mapping our life's journey
In just 4 days, we will be heading out on our first weekend away this season in the RV!
Because we are packing for the four of us, having a packing list makes things much easier to remember everything!
Do you have items you think should be on the list?
Let me know what are you “must haves” when you’re packing to go RVing!
With the warmer weather finally here, I know a lot of families are looking forward to the summer, like we are!!
We’re a camping family and get out in our RV as much as we can each summer! Camping is such a great way to disconnect from regular life (and devices) and reconnect with your family!
If you’re looking for some ideas, Carefree RV resorts are an affordable way of taking a vacation to an ideal location!! There are 15 parks in Ontario scattered around from Muskoka, Prince Edward Island, Windsor, and the Greater Toronto area. Each park has a wide variety of activities!
Don’t worry if you don’t have an RV, there are rental options available.
Let me tell you a bit about 2 of the parks to give you an idea of what Carefree RV offers…
On the beautiful sandy shores of Lake Erie, Sherkston Shores resort offers 560 acres of beautiful landscape, topped off with two and a half miles of sandy beachfront. Keep yourself busy with pools, waterslides, splash pad and a quarry stocked with fish. Just 90 minutes away from the Greater Toronto Area and mere minutes away from the US border, Sherkston Shores is a fabulous vacation alternative that offers so much more. RV sites, rustic cabins and a range of vacation cottages are available for rent.
Located just 20 miles of both Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan — Willowood is a top destination for both U.S. and Canadian families. We have 329 RV sites with fire rings as well as cabin and park model rentals available.
Willowood family-friendly grounds feature a playground, horseshoe pits, sand volleyball courts, an outdoor movie theater and miniature golf course. Our guests keep cool relaxing and swimming in our large pool, our kiddie pool and our splash pad area. There’s even an arcade room to entertain the kids on rainy days. We also pride ourselves on providing a whirlwind social calendar that includes story time, chocolate bar bingo, crafts, potlucks, dances and movies. And don’t forget to take a hay ride with our Carefree characters – Benny Beaver and Suzie Squirrel
Carefree is offering a special offer exclusive to you!
20% off daily rates on RV sites, cabins and vacation cottage rentals at 14 of the Ontario RV Parks. This promotion is valid from May 1- June 31
Use promo code Blog20 for tent and RV Sites
Use promo code BlogRT for cabin and cottage rentals
Head over to Carefree RV’s site to use the promo codes.
Get your summer started now! Head over to Carfree RV’s site to see all of the locations available and what they have to offer! Camping with your family is such an amazing experience! Whether in a tent, RV or cabin…it is so great to get away and connect with nature and reconnect with your family!
Tuesday morning was our third and final day at #FordNAIAS . We were up early, packed and checked out of our rooms before our 9am breakfast. We would all be heading home after our morning of activities.
We headed over to the Dearborn Inn for some “behind the scenes” sessions to learn more about Ford, their process, their technologies and their style.
As a cartographer and GIS Analyst, I deal with a lot of data all day long. Going in I was very excited to hear how Ford uses data analysis. The session didn’t quite live up to my expectations. I was hoping for a deep analytical conversation about databases and data collection process, but this conversation was much more high level and generalized.
John Grinder – Manager, Systems Analysis
Michael Cavaretta – Technical Leaders, Data Science
John Viera – Director, Sustainability & Vehicle Environmental Matters
Sheryl Connolly – Futurist
It was nice to see Sheryl Connolly again. I first heard her speak at ShesConnected.
It was really hard to believe that it was all clay.
Watching the modeller work with this tools to define the lines and curves of the Mustang was amazing. A true artist!
Once the clay model is ready, 3D photographs are taken and the clay model becomes digital. From the digital designs, the prototypes are created.
This one was a hollow plastic shell.
There are 10 colours that customers can choose from for the 2015 Mustang:
It truly was an amazing experience to talk with the designers to hear about the re-design process for the 2015 Mustang. They all had passion and excitement about their work and you just knew that they had the heritage and love for Ford in their hearts.
Read more on the FordConnect page — Inside the Ford Design Studio
We all had a chance to drive a new Ford vehicle. On Day One they had us fill out a little questionnaire to decide which vehicle we’d be driving. I was chosen to drive the Ford Flex. I had driven the Flex before so I knew what to expect, but seeing different sights around Detroit was very fun!
This totally set the tone for my drive!
We ran into some friends!
After a great lunch at the Dearborn Inn, we headed back to the hotel to pick up our luggage. After a bit of a wait, we went to the airport to make our way back to Toronto!
Thanks to my new Canadian blogging friends. It was only a few fun-filled days together, but I feel that I’ve made friends for life!
