Thanks for the warm welcome everyone.
Frank, I would love to, but I will be out of town for work. If anything is going on between Dec 9th and the 22nd I will be there in a heart beat.
Bryant,
I generally make several trips out to Anza Borrego in December, all of them on routes you could do easily in a stock Xterra. Anza Borrego is not very far for you from Camp Pendleton. Keep an eye on the Xcursions Forum, I'll usually post something there. If you have a specific Saturday or Sunday that you want to head out either post something up or send a PM.
For the last few years we've done a December trip out to 17 Palms, the Pumpkin Patch, and the sandy washes between Arroyo Salado and Font's Point. I'll probably set that up again for this year, after I check with Paul to see if he has anything planned. We start out going to 17 Palms, and end up at Font's Point at sunset. It's an easy day-trip route that you can do in your stock 4WD without any problems, and quite scenic.
If you do plan to do any off-roading, you may want to take off those step rails before they get banged up. You can generally find someone willing to pay $100 or so for them, if they are in good shape. I would suggest taking off the mudflaps as well.