Ride in a Dune Buggy

“It was just like being a stunt driver in the movies, except these buggies are built to be virtually unflippable. [...] We got up on two side wheels, we went over jumps, and some of the drops we drove down, had me coughing up my stomach, but it was freaking awesome and as long as we followed the rules, we were totally safe. I’d never done anything like this before and it was a crazy rush. [...] by the end of the ride, we figured out that unless you have your foot ALL the way down, you’re not getting air. Luckily, we managed to get airborne before the ride was over.”

“We switched half-way so we could each drive. It’s definitely fun as a passenger, but it’s no substitute for driving for yourself. Jesse’s turn driving was especially exciting though. Driving up one of the many hills, our wheels got stuck in the loose sand, so we had to hop out, dig our wheels out of the sand, climb back in the buggy, and roll backwards in neutral for about 10o feet down a steep hill. It was a weird rush to roll backwards like that, but at the bottom of the hill, we started the buggy back up and were back on our way.”

“Bashing dunes is like sailing giant ocean waves if the sea was struck still and turned yellow. [...] We were going full throttle when we gained flight, hovering above the monotonous landscape, an angelic moment, suspended in the breeze, without earth’s resistance and the tires’ rolling friction. [...] At over 45 miles per hour, we introduced our windshield to the sand. Then a second time as the vehicle flipped again. It happened very fast and yet, like most accidents, the crash felt like it was occuring in slow-motion. Upon each encounter with the dune, Bobby and I both got a nose-full of sugar sand.”