2002 Lexus ES 300 - An Excellent Excuse for a Road Trip
Like most people I know, I try to visit my Dad as often as time permits. Still, I get busier and busier as the years get on. Now, with kids of my own, an apartment to maintain, a nearly-forty-year-old spare tire around my midsection that needs a daily visit to the gym, not to mention the reams of note paper lining my desk drawers detailing vehicles that I've tested, a constant reminder of the plethora of articles that yet need to be written, I just don't get up to see him as often as I'd like. It kind of reminds me of that Harry Chapin song, 'The Cat's in the Cradle'... "When you comin' home son I don't know when, but we'll have a good time then Dad, you know we'll have a good time then". The only difference from the song is that my Dad always had time for me.
The arrival of an all-new midsize Lexus is all the motivation I need to take a road trip. The ES 300 shows off an avant-garde look for Lexus, a company that has been known for taking evolutionary, rather than revolutionary, steps with each major design interval. Still, radical as it may be, the new cars styling is wonderfully executed. A horizontally ribbed grille hints at that of the 1937 Cord 812, while massive HID headlamps grace long, elegant fenders. Its entire profile is long, low and sleek, finished off with proportionally large organic tail lamps.
It's hard to recall, but I believe packing for trips was easier before the kids. Now, a play/sleep pen occupies the majority of space, along with a portable highchair, box of toys, stuffed animals and bags of tiny clothes. Fortunately, the ES 300's 519-liter trunk is quite spacious, eating up all but the most important road trip items - pillows, blankets and road food.