Trip to Moab - through wife, Jacque\'s eyes ...
I asked my wife, Jacque if she ever finished her memoir on her first Jeep adventure... she's always writing and e-mailing them to her friends, mother and our son in college. I got a big kick and belly laugh out of reading it ... so I thought some of you might enjoy it too /wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif.
So here it is, verbatim ... and with her permission.
[Untitled]
... but I call it "Jacque's Moab Adventure"
"I knew it was going to be a different camping trip when I opened the cooler John had dug from the Dungeon and it was full of beer. I had 3 inches to pack 2 1/2 days of food.
We used to go camping quite a bit and had developed "The Camping Checklist". Some of the items on the list I thought we didn't need anymore. One if them was a lantern. Since it's daylight until 9 PM in June, I thought we could dispense with the light and the weight not to mention the hissing sound. Unfortunately we did not get to our destination until 10 PM. We had to unload by truck headlights. We also kept the car running since a dead battery is a serious inconvenience out here. This upset our neighbor who came bounding into our camp with a headlight on her forehead. She wanted to know when we were going to turn off our engine as it was very disturbing. So then instead of a lantern or headlights, we fixed dinner to two little bug candles and a large campfire which unfortunately used most our firewood we brought for 2 days' cooking. There are other items that were on the "Camping Checklist" I ignored. A spatula. a hatchet, coffee pot, sufficient water and I forgot about ice. We had to make a trip into Moab in the morning to get ice - but hey - the beer is cold!
The Jeep off-roading culture is foreign to me. You couldn't call me a voyeur - more like a reluctant participant. "Some Jeep Chic you are", says John. The Jeeps encountered in a place like Moab differ from the showroom Jeeps. In fact those Jeeps are looked at with disdain. They're bought not built. Toyotas are greeted with similar feelings.
John has spent the last four years building the Princess. Every part of her body and engine has been judged, rejudged and probably replaced a couple of times. The Princess started as a 1983 Jeep. John took her down to the frame and started again. Her age is indiscriminate now because her parts are a combination of rebuilt, new and customized. Some of her attributes are lockers, super low gears, heavy duty suspension, lifts and more.
Having NEVER been off-roading before, John told me about a real easy trail by the river he would take me on first. It wouldn't have anything to scare me and would be beautiful, too. Here's what really happened… On our way to the store to get ice (remember I forgot ice?), John recognized Jeff's Jeep. Jeff is a friend from a Jeep Internet site. They exchange pictures of all their dare doings so John could tell Jeff's Jeep from all the other Jeeps in Moab. It looked industrial. John yelled and Jeff and his two other Jeeper friends stopped. Jeff invited us to go along with them on their first run - Hell's Revenge! John was all for it. We got our ice taken care of and went to the start of the trail.
We got to the start of the trail. There are cute little flames stenciled on the rock as trail markers. That wasn't my first clue though of things to come. A large sandstone mountain going straight up with the little flames was my clue. I got out of the Jeep.
I said "No way am I going up that! I'll walk!"
John said "It's about 14 miles. Get in the Jeep!"
I got in and buckled up. Everybody wears their seatbelts in Jeeps like these. I couldn't speak due to the wad of fear in my throat. By the time we got up the first of 28 gates - the top of that mountain - I was hyperventilating. After that I resigned myself to whatever fate would do to me. By gate 5 I thought I had seen it all but then there was another slickrock mound that was twice as steep and 5 times higher than that first little hill. It was called Giant Slickrock Dome or something like that. The Princess never missed a beat of course. She has full lockers and gears like a tractor. Once in a while when I could, I would look out on the most beautiful scenery in the world. 360 degrees panoramas.
We caught up to Jeff's little group about gate 8. There was Jeff and his girlfriend Kathy. Michael and his wife Lisa in their Jeep and Ron in his Jeep and they were all from Las Vegas, Nevada. Their Jeeps all had tires that had tread on the sides in addition to tread on the bottom. Ron had a camera set up to tell him what his off tires were going over. Jeff's Jeep has aircraft landing lights inside his wheel wells and mounted on his axles so he can drive trails at night. Every gismo known isn't enough.
These people have no fear factor. Michael took his Jeep into a "toilet bowl" which is nothing but a deep pit in the sandstone. He had to be winched out. Jeff got stuck in the Escalator which is first a 15 foot straight up path followed by a V shaped wedge where you have to drive along the sides of the hole - which is why they have treads on the sides of their tires. He ended up wedged in the hole nose up and tipped on his side. No big deal - somebody winched him out, too.
I was an old pro by the time we finally got out of there. At least I could breathe normally again.
Later that evening, Jeff would break a U joint on Potato Salad Hill and John would break an axle on Dump and Bump. The Princess made it up Dump and Bump before the axle broke though. John said he's getting stronger axles next.
All these guys spend their off time building and fixing their Jeeps. They trust their machinery with their lives. Jeff has had 4 hard roll-overs he told me. I asked him what a soft roll-over was and he said that's just when you tip over. He doesn't count those.
John was going to take me on an easy trail called Fins and Things yesterday morning. The princess couldn't go though with a broken axle which was just fine with me because I looked up the trail in the book and it said "D" for difficult. I asked John just what he thought was easy about that trail and he said anyone could probably make it in a stock vehicle. Oh yeah.
We came limping home. Until John installs a new axle I don't have to worry about my life.
I did get promoted to "Jeep Chic Trainee" though."
