I made a deal with the Jeep: get me home safe and I won’t speak ill of you.

The wonderful green jeep that powered so many amazing adventures in Haida Gwaii and beyond has reached the end of its life.

On the drive home from Kamloops it blew a gasket on the transmission and dumped all the associated fluids. The leak was slow enough that it was not noticed for several kilometres as the jeep just slowly started behaving funny and shifted gears bizarrely. In the end patching the gasket was easy but the transmission is shot.

It limped back to Vancouver. The highway driving was stressful but manageable. City driving was tricky. I had never before stalled an automatic at an intersection.

Now she sits in front of my home under a beautiful plum tree. There is only one deal left to strike: with the wrecker.

Thank you for many fun rides!