Rio Grande Bridge

Edy was stopping traffic on the bridge across the gorge outside of Taos, NM.

New Mexico Bound

How thrilling to be able to take Edy on a road trip with my friend, Laura! Remember, she's a Jeep Girl too and the reason why I have my own. Edy caught a ton of bugs and grasshoppers on the windshield and grill traveling through the flat lands of Kansas and the Oklahoma panhandle. The view got much better once we crossed into New Mexico and the curvy, ski mountain roads through Eagle Nest and Angel Fire on our way to Taos.

Design Flaw?

As much as I hate to admit it, I think there is one major problem with my Jeep and that's the vertical angle of the windshield. It's like it takes rocks straight on and in over one year I have 5 chips in my windshield. I called KDOT and they told me they sweep the short stretch of highway I travel on my commute every two weeks - but I find that hard to believe. So, today, I bit the $100 deductible bullet and had Safelite replace my windshield outside my office. The guys told me they do replace a lot of Jeep windshields.

To the Lake

I have one favorite lake I like to go to but each time I pick out different campsite areas for a different camping experience. This time, I took the time to set up the tent but put the air mattress on the ground inside the tent instead of in the back of the Jeep. Just to mix it up a bit. The dogs get to swim and I get to spend an entire day sunbathing. I keep it simple and relaxing.

Road Trip Company

Molly kept me company on an 8 hour road trip to Texas over the weekend. She basically slept the entire way. I sacrificed having a drink holder in the front console to allow room for a travel pillow for her head to rest on - such a cutie!

Zombie Apocalypse

This one always looks like it's got somewhere more fun and better to be instead of parked outside my office building. Curiousity got the best of me and I did some searching on the internet about the Zombie Response Team. Check out the interesting techniques to defend against the undead and trick out your ride.

Patriot Rental

I was excited to hear the guy at Hertz tell me I'd be renting a 2011 Jeep Patriot for a recent 3 day, 985 mile work trip. It sat much lower than what I'm accustomed to but was roomy and had some nice features inside. Silly, I know, but the best feature was the shelf in the dash that held all my travel gear like GPS, cords, sunglasses, hand lotion, etc. The satellie radio and lighted cup holders were handy and I found it interesting there was a 2 prong electric outlet in the center console. Makes me think I need to search around in my Wrangler to see if I have this option hidden somewhere.

Drive-in & Camping

I practically spent the entire weekend in the back of my Jeep. Hubby went on a motorcycle trip so I took Mom to the drive-in Friday night. That Sportz air mattress in the back made it pretty comfy and I ended up dozing through both movies. Early Saturday morning I loaded up the dogs and camping gear for a trip out to the lake. Sheba loves to swim and fetch and I thought it would be a good idea for her to teach Molly to love the water too. I decided not to take the tent and we spent Saturday night sleeping in the back as the full moon lit up the night and the windows open to the cool breeze. Waking up to the birds singing and fixing breakfast is my favorite part of camping out.

Island Jeeps

While on our cruise vacation we went to several islands and there were Jeeps everywhere. This one just like mine in St. Thomas only with a Virgin Islands license plate.

Jeep Luggage

I have a nice luggage set already or I would buy every piece of the Jeep luggage that I found at Walmart. I did get the duffel bag on the left to use for camping gear. The bags pictured are canvas suitcases, but I also saw some Jeep plastic hard suitcases in the clearance section. Check it out.

Cold Air

After walking 3 miles for the MS Walk at Sedgwick County park, Molly and I both worked up a sweat and cranked the cold air up high for our drive home. Molly clowns around sticking her face up to the vent and bites at the air.

Road Hazard

I've been losing pressure in my right rear tire the past two weeks. Today I take it into the dealership and the mechanic calls me back to show me the end of a 6" pick lodged into the tire. It was a crazy sight to us all and since it was next to the sidewall it couldn't be patched. Fortunately my dealership is in the tire business and I got a new Goodyear tire for $152. The new tire and spare tire went to the front and used tires to the back. Proof there's some hazardous things out there on the road.

Dog Park

Molly loads up on the weekend to go to the dog park. I remember back when she was a little puppy too small to sit in the seat and now at 9 months she sits pretty. My pretty Jeep dog!

Finally...SNOW!

Another month went painfully by with no snow and then finally...we get about 2 inches. Not what I've been hoping for but enough to make me want to get up early and ride around on the side streets before heading to work this morning. I took great enjoyment out of driving in the center lane snow drifts and throwing a high rooster tail of snow from my back tire. It was a beautiful thing!

A Very Merry Jeep Christmas

Santa really pulled through for me this year with the help of ATJ. I opened a huge box of Jeep goodies to find caps, t-shirts, seat covers, a belt buckle, a mouse pad, a chair with built in cooler, and my most favorite and most wanted gift of them all - a spiderweb shade that clips on to the top roll bars. It made for a great Christmas and will make for a nice, shady summer ahead. Merry Christmas!

Ready for Winter

I keep meaning to order some slush mats before winter and it hits me to ask about them today while I was at the dealership. Wouldn't you know they had them in stock -- making it so easy! Besides just looking rugged cool, they are custom made for the Wrangler and have holes that connect them to the floorboard hooks. The stock carpet mats show every fleck of dirt (and dog hair) so I may end up using these year round.


I also talked the guys at the dealership out of a promo poster for our garage.

THE TOUGHEST VEHICLE IN THE WORLD. ANY WORLD.

Congratulations Laura

Congratulations to my BFF, Laura, on her Christmas present. She traded in her Rubicon for a sporty Sahara. Now we just need to meet halfway (say, Colorado!) for a Jeepers meetup.

10K Maintenance

It's time for Edy's 10,000 mile maintenance at the dealership. Jeep had an exhaust programming recall so that was taken care of as well as another oil change and tire rotation. I got some complimentary fresh baked cookies and she got a complimentary wash and vacuum. She's ready to roll!

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

A Jeep accessory holiday catalog arrived in the mail today. You could close your eyes and point to just about anything and I'd be happy. Or if you have to know, the spare tire bike rack, cargo baskets, rugged floor mats, tube bumpers and bikini tops rank high on my list.

Love, L

A Dry Summer

This year's drought has Cedar Creek Lake in Texas almost 8 foot low. There's no lily pad coves, the palm trees have dried up and died but the cactus continue to prosper.