I still can’t believe that it is finally here. After 18 months of planning and dreaming , the 2008 Crawl 4 Christ has come and gone. We have fought the last battle and overcome the last obstacle and we have emerged victorious. Despite all the flaming arrows that the Evil one has shot at this event and has thrown at all of our brothers and sisters to attempt to disrupt this event, it has survived and been a great success. From fuel prices going through the roof, financial situations, and flooding in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and all down the Mississippi river, our team has won. Despite even sudden down pours of rain and clashes of thunder the sun still shown on Crawl for Christ.

I find it hard to put it into words how great it was to meet all the super folks that we finally got to put a face and name to. As much as I love wheelin', I found myself more interested in just spending time in fellowship with our new and dear friends.

Now on with the event. The Austin Clan headed east late Wednesday afternoon and rolled up I 40 until we were well into Arkansas and then took a quick nap at a rest area. As the sun crested over the hill tops and into the beautiful skies of central Arkansas, we traveled the rest of the way into Hot Springs and the SuperLift park. We met with B.J. Richardson, manager of the SuperLift ORV Park and then settled into camp. As we continued to get the camp somewhat organized, our wheelers began to show up. About half of our group dropped by the park before the sunset. Most of our group were staying in motels around the area, but a few of us done the camping thing. Yep, and as you guess we could not wait any longer. We headed to the hills. The Austin crew and BroncoCrawler went out to see what we could find. We found some minor issues with some of the rigs but got back to camp and took care of the mechanical issues.

Our drivers meeting was set for 8:00 AM Friday morning but got underway a little before 9:00 as some of our crew still had to get their trail stickers and sign the waivers for Super Lift. We split up into 3 groups according to the degree of difficulties that everyone wanted to experience. Stan Oiler of the Christian Crawlers lead a group to the 3-4 rated trails and Randy Putt led a group to the 2-3 trails even though he had just been to the park 1 time, he was our man for Friday. John Ward of Arkansas Crawlers lead the big rigs out to the 5 rated trails.

 
All groups reported having an excellent time and finding plenty to challenge themselves and their rigs. While handling the position of tail runner on the 5 rated trail crew, Laddle Cottongin (BroncoCrawler) showed off the undercarriage of his famous Bronco while attempting to follow the Jeeps through the trails and slid off of a rock ledge, sticking his wheels in the air like a dead armadillo (just had to pick at you a little bit Laddle).

True though, the blue Bronco hung tough all day with his 38” tires chasing the 44” tire clad 5 trail group. After a short recess because of rain, most of the wheelers returned to the trails. My wife and I remained in camp to see if we could assist John of the Arkansas Crawlers with preparing the Friday evening meal.

We had a great cook out with burgers, hot dogs, and all the trimmings. You really missed out by not seeing the cool Jeep Grill trailer used for the cook out. If anyone left hungry it was their own fault because there was plenty left on the tables when all was said and done. We all fellowshipped with each other and shared stories of the days activities.

Saturday morning we a woke to a beautiful Arkansas day and split up into groups again. More of the Arkansas Crawlers joined in with us and Steve assumed the trail leaders position on the 2-3 trail groups, I must say that John Ward and the Arkansas Crawlers were great hosts.

John lead us through some really super trails. Vertical Challenge, Warn Hill, and then the very tough “Too Easy” trail which required all 7 of our group to pull the winch cable at one point. Then as we finally reached the top and started drifting back we just had to stop and play a little which resulted in Matt getting bit by the carnage bug. On a short steep loose dirt climb, Matt ripped the top link loose on his front end allowing the Dana 60 to flip and take out the shocks, driveshaft and everything else that was in the way. After the recovery and strapping everything back together, we nursed it onto Brett Lau’s trailer and hauled it back into camp. Upon arriving back to camp we ran into Doyle Watkins who was a Saturday's only participant and was just getting back to camp after recovering from a roll over of his Jeep on the slick trails. Doyle and his wife Mandy are a young couple who we met at the Tour De Sober run a few years back.

