[legion]

Chapter 6: How to Nurse a Jeep

Next day was Freeport, and our Jeep excursion started at 8:00 a.m.. And I was a little hungover. We got off the boat around 7:45 and found the waiting area for the Jeep tour on the dock. Mark, the Bahamian that would take us to the Jeep hub was there at 7:55 and we were on our way by 8:05.

While we were waiting, an older guy with flourescent orange hair noticed my NRA t-shirt and asked if I was an instructor. His wife was sporting flamingo-pink hair.

My biggest fear was driving a manual with a shifter on the left. I was afraid of doing a mirror-image of right-hand shifting. I was relieved to see the Jeeps were left-hand drive. Driving on the wrong side of the road was easy.

I picked one out and jumped into the driver's seat, as did my wife, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law. There were six Jeeps in the caravan, including the tour guide's.

What wasn't easy was driving a Jeep on and off road with a suspension that was shot, the oil pressure was iffy, the front left brake didn't work (pulled hard to the right under braking), the tires were bald, the steering was hosed (it would hop and jerk when turning right), and it was running on three out of four cylinders. I had to heel-toe to keep the revs up at 2000, or the oil pressure would drop off and it would stall.

Still, I had a blast. The guy in the orange hair turned out to be a real @$$hole who followed way to close, and would pass anyone who wasn't going fast enough. The guy behind me had the only 4.0 six-cylinder in the group, and he couldn't keep up with me, and I'd often lose him on the trails.

Our tour guide, Sam, had worked for American Airlines in Houston for 14 years. He was VERY informative and could answer any question thrown at him. He gave us the history of the Bahamas, the politics, the laws, the good, and the bad. The mix of driving/history made it a very enjoyable experience. One I would highly recommend.