Archive for May, 2008

We’ve already had our first Jeep flooding incident and unfortunately it didn’t come with the adrenalin of a really good water crossing. We live in apartment during the week and don’t have covered parking. We also live on the back side of the building and can’t see the Jeep from our apartment. To keep from having to put the top up every night we bought a Mopar cab cover which at first we though was brilliant; until it rained.

When the top is down water pools between the sound bar and front window, the elastic straps have too much give in them and don’t keep the cover taught enough for the rain to roll off. So, the water is pooling, the top springs a leak, my husband and I are late for a dinner with his work colleagues and its still raining. We are standing in the rain trying to pull the cover off without all the pooled water going into the Jeep. We undo the back; pull it off over the front and success! Well, at least success for me, the water went my husband’s direction.

We put the top up and instead of putting windows on in the rain decide to put the Mopar cover back on since the only problem was the pooling. Now we have a new problem, with the top up there is a gap between the car body and where the back windows should be allowing rain to get in through the sides. The Mopar top while good in theory fails miserably when it comes to practical use. If I had paid full price for it I’d be really annoyed right now. I read an ad for it that said “keep your interior clean and dry” “can be used top up or top down”. I can now say that both statements are false.

Lesson learned: If there is the slightest possibility of rain get my lazy butt out there and put the top up.

Saturday May 3 was Go Topless Day, I found something about it on All Things Jeep. I searched for local events, found nothing so we decided to have our own topless day. We dropped the top, strapped in the kids and headed for Hobbs State Park. There is a walking trail there called the Van Winkle Trail that we decided to walk. Its half a mile long and my 19 month old walked the entire thing, even the uphill part, not bad for someone who has only been walking 5 months! Here’s a couple of mommy has to brag pics….

I had no chance of Georgie looking up, there were way too many sticks and rocks to ever grab her attention.

Ethan enjoying the ride in his Jeep stroller

We found a dirt road and as normal when we find a dirt road we have to know where it goes. The curiosity has found us some amazing scenery over the years. This time it had us turning around a mile later. With all the recent rain we’ve had the road was cut short by a puddle that looked more like a lake. If you look behind that beautiful red hunk of metal you’ll see our roadblock.

Sunday since the weather was even nicer we decided to head up to Roaring River State Park in Missouri and drive the Sugar Camp Byway. We of course took the first dirt road we came to and decided to see where it went. It was about three miles of beautiful tree covered road with one mud crossing and a lot of loose rocks. Once again we hit a rather large road block; this time in the form of a tree. The little speck in front of the tree is my 6’1 husband.

I can’t believe in one weekend we managed to find two things that not even the Rubicon can get by. Despite not knowing what’s at the end of either trail we feel pretty satisfied. The kids both loved being off the beaten path and going topless and that makes us happy. My husband and I love the outdoors and it’s important to us that we can spend time doing things like this with the kids.

For the next 10 months we are living about an hour and a half from home during the week. We took the Jeep home last trip and took a “short cut” on the trip back. The road we took was a gravel road between Hilltop and Osage in Arkansas. It looks as if it is normally fairly well maintained but given the recent flooding there were some interesting parts to it. It was a beautiful drive and that is half the fun for us, going off the beaten path and avoiding the tourists that are starting to take over NW Arkansas. I am not a patient driver and getting caught behind someone going 35 in a 55 with no way to pass really ticks me off. I don’t mind tourists taking their time and having a look around, it is gorgeous here this time of year. I do mind tourists that do not pull out and let the line of 10 cars behind them they are holding up get by.

Now that my 19 month old can repeat anything she hears I really have to watch what I say when driving and not being able to swear at idiot drivers ticks me off even more. Tourists add about half an hour to what was a short quick little trip. Driving the Jeep adds an additional half hour, she doesn’t zoom around the corners or fly up the hills at the same pace our Yukon with the V8 does.

Here are a few pictures from the road.

This is a groomed part of the road, I was driving so my husband was probably holding on for dear life with his eyes closed over the rocky bits.

There were a few low water crossings

Here’s an old barn right before coming into Osage

Its a short cut I’m sure we’ll take again.

Last week I was inspired by a lady in a grocery store parking lot to start this blog. I was loading my 5 month old son into the back of my 2006 Rubicon and a lady parked next to me said I would need a “practical family car” now. This is our new second car; we had it for three days at that point. We didn’t buy a Jeep because it’s practical; does anyone buy a jeep because it’s practical? Buying a Jeep is buying a lifestyle, a Jeep is not a car and that’s something only a Jeep lover will understand.

So here she is, our third and possibly most expensive child on homecoming day

Here’s the Jeep carrying my family, therefore making it a family car

I’m the first to admit, using a Jeep to haul a 19 month old and a 5 month old does take some creativity.

Dilemma #1 A stroller that will fit

The stroller issue; fortunately my 19 month old prefers to walk now so she wears a harness to keep her from running off. Do you know how hard it is to find a stroller that will fit in a Wrangler? I wasn’t looking for bells and whistles, just something compact and comfortable for my son. I finally settled on a Jeep Wrangler all weather stroller. For something that has the Wrangler name on it not surprisingly it doesn’t fit very well. I can fit it in the back when the top is up but given the season when is the top going to be up? It will fit behind the front seats but not without a few choice words being said.

Dilemma #2 My daughter launching things out the window

I love my daughter; she has a throwing arm that would make most high school quarterbacks jealous. When she is finished with something she launches it, especially her sippy cup. Her car seat has a small hole in the plastic surround so I came up with a cup holder that will keep her from launching it into unsuspecting cars. We tested it yesterday and it was a success, when she accidently dropped her cup she was able to pull on the cord and get it back herself.

Dilemma #3 Keeping the kids protected from the elements

Our new Jeep has already cost us a small fortune in accessories. A bikini top, because we live in an apartment during the week a car cover, Bandz sunglasses for the kids, sun hats with chin straps, saddle bags, the list is never ending. I’m really looking forward to getting the bikini top, today it was a mere 80 out and the black interior was baking us.

I’ll be posting to this blog on a regular basis with pics from our family 4×4 adventures so come back and visit from time to time.