My Jeep

This is an essay I wrote for a writing class. I have tweaked it a bit. You know what they say. A work of writing is never done. 

            My Jeep wrangler is my daily driver, as well as my ride to adventure. My husband and I love to go on adventures together. Her name is Baby Doll, and she is seldom sparkling clean. She is built to play off road.  She has a cargo rack on top to hold our survival and recovery gear for our trips. She has enough lights to make daylight out of the nothingness that is dark. She has a soft top that folds down so we can have the heat of the sun and the movement of wind on our faces. There are drain plugs in the floor so we can drain the water out if we drive through a deep puddle; if we get mud inside we can wash it out with a garden hose. 

She has large fenders to cover large tires. The tires make a humming noise when driving down the highway. When a small rock is picked up in the tread it will make a clickety clack noise while driving on pavement, similar to the sound of tap shoes. The Fenders don’t keep mud from flinging up the side of my Jeep. It is not uncommon for the driver and passenger to take mud showers. Mud is not always the best smelling stuff on earth.  Mud from old river beds smells like old rotting fish, mud from a field can smell more of livestock droppings. If you are not careful you may get to enjoy the taste of the mud. Not something I would encourage.  Luckily these smells often go away once the mud dries and leaves a crusty mess on my jeep. When the mud dries it feels the same as if you were to run your hands over parched rough ground.  This always makes me think of the old Westerns. The ones where the cow boy is staggering through the desert and the scavengers are flying overhead.

She is loud to ride in. When the top is up you hear all the wind drag noise from the top flapping. When you have the windows out or the top down you hear all the wind rushing past.  There are days I think about stocking her with ear plugs.  You have to yell if you are going over 35 mph to speak with your passengers. Riding in a jeep is not like riding in a car or truck. When driving down a paved road it is not uncommon to be tossed side to side when hitting uneven spots in the road. I often feel like I’m on a roller coaster swaying from side to side and jerking back and forth. This is due to the fact she is built to make my off road ride smoother.  I enjoy this sensation it brings back memories of past adventures with my husband.