All Things Jeep Blog & Musings

A crazy Jeep store owner. A sawzall. An old XJ. Go Topless Day. Put it all together and what do you get?  You get a topless Jeep Cherokee, joining in the spirit of Go Topless Day. Sure, it's a stunt. But it sounds like a heck of a good stunt, so we'll do it!

It's at our Lancaster, MA Go Topless Day around 1:30ish PM tomorrow, Saturday May 3rd.

Ok, I'll admit, I am one of those wives that tend to roll my eyes when my husband says he's heading to the garage for a few minutes. Because I KNOW that's "guy speak" for "I'll see in you a few hours, don't bother me." And frankly, I don't want to bother him and I don't want to know what's going on in there. I need to know where the compressor hose is so I can fill up bicycle tires for the kids. And I occassionally need to go in there for a screwdriver or a wrench to fix something in the house. But otherwise, I'm okay with it being his domicile.

I know that women who wrench their own Jeep are rolling their eyes at me now, and hopefully they won't think less of me or my business because I don't work on my Jeep. It's not that I can't do this, it's just that I like to do other things. I love doing art - photography, pottery, collage. And modifying your Jeep is another art form, creating a functional work of art. So I appreciate it. I just don't do it.

But back to the garage thing. We've got this awesome new garage sign in stock today. It's heavy-duty, like a street sign, and weighs a ton (actually just 4 lbs.) And it says, " What happens in my garage stays in my garage ". I know exactly who I'm buying it for!

I don't have a Jeep mom but I am now a Jeep Mom, and I just have to say, we are the best. Kinda adventurous, kinda spontaneous and always up for taking the top down and going out for an ice cream cone. Because in my book, topless Jeeps are made for rocks and cones.  (Hey, there's t-shirt idea waiting to happen!)

So, since Mother's Day IS coming up, we put together a little Mother's Day Free Gift Program for Jeep Moms at www.allthingsjeep.com

Simply spend $60 on goodies for yourself, and pick out a gift for your Mom (or girlfriend, or daughter or yourself) for free. Choose from one of the following cute Jeep girl gifts. I chose them myself as some of my personal favorites so if the Jeep girl or mom in your life has my taste, you are golden!

Hope you like them. Hope you have a great upcoming Mother's Day.

And I'm be mad at myself if I didn't put in a plug for Go Topless Day. It's becoming huge. I think it may be the largest worldwide event for Jeep owners ever to exist. All ya gotta do to play is spend Saturday May 3rd outside in the Jeep with the top down (or windows unrolled if you are in a Liberty, Cherokee, etc.) and then send us a photo. See our Go Topless info here. I'm very excited. If you are reading this, please tell your Jeep friends about it. Thank you. 

Back when we were just into Jeeps, we came across this forum called www.jeepforum.com. We asked some questions, fellow Jeepers gave us some answers. We asked more questions, we were teased but our questions were still answered. And as more Jeep people found that forum, the forum grew. Today, they have over 140,000 members asking and answering questions, making fun of each other, sharing Jeep talk, hanging out online. Sheesh, some of the people seem to live on that site. Whenever I visit, they are online. (Guess it's a Jeep thing.)

Next, this same guy started up the JeepWiki for everything you need to know about Jeeps. I look here first when I get a question I can't answer.)

They also now have a product reviews section, a links page and a chat page.

(Now at this point I'm starting to think that the only sites I now need online are google, amazon and jeepforum - they have everything I need. Oh, and also www.allthingsjeep.com, of course.)

In any case, just got an email from Keith, the owner of the site. He's put together JeepSpace, a place for guess who? People like us. It's like Jeep Heaven, his sites. So now we can spend more time posting Jeep photos, blogging about Jeeps, chatting with fellow Jeep owners, and doing all that other "social networking" type stuff online. Check it out. But my recommendation is this. Only visit after you've done your chores and homework for the day, 'cuz it's addicting.

Just about 1 week until International Go Topless Day on May 3rd. We now have over 5000 Jeepers signed up to participate in local Go Topless events around the world, and the list is growing.

All this talk of taking the Jeep topless leads me to wonder where the best places to drive topless are. Since there are Jeep owners to take their rig off-road and others who just enjoy it as a daily driver, I thought we could compile a list of 100+ Best Topless Jeep Drives out there in the country. So whether you are on the trail or on the road, we can suggest some drives for you.

Here's my first 2 suggestions for the list.

1. Take the backroads through neighboring towns to Kimball Farms in Westford, MA for giant ice cream cones, a ride in bumper boats and a round of mini-golf. The backroads of the surrounding towns are traditional New England.