After a quick lunch, John went to run with some of his crew and we gathered a group of our folks together for a little spectator action. We all knew it was coming and now it was time. We had heard about the climb known as “Impossible” that had been featured on Offroad Adventure, and we all knew that sometime this weekend Brad Austin would have to try it. Matt Austin was also wanting a shot but his orange buggy was now out of the picture for the rest of the weekend so he would just have to watch. As about 20-30 of us gathered at the top and found a safe place to watch the show, we sat and listened. We soon heard the roar of the high spirited small block Chevy engine start to scream. From our vantage point we could just hear the engine scream and fade as he worked his way up toward our vantage point. As the Blue Beast and Brad came into sight we could see them fighting and struggling against the large, loose rocks. He slowed and crawled the next big ledge and then fed the ponies on the last as the Blue Beast leaped over the last ledge and roared to the top slinging rocks in all directions. “Impossible Hill“.... not today for Brad and the Blue Beast!

As we spectators started to walk back towards our rides the sky opened wide and poured heavy rains on the mountain tops. Our group of drowned rats rolled into camp and sought shelter. We dried off and shared some more tales of the event. After some time had passed, several found their way back into the trails and we took advantage of the break in the showers to move the raffle goods and food to the pavilion where we would hold the raffle, devotion, and pot luck dinner.

As 7:00 PM arrived, we started the raffle with plenty of prizes for everyone. Laddle Cottengin from London, Kentuky, won the prize for coming the longest distance for the event. He also won the Smitty Built winch that was donated by Absolute 4x4 from Oklahoma City, Ok. The list of product sponsors was long and they were all very generous.
After the raffle we had a short devotional and then shared more trail stories. For some it was time for good byes and for others it was time for more fellowship. We joined in with some of the local club members and watched some 4 wheelin' video of their trip to Moab a few weeks ago. Well, we moved on to our good byes and hit the sack. Sunday morning there were a few of our wheelers with less miles to travel that hit the trails one last time, but for us it was time to start the big task on tearing down camp and getting loaded for the trip home.

By 11:30 we were under way on our return trip home. We had no real problems on our return trip with the exception of Judy (my wife) coming down with severe abdomen and back pains which were intensified by the bouncing of the toter home on the less than smooth I 40. She laid in the back of the truck and attempted to keep the situation from being known to me as I drove. She had a very rough time for the last 3 hours of the trip. When we landed at home Brad , Matt, Sabrina, and Jenny took care of the truck and trailer as I loaded Judy into the car and rushed her to the hospital. Upon our arrival they quickly gave her something for the pain which she greatly appreciated. They soon diagnosed her as having a kidney stone. I suspect it was an Arkansas kidney stone that she picked up on one of the hill climbs! We do thank God that she waited until the end of the event to come down with her illness and that a kidney stone was all that was causing the pain. She is now doing much better and is well on her way to recovery.

I will go on to say that Judy done well all week end piloting the big, purple DragonFly rig up the steep trails of Super Lift park and they continue to show me and Big Yeller how it was done. Man I have got to get some time so I can get Big Yeller’s new modifications complete. This embarrassment is getting old.

All in all the event went great. Great people, great park, great food, great wheelin, great fun, and and overall great time. God is so good to allow us all to get together and experience such a GREAT time of fellowship and fun with all of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. He had to have us in mind when he created such a beautiful location for us to experience. Thanks to all for Lifting up our Lord and Savior as we enjoyed our hobby. Thanks to everyone that came, thanks to the Arkansas Crawlers for being such good hosts, thanks to the guys at Super Lift park for working so well with us on the event, a big thanks for those who worked so hard on this event and then were unable to enjoy it and a big thanks to all of the sponsors for putting up all of the great prizes for our folks.

For a cool photo slideshow of the event, courtesy of Brian Letendre, click here!

That’s all for now. Okie- Out
God Bless You and Yours
David Austin (daveoffroad)
Wheels Up