Veterans Day 2013

Each year on Veterans Day, we here at jeepwaves.com like to bring you a story or picture of Jeeps in service. Last year, it was a story about flying Jeeps in WWII, the year before, a story of Jeeps liberating captured troops in WWII.  This year, it’s something a little different, but no less interesting.

Culver Jeep

The photo above is of a commemorative pin from the Culver Military Academy. While officially named the Eagles, having a Jeep as your school mascot is quite a tribute to the vehicle that has served along side US troops for decades.

My father, who attended Culver and subsequently went on to a 20 year career in the Air Force, showed me this pin and recounted a few stories from his time at the school. While it was generally a very rigorous education, there were some stories of after hours mischief involving a Jeep and driving around campus with friends.

So, as you say thank you today to all those who have served us, past and present, give out a Jeep Wave or two and pay respect to the vehicle that supports our troops.

 

As we do every day of the year, www.jeepwaves.com donates 10% of all sales to the Wounded Warriors Fund as a small way to support our Vets. Thanks for helping us help them.

Crawlin' To A Cure 2013

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We went out last Saturday to attend the third annual Crawlin’ To A Cure event in Eagle, CO that supports Breast Cancer Awareness and raises money for the Keepin’ ’Em Real Scholarship Fund.  We’ve been attending this event since the beginning and seen it grow to what it was this past Saturday. The progress has been amazing, both in terms of the course, the rigs, and the crowd in attendance.  With buggys, Jeeps, and pickup trucks coming from all over Colorado and some driving in from Moab, UT, the event is starting to attract some attention, and that’s a good thing.

The fundraising this year targets a local scholarship designated for students from families who have been touched by cancer.  Something a little different than raising funds for the national breast cancer awareness cause, but we think that keeping the money raised local is a nice step going forward.  Now, on to the pictures!

We got to the event a little late, so we missed the first go round with the stock / lightly modified vehicles which is our favorite part…just seeing what a Jeep can do as your daily driver and weekend wheeling machine.  Apparently, the $100 entrance fee didnt deter any of the drivers from going all out with their rigs, even if they do need them to get to work on Monday.  This guy late in the evening had the flags flying as he soared over a few jumps on the tamer of the two courses. 
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Another pretty stock Jeep was rolling through the JV course with the hard top on and aired out the first jump with all 4 wheels off the ground!  Kinda went against the theme of the event which was “crawlin,” but we’ll give him a hall pass since it was pretty cool to watch.

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One Jeep we wanted to see do more later in the night was this old rust bucket.  It was pretty much being held together with duct tape and bungee cords, but damn if it isn’t cool looking!  Unfortunately, two obstacles into his run, there was an abrupt stop, followed by the gentleman holding up a shiny object…his shifter!  Fortunately, after some fiddling, the reverse gear still worked, so he backed his way on into the staging area.  Would have liked to see what he could’ve done, oh well, that’s Jeepin!

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After the stock / near stock classes went through, it was time for the rigs built to rock the trails only.  Very fun to watch what a machine can do…like scale a small building!  This Jeep with flames on the hood was probably our favorite driver of the night.  It still resembled something you could buy at a dealership, but definitely had a lot of love put into making it an off road machine…and it showed on the course. The first run through was impressive and as we recall, the driver put in one of the top times of the night.

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Later on, a lady (maybe the first driver’s wife? we weren’t sure) got in the drivers seat to see what she could do on the Varsity course after driving her own Jeep on the JV course earlier in the night.  The results were impressive over the first three obstacles…she was killing it!  Then came the big ramp and things got interesting to say the least.  She came in a little hot and off angle, rolling right off the side and into the guard rails.  Fortunately, everyone was okay and the Jeep lived to drive again later in the evening…Impressive!

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This wasn’t the only casualty of the night as this friendly roofed buggy took a tumble as well.  The good folks who put on the event were prepared with an earth mover ready to right any wayward vehicles in short order. Sometimes, with a little help from the course crew who also did a great job directing drivers through some of the trickier spots on the course.

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Rounding out the gallery is a couple of our favorite shots of the night when the light was just right and the dirt was flying off a few of the obstacles.  Hopefully, it gives our readers an idea of how this event is progressing from where it started a few years ago to where it is now.  Pretty impressive growth for a local off road event.

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That’s it. Special thanks to everyone who put on the event and we’re glad we could make it out again this year to support a great event and a great cause.

Go Topless Day 2013 Recap!

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Well, needless to say, any day you can get out and wheel it’s a good day.  Go Topless Day 2013 was a blast for us here in Colorado.  We went out with the South Park 4×4 Club to Leadville, CO for the meetup and proceeded to Halfmoon Creek trail to see how far we could go.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERATurns out, we got up further than we thought we could and made it all the way to a creek crossing where a couple of rigs attempted to get across.  The crossing itself wasn’t really an issue, but an ice shelf greeting drivers on the other side of the creek caused a few problems.  Due to the layout of the rocks and the shelf, a right to left move was necessary to get out of the water.  Shorter wheel bases seemed to rule the day as well equipped TJ was the only successful crossing.  A chopped up cherokee and a newer 4 door wrangler got wet and had fun, but couldn’t navigate the exit out of the water without some winch assistance.

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After the fun, the snow started moving in, right on cue, and we figured it would be best to head down.  Quite a scene with 10 topless jeeps (and one Toyota) with snow falling softly overhead.  We figured it would be a waste not to stop for lunch quickly, and sure enough mother nature cooperated long enough to bring the sun back out for a quick bite and some Go Topless Day pictures.  AHHHH, Colorado weather!

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At any rate, all in all, a fun morning ride and another great Go Topless Day.  Looking forward to doing it again next year and appreciative for a great start to wheeling season here in Colorado.

*** On a side note, we threw up about 10 Jeep Waves to random motorists on our way out to Leadville and had almost a 90% return rate for waves.  Pretty darn good!  It might help having the Jeep Wave Sticker right in view of oncoming drivers! ; )

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Go Topless Day 2013

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Go Topless Day is on Saturday May 18th this year and we will once again be joining the South Park 4×4 Club in the highest in elevation event in the world.  We’ll be up 2 miles high in Leadville, Colorado. This pic is from a few years ago in 2011, but as you can see, it’s a good group that gets to see some great views – rain or shine on Go Topless Days.

If you’re in Colorado, feel free to check out the SP4x4 event page on Facebook HERE and join in on the fun.  If you’re not close enough to come out and play, let us know in the comments if you’re doing your own thing this Saturday and be sure to share pics going topless AND Jeep Waving!