What Was the First Trip That Made You Glad You Bought a Bronco?

[broadicustomworks]

The first trip that made me glad was the first trip we took the day I bought it.
We could not get any local dealers to commit to MSRP back in the "Day 1 reservations" timeframe.
To be honest I had no grand scheme planned up for any adventures, just really chomping at the bit to get mine and have it.
As the stars aligned a dealer out in Odessa, TX guaranteed MSRP, no add-ons, cheap doc fee, no games. So I transferred my reservation to them and waited. And waited.
Finally the day came when I got news it was scheduled and saw modules popping on like we all watched with feverish intent back then.

Put in vacation, rented a Jeep Wrangler (to make us all thankful for the Bronco and a very great case for a comparison as we transferred our gear from one to the other), and drove from NC to Odessa.
The dealer experience was great (no gimmicks or drama), got in the seat with keys fobs in-hand in less than an hour.

We left there and drove straight to Big Bend. It was my first trip planned solely based on gazing at maps and reading as much as I could about the destination and surrounding area.
It got dark somewhere around Alpine and I had no idea how dark it actually gets way out there on a cloudy night. It was almost tangible blackness out of the windshield. The road going from Terlingua out past Lajitas (and then on to Big Bend Ranch State Park) was downright scary because you would round a peak in the road and the lights shone out into darkness. Knowing the Rio Grande was right there made me tense up a few times when the road appeared again and was to the right several feet after the peak.

Camped that night and sat outside staring at the stars once the clouds broke. I kept finding reasons to "get stuff" out of the Bronco just to gaze at it and sigh, feeling like it wasn't real that I was there, had this wonderful machine, and no set time to be anywhere for a week.
Once we packed up we headed in no particular hurry towards Terlingua and checked out the town, went onward to Big Bend and hit up some offroad "roads" I had gazed at only on Google Maps prior.
It was as happy a moment as I've had in a good long while. Let both girls drive it down Glen Springs road. Near where it meets River Rd it gets sandy and we drove it faster than was legal by a large margin and it handled flawlessly.
After a while exploring down there we meandered back across TX avoiding interstate as much as possible.
Let me tell you, going diagonally across the state from BB back to Dallas, on mostly 2-lane, took 14 hours. Most of it "Farm roads" where the sunbaked pavement looked like it was last maintained somewhere around 1955.
Interstate back home from Dallas.
it opened the door for me to mega-trip plan now twice more and it is still (mostly) smiles 92K miles and 4.5 years later.
It is bittersweet looking back at the trip now, as it was the last trip I had two daughters with me. The older one has more than a touch of motion sickness, so she powered through this trip but I am sure it tripped a breaker in her soul to never be in a car again for that long.
Plus now that they are both grown and working, I am really thankful that the timeframe worked out at just the right time to be able to have those memories.

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[dgorsett]

Took a little camping trip and did som easy class 3 type roads and noticed a connector trail that would allow a loop without backtracking. Got into it and hit about 300 yards of class 6 or 7 stuff and the Bronco did great, eased my mind a bit.

 

[totaljustice]

Driving away from the dealer when I first picked up my Bronco. I had just cancelled my 6Gen 4Runner order due to dealer shenanigans, and just sitting behind the wheel of the Bronco made me realize I dodged that bullet.
it just felt like a special event, and that feeling increased as I drove away. That feeling has not dulled in the slightest.

You beat me to it. Best vehicle ever despite all the BS that goes with these and I still love it!!!

 

[SFChambers]

I was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood and post was closed because of a bad snow storm. My wife ran one of the on post shoppettes and her people started calling her saying they couldn't get in because of the weather. My loving wife said don't worry about it, my husband has a big truck (1979 Bronco XLT) my first Bronco. So we drove around post and picked up her people and nobody was late for work that day. My 22 BB was when I drove it off the lot, felt right being back in a Bronco.

 

[Mabett]

The first trip that made me glad was the first trip we took the day I bought it.
We could not get any local dealers to commit to MSRP back in the "Day 1 reservations" timeframe.
To be honest I had no grand scheme planned up for any adventures, just really chomping at the bit to get mine and have it.
As the stars aligned a dealer out in Odessa, TX guaranteed MSRP, no add-ons, cheap doc fee, no games. So I transferred my reservation to them and waited. And waited.
Finally the day came when I got news it was scheduled and saw modules popping on like we all watched with feverish intent back then.

Put in vacation, rented a Jeep Wrangler (to make us all thankful for the Bronco and a very great case for a comparison as we transferred our gear from one to the other), and drove from NC to Odessa.
The dealer experience was great (no gimmicks or drama), got in the seat with keys fobs in-hand in less than an hour.

We left there and drove straight to Big Bend. It was my first trip planned solely based on gazing at maps and reading as much as I could about the destination and surrounding area.
It got dark somewhere around Alpine and I had no idea how dark it actually gets way out there on a cloudy night. It was almost tangible blackness out of the windshield. The road going from Terlingua out past Lajitas (and then on to Big Bend Ranch State Park) was downright scary because you would round a peak in the road and the lights shone out into darkness. Knowing the Rio Grande was right there made me tense up a few times when the road appeared again and was to the right several feet after the peak.

Camped that night and sat outside staring at the stars once the clouds broke. I kept finding reasons to "get stuff" out of the Bronco just to gaze at it and sigh, feeling like it wasn't real that I was there, had this wonderful machine, and no set time to be anywhere for a week.
Once we packed up we headed in no particular hurry towards Terlingua and checked out the town, went onward to Big Bend and hit up some offroad "roads" I had gazed at only on Google Maps prior.
It was as happy a moment as I've had in a good long while. Let both girls drive it down Glen Springs road. Near where it meets River Rd it gets sandy and we drove it faster than was legal by a large margin and it handled flawlessly.
After a while exploring down there we meandered back across TX avoiding interstate as much as possible.
Let me tell you, going diagonally across the state from BB back to Dallas, on mostly 2-lane, took 14 hours. Most of it "Farm roads" where the sunbaked pavement looked like it was last maintained somewhere around 1955.
Interstate back home from Dallas.
it opened the door for me to mega-trip plan now twice more and it is still (mostly) smiles 92K miles and 4.5 years later.
It is bittersweet looking back at the trip now, as it was the last trip I had two daughters with me. The older one has more than a touch of motion sickness, so she powered through this trip but I am sure it tripped a breaker in her soul to never be in a car again for that long.
Plus now that they are both grown and working, I am really thankful that the timeframe worked out at just the right time to be able to have those memories.

What an incredible story. Driving all the way from North Carolina to Odessa, then heading straight to Big Bend, like the perfect first adventure for your Bronco.

Looking back now, those memories must mean even more!

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