Heading south to go east doesn’t make much sense on the face of it, but it does when you have a date with a piece of the best apple pie in Southern California -- with cheese on it. That was exactly how I wanted to start this strange little road trip, which would ultimately cover more than a thousand miles of mountain roads, interstate, city driving, and pie – lots of pie. At the start of the trail, it all sounded so promising: I had fasted for at least two hours, plotted the route and packed up the Tahoe, which amounted to opening the warehouse-sized liftgate and tossing a few bags in back. It would be easy to see someone of small stature swinging from the end of that liftgate, as big and tall as it was. Granted, this is a large SUV, but shoot – few people really need this much room. And that was it: Myself and a longtime friend, Rafael - the only other person stupid enough to go on this trip - climbed into the cabin, flipped the key and were off, with a full tank of gas, two iPods full of tunes and an open road laying out in front of us.

Driving along a stretch of gently dipping highway, we came along an old man, riding a bike loaded down like a trapper pushing a pelt cart. I slowed down. He looked over his shoulder, and started pedaling faster. I crept up closer, slowly, careful not to upset the bike. He pedaled furiously, his old legs pumping along like pistons, his long white beard swinging to the time. I fell back; the old man deserved more than a shower of rocks and road dirt; I would respect him and wait for an opening, giving him a wide berth. When I got it, I swung out, waved to him and swept by, the 2007 Tahoe responding to my touch immediately. It was a pleasant surprise: Easy to handle, nimble on the twisty roads that lead through the canyons to Julian, Calif., the Tahoe was showing itself to be a dream to drive, eating miles and soaking up bumps. The 5.3-liter V8 engine, which develops 320 horsepower at 5,200 rpm and 340 lb.-ft. of torque at 4,200 rpm, was responsive to throttle command, and the four-speed automatic transmission shifted smoothly through the power band.

Forty miles away from my pie, and Tahoe was proving to be a very nice riding SUV, the kind a typical American family could appreciate.