When I was living in San Francisco in the '60s I had an old World War II Jeep (MB Series) for a while. It had no top and no doors. What it had was a cracked windshield and a couple of bullet holes in the side. It was painted a ghastly green by some previous owner but I didn't care, it had 4-wheel drive and could take me to all the places I wanted to go.
My friend Chip and I used to drive down to Big Sur picking up any and all hitch hikers along the way. A jug of wine, a baggie of weed, a buck or two for gas; each sharing what we had to get a little further down the road. We camped out under the stars and told ourselves that we were free and that it would never end.
California was a lot less up tight back then. You could drive out to Ocean Beach and race up and down the sand chasing sea gulls. Another great idea that proved to be my undoing. While trying to have fun with a new girlfriend I got caught in the sand as the tide was coming in. By the time a truck came to tow me out the only thing to be seen was the top of the windshield. The tow truck drive handed me the hook and told me to swim out to the Jeep and connect it because he sure as hell wasn't going to do it.
Once on dry land I received a quick chemistry lesson. To wit: salt water does not play nice with copper wiring. The girlfriend stuck around for a while, the Jeep had to go.
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Awesome photo!
ReplyDeleteLuckily I arrived in California the first time in the Summer of 1969 so I got to experience the amazing freedom that's long gone now .
ReplyDeleteCool Jeep, too bad .
-nate