The wife and I took our 10 year old grandaughter along with two of her friends to Ocean City over the weekend. Here are some thoughts.
We left about 11:00 AM and got there about 2:30. The weather was nice so I removed the top and ran with the bikini, windjammer and trailduster. First time for the jammer and I was impressed. Alot less wind than just running the bikini. The cargo area was full, and the duster covered everything nicely. The three 10 year olds were pretty comfortable, so the seating is good for 3 young kids on a 3 hour trip. Gas miliage was pretty good. We averaged 18.9 MPG. That's on the SE Pa backroads of 222 and 272, till we hit 40 which has some lights but speeds of up to 55, then onto the route 1 toll road where we sometime flowed with traffic at 80. The JK is a 4dr "X", 16" alloys with the 245/75/16's, so considering the fact we had all windows open and loaded with the wife and I along with 3 kids and about 100lbs of luggage, I think it was pretty good.
Saw a few JK's as well as alot of CJ's/TJ's' on the road in Pa, and got waves or wavebacks from almost all of them. Once we hit Del. there were quite a few Jeeps, but we got alot less waves. Counted about 5 Jk's and got waves from none. Once we hit Coastal Highway into Ocean there were tons of Jeeps. Mostly CJ's/TJ's, and waves, but not nearly as many as I had expected. Got waves from a nice topless HUMVEE (civilain), with 3 girls inside.
Pulled into the parkinglot of the Comfort Inn on the boardwalk at 6st st, and there was a nice steele blue 4dr "X" sitting there with a 4" lift running 35's. The guy came out as we were onloading. I said nice Jeep, he replied yea. That was it nothing else. He was running Del tags. Drove around in the evening with the top off and saw quite a few Jk's both 2 and 4drs, and got no waves at all. Most of the drivers were young kids, probably out in daddy's Jeep.
Well all in all it was a great weekend. left about 12:30, this time taking Coastal Highway into almost Dover before we hit the tollroad then to 40 and on to 272 back home. This time I averaged 19.2 MPG. Again alot of jeeps but hardly a wave or waveback until I hit Pa.

 

Apparently all the waves are in NJ.

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-talk-26/awesome-awesome-awsome-best-jeep-wave-i-dunno-ever-44996/

 

I was also in OC this past weekend with my Ma and Pa. We took my Jeep there (because I NEED it) and I got tons of waves. It was nice to be back in a state where the Jeep wave is still alive and well.

I did; however, notice a lack of waves from the JK's. Every older model Wrangler waved, but I had a handful of JK's ignore me. Post a pic of your Jeep, I'm wondering if we may have seen each other. I devote more time looking at passing Jeeps than I do paying attention to the road ahead of me. Did you see me?:



OH, and I also saw one of the most hideous JK's yet. I saw it in the parking lot of the Outlet malls on 50. It was a 4 door Silver Sahara with 20" chrome rims, chrome tube bumpers (front and back), chrome door handles, chrome fuel door, chrome taillight guards, chrome sidesteps, and the darkest tinted windows I've ever seen. It was pretty bad lookin.

 

There's a very high % of JK owners that have never owned a Jeep, so there are many that don't know about the wave. I met someone that had hers for 6 months and coundn't understand why people kept waving at her. When I explained it you could see the light go and and she had an aha moment. Just keep waving and don't worry about how many are returned, I'm sure we've all missed some becasue we weren't paying attention.

 

 

Hey, that was me!!!

 

Not really.
I've got a black 4dr, however I'm at work right now will post a pic when I get home.

 

We have a lot of "classic cars meets" here in the Detroit area. Some businesses like Kmart let them use their parking lots. Anywhere from 15 to 100 classic cars will show up on a specific night depending on the meet. Vendors show up, people show up to check the cars out. There are tons on gorgeous classic cars in the this area.

I was leaving the autoparts store and one of these classic car meets was going on in the next parking lot over.. They were all leaving, so when I pulled out I ended up in the middle of a bunch of classics and hot-rods.

As we were driving a TJ came from the other direction and the two people in the front went nuts waving at me (like over the top nuts). 20 seconds later another TJ went buy and they threw me a wave. Then another 30 seconds later a JK went buy and gave me a big wave. Just dumb luck getting three waves in less that 1/4 mile.

I looked over at the couple next to me in the early 70s chevelle and they were looking at me like "What the hell?" I guess they were a little jealous.

 

I figured this all out while driving from north to south Alabama on smaller county and state highways instead of the interstate.

If you simply get out of town and a bit out into the country and away from interstates, you'll get a wave from each and every oncoming Jeep that sees you coming.

In town and on busy highways built for cars. . . . don't expect much.

 

I don't know if you've seen this thread:

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-talk-26/whos-jk-thier-1st-wrangler-45242/

I am quite surprised by the number of first time owners, so I suspect that goes a long way to explaining why JK owners aren't as wave happy. It will change over time. In my experience most two-door owners wave, most four door owners do not, probably a much different demographic at play for the four door peeps. I also see probably twice as many Unlimiteds than two-door JKs.