Montello, Nevada bound

Well, it's been awhile since our last post.  A lot of has happened since February.  To try and make a long story short...we both quit our jobs in Nashville and moved to West Tennessee (2-1/2 hours away) with my sister & bro-in-law to take over a small lunch truck restaurant that they started a year ago.  It's a big hit here in this small town and too much for them to do by themselves with their other businesses.  It's just a stepping stone for us but it helped us to detach ourselves from Nashville and everything keeping us there. Basically, the only things standing between us and Salt Lake City is the restaurant and selling 2 Jeeps.

We're still not sure what date we're going to leave for Utah but it's more real now than ever.  For us to take a leap in the direction we needed is a relief.  It's nice to be close to family here and it's nice that we'll get to spend a lot of time with them before we go but we are so anxious that it's hard to be happy anywhere BUT Montello.

It's been nice to see the direction Geoff & Ellen are headed as well.  That all seems so exciting and we're jealous!  Preston keeps getting to visit his land and the pictures that him and the Trevathans post all the time give us hope.

In the last week, Jen & I have discussed selling all 3 Jeeps, buying an Airstream to fix up and a truck that can haul it.  It's something we've talked about for years as a fun project towards minimalism.  We'll see what happens there.  It'll all depend on how little we can spend and how far we'd have to travel to pick one up.

I hope everyone hasn't forgotten about us!  We're still here and still there in our hearts.  The good news is, it's not simply an "idea" anymore, it's a reality that's just a matter of time.  Keep on keepin on Montello.

Salt Lake, June or July of this year!!  Keeping our fingers crossed.

Well, after a couple weeks of thinking, I decided to just buy a new Jeep.  One that was more beastly and had a lot of the things I was planning to do...already done.  Anyone who has Jeeps knows how much money you can dump into them if you're not careful.  Made sense to just pay it up front and get a more powerful engine.  I will be saying goodbye to Carl (the black one) and selling him next week.  We will also be planning to sell Jen's Jeep and get her into a better one soon.

Here's the specs on "Bogart" (Jen names them, don't ask me):
'91 YJ - inline 6 cylinder w/ 150k miles - 4" BDS suspension lift - 35" Bridgestone All-Terrains - new Warn rear axle - slip yolk eliminator - rocker guards - new muffler - new water pump, serp belt, & thermostat - soft top & bikini top, hard & soft doors


So, me and a friend took it out Monday to test it out.  We went out on a big creek and did some crawling.  At one point we thought we were about to drown it in 4 feet of water but this Jeep just tore it up.  We had a foot of water spilling over the door step into the cab.  It's a beast!  It handled some really big crawling too, including a HUGE boulder that blocked our only exit.



Our plan is to be in Salt Lake City by next summer so we're going to do whatever we have to to make that happen.  If we can get there sooner we will.  Can't wait!

Well, my transmission is on it's way out the door.  Lost 5th gear last weekend and it's in the shop right now.  I'm gonna pick it up today and find me a rebuilt tranny and install it myself to save money.  Looking like it's gonna cost about $600-$700 total.  I can live with that.
On the flip-side, Jen's Jeep just got a brand spankin' new Bestop in black that I got on sale with free shipping!

Well, I've been crazy busy with my new position at the club.  Just this week I worked 76 hours!!!  Good thing I'm hourly.  Another big development is, we are in the planning process of starting a business with another couple that we're friends with.  We have gotten into "juicing" recently and have decided to open a juice bar here where we live.  We have a ton of great ideas and we're crunching numbers.  It looks to be a very successful venture for all of us.  We're not sure where that puts us on the Montello timeline but our plan has not and will not change.

Each day that passes I research and become more informed. The more informed I become the more restless and guilty I feel. My Montello afterburners are on!

Well, I've been quiet I know...lots been goin' on here.  We've been working on our finances.  Proud to say we've gotten our expenses down from (at the start 2 years ago) $3200 a month, to (currently) around $1000.  We plan on shrinking that a lot more.  I also just got promoted to management at the country club I work at, only took me 5 months.  That'll help even more financially.  We're still praying that by next summer we can begin the move to Salt Lake City.  We're as anxious as ever.  We've gotten our minds set in the right direction, together, and we're focused.
I've been working a lot on the Jeeps to get them in shape, too.  I found a guy locally on craigslist who sells Jeep parts cheap and he seems to have what I need when I need it.  I had both Jeeps in the shop once in the last month to get some more extensive repairs done.  Not too bad on the wallet, either.  So, the past 2 days I've been  working on Jen's Jeep.  Funny how I had my Jeep for a year longer than her and seems like all I do is fix hers up...hmmm!  Anyhow, I bought a used black grill $75 from the craigslist guy, we'll call him Eli...cause that's his name.  Also got a very good used radiator $80! and used stock unfinished steel front bumper $75 (needs a little patchwork).  Good deals all around.  He's gonna sell us a nice used soft top and/or hardtop at some point for CHEAP!  Here's some pics of the work over the last 2 days.  It was a bi**h!




                      

Well, we spent another Saturday in the sun working on our Jeeps.
On the list today:
- Change the transmission mount on mine.
- Replace the coolant bottle in hers.
- Fix the soft top/frame on hers.
- Install new sound bar on hers.
- Install new ignition cylinder on hers. (couple nights ago, actually)
Not on the list:
- Completely wipe down transmission and skid plate! (Got some major leakage and build-up)

Well, I got all of that done before the rain came...sorta.  We got hit with a 5 or 10 minute storm while we were repairing her soft top frame so we had to rush and get it connected.  Her's still has carpet it in, that's why we panicked.  If it were mine...business as usual.  :)  You'll notice in the pictures how much leakage and build-up we had on mine.  I had Jen pressure wash the skid plate with Dawn and a scrub brush.  There was a good inch of sludge and debris on the top side of it.  Even found a penny buried in the muck!  HAHA