Last Sunday (September 26) I tried something completely new and uncomfortable — I went to a social event organized by the local Jeep club and went off-roading with my Jeep near Lac du Bonnet, MB.

Anyone that knows me will tell you I am not one to participate in social activities (I own 1,300 books —is it not readily apparent that I mostly keep to myself?). Neither have I never been off-roading in my Jeep before (I just had a 2.5” suspension lift installed and upgraded my tires from 255/70/R17 to 285/70/R17). Needless to say doing both of these in the same weekend was a radical departure from what I usually do on weekends (i.e., retreat into my library and read books until Monday).

While we were off-roading on these sand dunes and trails in the Manitoba wilderness (we saw a Black Bear too!), there were definitely moments that I was freaked out. That big sand dune and some of the steep rocky inclines were super uncomfortable — and I am honestly surprised I was able to do them in my Jeep!

I am proud of myself for attempting something out of my comfort zone. Would I do this again? Probably not. I certainly won’t do it again with these people. Most of them were less than understanding towards the new guy (me), an attitude I have unfortunately often encountered with special interest groups (seriously, as a person diagnosed with autism, along with ‘be yourself’, the worst social advice I’ve ever received has been ‘find people that share your interests’). Moreover, and I sensed some of this while I was there, most of them on Facebook appear to be white supremacist and militaristic nationalists and other lunatic right-wingers. Even one of the nicer ones to me has a Canadian flag next to an assault rifle on Facebook. Makes me wonder whom he is supposedly ready to defend with the use of an assault weapon this country that was built on the genocide of indigenous peoples and the theft of their lands…? See you again next time…thank you but no thank you.

A wild experience I will remember for a long time!