Bicycle built for two.

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well this evening.

I'm writing to you poolside, utilizing the fine free wireless internet access from our hotel.

It's my first vacation away this year. We decided to meet K's friend (who is visitng from Japan) in Mackinaw. (Mackinaw or Mackinac, does it really matter?) Anyway, so yesterday we made the semi long drive up north. I think we probably drove about 5 hours or so.

This time, instead of taking my car (or K's), we got a rental car from our friends at Hertz. I signed up for a Ford Forkus, but instead we got one of the new Fusions. Apparently, at the location I was picking up, they didn't have Forki, so I ended up getting a Fusion (a free upgrade, the woman at the desk told me).

At first, I wasn't too happy about the upgrade. I was thinking, bugger car, crappier gas mileage, etc. But it turned out to be the nicest rental car I've ever driven. It's pretty loaded - Sunroof, leather, steering wheel radio and climate controls, trip computer, auto temperature control, heated seats (not helpful in the summertime, but still), the whole nine yards.

So then I didn't mind not getting the Forkus too much :)

As a sidebar, here's my review on the Ford Fusion:
It drives pretty nice. The ride is quite comfortable and feels pretty solid at speed. The interior is well appointed, complete with a swanky analog clock that reminds me of the Infinitis that they ripped the idea off of. The stereo has really good sound. I liked being able to control the radio and environment controls from the steering wheel. The trip computer was quite nice. I liked being able to see my average speed, miles to empty, and average fuel economy. Oh yeah, I also like the ricey style taillights too.

And now the things I don't like (heh)
The car's a tad underpowered. It feels like it's struggling on an on ramp, and it lets you know it because it's quite noisy). The steering wheel controls are nice, but it's just a cluster of buttons along the inner spokes of the steering wheel. The button face variations are very subtle - I found myself looking down to read the button every time I needed to control something.

I think that's pretty much it. The car was really comfortable to drive and ride in (I didn't hear any complaints).

Did I like it enough for me to buy one? Probably not.

But it did make me want to get a nice luxury car :)

Oh yeah, so here's the worst part - The driver's side door didn't lock with the remote. You can lock it manually, but if you try enough times, you can get the door to open anyway.

Lovely.

So where was I?

Oh right. So we drove up to the bridge, and crossed it. Got to St. Ignace around 5 ish. We did some touring around town, just checking out the sites to see and whatnot. It's a pretty nice (but rather small) town.

We stayed at the Super 8 - St. Ignace.

(to be continued)