Bad Axe Summer Nights with the Ford #Fusion

When Ford Canada asked if we wanted to spend one of our summer nights throwing sharp objects across a room, and putting the Ford Fusion Energi through the rounds of Toronto life, I had to think about it for an entire second before a simple "Yup" fell from my mouth. I will, however, admit that I had to ponder the connection between throwing axes with the fine folks at Bad Axe Throwing and the 2015 Ford Fusion Energi. It came to me later that Gamification was the key. More on that later.

First let's get to the axe throwing. Axe throwing is a hot new activity sweeping the nation like the next One Direction song (or the Backstreet Boys if you're over 25), and its brilliance lies in its simplicity. Take a sharp axe and throw it at a piece of wood. Then naturally it progresses to: "Take a sharp axe and try to hit the centre of a piece of wood. Suddenly, it's a game, a competition, a sport.

We here at Real Man Travels excel at throwing sharp objects. It is known.

That's me. Capturing a quick selfie with one of many bulls eyes our crew mustered over the hours we spent hurling objects of destruction towards unsuspecting plywood. You might be thinking: "How did you spend hours simply throwing axes and still look so happy about it?" The answer, again, is gamification. Our hostess led us threw a few quick lessons on the proper technique. Once all of our members had a handle on the sweet science we were lead through various games with different scoring methods. Each game rewarded a slightly different skill, and this kept the evening enjoyable for the members of the group that found the bulls eye on a much less frequent basis than our Real Girl Travels team member Alison (she beat me, I will own that).

Our friend Dante was a natural. He seems destined for a career in the pros.

When our time was up we ventured back downstairs to our Ford Fusion. As a car guy at heart I always look for what makes a car stand out from the crowd. It sat parked in a long line of cars hugging the curb that night in the Junction of Toronto, yet the sporty lines stood out amongst the sea of bland mid sized sedans. A quick press of the remote start button brought the first stand out moment.....there was silence. No "vroom" noise, just the lighting system awakening as we walked towards it.

The stylish space aged cockpit.

After adjusting the controls and finding The Highway on Sirius/XM, I was ready to see how the Energi system adapted to my driving style. A brief pause for the technical jargon: The Fusion Energi offers the best of both worlds, providing the capability to be driven as an electric vehicle for short trips and as a hybrid for longer trips, boasts Ford. I found it did one better; it made me a better driver. It was only a few short blocks before I found myself watching the SmartGauge measure my driving efficiency. Within minutes I was growing new leaves (a smart way of showing the driver how well they are doing) and finding the right times to let off the gas to maximize my regenerative braking power (the car captures energy every time you coast, and stores it in the on-board battery pack). My competitive nature had taken over... I needed to own the high score!

A few sweet benefits to the green vehicle: Free reign of the HOV lanes and being able to plug in to any household outlet to charge using the supplied charging cord.

Thanks to gamification this Ford taught me how to win at the gas pumps, and how to survive the pending zombie apocalypse with my newly discovered axe throwing skills. Women still like guys with skills right?