I've lost my damn mind!

So, here we are at damn near $5 a gallon and I'm buying a brand new Jeep... I really must be insane!

At least that's what I thought while first considering my desire to buy a Jeep. But, after further review, I'm not so sure my decision was as incredibly ridiculous as I'd first thought. You see, I don't do a great deal of driving, but when I do drive it's usually for work. This means, that whenever I'm not booked on a job I keep all of my trips within walking distance or I combine the whole day's errands into a single trip. When I am booked on a job, the gas I spend getting to and from work is covered by the fact that I'm actually making money on that particular trip. I'll admit, there are times when I drive for pleasure, but these times usually involve some form of outdoor activity, which makes having a Jeep both fun and very useful at the same time. The reality is that I need a car that can handle a small group of people and the associated camping gear just as well as it handles a few c-stands, tripods, and a variety of lighting equipment.

While searching for an excuse to 'not' buy my Jeep, I looked at the average MPG for several vehicles that fit the previously mentioned criteria and most of them fell into the same fuel efficiency range as the Jeep. A few were slightly better, but a surprising number of them were considerably worse! In fact, I was pretty shocked at how bad most of the vehicles were, especially from the American auto makers. Why do I have to settle for some dinky little compact to get decent gas mileage? I know that SUVs will never get the gas mileage a prius can, but shouldn't they both be much higher by now? It seems a little funny to me that it's only taken a few years to bring hybrid technology to the market after nearly 30 years of very little change in fuel economy. Hmmm.

But I digress, now where was I? Oh yeah, I was in the middle of rationalizing why I bought a brand new SUV in these times of economic strife and consumer excess.

Well, to be frank, I just wanted one. I mean, if you're keeping score, there hasn't been a huge knock in the price of Jeeps lately; well, not the wranglers anyway. The dealers don't need to discount them too much because the people who buy Jeeps are usually only slightly concerned with how they're going to fuel there rides. These cars are so "rugged" and simple that most people who don't specifically want one will be turned off by how "manual" they are. Hence, people who buy Jeeps are usually at least as interested in the associated lifestyle as they are in the vehicle itself.

Now all I need are some bigger tires... No, I'm not trying to compensate. No really, I swear!

13 miles on the odometer.
And that's after a 2 mile test drive and the 5 miles home from the dealership!

The most expensive armrest I've ever purchased. Mom would be so proud!

I didn't buy a Jeep to look cool around town at $4.69 a gallon; I bought it because I like to go hiking, camping, and on the occasional trail-ride. It just so happens that the same characteristics that make it an awesome 4x4 are also helpful when I need to schlep a bunch of gear across town to a studio or out to the desert for a location shoot.