I was probably 8 or 9 and heading to my Mom's graduation for getting her BSN and I rode in the back of a blue TJ. Crystal clear blue sky dotted with puffy white cotton ball clouds. It was perfect and I was hooked.

 

About age 5 sitting in the back of a grand wagonner on a cold leather seat with not seat belt on. Leaning up and watching my dad smoke a cigarette while drinking in a snow storm in Philly.

 

Stalling my 79 cj7 on the way home from the dealership when I was 16. It was older than me with holes rusted in it but I didn't care. All the girls wanted to ride anyway.

 

My uncle had 3 different jeeps while I was growing up, I remember a yj and a tj. I can't remember what the first was. I learned to drive a standard in the yj and it later became my first jeep.

 

In High school, a buddy had picked me up at my house in his wrangler. He drove by me slow and told me his brakes Weren't working and that I had to jump into the back seat, so I ran a jumped into his back seat and made it. Then, he got to the stop sign and made the stop. Felt dumb. In retrospect, it was dumb to even get in having been told the brakes weren't working, but I was a dumb teen.

 

When I was a teenager, my step Grandfather had a CJ-3A and a mid 70s Grand Wagoneer. Don't remember the exact year of either as that was 30+ years ago. He kept both at a cabin in northern MI. Just remember beating around on the trails in both. The CJ was just for the guys, the Wagoneer was the family ride. When I started driving he would let me drive the CJ sometimes. Grandfather and the Jeeps are long gone, but I will never forget those times.

 

Deer hunting with my Dad, in his new 1974 CJ-5, with a 304 V-8 from the factory.

 

Riding in a Forward Control, in the early '60s.
I seem to remember it had a cable operated locking differential, but I can't find any evidence they had that option from the factory.

 

Being only 20, my first memory was my sister's Barbie Jeep. Haha! I played with it whenever she wanted to play with her toys. But my next one were the Jeeps in Jurassic Park.

 

My dads old 4x4 xj he sold it when I was 4 and I cried over him selling it