Thanks to Ford Canada’s Social Media Team — Mike Ellis, Craig Silva and Anson Dixon. Thanks for bringing all of these great bloggers together!
A huge thank you to Ford Canada for inviting me on this amazing trip!
Thanks to the Ford US team for making the whole FordNAIAS experience beyond my imagination! The things that I saw and learned will be with me forever!
Disclosure: Ford Motor Company paid for my transportation, accommodations and food. I was not compensated for my time. I was not asked to write blog posts or promote the show or the experience on social media. I did this on my own. All opinions expressed are my own.
Our second day at #FordNAIAS started very, very early, Monday morning. We were finished breakfast and on the bus heading to Joe Louis Arena by 6:45 am.
Why so early?
The Ford Press Conference was at 8:10 am. Due to a broken down vehicle on the highway, it was a mad dash to the arena, but we arrived just in time to see this:
All of the media people got to go down to the floor for a closer look
After the Press Conference all of the bloggers had access to Ford’s Behind the Blue Oval room and the full Auto Show!
Upon entering “Behind the Blue Oval”, there were different displays showcasing some of the research and ideas behind the Ford vehicles.
Hanging out in the Need for Speed Mustang with @AskMamaMOE
They use special lighting to see how the vehicle reacts in different lighting conditions and what the experience for the driver and passengers will be like.
On a big media screen, they were showing the social media buzz from the #FordNAIAS hashtag, check out Behind The Blue Oval!
Ford really gave the bloggers a unique experience!
We go to talk with www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HdlFm_c5TQ. I taped the discussion, and even got to ask a question myself!
During our conversation with Mark Fields, COO, he expressed how important bloggers and social media influencers are to Ford and getting Ford’s message out as well as hearing feed back from the customers.
Mark Ellis, Scott Monty, Craig Silva
After spending some time learning about the new technology and vehicles, I headed out to the Auto Show floor to see what else was going on. I was blow away at the display that Ford put on!
Ford had an amazing display of all things Mustang to celebrate the 50th Anniversary!
1965 Mustang
Custom Mustang magazine cover with YOU on it!
Ford Taurus
Fusion
Fiesta
At the end of the day, all of the bloggers were invited to the “Behind the Blue Oval” room to have dinner and get a sneak peek of the Need for Speed movie.
Craig playing the Need for Speed video game
Cute BTL appitizers
Need for Speed preview
Interview with the Need for Speed director and lead actor
After a long, full day, the Canadian bloggers sat down and reflected on all they saw.
Day 3
Disclosure: Ford Motor Company paid for my transportation, accommodations and food. I was not compensated for my time. I was not asked to write blog posts or promote the show or the experience on social media. I did this on my own. All opinions expressed are my own.
Last Sunday, 120 bloggers and social media influencers came together in Detroit, Michigan to kick off #FordNAIAS 2014. I am so very thankful to Ford Canada for inviting me on this amazing trip!!
My journey began in Toronto, when 5 excited bloggers met up at Pearson International Airport. We couldn’t wait to see what was in store for us when we landed in Detroit. Aeryn Lynne, Chris Vollick, Kim Logan, Casey Palmer and I all boarded the same flight. Kim and I had a great time chatting about life, kids and blogging. When we landed in Detroit and made our way through baggage, I enjoyed the neat features of the Detroit Airport.
(The tunnel changed colours!)
The Westin is located right at the airport so we could walk from baggage claim to the hotel is just a few minutes!
Arriving at the The Westin, we were welcomed by amazing Ford staff who gave us all the info we needed for our next few days in Detroit. We all headed up to our rooms, dropped our things off and then headed for a quick lunch.
After relaxing for a few hours, all the bloggers had dinner together. Scott Monty kicked off the night by telling us why Ford is HIP — Heritage, Innovative, People. It really set the tone for what they wanted us to learn about Ford over the next few days.
(Source: Ask Mama MOE)
Three storytellers from The Moth talked about the first car they remembered. Their stories were moving, funny, emotional and thought-provoking. One of the storytellers, Amy Brill, shared this story with us — http://themoth.org/posts/stories/future-perfect
After dinner, the bloggers all mingled and got to know each other better. The Canadian contingent really hit it off and moved upstairs to the bar. The conversation went on until midnight (and maybe longer for some).
(Source: Anson Dixon)
I tried writing this post before going to bed that night, but I was so tired from the travel and all the fun, that I just crashed. Good thing, because Day 2 was even more exciting!
Disclosure: Ford Motor Company paid for my transportation, accommodations and food. I was not compensated for my time. I was not asked to write blog posts or promote the show or the experience on social media. I did this on my own. All opinions expressed are my own.