I am finally home in the foothills of Mount Hood in Oregon, after a long week in Daytona Beach.

I actually learned a TON during my time away.  Primarily, I learned to never stand behind a man swinging a hammer at an exhaust tip (Phil, you are a great new friend – but I did warn you I would forever taunt you about that!).  I learned that if you party with Rebel Off Road, be prepared to throw down (those guys DO NOT mess around).

But last, I learned about how awesome the Jeep family truly is.

As a west coast Jeeper, our terrain is a lot different than some trucked in dirt and concrete scraps tossed in the speedway infield. Our mountains and scenery are much different than the sun glistening off the Atlantic.  And, our vegan scene is MUCH improved over that of Daytona Beach, LOL.

But honestly, that is where the differences end with Jeepers.

I heard more languages, saw more old, young, black, white, modded, stock, men, women, and all kinds of jeeps and all kinds of people.  Yet one thing remained constant – we were there for a love of the brand, a love of the heritage, and a love of the sport.

There are very few ways in today’s society where total strangers can sort of bond over a common element like we do with Jeeps. I helped a guy in the middle of the after party by showing him how to do an alignment on his JK.  People asked me what a locker was.  And, vendors educated me on a ton of cool and new things.

I made a ton of new friends, and spent some amazing time with old ones.

In the end, I am really proud to be a part of this big, giant, passionate, crazy Jeep family.

Until next year,

Scott