Pictured above and below: The Toyota Trucks Off Road On Site Adventure

This year's buzzword at the Orange County Auto Show is "interactive." I've always thought that auto shows were interactive by nature - climbing in and out of new-model cars to test the seats and count the cup holders, ogling the concept cars, and fiddling around with the interactive computer presentations you see at more and more manufacturer's exhibits.

Even so, it's pretty hard to top this year's Toyota Trucks Off Road On Site Adventure for meaty interactive fun. I highly recommend it, especially to those who are only moderately interested in off-roading. My prediction: they've got a surprise coming.

In point of fact, an awful lot of 4x4 drivers never even take their trucks or SUVs off road - an astounding 85 percent, according to Toyota product specialist Melissa Donia. More than a few show up at the Off Road Adventure.

"For some reason, people feel a lot more comfortable attempting their first off-road venture in somebody else's truck on somebody else's dirt," Donia explained with a grin.

No doubt many people come away with a much deeper appreciate of their 4x4s when an auto show comes to town with the Toyota adventure. It's in its third year at auto shows across the nation, though this is its first appearance at OCAS.

It happens like this: About five dozen dump trucks filled with dirt, rocks and gravel pull up to the auto show venue - in this case, the Anaheim Convention Center - and proceed to transform an area such as loading docks or a parking lot into an obstacle course of berms, moguls, teeter-totters, gravel pits and more.

It sounds tame, and may even look tame, but once you drive it you come away with a whole new respect for what 60 dump trucks and a 4x4 can do.

She and Toyota professional driver Brian Bradley let me take the wheel of an automatic-transmission Tacoma 4x4. Up to that point, the closest I'd ever come to off-roading was accidentally driving my old '64 Rambler into a ditch during high school.

The first challenge on the course was a teeter-totter - yes, you heard right. Up one side nice and, gradually, and down the other in a cold drop! What a rush! Next, I gingerly drove along a fairly steep slope, afraid I might roll the Tacoma. Then came a series of moguls; it was like being on the open sea in a storm.

And with every lurch and bump, it got more fun. Next came a bridge whose access is not for the faint of heart. The incline to the top is so nearly vertical that, if not for the tall flags lining either side of the course, it would be impossible to see where you're headed. And then you have to go down an equally steep drop on the other side!

But I made it, and about that time Donia remarked that through all of that lurching and lumbering and churning over rocks and moguls and dirt, there was nary a squeak or rattle from the Tacoma. Odd. I hadn't noticed!

By this time, I was getting a little braver. Another one of those steeply banked turns was coming up. This time I thought I'd maybe try to roll the Tacoma (Hey, why not? We were wearing seatbelts!). No luck, though compared to a veteran 4x4 off-roader, I was probably driving like a great-grandmother.

Next came a pile of rocks, another banked slope, more moguls, and on for a second go-round of the course. I found myself wishing I could drive this course for an hour or two just to warm up.

Alas, I couldn't - I was on a tight schedule. I chastised Donia and Bradley.

"Now you've done it," I said. "I have no earthly need for a 4x4, but I really want one now."

And it was true.

Meanwhile, Jess, the Register photographer, was waiting patiently for me to finish.

"You should have kept your tape recorder on," he said. "You were whooping and hollering all the way around the course."

I hadn't even been aware of it. Apparently, that's par for the course, no pun intended.

"Everybody, when they do this and we ask them how it was, they give us a big thumbs-up and a huge smile," she said. "We hope this course either encourages them to start enjoying the off-road capabilities of the 4x4 they own, or if they don't own one and were worrying about the mechanics, we can show them how it works so they can pursue with a little more confidence the possibility of buying one."

Toyota's Off Road On Site Adventure will be held 1 to 9 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Drivers must be 18 or older and have a valid driver's license. For details, visit www.toyotaoffroadonsite.com.