Friday Foto: Snow and a Jeep

First thing, let's get into the Friday Foto. As you know, last weekend I was back in the mountains at our cabin. It snowed, and not just a little. For me, coming from St. Simons Island, the snow was amazing. For a Virginian, it would have been just annoying...

I like snow. We had a snow ball fight that lasted a good hour and a half. We ate lots of good food and I drank my fair share of beer and scotch. I went out for a walk around 7 a.m. on Sunday morning to take some photos. One of our "neighbors" at the cabin used to be (he's since moved) a crazy mountain man. I say that conservatively too. Often times I'd drive by to see him in his little cave-in-the-mountain turned meth-lab doing some shady deal that involved a piece of crap car, lots of bare chests and always a revolver strapped to his leg. Yeah, crazy. Anyway, the sign was just a little taste of his "free-spirit" and I find it so contradicting to the aura that surrounds the Galland cabin; one of welcome and love. The other photo is a little further up the road. We probably got a total of 3 inches of snow.

And now, without further ado, I write to you a dream come true.

When I was 12 I used to ride my bike and play around the parking lots off of Slyvan Street, back there where Bird Legs used to be. Their used to be an auto chop-shop back there and I used to always peer inside and check out the cars they had. I love cars, if you didn't know. I rode by one day and saw it. A 1980-something Jeep CJ-8 Scrambler. The CJ model Jeeps are the predecessor of the current Wrangler. The Scrambler version is the predecessor of the newer Wrangler Unlimiteds (the longer ones). From that moment on, I fell in love. I researched them and this was BEFORE internet! I checked out books and read old magazines to learn as much about these Jeeps as I could. It was hard. They only made 27 thousand of them from 81-85. When I turned 16 I wanted one, but my parents deemed it impractical. Our relationship from then on (with the Jeep, not the folks :)) dwindled, but the love never died.

It has been rekindled my friends. This afternoon I am driving down to Florida and buying one, that is, as long as everything checks out. I'm selling my current Jeep Cherokee and buying a 1985 Scrambler. Words and free beer to all could not show how excited I am. This is truly a dream come true. That may sound silly, and no, not all my treasures lie here on earth, but this is one that does and it is being manifested finally! Below is a picture of the Jeep that I am buying. Yes, it looks a little shady now, but do not be deceived. That is part of the dream, a rebuild. I wanted one that was mechanically sound (as is this one) but that needed cosmetic work so that I could build it the way I wanted to. Below the silver one is an example of how it may look when I am finished. So, starting soon, I will not only feature the "Friday Foto" on my blog, but also "Project Scrambler". I will document the progress from the very beginning of the work that I have done with lots of photos. To some it may be boring, but to others it will be great. I'm involved in a lot of online Jeep forums too, and I will send the link to them as well. So, enjoy and I'll be seeing you all soon!