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December 31, 2007 - location: "Truckhaven" OHV Area, CA
Today is the end of another year and tonight we will usher in a new one. My heart is full of happiness and thankfulness for the great year past. I celebrated my marriage and new life with my mate in style. Well, my kind of style. We explored the woods and wilds along our travels to Alaska and back south, meeting great people, and making new friends. I feel myself changing as I begin to open my eyes to the possibilities life has to offer. This flu that my body is struggling with is paralleled by a metamorphis of my soul. There is a new me brewing in my chest and when the fog in my head lifts, I will see what changes are in store for this year. It will be another good year ahead, one with much love, laughter, and learning.
Jeeping today was not so good for me. We headed up our first notch and I got wedged in a tight spot and couldn't turn my steering. It turned out to be due to the axle we put in from Gerry's jeep parts. It is just a tad too long and is causing the front end to lock up when I steer too far to one side. Unfortunately, tight steering is required for this terrain and I had to drive in 2WD to steer. But, 2WD can't make it up the hills and through the soft dirt, so I had to suffer through winching out of the trail and heading back to camp. Gerry is always such a sport, eager to help me solve problems and get home safely. This time we needed the help of others, too, as the connecting tie rod bent to a 90 degree angle and then cracked when we tried to straighten it. Matt, one of the "Desert Dawgs", had a welder on his jeep and Ron applied his expertise as a welder and re-fabricated the connecting tie rod to give me steering. It wasn't easy and everyone who helped did a banner job. I am so very thankful for everyone's patience and help. Now it's my job to get my jeep up to snuff for these kinds of trails and learn how to drive them, too. I think I'll start on some easier stuff over the next month with Gerry. Of course, I need to get my axle fixed first. Gerry votes for going to a stronger axle, rather than just buying a new shaft for the existing one. We'll begin our search later this week when we return to civilization.
For now, it's time to celebrate and usher in the New Year with style.
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December 30, 2007 - location: "Truckhaven" OHV Area, CA
I'm up for another day wheeling. Yesterday turned out well. The "Desert Dawgs" helped me recover my jeep and Gerry and I drove our vehicles back to camp while everyone else played in the hills. The cherokee had a broken front axle and a bad hub. The right outer axle from Gerry's jeep seemed to fit my left broken outer and we swapped that in camp. The right hub fell apart and dropped a bunch of metal junk on the ground when we took it off. Gerry turned the gear collar around and wedged it so it is permanently locked. I put it all back together, washed up, and gave her a test drive. Everything seems to be working and I'm "ready to wheel".
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December 29, 2007 - location: "Truckhaven" OHV Area, CA
My jeep got left out on the trail last night with broken steering. My front axle isn't turning and I couldn't make it out the trail in 2WD (two wheel drive). While winching, the cherokee's front tires grabbed the cliff and the steering broke. We're on our way into town to try to buy a new tie rod end for the track bar. One of the other cherokee guys here has a new connecting tie rod bar to replace the one that bent. I am anxious to get back to my jeep, make the repairs, and get it into camp to try to fix the problem keeping me from using 4WD.
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December 28, 2007 - location: "Truckhaven" OHV Area, CA
We found the "Desert Dawgs" yesterday and made camp with the folks who arrived so far. After everyone set up, we headed out on the trails. We ran into the darkness and had a blast on the hills here near camp. It was my first time running with my cherokee and it did great! Gerry's jeep performed perfectly and we all made it safely back to camp. Today will be another day of wheeling the jeeps are getting packed now for the day. There are more people here now and it looks like a good group for the day. Well, better get packing myself.
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December 27, 2007 - location: "Truckhaven" OHV Area, CA
We made it out to Truckhaven without any problems, just a lot of traffic. We got here after dark last night and pulled out to camp where it seemed pretty flat. There aren't many people here yet, and we're going to drive around in my Cherokee to see if we can find the "Desert Dawgs" 4WD club.
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December 26, 2007 - location: Point Mugu NAS, CA
We're heading out to Truckhaven, near the Salton Sea in southern California, for the next week. I don't expect to have internet, so will post my blogs and adventures when we return. There will be photos of me in my new jeep, too!
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December 25, 2007 - location: Point Mugu NAS, CA
Merry Christmas to everyone!
We awoke to wind tearing across the ocean and beach. The gusts must be at least 70 mph and are difficult to stand up in. The dogs got a short walk before coming into the house here at the point. Gerry and I had a nice quiet Christmas Eve here at our rented house and commemorated our first Christmas as man and wife with a delicious supper of king crab. It was so very delicious. We are going to spend this afternoon and evening at my mom's house as she invited us over to celebrate the holiday.
