This summer Toyota gave my family the opportunity to test drive the new Toyota RAV 4 and visit the Orange County Fair, for which Toyota was a sponsor.
Thanks to Toyota for sending us to the fair, and allowing us to drive the Toyota Rav 4 for one week. All opinions are my own.
The timing could not have been better. My kids were home from camp and I was home from work travels. A friend was visiting with her kids. Toyota’s hashtag was #LetsGoPlaces and that’s exactly what we had on our agenda. I packed up my gang, and my friend came along for the ride too. Here’s some of the adventures we had in our Toyota RAV 4 Adventure Series and my personal notes about driving this super comfy and active family-friendly vehicle.
Off to the OC Fair in the 2018 Toyota RAV 4 Adventure Series:
It was super hot when we headed out to the OC Fair and I wasn’t entirely sure I remembered the way. The AC kicked in immediately, cooling off both the front and back seats. My mom called to warn me that the 405 was a mess. Multiple fender benders and major delays, No problem. The onboard nav system routed us around the traffic and we arrived at the fair in record time. After a few hours of exploring, my kids could not wait to climb back into the Toyota RAV 4 to cool off and drive home.
Off to Explore Tide Pools in the 2018 Toyota RAV 4 Adventure Series:
We always carry a lot of gear when we head to the beach. This outing was no exception. The towels were piled high in the back when we set off to explore the tide pools in Laguna Beach in our loaned vehicle. I was grateful for the rubber liner in the far back, as I tossed water bottles, a picnic basket and multiple bottles of sunscreen back there as well. We use baby powder to get the sand off ourselves before we head home, but there’s always a little that clings to towels and kids. The liner makes cleaning up that sand and any other spills really quick and easy.
Off to Disneyland in the 2018 Toyota RAV 4 Adventure Series:
Driving to Disneyland in this car was nice for all of us because it’s so comfortable, even when you go a little further. The kids were able to keep their devices charged and we had fun exploring all the XM radio channels as we made the 40 minute drive. Once we parked in the Mickey and friends lot, I was confident we’d be able to locate the car again easily. I noted the section and took a mental photo of the shiny red car.
At the end of the day we were exhausted and oh so happy to sit down. The Toyota RAV 4 felt like the lap of luxury to us. What was most comforting to me were all the safety features. I’m not usually a fan of night drives, and driving home late at night, after a long exhausting day can be stressful. The Toyota RAV 4’s lane line monitoring, lane change assistance features, and general good visibility and handling, made this drive so much less stressful than it would have been in my own car. It really made me realize that it might be time to look into leasing or buying a new car. For the first time in ages, I actually found myself enjoying driving in So Cal!
Out to Lunch and Exploring the Mission at San Juan Capistrano in the 2018 Toyota RAV 4 Adventure Series:
It wasn’t all themeparks and beach days for our day with the RAV 4. We also spent a day exploring the Mission and taking our crew out to lunch in Historic San Juan Capistrano.
Parking can be tight in San Juan Capistrano, and oftentimes the best parking can be found on the street. If you are not a whiz at parallel parking, this can be stressful!
I consider myself pretty skilled at parallel parking but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t make my heart race when I know I have to quickly back in to a spot on a tightly packed street. This time I decided to let the car do the heavy lifting. I relied on the backup camera and lines and assistance from the RAV 4 and dare I say… it was even better at getting us quickly parked, than I would have been on my own.
Back to School in the 2018 Toyota RAV 4 Adventure Series:
My oldest son went back to school on one of our last days with the RAV 4. At 6″3″ it’s hard to believe he’s still my little boy! He started high school this year and carpooling with kids who are older, is a whole different thing from carpooling with the littles. My teenager thought the RAV 4 was pretty cool, and started musing about when he would have a car. Spoiler alert, he really liked the RAV 4.
I was still thinking in Mom mode. What I liked about this car for carpooling was that three kids were comfortable in the back seat and even at 6 ft plus, my older son could sit comfortably in the back.
The Toyota RAV 4 Adventure series definitely got our family’s stamp of approval. I can see this car working for families with both young and teen-aged kids.
It sure looked great parked in front of our house!
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