The Explorer relaxes at the frosty Hôtel de Glace just outside Quebec City.
To shamelessly rip off a famous cliché, that’s basically how I felt on a recent, mid-February press trip to Quebec City courtesy of Ford of Canada. The one-day event (with two days of travelling) was to promote the 2011 Ford Explorer, the family-oriented people-hauler with “lifestyle” pretension aimed squarely at Albertans.
Even though I’m the editor of one of the foremost car blogs based in all of downtown Edmonton, it was still a bit of a shock to be invited to something meant for real auto journalists. Just to be clear, I am no auto journalist. This is my hobby, my pastime, my passion. That anyone listens to me at all is a minor miracle. That auto manufacturers are slowly taking notice frankly defies explanation.
So, what follows is an account of my first, but hopefully not last, press trip.