In 1978, when I first got my driving permit, I hit the road in my 1958 Willys CJ5 Jeep—a red and black beauty I had personally painted and outfitted with a roll bar. This Jeep wasn’t just a vehicle; it was a ticket to adventure, a machine built for exploring the unknown.
One day, I was driving down an old dirt road in the woods of Sullivan, NH, when I stumbled upon a hidden lake. At the time, I had no idea what it was called, but the sight of the water, perfectly still and tucked away in the trees, sparked something in me. I needed to know more.
Curiosity has always been a driving force in my life, so I did what came naturally—I started digging. I went to the Sullivan town hall and combed through public records to identify the body of water. That’s when I learned its name: Woodward Pond, a local reservoir with its own history and significance.
Over the next couple of years, that discovery became more than just a fun fact—it became the setting for a series of adventures. Whether it was off-roading, hiking around the shoreline, or just taking in the quiet solitude of a place few people seemed to know about, Woodward Pond became my own personal hideaway.
Looking back, I realize that my instinct to investigate, uncover, and explore has been a part of me from the start. What began as a spontaneous drive through the woods turned into a lesson in research, discovery, and the value of public records—a skill that would later shape my career in OSINT and intelligence gathering.
The Jeep may be long gone, but that mindset—the drive to find the hidden stories behind the places and things we see every day—has never left me.