It was perfect weather over the weekend. Dry, Sunny, and 65º :)
2026-03-06
Flexing for real
A lot of times we pose for shots of us flexed out. But I prefer candid ones like this that peeps snap while we're just rollin' on the trail.
My buddy from Florida
My buddy from Florida and I heading into the mountains on a foggy Friday morning.
Johnny and I met him on a ride last year. He has a nice rig AND he's willing to wheel it!
Kicking off last weekend’s exploits
Zoe and I met up with a small group of Jeeps for a hard ride down at Windrock in Tennessee. Here you can see us lined up for the driver meeting. Can you find Zoe peeking out?
Who's the dead guy…? Hahaha.
2026-03-05
Lincoln Logs?
I thought this little cabin at the camp ground reminded me of something you would make with Lincoln Logs. It was cool to see our group leader's jeep out front getting loaded up too.
Worth the drive…?!
Views like this help make it worth the drive to places like Tennessee for my trips up and down the "mountains". I was pulling into town as the sun set.
My dad, uncle and grandpa would have enjoyed my camper and stuff
I think about how they would have liked to see how I had it configured, how it works, and how I make do with its compact utilitarian design. They'd probably enjoy seeing all their antiques hanging on my wall too 🤪
Here's it's all loaded up for my offroading trip with Zoe this past weekend.
2026-03-04
Fun pics from Sophie and Andy’s church
He was the light and she was the moth. Cute idea. And of course she broght peach rings since she knows I like them so much 🤪 Actually, those were probably for her since she does to and I wasn't invited. Haha.
Just some cool critters we saw at the pet store…
…God's creation has so much unique variety. There's so many "pleco" styled fish, and that's just one kind of one species…
“Rub my belly!”
Check out how Chloe cozies up to Julie and hints that she needs her belly scratched. Look at the back right leg, haha.
2026-03-03
Just another pretty morning
It's fun to sit and watch the birds come and go from Julie's feeder while the sun rises.
These two vying for my attention!
Chloe and Zoe shuffle around at my feet trying to make sure they get themselves in prime head rub positions.
It’s nice to know I have the worst one out there!
And somehow still love it, haha.
Here's my view. If you're buying a Jeep then complaining about comfort, wind noise, and fuel economy, you should question why you bought it in the first place. Their reliability scores are valid. But there's two points I'd make there. First, you gotta be able to do some of the work yourself. There's no way it makes sense otherwise, since yer gonna break stuff! Second, There are compromises made in design to give them the capability we all want. I have to say, I'd be pretty unhappy if I had a new one and found that it starved itself of fuel, wouldn't engage the lockers, etc.
My advise, by the previous generation, learn it, keep it running, and enjoy the experience. You'll spend half the money, and still enjoy it. I find my JK to be a good balance of capability, comfort, and reliability and I push mine to the max on daily driving, towing, and off-roading. I do spend a lot of time in tinkering, preventative maintenance, and fixing what I break or wear out.
Zoe thinks this might be the worst thing I’ve ever done to her…
…And if you know her history, that's saying a lot. What's my big offense? Trying to trim her nails. She refuses to cooperate, so we've gone to THIS… It actually works pretty well. I managed to bring her from overgrown down to properly trimmed over a few days last week. She tolerated usually about 16 out of 18 pretty well, but always had a couple that she wanted to complain about.
I figured I will work this into her weekly routine, and if I keep at it and she realizes it isn't killing her, that we might reach an accord…? Stay tuned 🤪
My watch collection is getting out of hand on one of my memory shelves
You've seen a couple other versions of this in the past, but at the same time, it seems like an update was overdue. I like the watches I have from my grandparents, in-laws etc. They've shaped my love and use of timepieces over the years. They also bring back many fond memories of spending time with who wore them. And as a child it was fun to play with the watches too and try to figure them out. I am missing my Dad's watch since Andy inherited that one. Also missing is my first watch, but I know I have it around here somewhere. But some of the others shown here give the same look and feel so stand in as replacements.
Then of course, the right half of the pic gets into some of the modern smart watch era. I really like all the capabilities they provide, but feel like they are lacking at the same time. They're kind of cold and impersonal. Apple watch is the king of capability and integration, but stinks at battery life (a day or two at best). Garmin is a surprising contender for functionality and integration and is king of battery life (measured in multiple weeks), and the face customization make it a little warmer and personal. In the middle you have the Casio G-Shock line. The digital one is their attempt at a smart watch, fitness monitor, and has just enough functionality and toughness to stay in the mix. The one with hands is the ultimate in durable, capable, and mostly analog, but with the bare miminum of smart features. However, it's my favorite in looks, feel, and personality.
So who knows what one or two you might see me wearing at any given point in time… Mostly just playing around with what they can do and using them to keep myself organized and fit.
2026-03-02
On the water’s edge…
I got this cool sunset pic of my Jeep on the edge of Lake Barton after the rain. It might be one the favorites of my Jeep ;)
Another fun printing project of Julie’s
She made these cool ring gear fidget toys. I keep picking them up and spinning them.
There is a price to pay…
…for shooting short rifles left handed. The casings were constantly pelting me in the face. In fact, the open ends were what was hitting me most of the time, hahahaha. Luckily, it wiped off and only stung a little each time 🤪
Johnny and his friends brought fun toys!
John's friend from college has gotten in to shooting. They brought over these nice specimens since they knew I would have a "blast" shooting them! The Q Honey Badger in .300 blackout WITH a suppressor was REALLY fun! It was cool to hear the rounds hitting the berm!
