Today was the official first day of driving, and boy did we. I was actually worn out from all the driving chasing down trying to keep up with the group. There were several through valleys, up one side of a pass and down the other. The drives are excellently laid out with planned stops to gather up all the cars back together that are either scenic pullouts or dedicated potty stops. In the middle there is a lunch break at a good restaurant. There are occasional short stints on regular roads and a bit of Interstate in between. And we’ve got two more full days of this to come.
One of the hallmarks of these trips is people swapping cars if both parties are agreeable. Honestly, after watching the caliber of driving, I would trust any one of this group with the GTI. The flip side is I wouldn’t feel comfortable driving a lot of these cars because of their power or price. Maybe around a parking lot, but not on narrow, windy mountain roads that have frequent shear drop-offs.
But there was one I wanted to drive, and he agreed to swap. He is the son of one of the Everyday Driver guys and a high school student, but knowing his dad and watching him drive the first half of the morning, there was zero worry. He has a 2006 Mini Cooper S, which is supercharged. It was an absolute hoot, and he really liked the driving the GTI. Truth be told, if he kidding asked if we could swap titles, I just might have taken him up on it.
