Our walk together was more of a military style briefing. Marcus had explained the desert rules and regulations. Most had to do with not speeding near camp sites, which could pop up out of nowhere. Then he went over the truck and how to respond to it. He'd asked if I'd driven a boat, which I have many times. Marcus said it was kind of like driving a boat through choppy water, stay on the gas.
These thoughts ran through my mind as I sat in the driver seat of what I once thought was a boring old pickup. It scared the shit out of me now and my hands shook as I sat with the keys in my hand.
My mind was blank...
I don't think I was ready to start the vehicle at this point, I was so filled with emotion. Marcus spoke and broke my trance.
"Hey babe, start the truck so I can turn on the c.b.".
My body engaged, like a robot my foot went to the brake pedal as my right hand pushed the key home and I twisted. The rumble of the motor shook the cab as the orange beast came to life around me. I reached to grab the shifter when Marcus stopped me and spoke again.
"Hold up, let me get the radios switched on".
He turned the music down to low, but also switched on a C.B. radio that sat to my right. He grabbed hold of the microphone and switched another bottom on the C.B. His voice came out loud and clear around the entire camp.
"Hey y'all! Blowsands in half an hour"!
The whole camp turned and waved in our direction. They all smiled as I put the truck in gear and slowly pulled out into the desert night. Other vehicles seemed to be headed out in one direction so I slid behind a group of quad runners. Glowing flags flew high behind them as flashing lights front to back flickered. The loud four wheelers rode just ahead of us in the dusty night haze. The camps had begun to thin as our speed picked up, I noticed the red flashing glow of traffic ahead began to split left and right as if there was a fork in the road.
It turned out to be the river bed we raced on earlier. Marcus opened his mouth for the first time all ride.
"Make a left".
Both of us had harnesses on so I felt good to go. But Marcus spoke again as we turned left behind the group of quads.
"Don't dust them out, stay behind them but swing wide out into the river bed. I'll check traffic for you, ok looks clear. Swing wide around them and then lay on the gas"!
The quads took off ahead of me but just for a split second. As I pressed my right foot down the truck dipped back and began to gain ground. We had just begun to over take them and he started coaching me again.
"Ok, now is when the ass end will start to slip around on you. Just hit the bumps strait on and keep it pointed up river"!
The dust had settled and I was surprised at how far I could see out in front of me with the bright lights of the truck streaming out ahead. The dry river bed looked fairly smooth and flat out in front of me so I pushed harder on the gas and fed the orange beast more fuel. I checked the bright blue speedo between My hands on the wheel and it read 92! Shit that was fast and it felt it, shrubs flew by out of the corner of my eyes as the sand slid by under the front of the pickup.
I looked up and saw a small bump ahead. As it grew it began to look like a large speed bump. Which may have been ok if it was perfectly horizontal in my path. This now giant speed bump in my way was at an angle from right to left. Our front right tire contacted it first at speed. I did not want to brake and flip us, so I hit it hard! The right side came up into the air first and put us into an odd twist in flight! No time to think we came down violently! The right side smashed down first and we dug into the sand, she was a bit off balance but I held tight and strait as we bounced back up. My eyes grew huge and I yelled "shit" as I looked ahead.
Another bump!
This one the exact opposite. Some water runoff must have carved them out just for me!
My left tires collided with it first this go round, we had not yet settled from the first impact when this one threw the twisted truck into a perfect strait launch threw the night air!
All four tires cleared the ground as Marcus yelled out!
"Yeeeeehaaaaaaawwww"!!
Time felt like it stood still as we floated through the dark night sky!
The beautiful orange pickup floated back to earth and soaked up the landing like a pillow on a trampoline. The truck settled nicely and began to dig again.
"Alright Jen, our turn is coming slow up a bit. Nice driving, I've never seen a cut out that big before. There must have been a flash flood recently".
The way he handled me was perfect, stern about rules and points of interest. At the same time he would leave me alone to figure out the mechanics on my own. His compliments were right at the right time to. It felt nice to have the control passed to me so effortlessly. His voice broke my thoughts as we cruised up river.
"Make a left hear where that Joshua tree is".
" A what tree"?
"Joshua. It's like a cactus but out of a doctor Sues book. There see it"?
He pointed at a tall shrubby looking thing with arms coming out of it pointing up towards the night sky. I guess everything needs a name, even ugly things like that.
We pulled up the river bank and onto another dirt road through the desolate landscape. Far ahead I could just make out multiple lights strung out and up what looked like a dark mountain.
"What's that babe"?
"It's called blowsands. It's a soft sand Hill that lays on a mountainside".
We approached a line of traffic in front of a huge white sand Hill that squeezed up the side of the dark Mammoth. I slowed the truck behind a dune buggy as Marcus began to coach me again.
"The first time up take it easy. We should get paired up with a lightweight but you never know. There are usually some woops at the bottom then it smooths out. The top is flat, I will let you know when we get close to it. Oh and try not to lose"!
Oh shit!
