Our Week in the 2013 Chevrolet Suburban

I recently spent an entire week driving all over everywhere in the most fantabulous (it is too a word) ride I've ever had the pleasure to drive: the 2013 Suburban LTZ. Very sweet.

I'll get to all the big and little reasons why I loved it so, but first I want to share photos of our foodie travels!




A free slideshow by Smilebox



Fun stuff, yes? Now, on to the stuff I love about this vehicle.

1. Firstly - it's a Suburban. I love Suburbans. My dad always had one and until just recently I had one of my own; a 1990 Suburban 1500. It was 18 feet of pure beauty. Sadly, she finally met her maker and she went to the graveyard just before this Suburban came. 
2. It's big. With 7 kids and a plethora of "stuff" to haul around from day-to-day I really appreciate the space. I do have a mini-van, but there's not enough leg room, head space or storage. The Suburban is comfortably large. I didn't hear any complaints of, "He's touching me!" or "She won't scoot over!" for the entire week we drove this.
3. This particular model was fully loaded. The radio isn't just a radio, it's a Bose centerpoint surround sound with SiriusXM and 4 sets of wireless headphones to go with the double DVD screens in the back. Do you have ANY idea how awesome it is to have complete silence on a trip with 5 usually-loud kids? They turned on a movie and were silent until we hit our destination. Very sweet. 
4. There's a radio! I know I just said that above, but our current van is radio-less and it's so hard for any of us to take trips even 10 minutes away without a radio. We turned it on the moment we were in and had it going until we stopped. The sound was beautiful and for those times when the kids wanted to hear something I didn't want to listen to, I was able to divert sound to the rear of the truck and spare my ears.
5. Seats with sensors. I know this isn't new, but it's new to me. If there was nobody sitting in the passenger seat, the passenger airbag was automatically OFF. The moment someone sat there, the airbag turned ON. When the kids in the back didn't buckle in as instructed, a little light came on letting me know so. No more kids trying to trick mom.
6. Independent air controls for driver, front passenger and rear passengers. Finally, everyone can be comfortable at the same time. Even the seats are heated and cooled. As a kid I remember grandma and grandpa going back and forth from heat to A/C. Wouldn't it be awesome if they each had their own controls? They would have loved this!
7. Rear vision camera. OK, so this is fun - and very useful when you have kids running all over or lots of traffic or very busy parking lots. It's good to be able to really see what's going on behind you before you back up. If you get too close to anything, it alerts you as well!
8. It's fast. I know I shouldn't be sharing this, but that thing is like a B-52 bomber ... it feels low and slow and before you know it, it gets away from you. Nobody should be speeding, but the point is, the ride is very smooth. One of my favorite things about my old Suburban was the engine power. With a a Vortec 5.3 SFI V8 320 Horsepower engine, this thing has power to spare.
9. It's not the gas guzzler you'd expect. I got roughly the same gas mileage from this as I do from my mini-van. We put 375 miles on this in the first day and a half and I still had gas in the tank. With a 31 gallon Flexible-Fuel gas tank, it rivals most other larger vehicles and some smaller. 17 MPG average is not so bad.
10. I've never owned or driven a brand new vehicle. Yep. Never. This was just so much fun for me and the kids, I can even begin to tell you. They miss it, I miss it. I'm glad we took a lot of photos! Also, as you can see in the photos, this came directly from the source in Michigan. I was born there and my daddy died there and we were both Suburban lovers as I said - so that was just a special little "extra" for me.

There are all sorts of technical goodies here too, but as a mom I wanted to share my own feelings about what works for a large family. I think another row of seats or a bench seat in the center rather than the two buckets would have fit my own needs better, but that's one small thing in the grand scheme.

The bottom line is, I loved this truck and if I could have my own, I'd do it in a heartbeat and not think twice! If you're looking for luxury meets family, this is the vehicle for you.

Visit the places we went to:

Burkholder Farm Market

Esh Discount Grocery

Jersey Hollow Farm LLC
Norman & Edith Sauder
276 Quarry Rd., 19530
phone: 610-683-3561
Hours: 7-9 pm weekdays; 9-5 Sat

Lancaster County

Ever Fresh Produce
Division Highway and Tobacco Road
Earl, Pa

Zook's Roadside Stand

Hayloft Candles, Ice Cream and Petting Zoo

St. Peter's Village

Shut the Door Restaurant

Farm Stand at Kreidersville Covered Bridge


*Special thanks to General Motors for supplying the Suburban, Tom Cristino of Hello Tierney for setting it all up, and Events Solutions International for drop-off and pick-up of the truck!