On July 19, 2002 I returned from Fort Leonardwood Missouri to Braintree, Ma at about midnight to the sight of my sister and her boyfriend, H and Caity waiting at my house. I was gone for 4 months and 2 days exactly. Yes, it sucked, but it did actually go by pretty fast. The one positive thing I can say about it was when I got back I had some money! I spent about $700 putting on some 31x10.5-15 BFG AT KO's on my stock rims, getting them balanced and aligned...and DAYUM, did she look good. One night Maxima Mike, H and Regan came over. Regan had bought a gunmetal Cherokee and really hadn't taken it offroad. H and I coaxed him into taking it to Hanover even though he was worried after losing it like his CJ (the yellow one) to the mud pit in Weymouth. Stillen and H rode with me, cause everyone knows a Wrangler is more fun than a Cherokee :) When you first enter Hanover, there's about 100 yards of straight up deep and loose sand. I entered first and was slowly driving through it, slipping and throwing some sand behind the Jeep. As soon as Regan slipped past the two rocks at the entrance, ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE. He started doing crazy donuts in the sand, throwing the stuff everywhere. H and I watched in horror as the poor Cherokee suffered the abuse that only a Regan can dish out. We stared as the tires spun, sparks flew from the exhaust and the engine revved loudly. After a few minutes of that, I put the Wrangler in gear, getting ready to move further into the pits. I let off the clutch and heard the sand hitting the undercarriage of the Jeep as the rear tires just sank. Time for 4wd before I sink them too low. I pulled it into 4 hi and again let off the clutch when the unthinkable happened - I GOT STUCK! I was having the same problem with the four wheel drive not kicking in and H and I immediately assumed it was the vacuum line we ghetto-fixed with electrical tape and a lighter about 6 months before then. We popped open the hood and checked it out - sure enough, the tape had hardened after sitting for 4 months without being used - it was gonna happen, I knew it would when we first fixed it. The tape was only supposed to be a temporary fix anyway, but it worked so well that I had forgotten about it. I wasn't sure if I could fix it but we pulled off the tape that was on there and re-wrapped it nice and tight...somehow, it worked! It created enough of a seal to actuate the front axle with the vacuum. So we continued to drive around through the sand and dirt, although I avoided most of the more difficult parts in fear that the tape would come loose again. Neither of us went through either of the two DEEP mud holes that JT used to conquer with his lifted and mud-tired TJ.

Oh, before I forget, I also almost got H to buy another Jeep. Here's that story- on my second night back, we went out in the Maxima and picked up some beer. We just started driving around and drinking (great idea, huh?). After about a half hour, we were heading towards Hanover when we saw the familiar grill of a CJ in the shadows of someone's yard on the right. It looked like it was for sale too! We pulled into a church parking lot up the road to turn around and the few people that were there stared in horror at us holding bottles in the car. H and I started pounding the beers, gave them a cheers and headed back to the Jeep. We parked on the side of the road, beer in hand, and started checking it out. I don't remember all the details but it was a 1980 CJ-5 with around 90k miles on the odometer. The for sale sign said it would not pass emissions (big surprise) and the dude wanted $1200. It had the AMC 258 I6, and other typical running gear, was a dark red color, no top, some body work and typical rust and alot of those weird "mods" that the previous owners think are cool (i.e. the p.o. that chopped the lap belts off my first Jeep). We came back a few days later so H could take some pics with his digital camera and so we could check it out in the daylight. It looked like it was in okay shape if it ran and drove well (we never did hear it run). H spent a few days thinking it over but decided he would do it if the guy would take 700 or so.

I loved my Jeep...I really did. But a 17 hour drive to Atlanta in 2 weeks was starting to consume my thoughts. A 2 hour drive to Maine in my 4 cylinder Jeep was punishment enough...it just didn't have enough power and it was geared too low for realistic highway driving. Also, everyone was starting to talk about getting cars and getting away from the whole Jeep thing...It had been going on for almost 5 years, we were bound to get sick of it eventually. So one night, H, Stillen and I took some beer and went to the local Nissan dealership (both Stillen and H were still driving Maxima's then and they had alot of influence over what cars I would look at). The dealership was closed so we walked around drinking and looking at the new Nissan's. They all looked so nice, fast, new and comfortable compared to my old YJ. Then H spotted it, ONE, the only ONE on the lot - a 2002 Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V. It had every option available and looked sweet. White with the lava interior, 2.5L 175 HP, 170 ft lbs torque, 6 speed, 17" rims with contisport Z rated tires, Rockford Fosgate sound system with a 6 disc in dash CD player, strut tower brace, rear sway bar...it was nice. H and I returned July 31 and test drove it, I hit 90 easily on the highway during rush hour swerving around cars and changing lanes abruptly (a typical test drive for us) I think the sales dude was shocked when I said I'd buy it. After alot of haggling - mainly by H :) I got 6,500 for my Jeep - which was nice considering I only paid 7500 for it, put 10k miles on and beat the shit out of it. I enjoyed the Spec and got a lot of good comments on it, except from the ex and my parents who both liked the Jeep the way it was...but oh well. I have a lot of plans for the Spec, it should be a mean little car when I'm done - sorry for everyone who e-mailed me and was following the Jeep story. I'm sure I'll get another Jeep, but it's gonna be a while...check out my Spec page though for my continuing story on that...it's gonna be fun, I promise :)