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I really don’t see myself as the typical adventurous off-road person. I’m just a 31 year old single mom with three kids ages 10, 5 and 2. But I have a 1992 Jeep Cherokee Sport 4×4. It has a 3″ lift, 31″ Maxxis Buckshot Mudder tires and Craggar Black wheels.

Last year I had a 2000 Mazda MPV minivan. My kids surprisingly enjoyed it since it had a VCR, but they weren’t sad to give it to grandma and grandpa.

In fact, the three of them protect “Princess”. We have named “our” Jeep (XJ) Mud Princess.

I practiced off roading on my best friend’s 26-acre property. He has created several trails around his house along the creek.

The practice helped prepare me for my first real off-road adventure in October of 2007. I was on my way to Windrock located in Oliver Springs, Tennessee. There are 73,000 acres that a mining company has leased.

I met with other XJ owners from Yahoo XJlist, most of them from Kentucky. I managed to show them that a woman in a standard Jeep Cherokee can keep up with the upgraded XJs. She did a couple of teeth and scratches, which is no big deal to me.

When you’re off the road, the troubles of the world are forgotten; otherwise you end up hitting a tree, the side of a hill, or hoping to fall off a cliff/mountain. The adrenaline is impressive. Watching the XJ’ers in front of you climb a challenging trail is exhilarating. When it’s your turn, the adrenaline kicks in.

At Windrock on trail 39, I wowed everyone by making it part of the trail that the rest of the group struggled with with their lifted off-road tires. At Windrock I hadn’t done any modifications, so mine was still just a street-ready Jeep Cherokee.

I then blew them up on trail 16, going up an uphill portion of the trail on the first try, while the veterans took two and three tries.

Nine months later we all met near Harlan, Kentucky on Black Mountain. This time my XJ is modified from the street stock it had been.

I have also brought my oldest daughter, my daughter Shiloh, who is 10 years old. After Windrock’s trip, she was really upset that I didn’t take her, so this is kind of a vacation for both of us.

Me, Shiloh and my best friend Janice got together with her husband and also my best friend Mike. He had come the day before just to hang out with the boys. When I say find us I mean half of the entire off-road map. Trail 45 looks innocent at first as it is the main trail. But as it had rained there was mud and a lot of slipping.

However, it was fun being able to track by myself without the guys around. Eventually we hold them in the bowl. The bowl has numerous ATV and ATV trails. After the guys asked me if she was going, I got Janice to ride with me. She really wanted that adrenaline rush. I have it too

The guys had been kidding me ever since I got a chance to practice a few weeks earlier at Coppinger Cove near Jasper, Tennessee. Mike had me try out what looked like an innocent little hill. I almost did a jump from Dukes of Hazard, that’s why the guys made fun of me.

While I was in Kentucky, it kept raining. The first morning at camp (for us ladies) it rained and rained. We had to modify our plans because some of the trails were going to be extremely difficult, if not dangerous. We were all hoping to go to the Mason Jar area but that had to be canceled as the rocks were going to be too slippery. Mike had mentioned a section all the guys had been on before that would require tying down to keep from falling down the side of the mountain. Since he was slippery from the rain, the boys just didn’t want to take any chances.

Most of us went up trail 15 when it was nice and muddy. Halfway through the first section it was very slippery. It was fun though since I ended up being the last person. Neal, our leader and “expert” was in front of me. After the third leg I made him look bad as I made up all three on the first few tries. Apparently Neal forgot to put his XJ in 4 Low like everyone else had.

One of the things I got a chance to do was try out the beginning of the rock garden. Since I couldn’t get my rock rails on before Kentucky (only one was ready to go), Neal decided to let me try the first part. Hopefully on our next adventure we’ll have the rails down so we can try out a rock garden.

After we got home, some of the guys expressed how they were still amazed that I completed the trails that some of the amateurs struggled with. We all have fun, which is the most important part of Spring Flings and Fall Crawls.

Living in the southeastern part of Tennessee, it’s not unusual to see a lifted XJ or really any lifted SUV or truck with larger tires. For some of us, off-road driving has become a part of life. It is a way to get away for a while from a world that can sometimes be cruel. We get an adrenaline rush that tends to build confidence in a positive way.

Normally it is the men who do everything possible. But for them, seeing a woman doing it makes it even more fun and exciting.