EDITOR’S NOTE: Wendy Miles, an Eastern Territory Sales Manager with THE SHOP, recently embarked on a “workation” to Moab, Utah for the Easter Jeep Safari. Miles—the proud owner of a custom 2013 Nissan Xterra Pro-4X—documented her experience with the following overview and photo gallery below.
…

Workation: When, through the course of your business, you get to check out an event or location you have always wanted to visit.

After years of hearing about the Easter Jeep Safari, I was finally able to get out of the office for a couple of days to check it out for myself. While I have had the opportunity to take my Xterra to Moab with the goneMOAB event, I was eager to check out how Red Rock 4-Wheelers Inc pulls everything together and how they’d feel about this larger, lumbering Nissan playing on the slick rock with them.

I took off from Denver Thursday morning (March 29), hit some snow after the Eisenhower Tunnel on I-70, and arrived to Moab late that afternoon. With lodging being at a premium by the time I booked, I was fortunate to find a great Airbnb available near the Spanish Trails Arena—a great option, by the way.

I dropped off my stuff and headed over to check in at the arena. The check-in process was smooth and then it was time to explore. I was amazed at how many vendors made it out for the event. The entire arena was filled as well as the north parking lot.

That evening, I went to the LTAA event at Grandpa’s Garage. I was thinking it was going to be a bar or restaurant. NOPE! It’s really the garage of off-roading legend Danny Grimes, a very gracious host, who is kind enough to open his property for events. The evening gave some who work in the industry a chance to relax by a fire, chat, network, and get something to eat after the first day of the vendor event. (See the photos on our Facebook page.)

Friday was spent walking around the arena and grounds, visiting booths, checking out new products and companies, and taking copious pictures. What would a Jeep event be without some tire-on-tire pictures? It was nice reconnecting with old friends, getting to see people face-to-face I had only ever known on the other end of a phone or email, and meeting new contacts.

This gave me the opportunity to meet up with a group going on a quick trail run just before sunset. The nice gentlemen from Sin City Off-Road Customs, Sprintex, and The Trail Reaper allowed me to tag along. And I thought MY rig was tough. While I would often get out before an obstacle to carefully choose my lines, they were ready to just go! Thanks for letting me slow you down, fellas.

I was also supposed to do a run Saturday morning. Note to self (and to future first timers): If you are doing an organized run and heading to your staging area in the morning, the police block the highway through town just before the runs start. If you are going north to south or south to north, plan on being at your staging area 15 to 30 minutes early or you will miss your run. Grrrrrrr.

Enjoy the annotated photo gallery above!