Sammy,
Just saw this - it'll be a blast, I'm sure. With Beth's illness and my Mom living with us, we have not been taking many trips lately, so I don't think we're a candidate, but I wanted to share some thoughts.
We've been to Cruise Moab 5 times, done the full Kokopelli from Grand Junction to Moab and Rose Garden Hill / Top of the World a couple other times.
Cruise Moab is a terrific, wheeling bucket-list event. Rising Sun does a great job with it and the crowd is really fun to wheel with. Have you considered dates that overlap with it? Based on the number of respondents that have indicated the dates don't matter to them, I'd highly recommend it.
Lots of folks come early or stay afterwards to extend their trip and get in additional wheeling. CM doesn't take over Moab as much as the Easter Jeep event, but its still pretty tough to go very far without seeing other Land Cruiser folks on and off the trail.
Folks come from New England to Florida, California to Canada with everything from buggies to cooly built diesel 70 series. There's a vender night, cook out, raffle, lots of trail diversity. I'd also suggest you look at some non-wheeling activities like rafting or mountain biking (rent them there) if you're going to be there that long. Or maybe a trip down to Canyonlands NP, either Needles or the Maze.
You mentioned you already have a local contact, but Ace Brown and Jonathan Harris from Bookcliff Cruisers, out of Grand Junction, and Stan Wright, the Toyota Trails editor and coordinator of the Hundreds in the Hills event are all experienced trail leaders for the Kokopelli and would probably be glad to share their info / insights too.
You'll have a great time if you choose different dates, but I know Cruise Moab will add greatly to your experience.
Rick
