but since I've opened my mouth a few times already, and then RSVP'd for the SoCal meet-n-greet, I guess it's about time I post an introduction.

I'm in south O.C. and I've been driving jeeps since...ummm, let's not go there...but always stock. I started with a Cherokee for driving on the beach with my dive gear and friends, made the mistake of going to Grand Cherokees when it was time for an "adult" car (and I had finally killed the Cherokee and was broken hearted that they didn't make them anymore). We just recently moved to California and have started exploring (there's so much out here!), and the terrain here is a lot different than the northeast where I grew up! I don't do anything hardcore, but found out the hard way that stock Grand Cherokees or Dodge 4x4's aren't really good for anything tougher than driving home on the highway in a few feet of snow. After a few incidents of trail damage, the scariest of which (but not the most damage) was blowing out all four shocks in Death Valley on a washboarded trail after heavy rains. I didn't feel quite as bad when I ran into a TJ on the trail with the same problem - guess we both needed to learn to do a better job evaluating trail conditions! It was a long 7 hour drive home with the vehicle bucking like a bronco every time I went over a bump (picture the front end smacking the road, then the back end smacking the road, then the front end...you get the picture!) The dealer couldn't believe that there wasn't a fire when he saw how melted the shocks were and called in the DCX engineers to have a look-see. They admitted that the shocks were way undersized for the vehicle and didn't charge me a dime to repair the vehicle. Anyway, that's when I realized that getting stuck in the desert was nothing to play around with and if I was going to continue driving trails out here we needed to have a real Jeep modified properly. I'm really into landscape photography, hiking and just exploring, nothing hard core, just want to be able to go where I want to go.

So I got my 2DR JK about six weeks ago (Sahara because I could not find a SoCal dealer willing to let go of a Rubi for less than $3500 over MSRP, I refused to pay that much and after six months I couldn't wait any longer, dual top, 4.10), and have been lurking and learning and putting a build plan together. This forum has been a great help, there is so much information and knowledge and I'm really excited about how it's going to turn out. So far only minor adds - the fuel filler door, softtop boot, SeatGlovers and grab handles, but on order is the LOD rear bumper with all the goodies (jerry can rack was a must for the desert) which shipped out yesterday (woohoo!), and Shrockworks front stubby and rock sliders. And a WARN M8000 winch. Still debating on the lift/tires combo, depending on how much clearance I lose with the weight of the bumpers, rails and winch. I'm not looking for a monster jeep and I don't plan to do any serious rock crawling. I have the 18 inch wheels (I realize now that was a mistake) with 32's and I need the steps to get into it now, hehe. There's so much more I have planned... and so much more I have to learn. I'm just trying to take my time and do it right the first time.

I'm really looking forward to meeting everyone and seeing everyone's JKs at the meet-n-greet and getting some more ideas. So when you see the short blonde with the silver 2DR, that's me. And the big guy next to me - well, I just let him drive it once in a while so he lets me buy more toys for it!