Truck and Jeep Fest 2009

For the past few years I’ve gotten an annual flier from 4Wheel Parts for their Truck and Jeep Fest, but this year was the first time I’ve gone. I think they hold these events in different regions, and our local one is at the  San Mateo Expo Center. The main event is open to the general public and is free, other than the parking fee that the Event Center charges.

Andy and I went up on Sunday, the second day of the show. I’d gotten several chores (laundry, oil change for the Jeep, and replacing the filler assembly in one of our toilet tanks) out of the way on Saturday so that I could get away on Sunday without any guilt.

The event seemed pretty well-attended when we arrived, although several of the guys working the booths told me that Saturday morning had been the busiest, surprisingly so.

Jeff Arabia, the guy whose shop does all the work on my Jeep, was there and he gave me a little insider info on things. Perhaps a dozen rigs he’s built up were on display at the show at the organizer’s request, and they seemed to be popular attractions wherever they were.

There were booths representing many of the most well-known names in offroading: Currie, Warn, ARB, Rubicon Express, Rancho, Pro Comp, Hella, Optima, Hi-Lift Jack, and many others.

Andy & I both scored some freebies, mostly stickers but also t-shirts and other doodads, and Andy also scored a baseball hat from the ARB guys. He told them he was a Range Rover guy and in the sea of Jeep loonies I think they had some kindred pity for him. 🙂

We had a good time for the couple of hours that we were there. I brought along my EOS-10D with the wider L lens, although the indoor setting proved to often be a challenge, even with the external flash and the fairly zippy f/4 glass. I clearly need more practice with that gear in similar settings. The pics I did get can be seen in my Truck & Jeep Fest photo gallery.