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December 24, 2007 - location: Point Mugu NAS, CA
One more day to Christmas. One of my gifts to Gerry is spending this evening alone in our splended beach house. To bide the time until then, I am heading out for some last minute Christmas shopping with Mom and Jessica.
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December 23, 2007 - location: Point Mugu NAS, CA
It felt good to return home today after so much driving. I feel tired and look forward to a relaxing evening and another good night's sleep at the beach house Gerry rented for us. It was so nice last night to spend time with my love.
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December 22, 2007 - location: Point Mugu NAS, CA
I awake refreshed and anxious for my drive home today. The dreams in my head throughout the night were bazarre. Someday I will elarn to write them down because I think they would make good movies. This time there was a war with incredible weapons that killed anyone exposed to the air. The wave of death was coming towards the thousands of us marching on the road and I could see the devastation ahead with incredible reality. I ran to hide under some bales of hay to the left of the road. Just as I got securely hidden, three children joined me and we couldn't all fit. Suddenly, I realized there was a hole under one of the bales that went straight down and was large enough for one person to dive down. I shouted to go down, but the children trembled with fear. I said "follow me" and jumped in feet first, not knowing what lay beneath. As I fell down, bricks surrounded me and angled down to another wall. There wasn't much room, so I broke through wodden slats to my right and exposed another room. The children started falling through the hole and I caught the smallest one in my arms as I ushered them into the next room. The wave of death passed overhead, leaving darkness out our window to the world. After a while, the light returned, and we emerged to death everywhere. The two oldest children ran along their way and I was left with the youngest. There was an abandoned motorcycle nearby and I frantically headed towards it, picking it up off the sand. It started up and I climbed on, lifting the child to my lap. Off we went, trying to reach home and what I hoped was the safety of my family.
The dream went on and on, and I left out 80% of the detail because it is too gorry to write about here. There were also other entities which looked like humans, but had strange telepathic powers. I could sense them touch me and the young one in the darkness after the wave passed over the hole and I knew they would seek me out, but for what purpose I could not surmise. I woke from my dream after making it to the outskirts of a city near home, but before they found me.
So much for dreams, time to get going and head home in real life.
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December 21, 2007 - location: St. George, UT
I almost made it to Nevada today. There are only seven hours of driving left and I will be with Gerry tomorrow. My jeep is registered and a copy of my registration sent off to the pass office at Warren AFB. They are going to mail my stickers for accessing the bases.
There was snow today and driving was very slow in spots. It was nice to see the land blanketed in snow and I wish I were having a white Christmas. Perhaps someone living in the snow will email me a picture out their window on x-mas. I can hear the road out my window and will have to turn the fan on to drown out the noise for sleeping. Off to sleep I go.
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December 20, 2007 - location: Rock Springs, WY
Five days til x-mas and thy true love gave to thee...one pleading for thine safe & swift return. I can hardly wait to be back and feel like I will be able to return before Christmas. Tomorrow I'll register my jeep and then head south to warmer weather. Snow is expected tonight and real cold temperatures over the next few days. It will feel good to be back in Southern Cali.
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December 19, 2007 - location: Lincoln, NE
I am so happy to have my jeep. Gerry got the payment straightened out and I was on the road headed for Wyoming by 10am. The drive went well with little traffic and no construction slowdowns. My only delay occurred when I ran out of gas. The gas gauge still showed 1/4 when I got stuck on the side of the highway. A good samaratin helped out by taking me to get gas and then driving me back and helping put the gas in. I was so happy to get the jeep started and down the road. After filling up, I sought lunch at the next exit and saw another lady who just ran out of gas. She gave me 5 bucks and I filled up my new gas can, walked back to her car, and got her going again. It felt so good to be able to help someone after I was so lucky to get help.
Now I am nestled in my hotel room in Lincoln, Nebraska. I go on to Cheyenne, WY tomorrow and tehn to Rock Springs on Friday.
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December 18, 2007 - location: Louisville, KY
This day ended with a down note. I had hoped to buy my jeep today, but ran into payment problems and wound up parked in a hotel in Louisville while I wait for a better day tomorrow. At least I will sleep tonight. Last night I only slept an hour or so on the plane and am very groggy. Perhaps it is better I didn't drive today, but I will miss seeing my friend in Indiana because I just don't have the time with this delay.
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December 17, 2007 - location: Point Mugu NAS, CA
Happy Birthday, sister! Today is Tina's big 4-0- b-day. She is still recovering from her surgery and will be treated to a small party at mom's house. I plan on making ribs for dinner and the kids baked her a cake. After the party I head to the airport for my trip to Kentucky to get my jeep.
