Tag Archives: midwest jeep thing

Jeep

Trail Building

Sio and I drove to the Washita MX facility to help the Midwest Jeep Thing folks build trails for Jeepstock (coming up in about a month). This is a big event for the club, and they’ve been working down at Washita to clear trails in advance of the event.

We met the group at the McDonalds at Farmington, where I quickly figured out that these folks were serious — my Jeep was the smallest of the lot! We loaded up and followed them to Washita. After a quick lesson in how to read the trail map, we were on our way…. and I was faced with a 15-20′ hill that to me looked like it went straight up! Of course, that wasn’t a big deal, and the road to our first stop was flat and uneventful. I thought this was what we’d see the rest of the way.

I was wrong.

We finished up and decided to go on some of the logging roads — described to be easy to get around on — and that’s when I discovered that my version of “easy” and theirs were a little different. The logging road was rutted and pretty tough for me to cover. I made it thought, and we walked up an extreme trail, clearing what we could. I looked at the boulders, and couldn’t believe folks put their vehicles over them, but the evidence was there… plenty of scars on top of the boulders.

While we were there, some Jeeps and trucks came through, crawling the rocks and pounding the undersides of their vehicles on the boulders. And of the group of five, two had mechanical failures — one with a broken U-joint, and the other with a tire that came off the rim. Neither of those would I be equipped to fix, and yet there they were, pulling out tools, and getting ’em back on the road.

Once we finished with our trail clearing, the folks there decided to see if a couple of their “easy” trails were passable by a stock JK. In other words, I became a science experiment. 🙂 The first trail was a grass trail through the forest, climbing up and down the sides of stream beds. It wasn’t too bad, but there were some places on that trail I wouldn’t have tried without someone leading me along. And then we hit the easy trail.

I couldn’t believe some of the climbs on this one! And it’s on this trail that I got my first “love tap” on the Jeep. Sio looked back and told me that I had dented the plastic fender on the rear passenger side. And apparently that was so much fun that I did it again. But this time, I took down the tree that was in the way. 🙂 Shouldn’t be a big thing to bang out, and after all, I didn’t buy the Jeep for its resale value!

All in all, it was a fun day, and a great opportunity to gain some experience and confidence with my new toy. I’m sure we’ll be back out to Washita to play again!

Jeep

Singing in the Rain

The Midwest Jeepthing had their picnic today in Crestwood. And, despite the possiblity of rain, Sio and I took the doors off the Jeep, and lowered the top all the way — both for the first time. Being topless and doorless, you could say the Jeep was naked, but I’d tell you it was “nekkid”. Naked just means you have no clothes; nekkid means you’re naked, and having fun. 🙂

I also conjured up a big batch of baked beans, based on Mom’s recipe — another first on the day.

We got to the park right at 2pm, and met some of the MWJT folks for the first time. Friendly bunch of folks, and real knowledgeable. And, most importantly, I didn’t get any guff about my Unlimited being a “soccer mom” Jeep! 🙂 In all, there were just over a dozen Jeeps there, with grilled burgers and all kinds of sides. Good food, good folks, and great weather…. until the wind shifted.

I was talking with someone, and suddenly, you could feel the wind shift eerily, and with the shift came a push of much cooler air, and significant dark clouds. Sio and I decided to high tail it out of there and try to get home before the rains started. We got just a few blocks from the park when we decided to put the top back up. As it ends up that was a good move. The doors were in the garage at home, as were the zip-off windows for the soft top, so that was as much as we could do on the road.

Once we hit the interstate, the rains came down, adding to the street wetness that was already there from a previous squall line. Impressively, most of the rain stayed out of the Jeep, with only the spray kicked up by passing vehicles really getting into the cabin. We made it home, with a side stop at Silky’s for some custard, and neither Sio nor I were too wet. Even the Jeep was relatively dry. But man, did we get some amused looks as we drove through the rain.

So how was the ride, you might ask? Well, glorious is the word that comes to mind. Having no doors or roof on the Jeep really gives a sense of freedom that I’ve never experienced with any other vehicle. In fact, you can hear so very much more — other folks’ tires, your own engine, wildlife — that it’s almost disruptive at first. Every normal sound that goes on around you can be heard easily, not just the loudest ones. And being engulfed by the air as you drive is exhilarating. This work week is supposed to be sunny and warm, so I think I’ll keep my Jeep configured nekkid this week.

My only complaint was the lack of a passenger side mirror. I didn’t realize how much I relied on that one, so only having a driver side just isn’t quite enough to keep me feeling happy and safe. I’ll need to figure that one out over the next week, but I’m thinking that the Mopar mirror I installed last week isn’t gonna be the right answer. No big deal.

This was a way fun experience on all kinds of levels. I sure wish I’d gotten one of these a long time ago!