More DirtRoadTrip Photos

Creepin'

 I don't own any of these photos. All courtesy of DirtRoadTrip, check them out!

DirtRoadTrip

Downloaded one of the pictures from Alex over at DirtRoadTrip.  TJC met Alex at the Uwharrie Spring Jamboree. He was crazy enough to stick around and go on a (ridiculously long) night run, and snapped some photos along the way.  We all really enjoyed having him around, and he fit right in with our smart-ass group. :)  Needless to say I think we will be planning a trip with him soon!

That is Vadr on the front left!

Obviously not my picture, from the awesome guys over at dirtroadtrip.com

Check out DirtRoadTrip's website (here)!  They are putting up some awesome stuff, and have a great philosophy.

Disconnect to Reconnect

Spent the weekend in Uwharrie National Forrest with my Jeep family and some new friends.  I have to say it was a good weekend. My phone was off/dead, so I don't have many pictures to contribute.  I want to get a nice camera (and learn how to use it).

Three Good Things:

1. Camping (the obvious first choice)
2. Jeep (the obvious second choice)
3. Fresh air - for almost 48 hours the only walls that held me in were the tent.

Again

Once again I am failing at this whole daily update thing.  I've never been the greatest at it.  I will try to post an extra :)

Three Good Things:

1. Spare driveshaft. I'm pretty happy that I have a spare driveshaft, my current rear one is squeaking away. 
2. 50 mpg.  I made a smart purchase, although I'm still pretty poor.  I couldn't pass up a deal on a vehicle that really will be a reliable and economical purchase. I cheated a little bit though, it was my dad's old car. My parents were going to trade it in, but J talked some sense into me and said that it may be rough on my wallet now, but it will benefit it later. Say hello to the 2009 Jetta TDI!
3. Blessed. I have three vehicles, I never thought I would be this blessed. I need to do a little bit of fixing up on the truck and the Jetta.
4. Protein. Finally made a great tasting protein shake.  I just need to tone up a bit more, I've really slacked a lot on my running.  I really do hope I will have  more time for that when I am done with residency.

Tomorrow is the first night J and I have set aside to have sit-down, across-the-table dinner with each other.  When things got ugly he made the suggestion that we do this weekly.  It is often hard with both of our schedules to have a sit-down dinner that isn't just fast-food snacks.  I think it is so important and it really does make me happy that he does as well.  No TV, cell phones or distractions; I'm am so excited!

Only Good Thing About This Weekend

Your daily Jeep porn

(see full image)

I Park There on Purpose....Sometimes

(see full image)

:)

Uwharrie Spring Jamboree Teasers

Poser Rock

Daniel - 1st ledge

Follow -up to DIY Hardtop Cart

I finally put my DIY hardtop cart from Radiators & Saturday Ramblings into action.

Almost finished product.  What you can't see is the padding (in the form of a rubber welcome mat) I used for the places that the top will contact with the cart.

Top off, and easy to roll around.  Huge improvement from storing it on the ground, and a big space saver. 

Removed all of the worn-out stock "spice" roll-bar padding and the sound bar Saturday night.

Got her outside and did some deep cleaning (although I don't know why...URE dust gets everywhere, especially clean spots).

Updated my faded "purple" sound bar with some black fabric paint.

Sound bar reattached, and it looks brand new. 

 It was a rather crappy weekend, so I just focused on the Jeep.

4x4 Community Love

The 4x4 community really can't be made of any better people.  Got stopped at Advance Auto when I went to pick up some stuff and a lady talked about my Jeep for about 30 minutes. There really are only a few bad apples.

I'm going to go back outside and enjoy this great weather with a People's Porter and leftover wings for lunch.

Radiators & Saturday Ramblings

In 2011 I replaced my OEM radiator with a CSF "heavy duty" radiator for RadiatorBarn.  It was the first minor Jeep repair/project I did, all because I couldn't afford the $600 price-tag a shop was going to charge me (at the time I was a poor graduate student...heh...I'm still poor).  3 years went by and when the TJ was under going her lift, she started leaking from the rad.  So I've started looking for a replacement, and settled on an all aluminum (say it the British way) 2-core one.  But while I'm replacing that, I might as well replace the water pump (for a high-flow version) and the thermostat, since both are OEM.

My OEM radiator with ~110k miles on it.  You can see the leaks from the plastic cap.

New radiator in and everything hooked back up. I  was so proud of myself...had I only known that it was just the beginning.

Oh the list of things to do to the Jeep just grows and grows.  I need to do an oil change today too.  Then I got thinking about how ugly my front exhaust pipe is, so I'm going to pick up some VHT Flameproof paint (withstands temperatures up to 2000°F) in flat black to coat it.

Front exhaust pipe sitting on  my trans skid plate during the TJ build.

I also want to build a hardtop storage cart today.  Pre-built ones range from $160 to >$200...bump that.  I did some digging and found plans for a wooden cart.

I will add another piece of wood across the front, to add some rigidity to the frame. 

Not my picture, but it represents how I will store the hardtop.

In other news, we are supposed to have torrential downpours tomorrow and even sleet/freezing rain/snow/crap on Monday.  Regardless of the poor weather outlook, I am pretty happy. I got to spend a pretty big chunk of time with my man last night and man did I miss him.  I've got his birthday gift ordered, and now I just need to snoop-out some way to figure out what his favorite cake is. :)

An Introduction of Sorts

I've been intermittently blogging for the last 10 years, so an introduction and purpose are hard to muster.  In short, I'm a 20-something Pharmacist in an acute care residency program (post-graduate year 1 = PGY1) at a very large community hospital.  I've chosen a special kind of hell for myself, just so I can have a better future (and I'm looking forward to the after-residency part).  My co-residents have grown to become some amazing friends.  Otherwise, I enjoy good food and beer, music, bacon and sleeping.  My two biggest life goals are 1) to be happy and 2) escape to Norway.

My Jeep is my constant rock right now.  I invite you to gaze upon her beauty.

Yes, that is me in the last photo.  I'm no short lady either (5'11).  My beautiful girl is on a 6" Rough Country long-arm kit with a Ford 8.8 in the rear, on 35" KM2s.  She is re-geared to 4.88 (in hopes of going with bigger tires after destroying that dinky Dana 30 in the front) and 5-speed manual inline 6 (the best stock engine, in my opinion).  My '99 TJ has gotten me out of some physical and emotional holes in the last 5 years of owning her.  I've gained a lot of life experiences and good friends with her.  (Yes, I do have a problem, its called my Jeep).  There will more than likely be many posts about her, the Jeep club, trips and just general rambling.  

Get ready for a rough ride, because the road I'm on has bumps and challenges ahead.