Ya know, everyone asks that because it does get pricey. (You saw the 4 for 3 discount, right?).
I've been to 3 Jam's so far. This is what I've noticed:
1) the crowd is VERY diverse, ranging from the rock-crawling red-necks in insanely built machines, to rock-crawling red-neck wannabees that normally wear a suit during the week (guilty as charged
). The guys with dirt under their fingernails from daily or just weekend wrenching, to the guys with worn out Gold Cards driving brand new Rubicons with all the best money can buy. I've seen grandparents out to have some fun; I've seen newly licensed kids with parents out to learn some skills.
The bottom line on people, is everyone comes together and shares the excitement that's so real you can taste it.
2) The size of the event. With about 120 Jeeps, it's a serious crowd. At the Catskills run last year, the town rolled out the red carpet and it was nice. You wanna get waived at? DRIVE A JEEP WITH A JAMBOREE STICKER ON THE WINDSHIELD DURING A JAMBOREE WEEKEND!
3) The events on friday night are fun. sometimes a Jeep rodeo; sometimes a monster truck type ride over a Neon (that was fun).
4) The evenings in the bar are great. Watching the day's videos is fun (bring your patch cables!). And telling those Jeep Tales at dinner is great.
5) Food. It's pretty good. Some of it was quite good. I imagine that depends a lot on the event, but they do seem to try to give you your money's worth there.
6) I particularly enjoy the terrain I've been on. Two of the three Jam's I've done was on private land, so you can't explore these areas outside of this event. I like to GO places. That's what I hate about Paragon - you just drive around a park (albeit a huge one) all day. Exploring and driving through deep woods for hours, passing ancient indian burial grounds (Mohawk Trail) and the like, is cool. Eating lunch in a stream with 20 of your newly aquired friends is fun.
So overall, yes, it's pricey. But, I think every Jeep owner who thinks of his or her Jeep as a JEEP and not an SUV aught to do at least one Jam.
Look, I don't know about you, but I never really knew what a Jeep Jamboree was. But for years, I noticed those decals on some Jeeps around the country. I knew that one day, I'd like to find out. So I did and it was a blast.
Finally, the first event I went to was at the Mohawk Trail in Charlement, MA. They lost the event since then. But this trip was the first time my (then 4 year old) son and I went away together - just the two of us. We stayed in a B&B together. We drove up and spent nearly every minute together. We shared PB&J that my wife packed for us in the room late thursday night when we got up too late for dinner. We peed in the woods together.
We built some great memories that will last a lifetime. Looking back, I've long since forgotten the money and remember only the fun times. It's that kind of enthusiasm that I want others to experience.
Try it, you'll like it.