2. My absolute favorite drive on a warm day (especially in the fall) is the Kancamagus Highway in NH. The Kancamagus Highway is one of the most scenic routes in New Hampshire. It's a 28 mile road through the heart of the White Mountains that climbs to nearly 3000 ft. The highway stretches from Conway, New Hampshire to North Woodstock. It is designated a National Forest Scenic Byway, and is one of only two such roads in Northern New England. It runs along the river almost the entire time and there's plenty of places to pull over and picnic or have a swim. Definitely on the top of my list.

So tell me the places on your list.

Well, this blog has been sparse this past week because I've been on vacation and as the primary poster, that means I am supposed to be relaxing, having fun, and not thinking about work too much.

I am relaxing, having fun, and thinking about work WAY too much.

At the moment, I'm in Disney World with some family. It is a blast. A whole bunch of man-made attractions that offer thrills, chills and excitement (along with some very long lines and very expensive bottles of water.) But it got me thinking. At the end of August we are going out to the Rubicon Trail. As sponsors of Jeep Jamboree USA this year, we are going to hit the trail with them at a few locations. And living here in Massachusetts, we've never had the opportunity to crawl the Rubicon before. This is an attraction of another sort, offering thrills, chills and excitement. Mostly Mother Nature made. And it may just be more fun than the current vacation I'm on.

When I think of the two vacations, they couldn't be more different in terms of the environment and activity. Yet, they both offer a similar type of adrenaline rush and sense of accomplishment at the end ("I survived Disney" and "I survived the Rubicon Trail") I wonder which will leave me more exhausted?!  If you've done the Rubicon, post and share any pointers you may have. Thanks.

I couldn't resist. Pooch Cafe is my favorite comic.

Poncho is the best. I don't know about all the correct copyright verbiage and if I have the right to post this but here it is.

The comic strip is by Paul Gilligan and like Wikipedia says, "Its main character is Poncho, a kibble-hoarding, cat-hating, toilet drinking enthusiastic but naive dog." Basically it's the the best comic strip to read since Calvin and Hobbes left the paper.

 Speaking of Calvin, don't you think Tim looks a bit like Calvin in the second photo here, wearing our new Camp Jeep sweatshirt? 

Every year, almost 10,000 people and well over 2000 Jeeps join together at the biggest public Jeep event in the world. Camp Jeep. Only this year you can take your gas money you'll save and put it aside for next year because there is no Camp Jeep 2008. (if there were sound effects on this blog, you'd hear our collective whimpering.) Unfortunately, we've never been invited as a vendor to come to Camp Jeep, as I think we compete with their own retail store there, but even so, we are saddened to hear that news. Many of you have asked about the dates and we've never been able to confirm them, and now we know why.

So, here's a link to Jeep's Camp Jeep page so you can stay on top of the 2009 Plans.

And here's a a phone # for Camp Jeep if you want more info: 877.CAMP.JEEP.

And, one more thing. It's our All Things Jeep Wish for 2009. We want to attend Camp Jeep with our Jeep merchandise. If you like our stuff and want to help us have a chance of getting in there, here's an email address you can contact: JeepForum@bbdodetroit.com

Thanks and now you'll have more gas money for a local vacation.

It's getting bigger and bigger, this Go Topless Day on May 3rd.

So far, these are the Jeep clubs around the world that are joining in the festivities.

PARTICIPATING JEEP CLUBS

• Western PA Jeepers
  
• San Antonio Jeep Exclusive
  
• Pioneer 4 Wheelers
  
• Sam B. and his BIG RUBBERS Custom 4x4 Club Inc.
  
• Maine4x4.com
  
• Muddy Buddys Jeep Club
  
• Lakeland Jeep Club, Florida
  
• Louisiana Jeepers
  
• Charlottesville Redneck Jeep Club
  
• Lone Star Jeep Club in North Texas
  
• Heritage Region Jeep Alliance
  
• "A small circle of Jeep lovers in the Beaver Falls, PA area including David P. with his 2001 TJ Sahara
  
• Katrina F. and her Jeep Cruise Buddies in the Tri-State Area
• Lucas A. and his buddies in the mountains of East Tennessee
  
• Starla M & the BrushBeater Jeep Club in SE Kansas
  
• Ocala Jeep Club in Florida
  
• Chuck M. and the Mohawk Valley MudCrawlers in upstate NY
  
• Aaron D. and the Canterbury Jeep Club in NEW ZEALAND where it's going into WINTER. Go Aaron!

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• Does your Jeep club or group of local Jeepers want to join us?

  Give us a shout and let us know.

   Anyone have any contacts at Guinness Book of World Records?!?