While waiting for Odie to get groomed yesterday (we went to the same groomer we used last time we were here. She looked at his card and said, 'yep, you were here exactly one year and one day ago!') we saw a sign on the main street of Beach Haven that said Segway Rentals. Jim had heard that this was available here so we readily looked at each other and said, "Let's do it!"

We've been fascinated with this invention ever since my Mom told us to read about 'Ginger' many years ago. Both Jim and I have gotten on one before, but just for a few minutes. This operation in Beach Haven is just perfect. First you get some personalized instruction.



Then, you get to practice on an indoor 'course'. Swerving in and out among the cones gives you practice using the hand control on the left handle bar. Twist to the left and you turn left, twist to the right and you turn right. Sounds simple enough, but it can be surprising how easy it is for your brain to get mixed up between left and right!



The really simple part is forward, backward and stop. It's almost as easy as 'think about going forward' or 'think about going backward'. Just lean your body a little bit in the right direction - and you go. Straighten up, and you stop. While we were just standing on the Segway listening to Paul, he pointed out that we were kind of 'rocking' forward, back, forward, back. He said that's the sign of someone getting comfortable on it. Well, cool!

After the training and practice, the instructor takes you on a guided 'glide' (it's not called driving or riding - but gliding). So, we gave him the camera!



The only unexpected part of the experience was that, when you're going down the street and you lean forward to go faster, it would lean back! Basically saying, 'no, no, no, you're going fast enough now.'

Hey--that's COOL!!!
If it weren't for the weight restriction (carrying capacity) I'd have owned one years ago!