Day Four

Decided to test her on the highway. Went to visit my sisters in C.S., to drop off Christmas presents. It was very nice to have the DVD and entertainment systems - MiniMe and LittleBit both enjoyed watching Ice Age 2 while in their car seats. LittleBit tired of the wireless headphones (they are a bit heavy for a 2yo), and needed "baby" - which was in the cargo area (silly Mommy - I KNEW she'd need baby on the drive). SO I pulled over on the highway, opened the hatch, got Baby and Blankie, and got back on the road. Thankfully, it was broad daylight, so the semis and I could see each other clearly.

Had a great time visiting with my sisters. One of them drives a Honda Odyssey, so I had her take the Grand Caravan for a spin, to get her feedback. Like me, she noticed right away how tight the turns are, and how great she handles. Much different from the wide turns in the Honda. And of course, she loved the "extras" (heated seats, VES, swivel seats, stowing third row - yada, yada.....). She didn't like the "Boxy, SUV-like design", and mentioned the fact that Hondas last forever. But there was also the "oomph" of the engine - the Grand Caravan climbs hills with GLEE, not just ease. The Odyssey is not so powerful. She mentioned again that Hondas run forever.

It was also great to be able to take overnight bags, a crib mattress (for LittleBit to sleep on), all the Christmas packages (including a sled!), etc. and still have plenty of passenger room.

Someone on another blog mentioned the manual shifting. The Dodge Grand Caravan is automatic, yet offers optional manual shifting, in case you are in a position to need to down-shift. I never needed to down shift, even on an icy hill, leaving my other sister's house. So the only reason I mention this, is because the other blogger mentioned that it wasn't properly labeled, so she didn't know what gear she was shifting into, etc. The blogger was mistaken. There is actually a -/+ sign. - to down shift, + to up shift. And on the dash, where you see the gear you are in (park, reverse, neutral, Drive), "D" changes to a number, to tell you which gear you are in. I did play with it, just in case, and it was very clear, and easy to use.

One thing that REALLY stinks - there is no way to change the entertainment systems from the driver's seat. It comes with a remote control, which is WONDERFUL, but with children who don't yet read, I can't just pass the remote control back and let them figure out how to set up their system. So I had to climb into the back to set it up myself. On a long trip, that could be a problem. It would be nice if there was a way to toggle between VES systems from the front system - so if MiniMe got tired of the "in flight movie", and wanted Nickelodeon, I could tap my screen and switch her. Or if LittleBit couldn't handle the movie, and wanted SigningTime instead, I could switch her over, Nope, gotta use the remote control. Sounds great, except you cannot see the rear screen from the front seat, so you can hardly make a logical change. MiniMe did not appreciate the blue screen of words and boxes I left her with.