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New Friends / New Park



When I first bought my Jeep I had no idea I would meet so many great new friends. Nor did I realize that I would find my new passion in off-roading. 



The Jeep community has such an amazing camaraderie. Complete strangers, from different lives, coming together to share a common enthusiasm for Jeeping. 


Nate, a.k.a. SWBCrawler, is one of the contributors to the Jeep Talk Show. He happens to wheel at Rausch Creek, where I have done a majority of my off-roading. He and his friends also wheel at AOAA, Anthracite Outdoor Adventure Area. 







AOAA is about 30 minutes North of Rausch Creek and occupies the land of the Western Middle Coal Field. Like Rausch Creek the rocky trails wind thru the forests in the mountains of Eastern Pennsylvania.  


This past weekend I was invited to join Nate and his friends on the trails. I drove up into the mountains with mixed emotions of wheeling with new Jeepers.



Excitement because I would be wheeling again... and nervous. Nervous because... I am a slow and cautious wheeler. I don't like to hold others back because of my wariness. 

But like all the other groups I have been lucky enough to come across, they were all great guys! They were patient and understanding. Understanding of the fact I still have many years of payments left before the Rubicon is truly my Jeep. There are a lot of other Jeep owners like me, who love the sport of off-roading and their off-road Jeep is also their daily driver. 

Jason and Blaine, two great spotters, understood that. They spotted me through the trails with great consideration as they too wheel their daily drivers. 

The saying, "It's a Small World" came into play that day as well. Two of the other Jeeps in our group... well... I have wheeled with them before on other occasions at Rausch Creek. Both great spotters and understanding of my need to be cautious. But also giving me the right amount of confidence to get me through the trails. 



One thing I learned from Kyle during my 301 training class is my Jeep is so much more capable then the trails I wheel. It is all a matter of gaining the experience in my driving skills and confidence in myself. 





Each time I hit the trails, I gain more and more confidence.  Not just from driving, but the positive encouragement from other more experienced Jeepers.







Tune into the Jeep Talk Show podcast Thursday Night at 10 pm central time, when we record episode 237 of our podcast live at www.JeepTalkShow.com. I will share my interview with Nate and he answers one tough question, "What did he think of Jeep Momma's wheeling?".
 
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