Das Auto: Our VW Across America – Love on Four Wheels

Kenin and I share a deep love of vehicles. We both also share a love for driving. We are firm believers in buying a car to drive it to its limits,  and we did just that when we took our VW across America. Volkswagen roughly translates to “People’s car”. I am sure it could be easily amended to “People’s & Dogs’ car after our VW took us and our dogs from Florida to Alaska. We have owned several VWs in our years together, but I think this is the hardest we have ever made a car “work” for us.

GTI in the Florida Keys

This is not our first VW by any means. We have owned several VWs and Audis in the past  and each one seems to come with its own unique qualities and features. Kenin likes to assign a moniker to each of our vehicles. Every car has a personality and this way we can tell ours apart from the crowd. Once named, the car becomes part of our little Bassart family. This is Britney!

Britney

Britney is a 2011 Volkswagen GTI.  She’s got a 2.0l turbo that is good for 200hp and is fitted with a manual transmission for maximum drive pleasure. We decided to spring for the autobahn version of the vehicle which gave us heated leather seats, navigation, and premium audio (super important to us). We have yet to regret it! This car has taken on the journey of a lifetime and has kept us safe and warm the whole way.

Up for the Challenge!

We drove through mountains in extremely cold temperatures and coasted through the desert in dry heat.

Getting down and dirty

Desert Diva!

Our car handled beautifully through rain, sleet, and snow (with some nice all-weather tires).

Snow tracks!

I am not sure how many Floridian GTI’s get to make it to the Arctic Circle, but not only did Britney make it, she also had the opportunity to drive the entire Alaskan pipeline from end to end.

GTI made it to the Arcitc

Looks so small under the pipline

Our vehicle has earned her autobahn stripes

On this trip she took us over 15,000 miles and we spent countless hours cozy in her interior with our heated leather seats and pumping sound system. There was never a time that I was more proud to be a VW owner!

Mountains of South Dakota

This post was not sponsored by Volkswagen or paid for by them in any way (not that we would mind being paid for driving). We are just proud owners of a great vehicle and wanted to share way.