For more than five years I've been one of those annoying people in San Francisco, driving a Toyota Prius and feeling smugly eco-superior. There have been many times when my husband and I have gloated over how little we spend on gas and how light it makes our carbon footprint.

So, I briefly mentioned the test drive of the new Ford Taurus 2010. I know this whole story is going backwards, and you will actually hear the beginning of it tomorrow, but the middle part of the story is the Mile High Mama's and Ford show the Ford Taurus 2010 around Denver co-event. We were about an hour and a half late, and by the time we got there I pretty much didn't want to sit in a car at all. But, really, who doesn't want to drive a pretty new car? Not only that but a pretty new car that looks NOTHING like a soccer mommy mobile? So, test drive I did.

Had a nice party invitation yesterday via Facebook: a reception introducing the new 2010 model year Ford Taurus redesign, with Ford Exec Director of American Products Frank Davis in attendance. Now, I'm not a big car nut (like a few friends of mine) but I am still interested in cars and concerned about the long-term health of the American car industry as a bellwether for the national economy, so I RSVP'd yes and showed up promptly at 6pm for the event.

Last night, I attended an event hosted by Ford Taurus at Katie Mullen's pub on the 16th Street Mall to promote their 2010 Taurus model. It was a dark and stormy night, but they still gave me the keys to a brand-new car to drive around the one-way maze of streets downtown. The 2010 Taurus features a redesigned interior and improved gas mileage with Ford's EcoBoost engine. Frank Davis, executive director of product programs for Ford, said the EcoBoost allows V8 performance with the fuel efficiency of a V6 engine.

As part of a 100-city social media blitz to promote its 2010 Taurus, Ford descended upon Denver last night to host a tweetup where attendees could inspect the new car and test-drive it on our rain-slicked streets. I was among the local bloggers they invited to Katie Mullen's downtown and observed the following:

Calling all social media types! Mile High Mamas is co-hosting an event with Ford Motor Company on Tuesday, September 22. Ford’s Executive Director of Product Programs Frank Davis has been driving cross-country in his new 2010 Taurus and wants to meet up with YOU and hear your story about what makes Denver special. Join us at Katie Mullen’s Irish Restaurant for a casual evening of free appetizers, mingling and test-driving.

This summer Ford sent out 100 employees and executives to meet people, answer questions and spread the word about the company's plans for the future. I was lucky enough to meet Sue Cischke, Ford Group Vice President, Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering when she brought a 2010 Taurus to San Francisco for some test drives and took time to meet local bloggers. By their very nature – petroleum-fueled, oil-needing, tire-requiring -- cars seem like the opposite of a sustainable, green choice for transportation: a necessary evil in our car-centric worlds. It was fascinating, then, to learn that Ford has a senior executive level role dedicated to sustainability and to hear about their ongoing efforts to give cars, and the business of making cars, a lighter, brighter environmental footprint.

It’s a bittersweet feeling to know that my career as an automotive blogger most likely reached its pinnacle this week at the tender age of 24. “Do you own a Mustang yet?” Ford CEO Alan Mulally asked me as he shook my hand. “Not yet,” I replied. He laughed warmly and moved on to greet another guest. The wake of his charm tossed me into a platter of breakfast croissants.

The FORD Taurus SHO has several cool features including one that reads text messages to you when you are driving. I am sitting in traffic on the Washington beltway and my N95 phone is going off with DMs ( Dms= Direct messages on Twitter) delivered to me by SMS. As the phone goes “beep beep “ I am tempted to look at my messages and keep an eye on the car in front while traveling at 5 miles per hour. At that moment I remembered a conversation I had with Ken Ken Czubay Ford Motor Company’s, Vice President, U.S. Marketing recently in DC where FORD held a tweetup to show people their 2010 Ford Taurus SHO. The FORD SHO using Microsoft Sync can read text messages to you ( How cool is that !).

Twitter is apparently taking over the world – even in Detroit’s executive suites. We had a chance to meet with Mark Fields, Ford’s vice president of North American operations Thursday night in New York at a Tweet-up event to ask some questions about upcoming products.