All Things Jeep Blog & Musings

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?!?

Wow. This Go Topless Day is taking on a life of its own. (You crazy Jeepers!) But I suppose we expected no less and I gotta tell you, we are so excited about this. At the moment what is happening is that Jeep clubs all over the world are emailing us telling us about their Go Topless Day events. In New Zealand, a club is doing a topless trail run. In PA there's a Go Topless Day picnic. Our friend Mike, in Hawaii is organizing an event with his club (we are all jealous and would love to be topless in Hawaii!).

 If your club wants to do some kinda event, please let me know. We'll send along some goodies. I think we may have created a day where there are more topless Jeeps in the world than any other day in history. Who has any connections with the Guinness Book of World Records?

In an earlier post, we spoke of Mark Smiths rear end, but in this one I'm going to speak about more rear ends.

Rear end differentials, to be precise. Do you know your rear ends? I'm asking because if you need a primer, we got it.

We've been out of our Know Your Rear Ends T-Shirt for a while, just printed a few more up and have now printed the rear end primer on the BACK of the tee, so you can add your rear end to the mix! The tee is just $18 bucks and you and the guy behind you will find it well worth every penny! Enjoy.

Last night I was perusing the Jeep website. There's some pretty decent content over this and my favorite was this pictorial presentation of every Jeep they've ever built. Here you can venture back throught time and see all the Jeeps from the 1941 Willys MB to the new 2008 4 doors. The photos are great.

Pictures / History of Every Jeep Ever Built 

(or did they miss one?)

So you were lucky enough to acquire a Jeep this past winter that came with a soft top and now that it's almost warm, you want to take that soft top down for the first time. Actually, it's not that hard to do. However, it's best if you can get a bit organized about it. Luckily, our good friend Jim put a video together for you. We call it "Going Topless 101". After this, you'll be ready for our GO TOPLESS DAY.