The Desert Gem Memoirs

I acquired a '94 Green Jeep Cherokee Sport the summer of '98. It was the summer before my senior year of high school, and I was excited to have a new suv. Well, new to me, anyways.

For those of you that new her, she is no longer in my hands. Though I had good times with her, it was time to start another chapter of my life with a new suv.
I purchased a Dark Stone 2005 Ford Explorer XLT with leater interior, keyless entry, the whole works. I have enjoyed the Explorer for the past week I have had her.
But, nothing will ever replace the memories I had in the Desert Gem.

It had 44,000 miles on it, but I would put 106,000 more on it over the next 7 years. It had no cruise control, but that didn't stop me and some of my buddies from taking some of the most memorable roadtrips of my life. It had backseats that would lay down, so we could basically live in there weeks at a time. It was the first car that I really got to know a girl in. It was a car that I could drive around forever in and philosophise about life. That Jeep was my sanctuary and apart of a period of my life I will never forget.

Some may say that, "Hey, man, it's only a car. How can you get so wrapped up in material possessions?" For anybody who genuinely knows me, I am one of the least material persons in the world. I would rather converse with a friend on a park bench after a stroll than go be an overconsumer. It is not the car I was in love with, it was the freedom that she gave me that I fell in love with. The independence of having something that can take you where ever you want to go on a whim. And, I definitely had alot of those.

My first real extensive roadtrip was California. That trip is where Shad and me christened her the Desert Gem.

I had just moved to Denton for my final year of college, and I was itching to take a roadtrip. I called Shad and we ended up leaving a day earlier than planned. We stopped by Wally World and got some necessary supplies (Twizzlers, bag of fruit, sardines, tuna, crackers) and we were on our way. We didn't have much money, but we were determined to make it work.

It was getting darker behind us, and we kept chasing the sun, hoping we would catch it before it actually set. We pressed on and made it as far as Abilene. Stopped in for the night at a little motel 6 and at 8am the next morning we were on our way again.

To be continued...