So, all this car talk led me on a search for a daybook entry about my bad driving experiences, which caused me to stumble upon a guest daybook entry by my sister.  I remembered having her make an entry, but didn't remember what it was about.  Turns out, it was perfect for this post:

It starts:

This list sums up my first two years of legal driving (and two experiences before I was legal) and it goes like this (with some added details):

-Sliding in to the ditch on Brook's hill {this was in the Chevy Caprice Classic}

[Ashley's describes in her entry above: "...you were taking me to a party, and it was the middle of the winter.  We were in Huntsville, right across from Prenger's, and you turned left to go up that steep hill.  I asked you if we could make it-and you ignored me. We got halfway up, and we slid backwards.  We went in a ditch, and I couldn't hardly get out to push because our front was up a lot higher than our rear, therefore, making my door so heavy I couldn't open it, and since yours was stuck in the ground, I had to force my way out.  Then you got the great idea for me to push the back and I thought you were going to run over me that way because every time you pushed on the gas pedal, we just slid further backwards - so I pushed from the front.  This only suceeded [sic] in making the ditch bigger and getting us more stuck.  So we called Shane [our cousin] and he came and pulled us out.  (I got to the party 1 hour and a half late.)] 

-Backing the Vega out of the garage, hitting the shop, and getting stuck

[This happened when I was probably 14.  Our sweet, elderly neighbor had died, and we were parking the Vega in her garage, which was perpendicular to my dad's shop.  The new owners of the neighbor's house had stopped by to move in some of their things.  Ashley described this incident in her above entry as well: "Remember when the neighbors asked you to move the Vega and you thought you could handle it so you backed it out of their garage, hit the shop, and got stuck?!?!  then, you made me push while you gunned the engine and spun the wheels.  Finally, you gave up on my abilities to lift a car out of a RUT (you made) and you called David Earl [another cousin] to come get us out."

-Almost sliding into Rox's garage door on the ice 

[This one actually wasn't me.  I was just a passenger.  My friend, Roxanne, had just gotten a white Mustang convertible for her 16th birthday in January and we took it out for a spin.  As we got back to her house, we came into the driveway a little too fast, she hit the brakes, we skidded on the iced over concrete heading straight for the closed garage door.  Luckily, we came to a stop just centimeters from crashing through the door.]

-Fishtailing and almost going over the bridge at 12:53am.

[I have no clue.  I don't remember this.  At all.]

-Sliding off in the ditch with Dianna after church

[Again, not me.  I was just a passenger with my friend Dianna. This had something to do with staying out too late the night before, snow and ice, and a sharp curve on a gravel road.]

-Being a designated driver (before I had my license) and having to drive 10mph between two trucks

[I was 15.  I was at a party with a bunch of seniors and got nominated to drive someone's car home.  But for "safety", they sandwiched me between two guys in trucks.  Apparently, they thought I couldn't handle driving because they literally drove with their brakes on the entire 15 miles home.  It annoyed me.  Even at 15.  Even with senior guys.]

-Having a flat tire at Trevor's at 2:00am

[This was the Caprice.  Trevor was my boyfriend.  Apparently it bothered me to have a flat tire.]

-Passing for the first time and almost getting run over by a semi {this was in the Chevy Caprice Classic}

[This was a truly bad experience.  I had my permit and my mom was the passenger.  We were behind a slow car on a two lane highway.  My mom encouraged me to pass (remember, she had been driving the "sporty" Vega for years) when we got to a long straight stretch.  It was my first time ever passing.  I was nervous, yet excited.  I put on my blinker and stepped on the gas.  I remember not having any idea how fast I should go or how much room I needed.  I also didn't have any idea that I should check my rear view mirror.  I veered into the oncoming traffic lane and was startled by the hammering sound of a semi truck horn.  I jerked the wheel back just in time for the semi that had apparently been right behind me to pass me and the car in front of me.  Seriously.  I almost lived the beginning of the movie Christmas Vacation when Chevy Chase pulls the car under that semi while driving down the road.]

-Fishtailing up a hill into a field {this was in the blue Ford pickup}

[I was taking Ashley to yet another party.  (Apparently she attended a lot of parties in middle school and I was her chauffeur.)  This happened on a gravel road not near our house or the party, so I'm not sure why we were where we were.  I was going too fast, as usual, fishtailed around a corner, and instead of overcorrecting, I just drove straight up an embankment and into a field.  Luckily, it was an un-fenced hayfield.  And luckily, my dad hayed it so I knew the exact lay of the land.  I drove right out without stopping and on our way we went.]

-Going into the ditch driving KT's car

[This was my bff Katie's cute little Saturn, but I was the driver.  It was the middle of the night.  It was on gravel.   It was snowy and icy.  I tried to pump the brakes, but the Saturn insisted on going straight into a ditch instead of around the curve like I wanted it to.  We stopped.  Katie and I looked at each other.  I put the car in first gear and we drove right out.]

-Almost getting hit at a stoplight--getting flipped off.

[Don't remember.  No idea.]

-Annavee backing into the light pole at McDonald's

[Again, I was just a passenger.  Annavee and I were in her aunt's huge van taking her cousins to McDonald's.  She backed up right into a light pole.  And we drove off.]

-Muffler falling off the Vega/Vega overheating

[As if the Vega wasn't embarrassing enough, the muffler fell off and you could hear me coming from miles away.  Then it overheated and that was the end of its days.]

-Driving the truck off into the ditch by Shane's {this was the blue Ford pickup}

[People were at my cousin Shane's house and I was in a hurry to get there.  I popped over a hill on a street in town, going way too fast, and off in the ditch I went.  It was a deep ditch.  I remember the truck being practically on its side.  Either Trevor or Shane pulled me out, I can't remember.  Sorry Mom and Dad, that you're just now finding out about this.]

-Getting stuck at the lake in the Vega

[We piled in the Vega with a portable grill, rafts, and some sunscreen.  By the time we left the lake, I had the Vega stuck in a serious mudhole.  We were all pushing and finally got it out and on its way.  Revving out of a mudhole without a muffler is even louder than regular driving without a muffler.]

-Bumper falling off the van in front of Hardee's

[This goes back to the light pole at McDonald's.  A week later, we took Annavee's cousins to Hardee's and the rear bumper "mysteriously" fell off the huge van.  I'm sure it didn't have anything to do with backing into a light pole.  Sorry Linda, if you're just now finding out about this, too.]

So there you have it.  I see a theme of late nights, winter weather in Missouri, and gravel roads.  And maybe sixteen year olds.  And parties.  And being in a hurry.  

That brings me to my first road driving experience, at age 14.  My mom and I had been to my grandparents' house and were driving the two-lane, hilly, curvy highway home.  Like me, my mom is prone to motion sickness, and she had it bad.  She laid down in the seat and let me drive all the way home!  Then she screamed "put on the brakes" as I barely slowed for a ninety degree curve.  We made it, but I never drove on the highway again until I was 15.  Luckily, she wasn't with me for any of the above adventures, except the scene from Christmas Vacation, which she can't really be mad about since she told me to pass. 

And at age 32, I feel like I turned out to be a pretty good driver.  But, I guess you'd have to ask my passengers to be sure.