I am lucky enough to live fairly close to a very magical place. A place where the worlds best mushrooms grow. The Morel Mushroom is a highly sought after and expensive mushroom. I was on a mission to find me some.
We drove out to the secret spot in the 2013 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport to give it a test ride. The Outlander is a crossover SUV 4 wheel drive, but feels very roomy and I love the HUGE moonroof!
The roads out to our hunting ground vary from winding roads through farmlands to steep gravel hills. We never needed the 4 wheel drive and the car handled very nicely.
Once we got to hunting, I quickly realized that this was not going to be a leisurely hike. This was my first trip and I totally did NOT know what I was getting in to. You see, part of the reason Morels are so expensive is that they are very difficult to spot, even when you are literally standing right on top of them. In addition, they also need very specific conditions to grow – if it’s too wet they are soggy and mildew, if it’s too dry, they shrivel up. They need to be found at just the right time to be worth picking.
After a few hours of getting beat up by sticks and pokey bushes, we managed to gather enough to fill a medium sized (starbucks bag) bag of Morels. And by “we”, I mean my brother-in-law mostly…. he has “morel eyes” ( I think I found 5 myself…and with some help).
We packed up and headed back toward home, stopping for a bit of trout fishing, local microbrews and gourmet chocolates. When we arrived home, we smoked up the fish and saute’d the mushrooms (visit Busy Vegetarian Mom for a easy morel recipe)… It was a good day!
Overall, driving the Outlander Sport was fun. I am not all techy when it comes to cars, but I can tell you it has a 2.0 L MIVEC I-4 Engine that is designed to give you better fuel economy (26 mpg avg) “without sacrificing high speed performance”. This is a little different for me so it took some getting used to and I found the paddle shifters on the steering column especially useful when you needed to kick out of “economy” mode and get a little boost of power.
Starting at just 23,695, this Outlander makes a great day to day commuting family vehicle with the bonus of 4 wheel drive when you need it.
So – the “Morel” of the story (cheesy pun intended) … If you go Morel hunting… be prepared to find nothing. Go to have fun and get out in nature. Plan a few more activities (that you know will be successful) and take a fun car to do it all in!
Get all the details on the 2013 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport at the Official Mitsubishi Website.
Oh… and my friends over at Simply Real Moms just had the chance to preview the 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander and it looks like they have gone a few steps above and beyond the 2013… check out their review here: Simply Real Moms – 2014 Outlander Review.
Oh, man! I’m so envious. I have been looking for morels all spring and can’t find any locally.