In the driver's seat

Six weeks after buying our truck, I finally drove it today. Here I am at the helm of the Canyonero:

The truck and I both handled it extremely well. The Canyonero was actually remarkably easy to drive. I kept checking to see how far my outer wheels were from the curb/lane markers/cars/bicyclists, and I always had plenty of room. ("Plenty" being a relative term, of course, when you're driving a vehicle practically double the width of many others on the road.)

I drove from our house to a Salvation Army collection center so we could get rid of some more stuff. That involved backing up toward the drop-off bay, which I accomplished marginally. I did not hit the car or people next to us, though I did get a little panicky about it.

Afterwards we went to Starbucks and I did a very good job parking. Not great, but very good. Granted, I got to pull through and had to deal with a car on only one side, but I didn't hit anything!

Then I drove home and parked on the curb, which involved backing up and not running into our other car. I did skim the curb once, but I straightened out and parked within a foot of our Pilot's front bumper. The back-up camera and parking assist get most the credit on that one.

Other than backing up at the Salvation Army, I was surprisingly relaxed the whole time. Even Steve commented that he wasn't as nervous as he thought he'd be. (Thanks, Sweetie!)

I still haven't handled it in tight situations--nor do I want to--but for easy drives and big parking spaces, I could get used to it.