About a month ago, I took a trip with my Dad to do some late season fly-fishing (something we try to do together at least once a year). This year, it was Sun Valley, ID, a favorite place featuring the Big Wood River and the amazing Silver Creek. Since time was short and the distance prohibited driving (the journey is usually part of the fun), we rented a car there. As a pleasant surprise, the rental company upgraded us to an SUV - in this case, a Toyota 4-Runner.

The next day, while scouting out good fishing spots, I found myself driving down a rough, double-track dirt road. It was bumpy and filled with what seemed like two-foot deep potholes. It was incredibly rough and bouncy - a road that would cause a normal car to become high-centered.

And, then it happened - I felt this urge to stomp on the gas pedal and start blasting over the potholes as if we could traverse anything and survive. After common sense prevailed (I did, in fact, accelerate for about 25 yards...and it was fun), I realized I had been manipulated. Those Toyota TV ads actually worked! If you haven't seen them, watch as their trucks survive meteors, roll around in the surf, and get tossed around by Nessie and the drivers being able to drive away. It had been scorched into my mind. I instinctively thought I could do the same.

Scary... But, know what's really crazy? The ads are for the Toyota Tacoma trucks. I was driving a Toyota 4-Runner. So, I guess ALL Toyotas are unbreakable.

Here's the meteor ad if you haven't seen it.