Thank you everyone for your responses!!! I read everyone's posts and did a ton of online research. Soooo drumroll....
I bought a truck! I actually wasn't planning to buy one so soon, but the dealership I went to had 2 trucks that fit my parameters and they were ready to play ball.
So, I tried a 2015 Ram 2500, gas, 4x4, V8 hemi with only 7,000 miles on it and factory warranty, and a very pretty 2014 Ford Lariat F-350 diesel with 79,000 miles. The Ford was about 8K more in list price than the Ram, but also needed new tires in probably the next few months and a gooseneck hitch installed (so about 2K more immediately). Test drove both, really liked both. Sweated it out for a while.
Ultimately, I decided on the Ram. I was concerned that the diesel would not fair well with limited driving (have heard their engines do best with driving them regularly) and was concerned that it would have more expensive maintenance over time (I almost fell out of my chair when they told me the price of an oil change for a diesel truck). For me, I'm not likely to haul more than an hour or two once or twice a month and so the diesel just seemed like overkill for my needs. Still, I had trouble walking away from the more powerful truck.
Hopefully I made the right choice. I have 5 days to change my mind and then, of course, I can always trade in if long term it doesn't meet my needs. In the meantime, I'm SUPER excited. It is an amazing AMAZING sense of freedom and independence to not have to rely on others to haul me. Coordinating schedules, messaging about rides, feeling guilty about borrowing trucks be gone!
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Again thank you all for your advice, it was invaluable!
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