The car

[Mortblanc]

I, myself, have started over once again after 5 years with the Jeep Liberty. It was a shock after experiencing a long and successful run of Jeep vehicles that began in 1972.

It seems that my Liberty shared one of the worst engines ever designed with much of the Chrysler line. It was a 3.7L V6 that had the power of a four cylinder and the fuel consumption of a V8 twice its size. It is a junk engine and is responsible for many of the vehicles in the Chrysler lineup to suffer extremely poor resale value.

Repairing the common problems of this engine will cost more than the vehicles' value, no matter which of the vehicles it is found in.

Mine died and will not be replaced with another 4WD unit for the first time in nearly 50 years.

Last year I used the 4WD to travel a grand total of 10 meters down the drive to the road after I had refused to leave the house until the snow on the road had melted. I no longer need to get out and go in all weather conditions. There is absolutely nothing that needs to be done on ice or mud covered roads that will not wait.

I no longer go into the remote regions of jungle, desert or trackless forest on camping expeditions or efforts to tare something up. It has been that way for several years.

I have joined Pete in the possession of a small sedan built for economy and durability. It is shockingly plain to the point that I lose it in the car park and no one in the world would give it a second look.

I might have stepped down in vehicle standing among the zombie hunters but it is all I need at this point. There is not an unpaved public road within 150 miles of me, and I no longer have need to slip down the unpaved fence rows of local farms. That is no longer considered acceptable behavior in my area.

I also got some advantages. I went from 15 miles per US gallon, to 35 miles per US gallon. That would be around 42 MPG in Imperial.

I also made a decision about cargo. When unloading the prep gear from the Jeep I realized I tend to throw "extras" into the bins. I have been carrying too much water, too much food and too much gear in general. It all added up to the extra load weight of a plump passenger and I no longer have need to haul that load about.

I removed the tent, the week of food, the stove, most of the water, the axe, saw and folding trolly, about 500 rounds of assorted ammo, one of the shotguns and two pistols, six or eight knives, two shovels and two folding camp chairs.

If I see fit to undertake an expedition I will put it all back, but I will no longer haul it around. I left in one shotgun and one pistol, one days food, a couple liters of water, a single tarp, sleeping bag, parka, and an Esbit stove, billy and jar of instant coffee.

That should be plenty.