Secrets of Family Road Trip Bliss

Many of you know that Mandy is the senior editor of online parenting magazine PluggedInParents.com. For her November column, she recently interviewed fellow Fiesta agent Seth Beck on his experience road tripping with the family, and asked him about his secrets to successful, meltdown-free travel.

Click on the photo below to read the full article:

Looks Like We Got A Convoy...

Fiestas all across the nation will be hitting the road after Thanksgiving and heading to Los Angeles. It's called the Fiesta Convoy. You in?

Get in the convoy spirit with this classic ditty:

December 1st and 2nd, Fiesta Agents will be attending the L.A. Auto Show to participate in the long-awaited reveal of the 2011 Ford Fiesta. Mass hilarity is sure to ensue. There will be photos. There will be tweets. There will be video. There will be excitement of immense proportions.

On our way there, we'll be stopping by Pops Soda Ranch, as well as Cadillac Ranch. Got any other suggestions for side-of-the-road photo opps?



So if you find yourself on any interstate in the American West, you're sure to spot one of us, cruising along. Honk if you love Fiestas.

Tally ho!


View Fiesta Road Trip in a larger map

Babes Love the Ford Fiesta

Our latest video -- Enjoy!

1-year-old Ele can't stand her car. There's nothing under the hood, and it needs one of those ratty keys. So she trades it in for a new 2011 Ford Fiesta. We think she made the right choice. Don't you?

Babes Love The Ford Fiesta from joelandmandy on Vimeo.

Beaver Island Adventure Part #2

More Beaver Island photos to check out: Beaver Island Adventure Pt. 2

Check out the Mormon Print House where America's only king published his newspaper:



Beaver Island's old jail cells:



...and the home of Protar, the local legend and saint:

Beaver Island Adventure Part #1

Check out the first set of our Beaver Island photos! It is gorgeous there.

The Smokies

On our way back from Atlanta, we decided to cruise through the Smoky Mountains. As we drove through a cloud along the Appalachian Highway, the road suddenly dead ended into a fireworks playground. It was strange, but magical. Then, little did we know that once we arrived to the Smokies, there would be vomit-inducing tourist traps on either sides of the mountain expressway. On the southern side, we saw the exploitation of Cherokee culture. Maybe exploitation is the wrong word... They are, in fact, there by their own will. But the carnival-like barrage was sort of unsettling to us. The street signs were kind of cool, though.



So then we set off into the mountains, where the rain poured and the wickedly cold wind roared. There were some gorgeous views. Mandy tried to do a "no rain" dance to make the experience less frigid. It didn't work.



On the other side, relieved to be headed home, we were hit with another shock. Dollywood?! Oh, yes. We had no idea this Branson-wanna-be was in such close proximation to a national treasure like the Smokies. And Gatlinburg! We thought it was a historic town. Whoever told us that needs a swift boot to the rear. Why is it the American way to destroy everything we have right up to our National Park borders? Obviously, we drove through as quickly as we could, marveling at all the pancake houses. Do you really need hundreds of them?



The coolest thing we got to see was the Olympic Slalom trainers on the Nantahala River, outside the Smokies.




We also saw a big rig stuck in the ditch, a suped-up dune buggie, a motorcycle for giants, and a car eaten by kudzu.




All in all, it was a pretty good trip! Click here to see full-size photos: The Smokies

Road Trip!

On our way to Atlanta to visit Joel's brother, we stopped in Cincinnati to hang with a few friends and attend their CD release party. We were greeted by the Butter Jesus as we entered Cincy.


We headed over to the Redmoor to catch the show.




It rocked! Got to see Mike Mangione before Artists & Authors took the stage. Joel coined the genre as "alt hobo." It was great!
   

Then came our friends, Tye and Andrea with tight jams and vocal riffs. We had a blast. The Redmoor is a sweet venue--classy and hip with really great pizza and beer. A great start to the road trip.


You can check out their music here: myspace.com/artistsandauthors