A Family Escape

As a writer, I sometimes go on assignments that require either domestic or international travel. This year alone I’ve gone abroad to Malaysia, Australia, Luxembourg, France, Korea and Japan, and have been to the northern, central and southern parts of the Philippines. I had traveled by plane, ferry, SUV, AUV, pickup, car and even by motorcycle, all in pursuit of a good motoring story.

Through it all, my wife Shawie has been understanding and has steadfastly supported my travels, packing my suitcase and sending me off because she knows it’s a part of my job. When I call home at night while I’m on a far-flung assignment, it breaks my heart to hear my three-year-old daughter Vette cry on the phone because she "misses her daddy". However, I enjoy the moments when I get home and hug my family, give them their "pasalubong" and show them the pictures I took of my trip.

Thus, when I had the chance to go on a road trip to test the Thule roof-box storage system, I decided to take my family with me. It would give me a chance to make up for my absences as much as I could show them the sights and have them experience the scenery and the local atmosphere. It would also be an ideal wedding anniversary gift for my wife, taking her to places she saw in my pictures. For our family road trip, we decided to head north to historic Ilocos.

Preparing For The Trip

I had the Thule Polar model roof-box mounted on the Ford Escape XLT I borrowed from Ford Group Philippines. It took the guys at EGR Thule in Greenhills barely ten minutes to measure, arrange and mount the carrier on the Escape’s roof. It helped that the Ford mini-SUV had a built-in roof rail and that the Thule roof boxes and racks are designed for easy (but secure) mounting and removal, but the guys at the Thule shop were really pros at installing the carrier.

The lockable roof-box storage system increased the available space for our vacation escape stuff, swallowing three duffle bags (one for the wife, one for the little girl and one for me) plus my golf bag (just in case). It also carried my daughter’s sand toys, inflatable beach balls, floating toys and the inflator, leaving us with the vehicle’s interior for foodstuff (snacks for the road) and a place for my daughter’s potty so we wouldn’t have to stop at the nearest restroom when she needs to make "wee-wee".

On The Road

We planned to leave at 4 A.M. but actually left our house in Quezon City at about five Wednesday morning because of last minute checks and re-checks. We filled up the Escape’s tank before we entered the North Luzon Toll Way and queued up to the Balintawak toll booth expecting light traffic. Unfortunately, the repairs being undertaken at the toll way slowed the traffic, composed mostly of huge cargo trucks, down to a crawl between Malinta and Sta. Rita exits. Traffic flowed better afterwards but other road repairs between San Fernando and Dau in Pampanga slowed it down again. It took us an hour before we finally got to the exit in Mabalacat, which took us to the new highway constructed on top of the old MacArthur highway that was buried in lahar from the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991.

We breezed through the towns of Bamban and Capas in Tarlac, and stopped at Hacienda Luisita at about 7 A.M. to view the Aquino Museum. Unfortunately, we were too early because the museum opens at 10. We drove on and passed through Gerona, Paniqui and Moncada and got to Sto. Tomas, Pangasinan a little before 8:00. It took us another hour to reach Rosario where the junction to Baguio is located and by 9:30, we stopped at the Agoo welcome arc to take pictures and to stretch our legs.

We drove through La Union admiring the sea side views in Caba, Bauang and San Juan and cursed the traffic in bustling San Fernando. We cruised through Bacnotan and Balaoan and reached the border town of Sudipen by 11:00. The town of Tagudin told us that we were in Ilocos Sur and we motored through Santa Cruz and Santa Lucia, Candon, Santiago, San Esteban, Santa Maria and Narvacan. The town after Narvacan was called Santa and nothing more because I think they ran out of saints’ names. By 1:00 P.M., we reached the city of Vigan and decided to have lunch there.

Historic Ilocos

After lunch, I toured my wife and daughter around this heritage city on a horse-drawn buggy, the caleza. We visited the old watch tower/belfry, Villa Angela (an antique hotel where Tom Cruise reportedly slept), the Crisologo museum and the pottery factory. We stopped at the Heritage Village (Calle Crisologo) to shop for curios and souvenirs as well as for photographs. The cuchero (buggy driver) wanted to take us to the Burgos museum and other places, but we begged off because we still had a long drive north to our hotel. We got off at the town square in front of Saint Paulís Metropolitan Cathedral, otherwise known as the Vigan Cathedral, and drove to a nearby gas station.

After filling the Escape’s tank with 50 liters of unleaded, we left Vigan at 4:30 P.M., drove on through more towns with saints’ names and got to the Ilocos Sur-Ilocos Norte boundary between Sinait and Badoc towns. We passed through Batac and San Nicolas and got to Laoag by dusk and checked-in at the Fort Ilocandia. After more than ten hours on the road (and two hours touring Vigan), fatigue got to us and we went to bed right after dinner.

The next day (Thursday) proved to be a bit gloomy, with rain clouds hovering over the Ilocos region. The rains fell at about 10A.M. while we were wading in the swimming pool, so we decided to dress up and drive to Batac and Paoay to tour historic places. We queued to view the waxen remains of former President Ferdinand Marcos and hoped that the Marcos museum could be restored and opened to the public; after all he’s part of our history. We drove to see the immense grounds of the Mariano Marcos State University, the refurbished Paoay Church, the vast Sand Dunes (now covered with foliage due to the rains) and the excesses of Malacañang Ti Amianan (Malacañang of the North). We also did some shopping while we toured and bought some tinubong (rice cakes in a bamboo stalk), chichacorn and some souvenirs. We drove back to Fort Ilocandia to catch the sunset on the beach after we had fun getting drenched by the strong surf. We retired early because my daughter wanted to swim early the next morning.

Homeward Bound

Friday morning found us on the beach building a sand castle. After wading by the shore since the waves were so high and the current was so strong, we moved to the safety of the swimming pool. My daughter had so much fun and did not want to leave the pool. But before noon, we had to go back to our room to prepare for our trip home. We checked out by 12:30 and got back on the road by 1:00 P.M.

We stopped for lunch and fuel at Vigan, stopped for pictures in Santa, stopped for dinner and some tupig (camote cake strips grilled in banana leaves) in Urdaneta, Pangasinan and stopped to buy a capiz Christmas lantern in Tarlac. We finally got to the North Luzon Toll Way by 10 P.M., crawled through traffic and got to our house in Project 8 before midnight. After putting our daughter to bed, my wife and I unloaded our stuff and the souvenirs we bought during the trip. I glanced at the Ford Escape and looked at my notes.

Throughout the trip, the Escape performed flawlessly while giving us power to overtake slower traffic, comfort that kept us fresh through almost 600 kilometers and amenities that spelled convenience for long trips. My daughter particularly liked the foldable mini-tables mounted on the front seat back where she drew on a scratch book with some crayons, and kept her pretty much occupied during the trip.

I also realized how useful the Thule roof-box storage system has been. Through dust and heat, through rain and mud and through hundreds of kilometers, the Thule had kept our essentials dry, locked and safe, besides giving us extra room for other stuff in the mini-SUV’s interior. It was then I resolved that I will never travel without this roof storage system whenever I’d go on another family escape. Or the next All-Saint’s Day, or the next summer outing at the beach, or the next Lenten retreat, or...