Dream trip & dream brand deal — All in one!
The 60th Annual Easter Jeep Safari
At the top of my bucket list, I’ve always dreamed of going to Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, Utah. Not only would this be an adventure to wheel my Jeep on all new-to-me terrain and a way to challenge my Jeep build and driving skills, but it’s also an event where so many of the off-road community come together at one time. I’ve viewed Easter Jeep Safari as the best way to get to meet the most friends that I’ve made online through my social media over the last 10 years. Well, not only did I achieve that bucket list dream earlier this month, but it came as a brand deal, which I could arguably say is the most fitting brand for me to work with!
Sometime mid March, I received an email from the marketing team for Jeep. “I’m reaching out to gauge your interest to take part in the once in a lifetime experience at the Easter Jeep Safari with Jeep”. I don’t think I’ve ever responded to an email so fast in my life. And on top of that, they asked if I would be interested in bringing my own Jeep and my dogs. Again, immediate yes. Nick and I have never prepped for a cross-country trip in less than two weeks before, but we knew we had to do everything it took to make this happen.
And that’s exactly what we did. We both got the time off of work, thoroughly went through the truck, trailer, and Jeep, and packed up for our 25 hour cross-country trek from Michigan to Utah.
Day One with Jeep: Dinner party in the desert
On day one with Jeep, we were not meeting until dinner time. The other creators were flying in that day (I was the only one bringing my own Jeep and drove in). So I spent most of Sunday running EASY trails with my friends Hailey and Troy. I say EASY because I knew I had just gotten the coolest brand deal of my life. Not knowing the Moab trails yet, I KNEW I couldn’t risk breaking my Jeep right before everything started. So we ran Lost World D2700, which was a temporary Jeep Badge of Honor for EJS week.
Then that evening, we met with the Jeep team and got shuttled out to a literal wedding venue (the place was ABSOLUTELY beautiful!) for dinner and events with Jeep. Now, I was expecting a little “get to know the team” kind of dinner where we would talk about the week’s upcoming events. No — this was BIG. The Jeep engineers, designers, marketers, everyone important was there. They unveiled concepts, future vehicle designs, and an early reveal of the Drop 6 of the 12 for 12 to us.
I got to meet so many great people this evening and make the most interesting s’mores ever. Also, this is where I knew that the other creators, Jeep marketing team, and I were about to get along really well and have an amazing week together!
Pictures from my Lost World trail run and then Night 1 with Jeep
Day Two with Jeep: Jumping off a cliff
On Monday morning, everyone got in their Jeep company vehicles and me in my own Jeep, and we convoyed out to see the concept vehicles. Every year, Jeep creates concept vehicles specifically for Easter Jeep Safari, but since this was the 60th anniversary of EJS, they also brought a lot of the old concepts back. We got a presentation on each one, then learned environmental tips about how to responsibly off-road in the desert. From there, we ran trails as a large group up Gemini Bridges and headed to our destination of the Moab Rope Swing.
Jeep’s team DID tell me in advance that we would be doing the Rope Swing. We were allowed to say no, but encouraged to try it. I’m not going to lie; I had nightmares about this in the short time leading up to the trip. Because I knew I was going to do it. Skydiving, bungee jumping, none of that has ever been of interest to me, so jumping off a cliff is VERY out of my comfort zone. But I was presented with an opportunity I may never have again, and I was NOT going to allow myself to pass it up.
So…. I did it. I jumped off a cliff with Jeep and Moab Rope Swing. And it was terrifying!!!!
Words do this jump no justice, so here are two videos of my jump:
My POV: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWmugHNkqIG/?igsh=MWt5MDB2aWVicDRiYw==
Drone Video: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXJuvYHDrzb/?igsh=MTdtOWRrejJ3OXlsNA==
Various pictures from Day 2 with Jeep
Day Three with Jeep: Rock crawling the concepts
This quickly became my favorite day of the trip. It was the day we got to actually drive the concept Jeeps! Jeep had a small section of Fins & Things set up as a crawler course. So while you may expect that they have a very basic course set up, I was very excited to find that we would actually get to rock crawl these concepts!
I immediately hopped in the Red Rock Gladiator that Jeep built specially for the Red Rock 4 Wheelers (who host Easter Jeep Safari). From there it was the Grand Wagoneer Commander concept, Laredo JL concept, Buzzcut concept, upcoming production Rewind Edition JL, and more. Jeep had even brought back concepts from previous years for us to drive! The only one not there from the 2026 concept lineup was the Pioneer XJ. Someone had driven it a little too hard on Monday and broke the driveshaft yoke at the transfer case (but that’s the beauty of older Jeeps—parts are plentiful, so I am sure they had it fixed in no time!). There were guides in all of the concepts and spotters at each obstacle. However, I think they could all quickly tell that I am a very experienced off-roader, so they really let me push the limits of the vehicles. It was AWESOME!!
