For what it's worth, I had a Trek 800 for about 5 years and it was my path to the path, so to speak. I road it on all kinds of trails in this area, no jumps or major obstacles, but not flat gravel either.
When I did an endo in a ditch (ouch!) and broke some things I decided to replace it late last fall. I still use it to tow my kids in the bike trailer. As someone said above, it's a great place to start, not to mention hands down better than Wally World...
Welcome to the club!