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December 16, 2007 - location: Point Mugu NAS, CA
Last night was crazy. Gerry and I were watching Kayla at my mom's house when we got a call from my sister saying her house was flooded. Well, I ended up over there until 2am doing what I could to get things working. The plumber worked for an hour, but couldn't ensure it wouldn't happen again. That wasn't very reassuring, but was all we could get. There were no more floods during the night or today and the clean-up crews tore out the carpet and have dehumidifyers and driers going. My sister is not sleeping in the house for now. What a disaster!
Today I sought to get away and went hiking with Gerry and my nephew, Kris. We had a good hike up the tallest peak in the Santa Monica Mountains. It was only a 4-mile day, which was relatively light and easy. The views were amazing and I could hardly believe the amount of homes crowding the borders of the public lands. I wish I had a time machine and could go back to before the first road was paved here.
Tomorrow is my sister's birthday, the big 40, and I leave late in the night for Kentucky. Hopefully all goes smoothly picking up my new jeep and getting it registered and back here to southern Cal.
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December 13, 2007 - location: Point Mugu NAS, CA
It's amazing how quickly the last 3 days have gone. Tina, my sister, went in for surgery and I became engrossed in her life. Tonight I left her house for a romantic dinner with Gerry and realized just how much time stood still for me when she was in the hospital. Sure I was busy, but not on my normal things. I spent my time caring for my sister and making sure all was well. She's home from the hospital now and in her own house. I left dinner for mom to pop in the oven when she got there with Tina's kids. The choice was homemade baked maccaroni. Tina had eluded to how that sounded good last night, so I made it a reality tonight. Meanwhile, Gerry and I dined at the "Whale's Tail" on the harbor. What a great celebration!
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December 10, 2007 - location: Point Mugu NAS, CA
Gerry and I had a nice day together. We ran errands in the morning and then went exploring in the jeep this afternoon. Sorry, no escapades in the dirt or sand or rocks, just pavement pounding. We explored the roads around Port Hueneme, looking for routes to the coast. At dusk we ended up along Ventura Harbor and took the dogs out briefly before heading back to Camarillo. Tonight was tree-decorating at my mom's house, but I opted out to get back to the camper in time to prepare for a good night's sleep. Tomorrow is my sister's neck surgery and I want to be well-rested so I can focus my love on her in the morning when I take her to the hospital.
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December 9, 2007 - location: Point Mugu NAS, CA
Our camper is in a new spot, but still the same campground. We are now in our favorite site here at the naval base. The camper is parallel to the seashore and we have great views of Mugu rock and the ocean. My mom had her camper out here last night and I was tempted to keep it for camping next week, but I was afraid I would get spoiled staying in a larger rig. Ours is just the bare minimum of what we need and I am content.
Today is a milestone in my 4x4 career. Gerry bought me an early Christmas present and I need to pick it up in Kentucky in the next two weeks. No one has ever bought me such a great gift for Christmas and I can hardly wait to drive my new 1989 XJ. I originally wanted a newer one with the high-output 4.0L engine and other stock improvements, but agreed with Gerry that this one he found is a perfect place to start with a rock-crawler. It has 33 inch tires, so it's not too jacked up, and all the axle and running gear improvements I need to get started. I wish I was flying out tomorrow, but, alas, I must wait until my sister's surgery as I am going to help her around the house and driving her kids to their various activities. Now I am hoping for an even more speedy recovery than before (yeah, I know that's selfish). After I pick up the Cherokee, I'm going to drive it to Wyoming to register it and then down to southern Cal.
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December 8, 2007 - location: Point Mugu NAS, CA
We had good news today and decided to celebrate. The problems with having all our ducks in a row for our house sale seem to be solved and we hope for an easy closing early next week. I had wanted crab legs (Gerry's favorite dinner after Maine lobster), but couldn't find any good looking ones, so opted for baked salmon and shrimp. It's good to have things back on track. I feel like a heavy weight is lifted.
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December 7, 2007 - location: Point Mugu NAS, CA
The rain stopped this morning, but only because the high winds chased away the clouds. The surf is full of white caps and the camper rocks with the wind gusts. The dogs don't seem to mind, except when they are outside near the sand which pelts them relentlessly in the wind. We're keeping off the beach until the winds stop. The saga on trying to get paperwork in order for the sale of our VT house is continuing, but we are still optimistic to see a closing on Monday.
Tomorrow is a big day for holiday celebrations, including the local Christmas parade. We haven't decided what we are doing tomorrow and will probably tag along anywhere Tina wants to take her kids.
