Travel With Betsy

“Off Roading”…..What is That….Exactly……?

When I was buying my Forester, the dealers that I talked to really emphasized the fact that it was a great “off-roader”. Each time this came up…….and it came up often….I assured them that I would not be doing any “off-roading”. Truth be told, I don’t really even know what that means. I was buying the car because the seating position was so comfortable. Not only could I adjust the seat a million different ways, I would also be able to sit high up off the ground and be able to see really well out of the massive windows. I stand firm on my reasoning. But, today, I got a sense of the value of having a car that can go, literally, anywhere.

I started out this morning ready to explore the Summit Road wine region! I got in my trusty Forester, engaged the GPS system and took off. Down the highway I went, once again relishing in the comfort features of the car. When I got close to the Summit Road area, the nice GPS woman spoke to me and told me to get off the highway at the next exit, which I did. Then, as soon as I left the highway, she said that I needed to make a sharp left turn. I missed it. UGHHHH…….

I thought, “No worries. I’m sure it will recalculate.” And, it did!

I was happily listening to my free Siruis radio and following the guide when I realized that I was off the main road and really had no idea where I was. I kept on going, following the directions because….I really had no idea where I was. So, I thought it best to follow the GPS. It must know what it’s doing. Right?!

All of a sudden, I realized that I was driving down a single lane dirt road. The road was lined with giant trees…..maybe redwoods…..whose branches had created an arch across the road as far as I could see.   As I went along through the center of the arch, I realized that the road was becoming quite narrow. It was also getting pretty dark underneath the arch. I looked at the GPS on the dashboard where it was counting down the miles to my destination. It was still counting, so I figured I was still OK.

I thought about a conversation in regards to the Forester that I had with my friend, Nancy.

She said, “You could flip the back seats down and sleep in the back if you wanted to. Isn’t that great?!”

I wondered if, later,  I would have an opportunity to test this out, as I continued to creep along on the unfamiliar road.

But, still I kept on going. Honestly, what else could I do?

It reminded me of my trip to France a few years back when I rented a car to go to Les Baux from Aix en Provence. Near Les Baux, the GPS led me off the main road into a field where I landed in front of a herd of donkeys that had the biggest heads I have ever seen! It was shocking! This was kind of like that, but without the donkeys.

Anyway, I digress…..it was becoming a bit of a challenging drive, so I slowed down to a crawl. As I looked ahead, I saw some small tree limbs across the road.

Oh boy………..

I stopped and assessed my surroundings….even thought of turning around and trying to go back. But, how, exactly, would I do that on this tiny, narrow tree lined road? I couldn’t turn around, and I didn’t want to back up the whole way  to the main road. The back up camera is good, but it was a long way back. So, I looked at the tree limb, thought about the “off-roading” capabilities of the grand Subaru Forester and just kept on going right over the small tree limb. Then, I did it again a little further down the road. WOW!

When I did the paperwork with the man at the dealership, we went over a form whose purpose it was to inform Forester owners that they should never put chains on their tires. The man I was dealing with said to me,

“The Forester will go anywhere. If you think you need to use chains to go somewhere, you shouldn’t be going. Stay home.”

He wasn’t kidding when he said this thing would go anywhere. I have never driven a car that could go over a small tree limb. It was pretty small…..but, still….a tree limb! I don’t want to do it again, but I could!   Another of the virtues of the Forester that I have discovered on my new car “bonding” adventure!

You will be happy to know that I did get to the tasting room I was looking for, (the GPS was right on. How does it do that?) only to find that the tasting room was closed on Friday.

Really?!  After all that?!

It turns out that Friday is not a great day for wine tasting in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It’s a weekday. Many of the smaller, more interesting tasting rooms are only open on the weekend. Oh well……

The story for the day is the mighty Forester that can climb over a small tree limb and live to tell about it another day. I’m so impressed! No kidding!

So, I am officially checking “off-roading” off of my list of things to do before I die. (Not that it was on my list to begin with.  But, why not?) Since I really don’t know what that means, I am counting this experience as “off-roading”. It’s the closet I will ever get. This is a fact………

Who knew that I would be an “off-roader”!  Maybe I could add an acronym to the end of my name to highlight my expertise.   Betsy, “O-R Expert”….or some such thing……

Hmmmm………I’ll have to give this some serious thought…….!

This entry was posted on April 2, 2017 at 12:45 am and is filed under North America, Solo Travel for Women, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.