JAF
http://www.monsterslayer.com/jeep
I asked my wife, Jacque if she ever finished her memoir on her first Jeep adventure... she's always writing and e-mailing them to her friends, mother and our son in college. I got a big kick and belly laugh out of reading it ... so I thought some of you might enjoy it too /wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif.
So here it is, verbatim ... and with her permission.
[Untitled]
... but I call it "Jacque's Moab Adventure"
"I knew it was going to be a different camping trip when I opened the cooler John had dug from the Dungeon and it was full of beer. I had 3 inches to pack 2 1/2 days of food.
We used to go camping quite a bit and had developed "The Camping Checklist". Some of the items on the list I thought we didn't need anymore. One if them was a lantern. Since it's daylight until 9 PM in June, I thought we could dispense with the light and the weight not to mention the hissing sound. Unfortunately we did not get to our destination until 10 PM. We had to unload by truck headlights. We also kept the car running since a dead battery is a serious inconvenience out here. This upset our neighbor who came bounding into our camp with a headlight on her forehead. She wanted to know when we were going to turn off our engine as it was very disturbing. So then instead of a lantern or headlights, we fixed dinner to two little bug candles and a large campfire which unfortunately used most our firewood we brought for 2 days' cooking. There are other items that were on the "Camping Checklist" I ignored. A spatula. a hatchet, coffee pot, sufficient water and I forgot about ice. We had to make a trip into Moab in the morning to get ice - but hey - the beer is cold!
The Jeep off-roading culture is foreign to me. You couldn't call me a voyeur - more like a reluctant participant. "Some Jeep Chic you are", says John. The Jeeps encountered in a place like Moab differ from the showroom Jeeps. In fact those Jeeps are looked at with disdain. They're bought not built. Toyotas are greeted with similar feelings.
John has spent the last four years building the Princess. Every part of her body and engine has been judged, rejudged and probably replaced a couple of times. The Princess started as a 1983 Jeep. John took her down to the frame and started again. Her age is indiscriminate now because her parts are a combination of rebuilt, new and customized. Some of her attributes are lockers, super low gears, heavy duty suspension, lifts and more.
Having NEVER been off-roading before, John told me about a real easy trail by the river he would take me on first. It wouldn't have anything to scare me and would be beautiful, too. Here's what really happened… On our way to the store to get ice (remember I forgot ice?), John recognized Jeff's Jeep. Jeff is a friend from a Jeep Internet site. They exchange pictures of all their dare doings so John could tell Jeff's Jeep from all the other Jeeps in Moab. It looked industrial. John yelled and Jeff and his two other Jeeper friends stopped. Jeff invited us to go along with them on their first run - Hell's Revenge! John was all for it. We got our ice taken care of and went to the start of the trail.
We got to the start of the trail. There are cute little flames stenciled on the rock as trail markers. That wasn't my first clue though of things to come. A large sandstone mountain going straight up with the little flames was my clue. I got out of the Jeep.
I said "No way am I going up that! I'll walk!"
John said "It's about 14 miles. Get in the Jeep!"
I got in and buckled up. Everybody wears their seatbelts in Jeeps like these. I couldn't speak due to the wad of fear in my throat. By the time we got up the first of 28 gates - the top of that mountain - I was hyperventilating. After that I resigned myself to whatever fate would do to me. By gate 5 I thought I had seen it all but then there was another slickrock mound that was twice as steep and 5 times higher than that first little hill. It was called Giant Slickrock Dome or something like that. The Princess never missed a beat of course. She has full lockers and gears like a tractor. Once in a while when I could, I would look out on the most beautiful scenery in the world. 360 degrees panoramas.
We caught up to Jeff's little group about gate 8. There was Jeff and his girlfriend Kathy. Michael and his wife Lisa in their Jeep and Ron in his Jeep and they were all from Las Vegas, Nevada. Their Jeeps all had tires that had tread on the sides in addition to tread on the bottom. Ron had a camera set up to tell him what his off tires were going over. Jeff's Jeep has aircraft landing lights inside his wheel wells and mounted on his axles so he can drive trails at night. Every gismo known isn't enough.
These people have no fear factor. Michael took his Jeep into a "toilet bowl" which is nothing but a deep pit in the sandstone. He had to be winched out. Jeff got stuck in the Escalator which is first a 15 foot straight up path followed by a V shaped wedge where you have to drive along the sides of the hole - which is why they have treads on the sides of their tires. He ended up wedged in the hole nose up and tipped on his side. No big deal - somebody winched him out, too.
I was an old pro by the time we finally got out of there. At least I could breathe normally again.
Later that evening, Jeff would break a U joint on Potato Salad Hill and John would break an axle on Dump and Bump. The Princess made it up Dump and Bump before the axle broke though. John said he's getting stronger axles next.
All these guys spend their off time building and fixing their Jeeps. They trust their machinery with their lives. Jeff has had 4 hard roll-overs he told me. I asked him what a soft roll-over was and he said that's just when you tip over. He doesn't count those.
John was going to take me on an easy trail called Fins and Things yesterday morning. The princess couldn't go though with a broken axle which was just fine with me because I looked up the trail in the book and it said "D" for difficult. I asked John just what he thought was easy about that trail and he said anyone could probably make it in a stock vehicle. Oh yeah.
We came limping home. Until John installs a new axle I don't have to worry about my life.
I did get promoted to "Jeep Chic Trainee" though."
JAF
http://www.monsterslayer.com/jeep
