It was just 3 short years ago at the 2005 Tour De Sober run in Clayton, Ok that a Big Yeller Jeep rolled off the trailer for its first event.  Since then, you have seen it rear its head many times at various locations.  Now, it is time for the light of a new era.  The Nana's Going Big project Jeep rolled off of the trailer before the public eye for the first time at this years Tour De Sober 2008.
 
Our small group of 6 rigs gathered at the Minnetonka Church camp ground just south of Clayton, Ok where we always make our home base when in town.  We would meet up with several other rigs from the Trail Chasers and other area wheelers as the weekend went on.  Our small group consisted of Big Yeller and myself,  Judy and her DragonFly, Andy and Tracie and their CJ, and Mr. Haley and his CJ. Brad and Sabrina would be piloting the Urban Crawler for the Tour because the Blue Beast is in the ICU unit at the Austin wing at Austin Memorial as we speak and time did not allow for the needed procedures.  Also, we had the pleasure of having Mat & Stephany Conway and Jennifer Massucci join us for the fun and fellowship.
 
Yes, the weekend was all about letting Nana strut her stuff in the beautiful purple DragonFly project jeep.  For the first time ever, Judy’s rig would be the one getting all of the attention.  Whether it was at one of the many social gatherings along the trails or at one of the numerous obstacles, everywhere we came to a stop you would find other wheelers with their head stuck under the suspension, under the hood, and checking out the custom fiberglass dash.
 
The DragonFly is a beautiful 'TRAILER QUEEN'....NOT! . Even though this was the first outing for Judy in her DragonFly, they would not back down from the challenging obstacles of the rugged Clayton terrain.  The Wet & Wild, The Green Mamba, The Cake Walk, and even the Black Sheep, the DragonFly would take them all on.

The DragonFly in repose.
 
Now, on we go with the event.  After gathering at Slim’s (a local shop at the entrance of Green Acres) our small group headed into the park.  Starting fairly slowly we headed up the creek bed of the Wet & Wild trail (rated difficulty #4).  After moving on into #5 rated Green Mamba, Mr. Haley from Shawnee, Ok cracked the case on his tranny and it went to dumping fluid.  After finding the problem and cleaning up the spill, Big Yeller and myself pulled his CJ back down the trail to Slim’s where he would have to call it a day.  Brad hauled him back to camp to pick up his trailer and load up the injured CJ and rush it to the Jeepspital where it would be admitted for a tranny transplant.
 
While Brad and I got Mr. Haley situated for his trip back home, the others enjoyed some sandwiches.  Andy took this opportunity to clean the filter and put fresh tranny fluid in his CJ.  Upon our arrival we soon moved on up the trails.  Rock after rock, water hole after water hole, the DragonFly led us through the trails.  What a great day of wheelin' and a job well done by both Judy and the DragonFly.

As the sun set over the western skies, we slipped back to the rooms and cleaned up to head into town where we would attend the Trail Chasers meal at the Bullfrog Café in down town Clayton, Ok.  There were about 40 people in attendance and a good time was had by all.  The BBQ and fried chicken dinner sure beat having to build up a campfire and roast up some wieners.  We returned to the rooms at Minnetonka and kicked back for a quiet evening.  That’s right, no work to do to the rigs tonight.

The next day we arose to another frosty morning.  We snacked for breakfast, scraped the frost off of the windows and had another cool ride to the trails.  As soon as the sun was up well into the sky the temperature started climbing and it turned into a beautiful day.  We hit the creek and played for a short time on the boulders and then headed up the mountain. 

We stopped for a short time and enjoyed the scenery at the top then had a quick lunch and let Big Yeller take a short break. She had started getting her temperature up a little on the long climb.  I really think she just had her feelings hurt a little because the DragonFly was getting all of the attention this weekend. After the short break we headed down the Cake Walk trail.  I had been up it several times, but had never gone down it.  It sure gave a different look going down and made for an interesting trail.  The challenges were all a lot different going down than they are going up.  Again, all day long the DragonFly performed flawlessly.

 Now, since things had gone well all weekend and Nana had sat and watched Big Yeller go up the Black sheep ledges the day before, she decided that she just had to give the DragonFly a shot at the ledges.  With that decision now in the books, down the trail we headed to the Black Sheep.  We waited a while for her turn, and then she moved into position.  The DragonFly moved right up the big ledge flawlessly but with the right rear tire surprisingly grabbing a hold of a lip on the right ledge and lifted atop.  This placed the DragonFly in a very off camber position and after a little maneuvering we  choose to run a strap, rather than putting a big old dent and scratch in the shinny new purple paint on the door.  With a small amount of pressure pulling sideways against the DragonFly to keep it away from the boulder, she continued up and over the obstacle.

 
We gathered up our crew and drifted back toward the camp as the sun was disappearing from the Western Sky.  We cleaned up and headed into town and dug into some good, hot pizza from a small, local pizza shop.  We drifted back to the rooms again and kicked back for another quiet evening. The next morning we got up and started packing and loading up the rigs for the trip back to the Austin homestead in Yukon, Ok.

It was a great weekend of enjoying friends and family.  We thank God for allowing us to once again enjoy the great outdoors that he has created.  Also we thank God for watching over us while we traveled and played on the trails.  Yes, it was another Great 2008 Tour De Sober run in Clayton, Ok.

We thank everyone that came and ran with us for the weekend, for Mr. Haley for coming down even though he had to cut his trip short, and for all of those from the other groups that we ran with during the weekend.

Until next time, God Bless You and Yours.

Okie Out
David Austin