Family road trips can provide lifelong memories that adults and children keep with them the rest of lives. However, they also have the potential to be stressful. Not only do you have to make sure the kids are comfortable and behaving themselves and that your spouse is having a good time, but you have to watch the road, the driving of the people around you, and stay awake over the course of hundreds of miles.
Forum member corradoMR2 took multi-tasking to the next level by taking pictures from the behind the wheel of his 2015 Lexus NX 200t F Sport while making the trek from Toronto to Washington D.C. to New Jersey and back. Along the way, he hit the 10,000-km mark on his odometer, enjoyed the boardwalks of Wildwood, New Jersey at sunset, and got an eyeful of the awe-inspiring exhibits in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.
Thanks for documenting your journey through photographs, corradoMR2. Glad to see you had a great time!
If the rest of you would like to see all of corradoMR2‘s pictures, be sure to…
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
Where do you go for answers when you have a Lexus with a gorgeous leather interior but are not sure about how to maintain that luxurious look? The "Club Lexus" forums, of course.