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December 6, 2007 - location: Point Mugu NAS, CA
I strode along the beach this morning and pondered events of late and life as I watched the shore and sealife. The waves broke violently on the rocks and seemed to be a mirror of the angst in the world around me. Eight pelicans soared overhead on their way to a sandy spot in the estuary. As they approached, four kept in perfect line and the other four flew clumsily along. I was amused to see the least orderly, furthest back bird to plop onto the beach first beside a group of thirty other pelicans. Perhaps this bird was older or tired and landed at the first available spot, where the lead bird sought out a choice spot, thereby landing last. Or perhaps the lead bird needed the other birds to safely land before resting it's own wings. As I watch nature, I wonder what lessons we have to learn. If I had been born as a native to this land a thousand years ago, I would have sought life as a medicine woman or spiritual guide. For in my youth, I was strongly drawn to spirituality and nature. Now at the age of 37 I would be an elder in a native tribe of the past, as the lifespan wasn't great. Since I live in this present-day, global society, I am not content to wander a small section of the land. I am drawn to the globe and I remember the game I used to play as a kid with the globe in our home. I would spin the globe and stop it with a finger. Wherever my finger landed, I would try to figure out what life there was like. The encyclopedias and town library were my major sources of information. Today the same game would lead me to the internet and myriad of statistics, photos, and details on different countries, peoples, and localities. I will continue to ponder life and the world for all the days I live, but have no vision yet of what to do with the observations I make and information I gather.
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December 5, 2007 - location: Point Mugu NAS, CA
My sister came out yesterday and we had a relaxing chat on the beach. The porpoises came by and gave us a real show close to shore. I was so glad because Tina loves dolphins. Today Gerry and I go to the dentist for a cleaning and exam. I can't say I look forward to today, but will take it with a smile and make the best of it.
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December 4, 2007 - location: Point Mugu NAS, CA
The sun warmed these southern Californian skies to a balmy 70 degrees yesterday. I find myself whistling a tune as I go about my days in my shorts and flip-flops. While I grew up here, in Camarillo, I watched the explosion of homes begin to replace the orchards and farms. The push for land is so great that even the most wild places I roamed on foot are now paved with homes. Each day I pass fertile fields of celery, peppers, and artichokes as I journey from my place at the beach to town. My mind wanders to the future and I have visions of home upon home placed boorishly upon this splendid land. I wipe a tear from my eye and assure myself that the "100-year" agriculture leases and deed restrictions on the land will protect it from the onslaught of development. I used to ride my bicycle on this very route as a teenager towards my escape along the ocean. As I peddled past the fields, I felt my head clear and I was grounded in life by the smell of the fresh-turned dirt. While these fields remain, so does my affinity for this town of my youth. Once they are gone, I will find it very hard to return here for the serenity of my youth will be dashed by the fulfillment of someone else's visions and dreams. I fear that my attempts to grasp my youth are futile and I dread the day these agricultural gems are gone.
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December 3, 2007 - location: Point Mugu NAS, CA
Another week begins and with each day passing, brings us closer to the Holiday celebrations. I wish it were possible to bring all family and friends together here under the California sun. If not in person, at least they will be here in my heart. It is Gerry's family that is missing the most, but they are always here in spirit.
We are headed to the gym here on the naval base for a good workout. I hope to go everyother day for the next two weeks to get my blood flowing.
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December 2, 2007 - location: Point Mugu NAS, CA
We had a nice stroll along the beach up near Carpenteria with my mom and my sister with her kids. The dogs did great and loved being outdoors. We saw the seals on the beach from a cliff above. That section of the beach closes from Dec 1 thru May 31 because the seals use it for birthing grounds. It was fun to watch the seals swimming in past the rocks to the beach. There were only a dozen or so on the beach now, but there will be many more in the weeks to come. Next time I'll spend more time and bring my camera in hopes of getting shots of the babies, which should start birthing soon.
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December 1, 2007 - location: Point Mugu NAS, CA
Wow, December is here again! It seems like such a short time ago when we were here at the naval base for our wedding in December of 2006. We have travelled so far and experienced much of life in the 11+ months since our wedding, yet we have so much of life ahead of us. The snow is falling in Vermont and I have a yearning to return to the serenity of the white blanket covering the land and beckoning me to explore with skis and snowshoes. I hold in my mind memories of mornings spent nestled by the fireplace, looking out over the snow-covered mountains, and afternoons exploring trails and slopes in Vermont. Now, as I feel this longing to return, all I need to do is close my eyes and turn my face to the sun. The glorious rays warm my skin while the gentle breaking of the waves soothe me. I hear the gulls screetch overhead and open my eyes to see a porpoise breech on it's way by the shore. Perhaps I do not miss Vermont so much, afterall.
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