Last week we took a trip to San Antonio. It wasn't in our plans, to be honest, but since our trip to Austin had to be put on hold, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to take to the road in the 2019 GMC Yukon XL Denali. About 90% of our road trips have been to San Antonio, and believe it or not, there are always new things we've found to do. I've wanted to go see the San Antonio Botanical Gardens for about 2 years now, and we decided that we were going to make it our goal to make it happen on this trip. The space and comfort in the Yukon is almost overwhelming! There is more space than most of us could use on the daily, plenty of power, and feels light in contrast to its size and weight. I was excited to drive it on the trip. We could take as much as we wanted, and in fact, we did. We actually overpacked with plenty of room leftover.
But even before we left to the Alamo City, my brother wanted to camp on the beach and since Austin was no longer on the plans we packed up that same day and headed down a short drive to the beach. We love camping, and doing that on the beach is one of our favorite things to do. This was Isabella's first time camping out and it took her a little to get used to the new noises and unfamiliar tent environment. Everyone slept soundly throughout the night. Except me. I stayed up since I wasn't sure how close the high tide was going to come up. You can see what happened to us on the last beach trip.
Car seat installation was easy, the third row comes down at a push of a button and made loading so easy. Mila loved the retractable running boards which made it easy for her to get on board. We arrived at the botanical gardens in no time and with a respectable 15.2 MPG average. I couldn't wait to see what awaited us. From a distance, you could see the towering housing structures, which look pretty cool. We walked through the different environment settings and admired the many different plants we hadn't seen before. There is a tropical, desert, and a palm tree enclosure and they are all awesome. It was a little warm for the babies and we also brought along Ashley's great-grandpa, so we had to take it easy and make sure we didn't keep anyone too long in the heat. On our way out, we walked by an atrium with a waterfall and we stopped here for a little so we could cool off.
I had to stop and look at the many citrus trees and even saw some banana trees that were going to give fruit soon along with an avocado. The grounds are very nice and saw that they are currently working on expanding. I can't believe it took two years to finally get to experience this awesome place. There are many things here that I would like to go back to and see but we will have to save that for our next visit. It was high noon by the time we headed back to the Yukon and I am so glad that it was remote start and cooled seats. This is a must, especially here in Texas. The temperature was at 102 degrees and we were all feeling the heat so we took a break from the sun and head out for lunch.
After our lunch, we made way towards downtown to hemisfair park to see the Tower of the Americas and spend some time at the nearby park. We didn't go up to the observatory deck this time and simply enjoyed the grounds around and let the kids play. This is a special city to us and we love that there are things that we have yet to explore and experience. Who knew that this little oasis was near downtown San Antonio. I only found it while scrolling through photos of the city and came across a picture of the structures against a clear blue sky. It got my attention and I couldn't believe that this was in the city. It looked modern and in a way reminded me of the cool Gardens by the bay in Singapore. I'm really glad we were able to make this trip happen.
With 420 horsepower on tap and 460 ft. lb of torque, we were able to drive around town effortlessly and in style. How light this vehicle actually feels is surprising and makes for a much more enjoyable driving experience. The 6.2L engine is the same one found on the Sierra Denali we drive to Palo Duro Canyon earlier this year! The cargo space is an impressive 121.7 Cu. feet with the third and second row down. I thought the Chevy Traverse was a lot, but the Yukon XL has lots more space! We love both vehicle but when it comes to being able to tow, haul people in comfort, and move effortlessly, the Yukon XL Denali is the way to go. I tried the space in the third row and I sat in there pretty comfortable with decent leg room. We all loved the big GMC and were seriously spoiled with heated and cooled seats, powered third row seats, and as mentioned twice already, the power and space, it's a winner for us. This is what we would prefer to take on long road trips. Wouldn't mind trading some MPG's for more comfort and cargo room.
Can't thank GMC enough for allowing us to take the Yukon XL Denali on this memorable trip and we hope to inspire you in taking a little adventure!
