Ta Da...Casie's First Entry...Meet the Jeep

My lease was up on the Cobalt in January so I bought a Jeep Patriot about a month ago. I had been looking forward to the release of this car since they first announced it. I always wanted a Jeep Cherokee when I was a kid, and the Patriot is the next best thing. The Commander is too massive and even with the '08 re-design the Liberty doesn't quite pull off the replacement if you're looking for a Cherokee look alike.

It's a 4 cylinder engine, but with the updated CVT I swear you can't tell. It isn't "trail rated" but after looking at what that actually meant...I don't need it. I'll let you know next time I'm trying to crawl over a 12-in diameter fallen tree and kicking myself for not going trail rated. The ground clearance is a little low for a Jeep, but the only true off-roading I'll do is when the plow forgets about our street.

I insisted on dark interior since mountain biking can leave some suspicious looking stains on your seats if you go with light interior. Becky can tell you all about the mud and other obstacles on the "Trail of Death", as she calls it. I have a roof rack so I can carry the bikes and kayak, when I buy the attachments. I also had to get the upgraded speakers. Oscar would refuse to listen to "sell-out Green Day" on anything less when he comes to visit his BFF. (For the record, I don't think Green Day sold out...even though they played on American Idol.)

Ben took these pictures when we went snowboarding recently. I limped away with an injury but not from the hill...from the parking lot. I wasn't hit by a car or any other potentially cool story you can dream up either. I fell on some ice, HARD. I'm pretty sure it looked like I was doing a jig while I was limping around trying to "walk it off". I ended up with a really deep bruise and small cut on my knee, but we still hit the hill until dark and I left the actual hill injury free.

Takes a Hit and Keep on Ticking

All the traveling I’ve been doing since my return home from Iraq has finally caught up with me. While on the way home to my parents house in Michigan I got rear ended by a dump truck pulling a bull dozer. The accident happened on I-70, about two miles from merging onto I-75 (not even 30 minutes from my Ohio apartment). Nobody was injured because my Jeep absorbed most of the impact.

After it occurred Casie pulled over, but the truck continued. My Jeep was still drivable and we followed it to the I-75 northbound ramp where it stopped safely. No damage was done to the truck, but my Jeep had a couple scrapes above the license plate, and bumper took a little damage. The driver offered right away to pay for any damage as long as we didn’t call the police. His reasoning was he was driving with a commercial license with a special caveat. He stated it was very hard to get and very easy to lose. I called my auto insurance to double check, but they insisted I get a police report to record the injuries. So we did.

After waiting for 30 minutes for the Ohio State Police to show up, the cop looked at the little damage I had and made us exchange insurance info, but no report was filed. I was kind of pissed it had to happen after only having the Jeep for less than two months, but my Dad brought up a good point. For has much mileage I’ve put on my vehicles I’ve been lucky have this be my first accident (and with very little damage).

Meet the Jeep

One of my first orders of business when I returned home from Iraq was to purchase a vehicle. Just before I left for Iraq, the lease on my 2004 Jeep Liberty was up, which couldn’t have worked out better. I had no car payments or auto insurance while I was deployed. While I was on Rest and Recuperation (R&R) I made a weekend trip to Detroit, MI to pick up my “dream vehicle”, a Jeep Green 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited with a HEMI engine.

I have wanted a Jeep Grand Cherokee since I was 16 years old. My dad had one back then. I love the way the body looks, but the interior always came off as old fashioned to me. Chrysler finally remodeled the Jeep Grand Cherokee’s interior in 2006. I actually purchased it instead of leasing, since it is my "dream vehicle". I got all the goodies; 4x4, sun roof, leather bucket seats, fog lights, trailer tow package, upgraded speakers, and MP3-CD changer/satellite radio.

It isn’t as bad on gas as people seem to think. It costs me about $52 to fill up the 21.1 gallon tank about every 10 days. My Jeep Liberty costs me about $38 bucks every week (when gas was $2.19/gal) to fill up a 19.5 gallon tank. I love the hum the engine makes, but Casie insists it is the HEMI gargling the gasoline. WHATEVER!

I’ve been meaning to post these pictures for a while.

Yeah, it’s got a HEMI. :-)