I’ve never been the mom with the cool car. In fact, I never had a cool car even before I was a mom. I have pretty much always driven a mini-van. And, as a 6 ft 3 woman, with a 6 ft 8 husband, I have a lot of love for my roomy mini-van. But, I admit, I was pretty thrilled when Ford offered me the opportunity to test drive a new 2018 Ford Escape Titanium for a week, and I jumped at the chance.

This is one cool car.

It’s an SUV with a ton of power, but it feels light and effortless to drive. With the power of 245 horsepower, the Ford Escape also offers economy with Auto Start-Stop technology. Reducing fuel consumption and vehicle emissions during city driving, shutting down the engine when it senses the vehicle sitting idle. When you lift your foot from the brake, the engine instantly restarts and you’re on your way.

We piled our two kids into the back seat and took off for a little spring escape (although, who am I kidding – it still felt like winter). Our family loves to visit the small town of Montebello, Quebec. Only one hour away from Ottawa, it is an easy drive, and was made even easier with the Ford Escape’s enhanced technology. I especially enjoyed the adaptive cruise control, which allows you to select the speed and distance you want to maintain from the vehicle in front of you. So if traffic ahead of you slows down, your car automatically slows too. Smart right?

We also loved the audio system that comes along with the Ford Escape. 10 high quality speakers including subwoofer, and more than 120 Sirius Satellite Radio channels. My personal favourite with the Best of the 90s station (now I’m feeling old).

Our family started our day off at the Fairmont Chateau Montebello, where we had booked ourselves a table for their fabulous brunch.

Delicious maple crepes, smoked salmon, fresh baking, sausages, omelettes… and Rowan decides to start with a bowl of Froot Loops (insert eye roll here). I brought along some activity books for the kids, so that Leo and I could actually sit and enjoy our breakfast (and have time to go back to the buffet for seconds…and thirds). Kids 5 years old and under eat free at the Chateau Montebello by the way, so it is actually pretty reasonable.

After brunch, we sat down on one of the many comfy couches around the massive fireplace in the Chateau’s great room. The kids continued to colour and read their books, and we actually enjoyed a few peaceful moments! So lovely.

Next up, Parc Omega!

Parc Omega is so much fun. It’s a Canadian safari where you can feed the animals. Normally, in our van, the back windows don’t roll down and so it’s hard for Lucas and Rowan to reach the animals with carrots. But, our Ford Escape allowed all members of our family to get up close and personal with the elk, deer, wild boars and more.

This is where the parent controlled windows come in handy. If Lucas had his way, the deer would be hopping through the window and sitting down in the backseat with him. The Ford Escape also features a panoramic Vista Roof, which was perfect for taking in all of the sights of Parc Omega.

The Ford Escape also features active park assist (it will parallel park the car for you! Mind blown). Along with the parking assist, it has a system that will provide cameras and sensors which alert you when there is something close to your car. This proved especially helpful when trying to not run over any of the adorable baby wild boars running around the park (no joke, they are so adorable, but difficult to spot at times!)

As I mentioned before, conditions outside were still pretty wintery, so features like our heated seats, remote start, winter wiper de-icer, heated mirrors and heated steering wheel were pretty luxurious!

After spending the afternoon exploring Parc Omega, we headed back home to Ottawa. Both kids passed out to the blissful and relaxing 90’s tunes I just can’t let go of.

In all, it was an incredibly fun week ripping around in the 2018 Ford Escape, and driving a “cool” car. Keeping our family’s necessary leg room in mind, and looking ahead to how large our kids will probably be (right now their growth curve has them at being 7 ft 2, and 6 ft 6….I’m hoping this is slightly overestimating and I realize size wise we are far from “average”) – we will probably stick with our mini-van for now. But, I was sad to give it up.