Stick it!

Well, back to reality. We had our time with Little "Juicy" Lucy in Baltimore last weekend (have we said how absolutely perfect and adorable she is?) and now we have to get back to "training" for the Tour. My job is to learn how to drive a stick shift as the motor home is a manual (that's all they have in France). Today, Dave rented a little Mini Cooper, put on his driving cap and attempted to turn me into Mario Andretti. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ....

I have never in my life killed a car more times or burned rubber more times than I did this morning. ....

The concept is fine, the shifting is fine ... I understand all that. But starting from zero ... ARGH! Mike Dauplaise ... there is no such thing as "feathering" to get the clutch and gas to catch. And Jeff House ... your attempts to show me how to drive your car way back in college have made an indelible mark in my memory, and it's not a good one. I'm still driving backwards down Carson Hill in Eau Claire!

Dave was incredibly patient and he said I got a grade of a B, until I absolutely killed the car in the driveway, then he marked me down to a B-. Whoops.

I did take the car out to the mailbox, by myself, while he was out riding. It only took me 4 times to get going, and we do have a small skid mark in the driveway now. Oh well, that the price we pay for this trip.