Monday, December 1, 2008

Dumont Dunes

The day after Thanksgiving Rhett and I loaded up our toy-hauler and headed out to the land of the bountious sand...Dumont Sand Dunes. We've been there countless times and I never seem to find anything all that exciting to take pictures of...until now! I had the incredible fortune of getting to ride in a crazy top-of-the-line buggy, driven by a professional off-road racer. And not just any professional off-road racer. It was driven by BJ Baldwin, the number one racer of trophy trucks. I know, I know, it doesn't sound all that exciting. But believe me, it was! 

Rhett has prepped and pitted for BJ for years and we've both tried to score rides from him before. It's just impossible. We didn't realize that the magic ticket lied in our friend, Ron, who builds motors for half of the off-road racers. He drove me and a couple of my girlfriends over to BJ's camp and just asked him if he'd give us a ride. He said they were just heading out and maybe later, but it's difficult to say no to someone who builds your race motors, so he finally gave in. The three of us girls (it's a four seater) strapped in and waited anxiously for our ride to begin. I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew the buggy would handle amazingly (that's what $250,000 buys ya) and that the driver was more than capable to scare the bajezus out of us. But I didn't know how much he would hold back...or if he would purposely push it to the max to scare the bajezus out of us.

I seriously am getting butterflies in my stomach just remembering the first acceleration. It was like a roller coaster ride when your stomach is doing flip-flops and you're just waiting for that portion of the ride to be done so that you can breathe again, only it lasted longer. I forced myself to breathe and when I did I mustered everything that was in me to not let out a squeel. I didn't want him to think I was a wuss! He hit the hill and within a second we were at the top, launching over to the next hill. Not only did the buggy handle amazingly, but he drove it perfectly. He was fast and exhilerating, but always seemed in control. We jumped it a few times and he popped it up on two wheels quite a few times. It was by far the best ride I've ever been on and probably ever will go on. I had a perma-grin the entire ride (and therefore ate a bit of sand) and couldn't thank him enough when we pulled back in to camp. He totally didn't have to give us a ride and I'm so grateful that he took his time to show us a good time. My only regret is that Rhett wasn't able to go. He would have absolutely loved it. Next trip out we're going to have to finagle a ride for him!


That's us on our way back in to camp, popped up on two wheels.


This is actually a picture of us before we left on the ride. We hadn't even started and I already had a perma-grin.

6 comments:

Kristina P. said...

I have never done anything like this! I think I would be terrified!

RC said...

Way COOOOOL!

How fun and exciting. That had to be a thrill of a lifetime.

Hollie said...

Sounds like a blast! We need to get sand toys soon. We all used to have so much fun together playing at the dunes.

Heather said...

So WAY fun!!!

JennBooth said...

I am jealous you got a picture of the buggie willying! That was so much fun to ride that, it was fun hanging out with you guys!

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