Rolling

I really love to drive.  Driving anything makes me happy.  Sure, I like sports cars and motorcycles, but there is something equally fulfilling about loading up the minivan with the entire family and just going off on an adventure.  It does really matter what it is, from a non-syncromesh Fiat 500 to a Taycan, driving anything is interesting to me.

This past weekend, I got the opportunity to drive something new: a Silverado 2500 with the Duramax diesel and an Allison transmission.  I've driven pickup trucks before, so the Silverado itself isn't particularly exciting.  

That said, it did represent a first for me: towing live animals:  

My younger daughter is a passionate equestrian and had the opportunity to attend a 3 day eventing clinic run by Leslie Law and his wife, Lesley.  While she usually attends this type of event with a friend, that friend was out of town for her family vacation week and said to me, "Madeline really shouldn't miss this clinic, it's a great opportunity.  Can you drive a trailer?"

Well, the last time I drove a trailer, it was towing 247 horses:

Of course, that was a long time ago - I had hair and everything:

While I'm comfortable driving a trailer, I've never towed living creatures.  I wasn't apprehensive exactly, just aware of the responsibility!  Long story short, I took the unloaded rig for a test drive to get a feel for it.  The Silverado pulled the 2-horse Featherlite easily, almost as if it wasn't attached.  The diesel is simply awesome for towing, with torque everywhere, and the Allison transmission is amazingly smooth.  I did a four mile loop and felt comfortable.  This setup is much less intimidating than the other possibility - a Silverado 3500 dually with a gooseneck trailer.

Feeling confident and cautious, we loaded up a pair of horses and set out on our trip, roughly 120 miles straight south on US 31.  Before getting underway, I stopped to fuel up before heading south.  The fun thing about towing horses is that while the diesel is flowing in, you can pop into the trailer and say hello:

The biggest difference between towing a pair of live horses versus, erm, 247 passive ones, is to accelerate gingerly while turning.  You don't want to whip their heads around and sour them on trailer travel.  With that in mind, I slowly and carefully merged onto US 31 and headed south.  I told my daughter, "Well, let's just settle in, we're not in a hurry.  We'll just stay in the right lane and cruise south."

Well, that lasted about 1.8 miles until we came upon a tractor-trailer going under the speed limit.  Toeing into that Duramax, I eased from the travel lane into the passing lane to overtake.  The Silverado accelerated effortlessly, and pretty soon we were cruising along at my customary 5-7 over.  The diesel has plenty of torque and towed the loaded trailer easily.  The drive turned out to be uneventful, just munching miles with a heightened awareness of what was going on around me.

When we reached the destination, I backed the trailer up to the barn to make it easy to unload the horses, straw, and hay.  After unloading, I dropped the trailer and spent the rest of the time at the clinic driving the truck on its own.  Unladen, the diesel's power continued to surprise.

On its own, I just had to be aware of the comparatively poor turning circle and length when parking.  Beyond that, the truck was easy enough to drive.  I wouldn't want to drive one on a daily basis, but if you have to haul anything, it's a great choice.

The drive home was uneventful.  Just load the horses and head north.  Piece of cake.

I really love driving - anything, anytime.  Let's roll.