Yoga and the Art of Motorcycle Riding: Christmas in July

It's time for an adventure between adventures!

For Christmas last year, I bought Sean a morning of tank driving. Yep...in a military tank. Driving it.

He cashed his gift in on Saturday morning as we got up early and drove about an hour south to Kasota, Minnesota, and Drive a Tank.

Drive a Tank has been featured recently on some Military Channel shows, local news and on Larry the Cable Guy's Only in America.

Tony, the owner, purchased several foreign tanks, created a driving course, and now instructs drivers on how to drive a tank, safety regulations (always stand to the side of a tank, not in front, not in back. Makes sense.) and some interesting tank history.

While one part of our group headed out to the tank course, Sean got a chance to shoot a really big gun. Sean: It was a Sten 9mm sub-machine gun from World War II.

He did really well and had a big grin on his face afterwards.

We boarded a 5-ton troop transporter truck (Sean: A FV432 Amoured Personnel Carrier) and drove out to the course, er battlefield.

Then hopped aboard the tank (Sean: A British FV433 Abbot Self Propelled Gun) and took off.

Actually, it wasn't quite that easy. Getting into those things is kind of hard. I squished myself in the back and up a couple steps to the observer's post. Sean crammed himself in the driver's seat up front. Our Tank Commander just sat on the tank and told Sean where to go.

Side note: we were told that the optimum size for a tank driver was 5' to 5'6".

The course about about a mile long and really bumpy, in the back anyway, but reportedly a lot smoother up front. Those things really do go through anything, including big waterholes...

...and over cars and trailer houses, though we didn't buy the package that included that much fun.

The drive was successful.

Then Sean took the opportunity to shoot another big gun. Sean: it was an MG-42, a German machine gun. He was vibrating so much as he was shooting that I couldn't even get a good picture.