After finishing our 16 mile ride along Little River Canyon Rim Parkway, the journey officially ended when we arrived at the bottom of the mountain at Canyon Mouth Park.
We had planned to enter the park to play in Little River. However, we learned that it now costs $15 per vehicle to enter; whereas I remember it always being free my entire life.
But finding a Plan B didn’t take long at all. We had to drive back up to the top of the mountain anyway, so we simply drive a different route to Little River Falls.
It was a perfect day to play in the river, just a few hundred feet before the river became a waterfall.
This makes the first time that our family has ever owned a vehicle that was made the same year that anyone in our family was born. Even growing up, when I was a kid, this had never been the case.
But sure enough, our new Jeep Wrangler just happened to be made in America the same year as you were born, in 2010.
That means that whatever age you turn each year, the Jeep will turn a year older along with you.
So now I have a 2010 son and a 2010 Jeep. I think that’s pretty cool!
Now that we have our Jeep Wrangler, it has become our official family vehicle. So that means in addition to you loading up in the Jeep every morning for school, you also ride in it on the weekends too; whereas we only used to ride in my Mommy’s car on the weekends.
A couple of weeks ago, you began insisting that I not help you into the Jeep. You started treating the process as is you were on a climbing wall at a playground; using any crevices or latches to pull yourself up.
So basically, the Jeep is a mobile playground to you. It is for me too!
For Memorial Day weekend, we started things off right on Saturday morning by refusing to take showers, but instead, throwing on hats and sunglasses and hopping in our Jeep Wrangler.
This made the very first time I took off not only the complete top, but also, the doors too. As you can imagine, it was a great family experience.
It was like going on a roller coaster ride! And yet Little River Canyon Rim Parkway is only 5 miles from my parents’ house, where I grew up in Fort Payne, Alabama.
This 16 mile drive along the canyon and river is a well kept secret, yet the perfect place to take the family in a Jeep Wrangler.
Nearly a month into driving my 6 speed Jeep Wrangler JK Sport, I have come to the obvious revelation:
When I am driving my Jeep, it is virtually just like He-Man riding Battle Cat.
I realize there are much more practical vehicles I could be driving; like any Asian-made commuter car.
But for me, I would much rather drive my made in the USA 2010 Jeep Wrangler. Even if it’s not so practical to be driving a manual transmission in Nashville traffic. Even if I could definitely be getting better gas mileage driving a Prius. Even if it would be easier to fit two kids in the back seat of nearly anything else.
There is some scarcity these days regarding what percentage of the American population knows how to drive a manual transmission. There is even more scarcity for people who own a manual transmission Jeep Wrangler and drive it daily.
I feel like this is the equivalent of being able to remove the sword from the stone. Or being able to pick up Thor’s hammer.
It is a Jeep thing and I totally understand. It’s like having bragging rights about something so sacred in American culture, yet much of the population could not appreciate something so glorious yet so impractical.
When you drive a Jeep Wrangler, you not only drive a toy… you drive a beast.
This is a beast you must tame and teach to control; because after all, it is a wild animal.
You have to learn the beast and the beast must learn you. You must master the art of switching to the right gear at the right time, at any given second. You must know when it’s necessary to switch into 4 wheel drive. You must know which days are worth taking off the top- and which days are worth taking off the doors too!
Yes, this beast is able to drive across a river and through deep mud and up mountains.
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