Mother Proof's view

The temperatures are starting to drop and I find myself yearning for mulled apple cider and pumpkin muffins. It must be fall; time for my family’s annual drive through the Rocky Mountain National Park for some scenic aspen viewing and, of course, road testing the 2006 Ford Explorer Limited.

I have visions of the four of us jaunting through golden aspen groves seeking the perfect picnic spot for, well, mulled cider and pumpkin muffins. But reality is often not what I dream it up to be. Our little trip turns into a full and long day confined in a car with children who’ve missed their naps (and we all know how much fun that can be).

The good news is that the 2006 Ford Explorer is a workhorse both on high mountain roads and in keeping families sane. My test car arrives with some much appreciated extras: A navigation system (just to prove that my directional instincts are right) for $2,505; a DVD system (helpful after the eighth hour on the road when we’ve all had enough of “I Spy”) for $1,295; powerfold third row seats for $1,340; and a steering wheel with both audio and climate controls (allowing me to change the fan speed and/or temperature without taking my hands off the wheel while white-knuckling it over mountain passes) for no charge.

Another family friendly feature are the dry cleaning hooks that are actually large enough to hold hangers -and more. It seems like every vehicle out there has standard dry cleaning hooks that must come from the one and only dry cleaning hook plant. The only problem is that the opening is so darn tight they’re nearly impossible to hang things on. Ford has ventured away from dry cleaning hook hell and made there own ones worthy for family use.

There are many new safety features on the Explorer that are too technical even for me to fully grasp, but they include such curiosities as an airbag ventilation system, a shape tailoring airbag tether, an adaptive ‘curl strap’ in the driving column, side impact force managers, sail panels, algorithms, gyroscopic sensors and @#$%%^$%. Sorry, I had to reboot my brain.

In spite of all the practical and technical innovations, Ford has missed a few things that just seem like common sense: With magnificent powerfold seats that allow me to fold or unfold the rear seats with a simple button touch, I wonder why they don’t take this a step further and make the tailgate power operated as well.

Ford boasts improvement in noise level over the ’06 Explorer, although it still seems awfully loud to me. Highway noise is filtered out fairly well, but the trucky-sounding engine is obtrusive at times.

Ford has redesigned the driver and passenger door arm rests and door handles. The arm rests have been created to help increase side-impact protection. The door handles (sleekly mounted on the front of the arm rest) look cool, but are simply too different to get used to. After two weeks in the vehicle I still have to stop and think about how to open the door to get out.

At the end of the day, I reflect fondly upon this year’s family trip in the Explorer. It powers through aspen groves, above timber line, up and over the continental divide, through herds of tourists in off-beat mountain towns, and even survives several terrible 3 meltdowns (whoever said it’s the terrible 2s was flat-out lying!).

*For more information on the Ford Explorer and its safety features visit Cars.com. For questions or comments regarding this review write to MotherProof@msn.com.

LET’S TALK NUMBERS

LATCH Connectors: 2

Seating Capacity (includes driver): 5-7

IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS THAT COUNT

Storage Compartments (Puny, Fair, Ample, Galore): Ample

Cargo/Trunk Space (Puny, Fair, Ample, Galore): Galore

SENSE AND STYLE

Family Friendly (Not Really, Fair, Great, Excellent): Great

Fun-Factor (None, Some, Good Times, Groove-On): Some-Good Times