Because a Jason adventure can't end without a trip to the ER

Manged to get my finger caught in the auto closing apartment door.

So I'm in the ER waiting for some sewing.

But Jen is keeping me laughing over txt. So this isn't soooo baad
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Man its been a long day

Woke up in NM, now we're about 30 miles from santa cruz. Need to find a dog friendly hotel soon me thinks
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We escaped the desert!!

Now we just need foood
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A few miles west of barstow

Wow
Mojave in a TJ with a trailer. Remind me to never do that again. We got through ok. Only got a little warm once.

Gotta say cali hasn't been all that welcoming. Greated by an ag inspection. Followed up by 4.79 a gallon regular gas. Then three of the most testing hours of my life in the desert.

Looking better as I get away from that blasted desert though ;)

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In ca ya'll

Now I just gotta escape the mojave desert
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Az hot

That is all
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Payson , AZ

Still rolling

Desert strating to heat up a little

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Gallop NM

Still rolling
Damn its cold this morning
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Telemetry

I haven't said much about the Jeep being used in this trip. As many might assume its not exactly stock. This morning we'll take a tour of the telemetry being used here.

Top left : Garmin Nuvi 750 : This thing has been priceless for finding the La Quintas we've been sleeping at. Also gives good piece of mind knowing where the gas stations are in the middle of the desert, even though there is a 5 gal jerry can on the trailer.

Top Right: AiRock controller. The magic buttons that this Jeep has had for ages now. This controls the air suspension attitude/altitude and other features.

Middle: New Pioneer bluetooth radio. For the $279 this thing cost I can't believe the stuff that came in it. I can control the iPod from the radio (makes life easy, and tunes for a road trip like this are mandatory). It can also play the music stored on the black berry over bluetooth. The mic and telephone additions have made it quite nice. Using the bluetooth telephone setup I've been able to receive calls on the road while towing a pretty twitchy trailer nice and safely.

Since we've been getting complaints...

About the coast to coast gas station tour I've been on. Here is a new shot.

In nm. In that place where bugs bunny always makes a wrong turn.

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Santa Rosa NM

Still rolling through the night. Now with gas and a clean windshield.

Lots of bugs here and really dry. Like the washer fluid dries before hitting the wingshield dry.
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Past Amirilo TX

Getting closer to NM. Hoping to get at least one of the hot states done tonight.

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Shamrock tx

Still rollin
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There's something afoot at the circle k

Well I haven't seen bill and ted but kira and I are still going. In OK nearing TX.

Sorry for the lack of updates. Trying to put down some miles today.
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So, we're at 1/2 way

Seems that we've reached the 1/2 way point here. Got some nice sunshine to work with this morning. Thats a nice change from the rain yesterday.

Kira appears to be loving the trip. Big change from the normally carsick pooch of a few months ago. Been sleeping in the Jeep and is having a lot of fun with the walks in a different place every time. She's also have a lot of fun with the other dogs at the La Quinta's we've been staying at.

Finally had a few minutes to get the alternator installer on the phone. That sure helps with the sanity.

Need a shower.. and I've got the whole mountain man look going on since I haven't shaved in like a week.

Got some sleep

Man it was fun trying to get kira in an elevator. Half way there.
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Over the mississippi

Still got a few miles left in me

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I found bigfoot !!!

Can ya tell I'm bored?
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Train?

Appears I'll be in mt vernon for a few more minutes.

Well at least the sign says its a certified city.
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Mt. Vernon il

Needed gas and food. But remind me to not come back here again.
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Ready to depart ky

Sleep was good. As was a little time to catchup on emails. Rolling in 10
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Soo much better than the front seat

Stopped off in Louisville KY to wait out the rain and rush hour.

Finding that me dozing gives the trailer a nasty case of the wobbles.
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Mt sterling ky

Think we're about half done with ky. Been much better than wv.

Daylight soon :)

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More food. More gas

Still rolling. Just about off of 79 and onto 76

Venting a bit of tranny fluid. Guess that's what I get for filling it cold.
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Somewhere in wv

Finally got the trailer weighted right. Damn thing was dragging me all over the road.

Very tired of the app mtns. Want some flat ground now.
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Nearly to hancock md

Rush hour wasn't bad. Trailer still seems a little nose light so I dropped the jeep an inch or 2. Gotta love the magic buttons.

Kira is doing pretty good as well. Checkout of jeep was good as well. Back to the road

J

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Fueled up and rolling

Seeya md
Back in a while

And just a few weeks.....
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Loaded

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Last one from this network..

Shutting down the workstation in a few to pack it up. This will be the last one until I'm rolling.

Realized I'm not running late.. just bad at math. (yeah, from the CS major that's 2 classes short of a math minor)...

Looks like everything is all green.

A Day late.. but really who cares...

Jeep is ready, and I'm packing.. Should be out of here in a few hours. Should be a fun trip. I'll need the drive the think over a few things anyway.

Been a long, and actually really really good week. This has a lot to do with the new alternator installer. With luck she'll help out on the Jeep on the west coast as well. More on that later.

Packing to do...

It still needs a bath

But its moving again
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$17 bolt

That my friends is a 16.90 bolt. Silly jeeps
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Got some welding in today

And now we have control arms.

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And then there was Tequila

What's a party here without consuming a few gallons of tequila right?

This was fun. Nice chill night with a few close friends drinking more alcohol than I knew what to do with.

Apparently there was one point in the night where I wandered into the garage to return with my Mapp Gas torches. Walked in the kitchen with one of them lit and got tackled :) Guess my friends thought that wasn't a good idea or something...


I think the dog has more of a hangover than me. Still going to be a little slow for a while though. Time for some more coffee so maybe I can be productive on the Jeep today..

On the road again?

Well not just yet, but my mom needed to clean her new to her truck out and I figured I'd go along for the ride.

That's right, those pics are of my 65 year old, still truck driving mom...

Jeep progress

With the help of Diego and Rich we got the tire carrier and super 88 kit done. Working on the radio and ca bolts tonight.
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Knock kitchen off the list

Finally got this project done. Not too bad for a computer geek right?
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Getting Kira ready

She's still a pup so it was time to get her fixed. Probably should have done this a little earlier but she should be good for the trip. She's pretty much back to her old self already.
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Let the planning begin

After a week of shenanigans at the current job, I've resigned and this appears to actually be happening.

So, that leaves a hair under 4 weeks to get out of here and over there (not counting the 4-5 days its actually going to take to drive out). Yeah, I said DRIVE out. Me, Jeep, trailer, and dog will be on our way. Whatever doesn't fit in the 1/4 ton Jeep trailer isn't going. Yes, this shall be an adventure.

And like any other road trip of my making, what's the first thing we do? Take apart the vehicle in question, change a bunch of stuff, and hope it works :). Did this on the last Gilbert, MN wheeling trip. Remember kids, don't try this at home.. we're professionals.

Well, need to get off the computer and over the mom's house to finish the trim up in the kitchen. One thing almost off the list.

And it begins

This pic is what set things in motion.
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