I really miss the good old days when we were young and carefree, didn't have a worry in the world, and dad paid or fixed everything. Well those days are definitely gone.
January we did our annual 4x4 run, since we really didn't want a repeat of what happened a few years ago BJ picked a nice sedate trail.
Our caravan takes off, BJ's buggy which looks like a skeletal HUMVEE, Matt pulling the 52 Willy’s, Derrick pulling a modified (I can't remember what year) 1 ton flatbed truck which later became the rattle trap, me pulling my rig.
After unloading everything we took off. Four monster four-wheel drives, huge 31 or 35 inch tires, lockers on every rig, KC lights everywhere, we were ready for anything. We followed the road enjoying some of the scenery which was desert. We were talking and laughing having lots of fun, traveled for about 30 minutes when the road started climbing to go over the mountain. I had been having overheating problems all year long and this day was no exception so I took off traveling fast to try to keep some air flow over the radiator, but about every 5 minutes climbing the hill we had to stop shut the rig off and squirt the radiator down, then wait for it to cool. After 3 cooling stops we finally made it to the top of the mountain and started down hung a left drove a little bit further and arrived at our destination. We parked our massive-super modified-stripped down-no frills-climb anything-go anywhere-machines and surveyed the parking lot admiring the other vehicles that had made that harrowing drive, there were a few pick-ups a couple of Sheriff’s trucks pulling horse trailers, and a few other 4X4's, then we turned to our wives and handed them our "Man cards" because nestled between these other vehicles was a Ford Taurus, that is a car, a city car, a soccer mom car, an old man car, which came over the exact same road we did. Yep, that road was tough. However that was not the end of our excitement, we ate our lunch when the kids wanted to go for a hike, so they took off down the trail with Joni's brother. A few minutes later they came charging back up, where upon Joni's brother informed us that the reason the sheriff’s trucks were there is because some hikers found a dead, yes you read that right a dead, deceased, no longer living type body laying on the trail and the sheriff’s were bringing the body up now......KIDS GET IN THE TRUCKS NOW!!!
We quickly packed the kids in and headed back down the trail to load up. We arrived un-eventfully. So the lesson we learned that day is that you can have fun four wheeling without breaking anything.
So with that thought process in mind Matt and his three children came out to our house in Buckeye Jan 9. Their youngest wanted to go for a ride in the jeep. No problem because I had learned that you can have fun without breaking anything.
Me, my wife, our two kids, Matt and his three kids all piled into my Jeep to go for a ride. We took off, headed toward the river bottom we are having fun, we drive in the wash for a little bit, stop shut down to let the radiator cool.
Suddenly I see smoke come billowing out from under the hood, my first thought is that I over heated but it smelled like oil, so I shut down and popped the hood, sure enough it was oil. Before we left I over filled the power steering pump so I thought it was just that fluid that was being sprayed on the engine and hood. No biggie, we'll just head back home. Pile everybody in the jeep start it up and start driving towards home when we notice oil coming through the firewall, and it wasn't seeping, it was pouring through. I knew that if I stopped the jeep there my truck would not be able to pull it out because the sand was VERY soft and VERY deep, so I had to get the jeep to hard ground, which was pretty far away. I yell for everybody to sit and begin to drive like the Baja 1000, heart rate increasing. Now the engine is beginning to get warmer the oil is pouring through faster, anxiety increasing. Oil and warm motor creates smoke a lot of smoke, heart rate increased even more, and anxiety is turning into panic.
Almost there, when suddenly my windshield shatters, and ear drums burst as my wife decides that people in New York City need to know, without the benefit of a phone, that my engine is on fire. So I immediately do the prudent thing and hit the brakes bringing my jeep to a sudden halt. I was violently crushed back ward into my seat, usually it takes a few minutes to get everybody out of that rig, but they vacated it so fast they left a vacuum. Matt and I, once the vacuum subsided, bailed out and headed to the front to open the hood, Matt handed me the fire extinguisher and I pulled the pin and squeezed the trigger and got the biggest surprise, it worked, the fire extinguisher actually worked. So there I am putting out the fire, which was started by oil, and my wife comes up with a water bottle so I turn to talk to her, when I made another startling discovery, the fire extinguisher once activated does not turn off, so as I turn to my wife the extinguisher sweeps across shooting her right in the face. Can you say dilemma, truck on fire, wife covered in fire extinguisher powder......which one do I go to.....I didn't need another stress factor at that point.
Anyway, we got the fire out, wife still says she kinda loves me; we got the kids calmed down, found out where the oil leak came from, plugged the hole and decided to drive it out instead of getting the truck. But I still had oil all over the engine, when I had a brainstorm, what is a good way to soak up oil? Why you cover it with sand or dirt. So there I am dumping sand all over the top of my engine (not in the carb). Well we fire her up, get to the hard dirt load all the kids back in, I was kind of surprised we got them back in the smoking vehicle, and headed back home. It was the same road I had used many times but Uncle Sam and the DOT decided my day was not complicated enough and had strung 4 row of barb wire across the place where I usually cross. Matt and I decided to loosen the wires so I could drive over them but the wires were strung too tightly, my fun meter was pegged and all I wanted to do was get my smoking vehicle home, so I told everybody to get out the jeep (safety first) just in case the wires broke as I drove over/through the barbed wire fence. After making it safely through the fence we piled everybody back into the jeep and drove home.
I need an easier hobby for next year…maybe I’ll take up flying!!!!
It was cold out so we didn't think anyone would want to get wet
Boy were we wrong!!! 
Charlee getting hit by a wave
playing in the waves 
Our apartment complex
Our front door
Then to the left is the living room , is bigger than our old living room, 
part of the living room and onto the kitchen
kitchen from the bar area
other side of the kitchen & the bar
office (big isn't it) and laundry behind those doors
The dining room
our back porch 
Charlee, Nicole and Reilly
Reilly Talon Riggs
Charlee Christina Riggs
Nicole and Brenden Riggs
Charlee, Brenden and Reilly Riggs
Nicole, Brenden, Reilly and Charlee Riggs
The Ben and Anona Riggs Family 
The 5th Grade group that went to Catalina Island from the Odyssey Prepatory Academy.
Charlee and Friends on the boat called the Catalina King.
Charlee with a squid on her eye. GROSS
The big guys were just as excited as the little ones!!
Brenden, Jaycee, Charlee, and Reilly
Coda and Keate
August 31, 2009
