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| Adventures in driving | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Apr 8 2010, 02:27 PM (147 Views) | |
| brenda | Apr 8 2010, 02:27 PM Post #1 |
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Daughter has her driver's permit now, and she has been out a few times to drive. Monday evening we dropped her friend off after a visit. The friend lives several miles out in the country near another town. It was a perfect opportunity for daughter to drive on some gravel road and a county two-lane road. We were in my truck, of course. Daughter thinks it's cool to drive my truck. She had never driven on gravel before, and she wasn't used to the spring softness of the gravel road. That's why I thought it was a good thing for her to experience. Then we went out on the two-lane blacktop, one with gravel shoulders. She had not been out on a road like this before either, and keeping it in the lane was her biggest challenge. A few times I had to tell her she was just about onto the gravel. With the soft gravel shoulder it's important to stay on the blacktop. The gravel wasn't completely soft, just a bit, but I described to her what can happen if one wheel goes off into the soft mucky stuff and begins to pull the vehicle further off the pavement. There was almost no other traffic, so I let her keep going for several miles, about ten or more. When we got to the two-lane highway, I had her pull over and I drove the rest of the way home. People go pretty fast on the highway, and it's a challenging stretch even for experienced drivers who are not from the area. Daughter was pretty pleased to have driven as far as she did and at up to 45 mph. It made me think of one of my first times driving when I was her age. My mom was with me and I was driving a 1967 Plymouth GTX 440, our family car. I thought I was doing fine, then I looked over and saw my poor mother's knuckles were white as she gripped the door while I was driving. I am determined to be cooler than that. I was Monday. It helped daughter stay relaxed, which is important IMO. We'll go again this weekend, if not before. Woo Hoo! I can't disappear from the forum now, lest you assume the worst. What do you recall of your time learning to drive? Have you taught someone to drive? Do tell, do tell. |
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“Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them.” ~A.A. Milne | |
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| LWpianistin | Apr 8 2010, 02:44 PM Post #2 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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I just remember going too slow on the highway at one point. It's also strange to look back on it and think how difficult it was to do the (now) simplest tasks, like accelerating and braking smoothly. I still don't know how to parallel park; we weren't taught by the instructor! I'll learn some day. |
| And how are you today? | |
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| John Galt | Apr 8 2010, 03:05 PM Post #3 |
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Fulla-Carp
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I took driver's ed, and learned to drive in a Camaro, but the family car my dad was willing to let me use had a standard transmission. A 1966 Chevy Impala with a three speed (affectionately called "three on the tree", as it was on the steering column). No power steering or brakes. He had me start it up and instructed me to back it out of the driveway. I popped the clutch, shot backwards, and narrowly missed the tree across the street. Mercifully the engine died simultaneously with me hitting the brakes. I was so freaked out, I didn't do well trying to shift gears for the rest of the lesson. We tried again, this time going only forward, and only in first gear. Get car rolling, stop. Get car rolling, stop. Then we went to shifting through the gears and I was home free. Oh, there was that first time I was uphill at a stoplight (this car had a foot brake), but I managed OK. Didn't own a car with an automatic until I hit forty and bought a minivan to cart the dogs around in. Everyone should learn to drive a stick. Good luck Brenda. My dad had grey hair when I started driving. It didn't take long for it to turn white.... |
| Let us begin anew, remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness. | |
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| Aqua Letifer | Apr 8 2010, 03:20 PM Post #4 |
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ZOOOOOM!
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Do you mean when I took my driver's test and obtained my license, or you you mean when I learned how to drive? |
| I cite irreconcilable differences. | |
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| brenda | Apr 8 2010, 03:57 PM Post #5 |
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When learning is what I intended, but if you have a good story of any type, you know I'm a sucker for a good story.
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“Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them.” ~A.A. Milne | |
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| The 89th Key | Apr 9 2010, 06:03 AM Post #6 |
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Brenda - sounds like you're doing a great job. You're right, the best thing to do is be relaxed, and just "feel" the road. Practice, in this case, truly does make perfect...the more you practice with her the better. |
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| kenny | Apr 9 2010, 06:18 AM Post #7 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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Yikes! DO be careful. |
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| brenda | Apr 9 2010, 06:21 AM Post #8 |
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Sure, NOW you tell me to be careful!
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“Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them.” ~A.A. Milne | |
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| brenda | Apr 9 2010, 06:23 AM Post #9 |
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When I took my driver's test at age 16, I used my parents' car, the 1967 Plymouth GTX. It already had some serious miles on it by then. It ran fine, but the parking brake would stick. We hardly ever used the parking brake here in this flat part of Minnesoooota. Brother knew because it had stuck once for him, and dad had shown him how to jiggle it loose from underneath the car. Sure enough, the driver's test guy asked me to park as if I was on a hill, so I had to use the sticky parking brake, and it stuck extra tight. I politely said, "Excuse me, I'll be right back." The test giver's eyes looked like saucers. He was in shock. I got out, crawled under the car and jiggled the line. Thank goodness it worked. I got back in the car, only slightly nervous, but my nerves made me forget to turn on my signal. I lost 3 or 4 points for that, so I passed with a 96 or 97. The test giver commented that it was the most bizarre test experience he had ever had.
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“Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them.” ~A.A. Milne | |
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| JBryan | Apr 9 2010, 06:23 AM Post #10 |
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I am the grey one
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I had some interesting experiences while my wife was learning to drive. |
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"Any man who would make an X rated movie should be forced to take his daughter to see it". - John Wayne There is a line we cross when we go from "I will believe it when I see it" to "I will see it when I believe it". Henry II: I marvel at you after all these years. Still like a democratic drawbridge: going down for everybody. Eleanor: At my age there's not much traffic anymore. From The Lion in Winter. | |
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| brenda | Apr 9 2010, 06:24 AM Post #11 |
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Do tell, do tell! |
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“Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them.” ~A.A. Milne | |
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| Aqua Letifer | Apr 9 2010, 07:10 AM Post #12 |
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ZOOOOOM!
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My parents have I guess you could say a unique parenting style. When I got my learner's permit, they believed that any dope can drive down the road on a sunny afternoon. But to be a truly experienced driver, you need to deal with the worst of conditions! I was never in a scenario where my dad and I would be going to the store and he'd offer to let me drive on a whim. However, when we'd have a torrential downpour outside at 1 AM, and my grandmother called because a water line burst in her house and she needed help stopping it up, my dad would say, "boy, you're drivin'." My parents also tried to brainwash me into believing that nothing could prepare me to drive better than being the official family DD. But c'mon, I was 16, not a total idiot. I could drive but they could still legally keep me from drinking. My parents hit the jackpot. Come to think of it, this is the only family tradition we've been able to uphold since. |
| I cite irreconcilable differences. | |
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4:27 PM Jul 10