A Weekend Away with The Toyota Highlander

Thank you to Toyota and DriveShop for sponsoring this post. I was provided with a 2016 Toyota Highlander to test drive for review purposes. All opinions are my own. 

I haven’t talked much about it on here, but the past month has been brutal for our family. Our little one was sick, I was sick, my husband’s grandfather passed away and then my husband came down with pneumonia the same week his grandfather passed away. To say it’s been busy and chaotic is an understatement. After all of that, I was ready for a nice relaxing few days and some time to decompress from it all. What better way to decompress than a few days out of town? 

I know, the post title says a ‘weekend away’, but really it was more like a Wednesday-Friday away. We took a little trip and a nice drive through the mountains and it was beautiful! The leaves are still pretty and  it wasn’t as crowded as it normally is during peak leaf season. It was a little hazy considering all of the wildfires going on right now around us, which breaks my heart, but it was still a great ‘weekend’. And one of the best parts of the trip? The 2016 Toyota Highlander Limited that I got to drive!

Let’s talk about this fun vehicle for a minute. First, I am a car girl. I have grown up around cars, actually worked at a motorsports shop for a few years and love cars. That being said, I have driven a lot of cars, some wonderful and some I would never drive again. The 2016 Toyota Highlander Limited is one of my favorite vehicles to date! Personally, I drive an SUV daily and I love it, but after having a baby there are a few things I would change about my car. Each of those things that I have always thought “there really needs to be a solution for this”, the Highlander has an answer for. Not only does the Highlander give solutions to some of the modern momma’s inconveniences, it also makes you feel ‘cool’ while you are driving it. I know, it’s not all about looking cool. However, if you aren’t a minivan momma, the Highlander is the perfect solution for a vehicle that is not only roomy, but also functional and ‘cool’. There is just something fun about opening the sunroof on a beautiful sunny day.

A few of my favorite ‘mommy friendly’ features on the 2016 Toyota Highlander Limited are:

Built-in Navigation – let’s face it, we all get lost and struggling to find directions on your phone can be a pain.

Built-in sun shades on the back windows- I have struggled with sun shades since our son was born. They either don’t suction to the window well enough, they aren’t large enough or they are just a pain. The Highlander has built-in sun shades. You can pull them up to protect baby from the sun, or lower them if your back seat passengers want to look outside. Plus, they cover the entire window.

DVD Player- Although our son is rear facing and a DVD player isn’t something we would use a lot right now, I can see this being an amazing feature as our son gets older. Especially when I travel alone with him.

Rear Captain’s Chairs- My current SUV has a bench seat and our son’s car seat is in the middle. It is a daily struggle to get him in and out of his car seat, especially now that he is getting bigger. The Highlander has rear captain’s chairs that are perfect for loading and unloading littles, plus if someone is sitting in the third row seat, it’s so much easier for them to get in and out.

There are so many wonderful things about the 2016 Toyota Highlander Limited that I could go on forever. The features are endless, and each feature makes a busy mom’s life a little easier. It truly feels as if Toyota had busy families in mind when they were designing this vehicle!

 A Special Thanks to both Toyota and DriveShop for their assistance in arranging the opportunity for me to review the Highlander. These folks are a class act with top notch customer service!