K Days in FLA: Road Trip Through Florida with Ford
- Ni'Kesia Pannell
- Aug 11, 2017
- 4 min read
Need a break from your city? Here's the car I used to escape.
As of late, I've been on the go so much. To be honest, it literally feels as if I'm only in Atlanta long enough to sleep, re-pack my bags, and maybe find some time to attend one event before heading back out on the road. Now of course, I'm not complaining (just a few years ago, I was praying for this), but sometimes it can be a little draining. So, whenever I'm asked to make any on-air appearance in Florida, I feel a huge relief because I know I can always make a stop to my hometown of Orlando and get spoiled a little bit (thanks, mom!).
Since the drive to Orlando is about six hours and flights are usually less than two hours, the latter is usually what I opt to do. This time, however, I knew I left a few things that couldn't make it into my suitcase during my last stay and I had two on-air appearances in different cities. So naturally, driving seemed like the best option to prevent overspending. After hearing of my plans to road trip down, my friends over at Ford called me up and offered to let the 2017 Ford Escape be used as my chariot. Of course, I obliged. So, Tuesday morning, I loaded up the SUV, popped open an UPTIME energy drink and hit the road for my #EscapeToFlorida.
If you've been keeping up with my newsletters or following me on social media, then you know that I appeared on both The Chat as a guest host and on WESH 2 News for a back to school roundup. The Chat, which is located in Jacksonville, was my first stop. Although my call time wasn't until 2:30 p.m. and the drive was only five hours, I wanted to be as early as possible because (believe it or not), I was super nervous. After a full morning of driving and a stop at a hotel to fix my hair and makeup, I finally made it to Jacksonville and killed the show! Sitting alongside three lovely ladies and talking weed smoking moms, the upcoming eclipse, and Princess Diana, the hour-long show that I was originally a nervous wreck about quickly turned into what felt a hangout session with some of my closest homegirls.
Instead of jumping on the road to rush down to Orlando afterwards, I decided to stick around in Jacksonville for a bit and take in the scenery before connecting with a friend I haven't seen in over a decade. Surely, you have to know that we took the Ford Escape for spin before heading to dinner to catch up. Four long hours later of catching up, crying, laughing, and smiling, I sulked my way back to the car and headed on down to Orlando to prep for my next appearance.
(Catalina Alers, Co-host of The Chat, left) (Henny Stewart, Co-host of The Chat, left)
Since I had a few days to relax before my stop by WESH, I decided to hang out a bit with friends and family. From trips to Target with one of my best friends to Slurpee runs with my niece and mom, everyone got a chance to take a ride in the whip and see what it had to offer.
When it was time to head to my last appearance at WESH, I felt so comfortable lugging all of those big product pieces around because this time I actually had a car big enough to provide me with the space I needed to do so. I literally had boxes and bags thrown all around that car, but the space was something that I appreciated so much. Another cool thing about the car was the ability to let up its trunk with just a swipe of your foot underneath the back. Trust me , it definitely came in handy when packing and unpacking my bags for this particular segment.
(Jazmin Bailey, WESH 2 News anchor, right)
For the final two days of my #EscapeToFlorida, I spent time hanging with my family at Wekiwa Springs and school shopping for my niece. Everyone had a blast and really took advantage of the Apple CarPlay — which came in super handy to hear my text messages while driving — and the outlets in the car to charge up computers, tablets, and cellphones.
Though this trip was originally for work, I had such a fun time. For once, I didn't have to stress over rushing my trip or rushing myself to the airport. Having that flexibility and comfort was such a blessing. The best part about it was me being able to stop through Gainesville to visit my Granny and one of my favorite burger places from my childhood!
To be quite honest, I don't know why I never considered taking an SUV down there before and surprisingly, the gas wasn't as expensive as I assumed it would be. I literally spent about $40 going each way to fill up! Now that I know how beneficial solo travel in an SUV is, I'm pretty sure that my next trip down won't be the same without one.
Check out a few pics of the 2017 Ford Escape below and tweet me letting me know where you plan to #EscapeTo next! For more information on any of the cars that Ford offers, visit www.ford.com.
Until next time!
With Creative (and Traveling) Thoughts,
-Kp
*Although this post was sponsored, all opinions are solely my own.
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