What I want for Christmas

What do I want for Christmas...

Umm...a new Jeep.

I loved my Jeep Wrangler in the Turks and Caicos. The gas gauge did not work, when you filled it gas ran out from under tank, and it backfired. But you could take it anywhere and you never worried about a scratch.

The 2011 Jeep Wrangler that we bought to move to the Imperial Valley turned out to be the little Jeep that could. It has been in and out of a lot of places. This image is my Jeep coming through Split Mountain in an area where we had to build up a rock ramp in order to transverse through the wash. I did not appreciate this Jeep until it was gone, but at the beginning of November it was at its height in trade in value. For three years and 37,000 miles this Wrangler took us on countless adventures throughout the Yuha Desert and the Anza-Borrego State Park.

Jeeps seem to hold their value. I bought this Jeep for $24,000, traded it in for $17,000, and you could buy it today at Rogers ad Rogers for $22,000.

Our new Jeep is a 2014 Wrangler with an automatic transmission and a hard top. It is new, and clean, and not a scratch on it. Well, not so fast, on Sunday I had it in the desert for the first time and got into a tight spot on BLM road 094. We came too close to a creosote bush and now its has a few scratches down the passenger's side. Let the dance begin.