Category Archives: Travel

Food, Friends, Photo-A-Day, Travel, Vlog

#KBBDads Test Rides of the Top 5 Cars for Dads

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Catching the Red Sox at Angel Stadium
Photo-A-Day #4124

Today we got up and headed over to Kelley Blue Book so that we could test drive 5 of their top 16 cars for families. The five that we were driving were selected as the top five cars for dads and there was a diverse bunch of cars, almost as diverse as the #KBBDads were. We partnered up after breakfast and headed out on our routes. I was partnered up with Chris Lewis from Dad of Divas. He’s a great friend and a fun ride companion. We started in the Kia Optima. That is the car closest to what I am currently driving. I enjoyed driving that car very much. We drove from the Kelley Blue Book Offices over to Dana Point Harbor. We did some time along the PCH and ended ad a nice beach area.

After the first leg we switched up cars to the Honda Civic. I drove a Honda Civic for 13 years and it was nice to ride in an updated one. Lots over very nice features in it. We drove that to a Gelson’s parking lot where we took a biological break and then switched over to the Toyota Sienna Minivan. That was nice to drive. It really ran smoothly and I enjoyed the infotainment aspect of it. I paired my phone with the car’s bluetooth and played Chris some Rock Sugar.

This third leg ended at our lunch at Javier’s Cantina and Grille in the Irvine Spectrum. Very tasty Mexican food.

With some full bellies we took on an additional passenger, Mark with Cox Auto and he rode with us during the last two legs of the trip. For the fourth leg I really wanted to drive the Tahoe but we got the Subaru Outback instead. Not my favorite car of the bunch but I did get to drive through the canyon and that was cool. We stopped at a biker bar called Cook’s and waited for everyone else to arrive. Our last car, the Tahoe had actually sped past the stop point and we had to wait for them to come back. We ended up being the last car to make it to the end point.

After a super quick trip tot he hotel we were off to Angel Stadium to see the Los Angeles Angels play the Boston Red Sox. I was fairly excited for it because it is the hometown team. Unfortunately they lost, but touring the stadium was a lot of fun. Here is my vlog as a recap of the day. Let me know it you like this new format with music and quick clips of stills and videos together.

Food, Friends, Photo-A-Day, Travel, Vlog

#KBBDads Event Day 1 Adventures

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Sunset over Newport Beach Harbor
Photo-A-Day #4123

Today was a great day in Irvine California. While I did wake up at 4am and could not go back to sleep I was okay most of the day. The information that I learned at Kelley Blue Book Headquarters was invaluable for my next trip to the dealership to negotiate for a new (either actually new or new to me).We learned all about the Kelley Blue Book approach to evaluating cars during the morning session. We broke for lunch, which were burgers from TK Burgers. They were awesome. So fresh and delicious.

After lunch there was a Facebook Live session with a couple of Kelley Blue Book Executives and Tommy Riles from Life of Dad. You cna see the video at the Life of Dad page or this link – https://www.facebook.com/lifeofdad/videos/10154245776211427/. It was fun to be a part of that Live event.

After the Facebook Live event we took a road test with one of the editorial staff in one of the five top Dad cars that were picked from the top 16 Family cars of 2016. I chose the Honda Civic to ride in and it had come a very long way since my 2002 EX.

Later on we took a bus down to Newport Beach to take rides in some Duffy Boats. The Newport Beach Harbor is incredible. So many boats and so many million dollar houses. Simply too much to take in.

When we were finished with the Duffy boat we then had a great dinner at 3-Thirty-3 Waterfront Restaurant. Dinner was way too much food and great conversation. Try not to drool on today’s vlog.