The Big Rig

Before I talk about Santa Fe I should rewind…I forgot I had written this post until the very subject came up tonight...

 

It’s 11pm on the night of our arrival and we had just gotten to the rental car counter at the Albuquerque airport.  Everything was going fine until the rental car representative says, “sorry ma’am (strike one) we’re all out of compact cars (which is what I reserved several months ago) – you can choose between a truck or a suburban.”

 

Are you kidding me?  A truck or a suburban.  I drive a Jetta in real life.  It’s small, zippy, and doesn’t cost $100 fill up with gas. 

 

A suburban was out of the question.  Way too big and not enough rear-view visibility.  Plus my last name isn’t Duggar.

 

So, I asked for a tiny truck.  He laughed.  I told him I didn’t have a special license or anything, like the one I assume you need to drive a truck.  No special license required he said.  Hmm.  So I called the live in over, who until now had been waiting with the luggage out of line.  He agreed – we’d be less likely to do damage in a truck.  So, we signed up for a big ol’ American Ford F150. 

 

Honestly, I have to give people who drive this kind of big rig on a daily basis a lot of credit.  Not only is it nearly impossible to get in and out of without flashing your Brittany, it’s also extremely difficult to simply drive between the lines.  And in New Mexico everyone drives a truck, so the buffer between you and the next car truck is pretty thin.

 

And I’m not even going to talk about backing up.  That’s just a huge liability.  Let’s just say it’s not easy. 

 

Parking in town.  Also, not easy.  All the other little cars got to park close to the square in their tiny little spots. But the big rig had to be parked a few block out with the other 4X4’s.  Oh, how did I know we had a 4X4?  It was plastered on the side of the big rig for everyone to see.  Way to keep it classy, Ford. 

 

We thought about asking our concierge at the resort where a good spot was to go four wheel driving…or asking if anyone needed help moving…