The family is in So. Cal. visiting Grandma for a week or so... got all the weekend chores done early, had a little time coming back from the dump and decided to just keep on driving.<br>Just wondering how many of you just get out and drive once in a while for no other reason than enjoyment of just driving our trucks... regardless of the make?<br><br>No destination in mind, just following the road. Havent done that in a long time... sure was nice.<br><br>Rich.<br>

 

Used to do this a lot but not much over the last few years. However I wanted to have an excuse to use the truck and did a small no destination trip a few weeks ago. My wife and I gave ourselves 6 days off. As neither of us had been in Veracruz we decided to explore the state. So got my wife to agree that I would plan the trip and she would tag along. Just warned her that it was going to be an off the beaten track holiday. She has never done this being city slicker. Made a route, gave my wife the map and told her to guide me to each town I had marked.
The only night we had planned for sure was the first night in the capital of Veracruz, Xalapa. From there it was as we found places to visit. This made her a bit nervous as she had never done this. Ended up by meeting some great people in Xalapa and then going to spend a night in small place called Xico. Next to the waterfall where &quot;Romancing the Stone&quot; was filmed. So of course we had to take a trek to see that. Even walked down to the bottom of the falls. And back up, puff-puff. About 500 steps plus a rough path.
At the falls met an old guy who told us about some other falls we had never heard about. Called Nun's Fall's because a nun was drowned in them. Got him to guide us. After that he took us to a trout farm way up in the mountains. Beautiful scenery!!! The only way there was on a dirt track. It was raining heavily at times and there some places I would have got stuck if it were not for the 4 wheel drive. Great place and very much off the beaten track. Made even nicer with a surprise by a guy and his son who tracked us down there. We had met him in Xalapa and he told us he owned a ranch in Xico. So he joined us for lunch on delicious fresh trout. Trout that were swimming 20 minutes previously.
Can go on with more details but that will give you an idea of what one can do by not planning every hour. We even ended up by spending a couple of days at an almost totally deserted beach. (Montepio) More dirt tracks and very rocky. The most we saw were ten people on the beach. Enjoyed the truck as some places we visited were not accessable by car. Roads were just too bad. My wife has now got the idea of what off the beaten track is like and we will be doing more of this soon. With my CTD of course!!

 

Wow sounds cool. I am in the truck so much that I don't go for drives to nowhere. Glad to sit in a chair at home and have a beer at the end of the day. 6 months and 20k, 90% city driving lately

 

When I go &quot;cruising&quot; I get annoyed by the traffic. If they aren't going too slow, or I slow down to meet their speed, they aren't consistent and really annoy me because I like to use the cruise control.<br>I tend to like to ride down the same quarter mile stretch over and over. The traffic is less, and I can realy put my foot in it on this particular stretch. ;D<br><br><br><br>Chris<br><br>Best ET: 15.94 ;D

 

Know what you mean about using the cruise control. I am fortunate in that I get to use mine quite a lot. Often have it on a steady cruise at about 2200-2400 rpm for at least half an hour before I have to touch the brake. Seem to remember one instance recently where I was on cruise for almost an hour before I had to slow down. Have always enjoyed the cruise feature on most of my cars. Really enjoy it on my CTD.

 

I always look forward to trips to nowhere. When I lived in Denver, I would just head west in to the mountains all the time. I called it scouting ;D (fishing holes, and hunting locations.) I just did the same yesterday here in Oregon, and found this awesome set of waterfalls. Forgot the camera though &gt;. Sure is a nice way to relax and just enjoy the power of a Diesel and the wind through the window and the XM tunes rolling through the cab, without a care in the world, except for the trooper turning around in the road behind me [undecided]. Whew, I’m glad he was just looking for a shady spot to stop for lunch. <br><br>Kyle

 

I started doing that about a year ago. I'd just head south on 59 for like an hour, then turn on to Spur 10 outside of Rosenberg. Then hop on 36 and just drive that till I either have to fill up the truck or I realize how far I've gone and decide to turn around and head home. I'll also do that around 1, 2 in the morning. Those drives usually don't last that long though. Maybe an hour or so. I love driving my truck. Roll the windows down, put in some George Strait or Travis Tritt or something, and just drive to drive. It's so relaxing.

 

[quote author=BigBlue link=board=10;threadid=17291;start=0#162102 date=1058740217]<br>I started doing that about a year ago. I'd just head south on 59 for like an hour, then turn on to Spur 10 outside of Rosenberg. Then hop on 36 and just drive that till I either have to fill up the truck or I realize how far I've gone and decide to turn around and head home. I'll also do that around 1, 2 in the morning. Those drives usually don't last that long though. Maybe an hour or so. I love driving my truck. Roll the windows down, put in some George Strait or Travis Tritt or something, and just drive to drive. It's so relaxing.<br>[/quote]<br><br>I use to date a girl down there! <br><br>Havn't done it in a while, but I use to head south on 59, and not think about turning around until I hit Victoria. I also would head east on I-10 and go all the way to Beamount. That was a great drive. I would get all the way there, and goto the mall, and walk around for a while, then come back home. <br><br>It's nice getting away from your home city for a while, and being somewhere else.

 

My wife and I often head out into the mountains here in West Virginia and find an old road and follow it to see where it goes.

Great fun and I get to play with the 4 wheel drive without the worry of having to dig out of a 3 foot snow bank like I do in the winter.

Most of the roads lead to some great scenery, old barns and long abandoned farms. One in particular stays in my mind though. We came around a corner in this old dirt road and it lead straight to an old boy in bib overalls, barefoot with a double barrel shotgun in his hand.

Not being one wishing to intrude, I quickly and quietly reversed my course and found another road to explore ;D Oh yeah I forgot to mention the pair of hound dogs sitting by his heels, I can remember the sound of them baying as I backed off that particular mountain.

While most of the roads we traveled were a great deal less exciting that one was, there was one other road that I backed my way back down. I came a cross a sign nailed to a tree that simply read.

&quot;Danger Mines&quot;

 

Best sign I saw while exploring was Trespassers will be shot, Survivors will be shot again.

 

[quote author=Lary Ellis (Top) link=board=10;threadid=17291;start=0#162166 date=1058756332]<br>My wife and I often head out into the mountains here in West Virginia and find an old road and follow it to see where it goes.<br><br> Great fun and I get to play with the 4 wheel drive without the worry of having to dig out of a 3 foot snow bank like I do in the winter.<br><br> Most of the roads lead to some great scenery, old barns and long abandoned farms. One in particular stays in my mind though. We came around a corner in this old dirt road and it lead straight to an old boy in bib overalls, barefoot with a double barrel shotgun in his hand.<br><br> Not being one wishing to intrude, I quickly and quietly reversed my course and found another road to explore ;D Oh yeah I forgot to mention the pair of hound dogs sitting by his heels, I can remember the sound of them baying as I backed off that particular mountain. <br><br> While most of the roads we traveled were a great deal less exciting that one was, there was one other road that I backed my way back down. I came a cross a sign nailed to a tree that simply read. <br><br> &quot;Danger Mines&quot; <br><br>[/quote]Poor old guy probably wondering when revinuers started driving diesels.<br><br>Tried to take a warning sign while in germany (leftover after the border opened). Warning! You are now leaving the American Sector! etc, etc. I found out why it was still there. Snapped the leatherman jaws on my fingers trying to get the nut off. High tensil steel. It was about 25* out. God that hurt.