Look out Sydney, I'm Driving Now!!

Well...let's not get crazy. I only drove to church and back on Sunday morning but it is something. It's a good 20 minutes or so each way, so it counts. Now I've fondly nicknamed the jeep "Beast" because well, I feel like I'm in a tank when I'm in it.
My first amazing feat was to get Beast out of the parking garage (or car park as they they call it here). Picture a lot of backing up, going forward, backing up, going forward. And that was just to get out of the parking spot. Phil kept reminding me to make wide turns and crank the steering wheel all the way over when I made the turns in the garage but one thing at a time. I'm still trying to get used to everything being on the opposite side of the car.
I never realized how instinctual driving is. My hand would go to dials, switches, and the gear shift that wasn't there as my eyes would automatically go to the rearview mirror that wasn't there. This is going to take a lot of practice.
Once I got on the road, I believe we were crossing the Harbor Bridge when precious Phil glanced at his watch and remarked, "Hm...maybe we should've left a little earlier. Do you see all the cars that are flying past us?" Okay...yes, I was going a bit slow..but give me a break. It was my first time.
Another thing to get used to is the tendency to drift to the left while you're in the lane. Phil kept reminding me to "Watch your lane". I was getting flash backs to being 16 sitting in the car with my driving instructor.
We made it to church just fine. I asked Phil how I did and again...sweet thing...said, "Well...besides almost taking off the side of the car a few times in the parking garage, not bad." Good enough...I'll take it.
After church I drove to the local mall where we eat at the food court every Sunday for lunch and even drove home. Not sure if I'm ready to solo yet...okay, I know I'm not ready to solo yet, but still, it felt good to finally try.