) on the back of the van. Not to mention that BUZZ that we heard when hubster got a leetle too close the car behind him.
Was the the perfect car for us right now? Since it’s just the two of us (and the cats don’t like car rides) it’s too big for our needs. But if I popped out a kid or two, this may be just
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