Although, driving all these new Jeeps with brand new suspensions on them made me realize how due for new shocks I am in my own Jeep!
Finn and Sage were so spoiled by everyone on the Jeep team this day. Jason from Overland Cookery made us some AMAZING FOOD (I had never had grilled pineapple before—OMG was it delicious!). Overall, this day was AN ABSOLUTE DREAM! Such an incredible opportunity!
After our time with the concepts was over, Nick and I ran the full Fins & Things trail in my Jeep with our downtime before dinner. In the evening, we had dinner and a drone show with the Jeep team.
Here is my reel driving the concepts: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXCxJ2UEVlV/?igsh=Y3psZGx1MG01czA=
Day 3: Concept day! Here I am driving many of the concepts along with a group photo. Finn DEFINITELY licked Casey Currie in the face during the group photos!
Days Four, Five, & Six: Running trails & Meeting friends
After Tuesday, my contract with Jeep was over, but since we hauled my Jeep all the way out to Utah from Michigan, I opted to stay the rest of the week as my own vacation. After all, this was my bucket list DREAM TRIP; I wanted to experience it in its entirety.
Wednesday was rainy and a lot of people warned us that the slick rock gets extra slick in the rain. We had planned to run Poison Spider and Golden Spike with our friends from home, but we stopped for breakfast at Cactus Jacks first to let the rain pass. The huge cinnamon rolls at Cactus Jacks are soooooo good! After that we headed up to Poison Spider where our friends James, Nick D, Lee, and Alexis quickly lost a bearing on their CJ5 and had to make a run for the local parts store. So unfortunately I did not get to run as much of Poison Spider as I would have liked. After that, I had my Jeep measured on the RTI ramp (I got an 840) and went to a bowling party with friends.
On Thursday, we met up with more friends in the morning for the Dana/Spicer Steel Bender run. Ken with Dana has been a longtime friend of mine from Michigan, and he was so helpful in planning my Moab trip (HUGE thank you for all the help Ken!). Steel Bender quickly became one of my favorite trails in Moab. A great mix of scenic views, technical obstacles, and photo ops. We had an awesome time. After that, we stopped by the vendor booths. Had great conversations with Trail Ready, Big 7 Kits, and Blue Ribbon Coalition. Then we got the most delicious milkshakes and cheeseburgers at Milt’s.
Thursday evening, I did the KC HiLiTES night run. I’ve been a member of the KC family for 3 years now, so it was great to meet Randy and everyone else in person. We ran 7 Mile Rim for this run, which I think was the perfect choice. The trail was wide open so you could see the HUGE lineup of vehicles with their KC lights on as the sun set over the desert. Truly a picture perfect moment. One thing I loved about this trail run was that everyone said “this is an easy trail” “basically a dirt road” but it had more rock crawls than anything in Michigan. So obviously I loved this trail as well.
Friday was Pickle day! One thing I didn’t mention earlier here was that I got to meet my longtime friend Tara in person (@roveandreverie on IG). Meeting your close internet friends in person has got to be one of the coolest things, by the way. Tara and I got to spend a lot of time together this week and I loved all of it. But back to The Pickle. Tara works for Dometic/ Front Runners Outfitters, so The Pickle was her brand’s trail run. The Pickle is a short trail with many cool obstacles. Not only did we have an awesome group of people come together for this run, but the obstacles were AWESOME. I think I can honestly say that this was my favorite trail of the week!
Words only do so much to describe the fun we had on this trail, so here is a link to Josh’s YouTube video he made of our Pickle run: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roOJ2vVl-KA
We ended our trip Friday evening with trying to run Hell’s Revenge but it was PACKED. Went to Arches National Park (I had never been to a National Park before!). And then ate Pasta Jay’s for dinner (HIGHLY recommend their stuffed shells).
Saturday morning, bright and early, we began our 25 hour trek home.
Various pictures from the rest of my week in Moab
This week was a reminder of how amazing the Jeep community is. I got to meet SO MANY FRIENDS that I have made online over the last decade. I got to experience a whole new terrain for wheeling (I have never had such traction in my life. My tires just GRIPPED… everything!). I got to make memories and take photos that I will keep with me forever.
I could never thank the Jeep team enough for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime. This is truly an adventure that Nick and I will remember and talk about forever. THANK YOU!
- Becca
Group photo with the marketing teams for Jeep and my fellow creators