And we can't forget to mention his pretty Canik! It was super cool looking and super easy to shoot too. Fun times with the boys!
Horn “install” hahahaha.
I just laid it in there. We will see how it does… I think it would prefer to be oriented so the drill was vertical… But it's working so far.
2026-03-01
The pond is FULL:)
With all the melting snow and rain, the ponds at a nice level. Andy and I worked to plug some of the leaks it had, and they seem to be slow enough that it's holding at a reasonable level throughout the year. Such a pretty day too!
Julie’s printing projects!
She successfully printed an auger project for John's friend Ivan. Ivan sent us this pic of it assembled. It's also fun to see John's wedding band making a cameo!
Cincinnati and Skyline
The Cyclones were having Skyline Chili night this weekend. Julie bought Andy and I a souvenir jersey for Christmas and they just showed up this weekend. It's a fun do-marketing thing they do. They actually changed their mascot and team name for the weekend, haha.
Lake Barton in full swing!
We had a LOT of rain in a short period the night before. Andy, can you fix my drain?! 🤪
Tornado?!
It dawned on me that we had helmets that would come in handy if one actually hit. A week or so ago we had a warning right in our neighborhood, so down to the basement we went. I look a lot like Andy in this pic too!
2026-02-27
Fishing the drain!
Andy was coming up with an excuse to show me his new toy/tool for work. Pretty cool setup! We could tell someone in his building was doing laundry haha.
I like the way the pond looks when the sun comes back out
After a hard winter and gray skies, it is nice to see the sun again. It is starting to melt the ice flow.
A brisk but pretty day…
… for a quick run to the post office. I liked the flag waving in the breeze.
We decided to try our hand at chuck-a-puck
Where we sit, you have to get them over the net designed to stop pucks from leaving the arena. One of us was successful, the other was not. That person used the excuse that they were foam rubber pucks stating that if they would have been real pucks, they would've cleared by a mile. ;)
2026-02-26
If you’re crazy enough…
… you might just win an entire pizza and a hockey game and have it all to yourself! For some reason, Julie insisted I share my bounty with her. We actually shared with all the peeps that sit around us for most games. The even funnier part is one random kid saw me on camera and just ran up to ask if he could buy a slice from me? I gave him one. Then not long after that one of my Jeep club members came from the other side of the arena just to say hi and meet Julie. I gave him a slice too. Pretty fun.
This is a sentimental shot for a lot of reasons
Centerville with it early stone buildings was my stomping ground growing up. Also, you can just make out the Bell tower of the church I attended as a child. I can remember ringing the bell in 1976 as part of the bicentennial celebration. I'm parked near two of my favorite eating joints, City BBQ and Graeter's Ice Cream. And of course I'm taking this all in while Joy riding in my Jeep with the freedom flaps off. They are technically called freedom panels, but Julie dubbed them freedom flaps when we rented a Jeep in Hawaii and it has stuck.
Don’t you agree…?
…It's important to keep the flavor calendar for your favorite ice cream close at hand!
65º and sunny!
We had a couple beautiful days a week ago. I took full advantage! It's getting to be that time of year when you can occasionally take the top off of the Jeep. First time since early winter or late last fall.
More meaning that I am willing to type at the moment
Suffice it to say these new stickers that I picked up with our chocolate strawberries were appropriate while we were celebrating Valentine's Day.
So much fitness data on your wrist these days
The question is, Garmin or Apple Watch? The answer: it depends… I feel like the Apple Watch tells you what you've done for fitness, but the Garmin helps tell you what you should do to become more fit. however, the Apple Watch is much easier to setup and use.
Battery life, there is no question. Real world use with indoor and outdoor workouts using GPS, and with most sensors on. 2 WEEKS on the Garmin vs. two DAYS with the Apple Watch. Of course, there are lots of settings you can play with to change that, but it's always going to be weeks on the Garmin and days on Apple.
Integration with your iOS phone is decent on both. Surprisingly good on the Garmin compared to most other non-Apple options. The main difference here is the robustness of bi-directional interactions on Apple vs. the Garmin.
The last big difference is the wallet. Apple is all-encompassing. Credit cards, IDs, tickets, pretty much everything. Garmin, I managed to get two credit cards to work. That's about it.
Nice to be able to hose it down…
I like this approach to cleaning the footwells with my new mat/flooring combo. Open the drain plug and hose it down. 🤪
2026-02-25
Finally warm enough to wash some stuff!
I pulled my Jeep out after weeks of being covered with mud and salt from the last two rides… The dogs wanted to watch, but for some reason were content to keep their distance from the power sprayer 🤪
Cool threading shavings!
Andy scored this threader as an add-on to a marketplace deal. It was frozen up and useless when he got it. But he took it all apart, loosened it all up, cleaned and lubed it and put it back together. THEN he had to figure out how it was supposed to work. Pretty cool! He was excited to show us what he'd done and figured out!
Finally walking and biking again
The snow kept me inside more than I wanted over the last few weeks. It was deep enough we couldn't really bike, and Chloe would really only walk where I had cleared it. Thankfully, we had some nice days over the last week or so and got back at it. I was tired of the elliptical and treadmill.
I need some sunlight. :)
The pond is full and icy
With all the snow and rain, we are starting the year off with a nice full pond :)
2026-02-24
Creeping around in the middle of the night…
…My brain is pretty busy these days, sometimes in the middle of the night. So I was awake to see this eerie moonlight scene out back. Creepy and cool.
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