As I mentioned before, I'm planning on going along on the Windrock ATV Club's club ride on Saturday. The ride is scheduled to set out at 8:30 am though, so I figured I'd head up to Windrock today to be sure I knew how to find the place. And then I figured that, as long as I was heading up there, I may as well load up the ATV and go do a little riding. Aside from the obvious desire to just get out and ride, it would also be a good chance to be sure that my gear fits well, my clothes are warm enough, etc, without having 20 other people waiting for me to adjust things and try different arrangements. And it proved to be a good idea, because I did get lost several times trying to find the trailhead, so I'm glad I spent the time finding it today rather than early Saturday morning when it's dark and people are waiting for me.

I only rode a mile or two into one of the easier trails, just to get a feel for how the machine handled and see if I got cold. It was amazing. The offroading itself is really fun, and even in just those two miles, I saw some great views. One thing I learned is that you have to expect to get muddy, even if you stay out of the actual mud pits. I suspected that might be the case, so I replaced my Debbie Gibson-inspired Tupperware cargo box with the watertight cooler that Bryan and Cat donated to me when they moved. I planned to carry my camera and GPS in there, so I figured it'd be better to give them a little more protection from the mud. I was disappointed that the cooler matched the ATV's color rather than clashing terribly.

The first time I stopped to enjoy the scenery and take some pictures, I discovered that my spare fuel can had apparently come loose at some point and had been dragging behind me the whole time, getting completely covered in the mud kicked up by my tires. Oops. Maybe it's a good thing I don't have kids.

I'll have to figure out how to deal with the mud once I start carrying my tripod and large-format camera bag — neither would be ruined by mud but I'd much rather keep it off of both if possible. I guess I could just wrap them both up in a garbage bag before strapping them to the ATV. Shooting large-format is slow enough anyway, so I guess it's not a problem to add one more quick step each time I want to stop and take a picture.

As I loaded the ATV back on the trailer for the ride home, I reflected on how much more I enjoy my life ever since I started actually pursuing all the things I've always wanted to do. On the drive home I felt the same satisfied elation that I remember feeling after every flying lesson. How did I go 27 years before finding reliable ways to get that feeling? I always used to shrug when people talked about the "natural high" you get from doing things you like. The concept made little sense to me. Now I realize that I guess I just didn't have any real experience with it.

I always had all these interests, and I'd read magazines and catalogs related to them, but for some reason it always felt like that's as far as I could go with it — it never occurred to me that I could get up and actually go do them. Of course, a big part of it was the financial aspect. Perhaps because of my general interest in machines and technology, it happens that most of my interests involve a significant outlay of money. I'm only now getting to the point where I can afford to fly airplanes and buy ATVs (and even so, only just). Although I grew up in a house with money, my parents were careful not to just buy us whatever we asked for, instead making us save up and earn the things we wanted. Even with my generous $20/week allowance, I guess these multi-thousand-dollar activities just felt impossibly out of reach, so I never seriously considered actually trying to get started in them.

I guess that's the basic situation that underlies both this decision to get into offroading and my decision to begin flight training. It was a sudden realization that, "Holy crap, you know that thing I've always really wanted to do but have always considered impossible? I can totally just go do that now!" And of course that's quite a heady feeling.