Greg and I went camping this weekend to a beautiful place called the Galiuro Mountains. This range is located just East of the Catalinas, the range that runs along the Northeast portion of the Tucson metro area. Going around the Northern portion of the Catalinas, we drove a few hours before parking the truck and unloading the jeep packed with our gear. We took a dirt road about 15 miles before entering the trail head. Then it was miles upon miles of beautiful landscape, trees, mountains, rocks, old windmills and more. Yes, I said trees! There were amazing, BEAUTIFUL, TALL TREES! I loved it.
Anyway, this post is about me driving the off-roading vehicle....Most of you know that Greg has a hobby of modifying and driving rock crawlers. On my first trip to Tucson, he took me on a similar camping trip that involved two hours of off road driving in a jeep packed out with our gear. And I've really enjoyed this hobby of his starting that first trip. There was only one other time I was given the opportunity to drive one of his babies. It was a great time, but I didn't really "learn" to drive his jeep that day. I was more or less "coached" along by one of his work friends. This guy essentially shouted out at me when I needed to shift up, shift down, etc...and had plenty of patience with me when I killed the vehicle numerous times. I hadn't driven a stick in many many many years, and this was the time to re-learn.
Here is a picture of me outside the jeep, just as I was about to climb into the driver's seat. I was all geared up and ready to go (pun definitely intended).
I drove many miles out to our final destination, and I must say...I did ok. There was one pretty scary moment that involved killing the jeep heading up a steep gravel/rocky hill, and quickly sliding backwards. Greg did great as well, not ever yelling at me, just being patient and coaching me along the way. Of course he laughed at me quite a lot, which was well deserved most of the time (although I wouldn't admit it at the time!).
At any rate, I enjoyed driving his samurai, even though I was stressed during many moments. I am looking forward to more trips, and hope Greg will allow me to drive his jeep more often!! Practice makes perfect, right?!!
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