Southern Cruiser Crawl 2009

Cruiser rides are a lot like Christmas: a few painful hours of waiting following months of preparation. You work every night prior to the ride, installing new parts, buying a new winch or some other mod, adjusting the brakes and changing the fluids. You buy a new set of tires for your truck, the tow rig and/or your trailer. You study your list of spare parts: extra birfield, check; set of inner axle seals, check. You pull out the tent that hasn’t seen daylight since the last ride and make sure all the poles still work. You go to the outfitter and buy another flashlight or cooler because you lost your old one. You’re set to go when suddenly, time stops. It takes forever for the sun to come up. You don’t even need an alarm to wake you. It’s time to go to the Southern Cruiser Crawl!

After four years at Gray Rock, Alabama, CottonLand Cruisers moved the Crawl to Superlift ORV Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas. With its 1,200 privately owned acres, posted trail ratings, general store, RV hookups and shower houses, it would be a big change from the more primitive digs in Alabama.

Our caravan of tow rigs and wagons made its way through the Mississippi Delta, stopping for fuel and then cheeseburgers and shakes at the Yellow Jacket hamburger stand in Sheridan, AR. The group consisted of the usual suspects: Jeff “Bodean” Murrah, towing the “pretty truck,” a 1978 FJ40; Debbie “Den Mom Deb” Tolleson, driving her 1994 FZJ80; me towing my 1976 FJ40; and a twist for this year, Scott Spivey driving his 2002 100 series. That’s right, since last year’s Crawl, Spivey became the owner of a slick-looking 100. The excitement and anticipation grew as the GPS counted down the miles between SuperLift and our caravan.

As we arrived at Superlift, we saw our old friends Brian and Ashley Sapaugh’s camper already set up. Seeing Clutchee and Ashley immediately reminded me what is so good about the Crawl and the other rides: the friendships. These rides are as much reunions as wheeling events. They’re where friendships grow strong. The person who helps you repair a motor mount on the trail and the guy who hands you a cold beer at the end of the day are the people you can’t wait to see again at the next ride—and see the new mods they have added to their rigs. With waves from new arrivals in the parking lot, we knew this was going to be another great event.

Our Vice President, Lenny Ross, arrived with his wife Shelia, towing his Lexus LX450. Lenny had come to Superlift in June with his tricked out Sami and he couldn’t wait to get the Lexus on the trails and put all his new mods to the test. Over the course of the weekend, Lenny did just that—he even break-danced a little on Friday night.

One of CottonLand’s best neighbors has always been Arkansas-based Daryl Hornsby, with his camo 40. Daryl had offered up any help he could provide for the ride, since it was in his backyard. With Daryl’s arrival, we loaded up and went to one of Hot Springs’s best-known eateries, McClard’s Barbeque. After a wonderful dinner and with distended abdomens, the CottonLand BOD went to work, putting driver’s bags together for the morning registration. Ben Garcia and his co pilot Matthew strolled over and Ben started doing what he does best (beside wheel his 62): tell jokes. He had us all laughing about his drive over from Georgia and when Josh Baker and his buddy Cobb showed up, we fired up the iPod and started a party.

Thursday dawned and brought in more friends. Butch Baker arrived from Texas and by mid-morning, most of Louisiana’s Bayou State Land Cruisers were registered and heading out to the trails. Before the event was over, the Cajuns would register eleven trucks. Doc and Lindy Troutman pulled in sporting a new-to-him FJ40 rock crawler purchased from Jason Keen. For the first time, Doc’s piggy stayed home but David and Ardenne Williams soon rolled into the park with their camo pig.

After a morning of registration, CottonLand hit the rocks. Den Mom in her 80 followed Daryl and Josh in his 60 right up a four-star rated trail. Debbie watched Josh and Laura Thomas in her Jeep work their way through some of the larger boulders and, taking a different line, only had to use her winch once. I couldn’t let my wife show me up so I hit the same line several minutes later.

BANG, POP!!!

I broke a birfield. Cool. After following Bodean around Tellico, Gray Rock, Katemcy and Superlift, I tried to follow my wife and I broke a birfield. Daryl crawled around me and used the power and torque of his 396 engine to pull me up the hill. With Greg Thompson’s help, Bodean’s spare birfield and coaching from Daryl, Butch and Clutchee, I replaced my first birfield.

New friends to CottonLand, James “JRob” and Stacy Roberts, arrived without a Land Cruiser. They came to experience a ride and get bitten by the Cruiser bug. JRob and Stacy met our extended family and before the end of the weekend, got to ride in Daryl’s 40 and Charles Kim’s way-built 40. That’s a cool way to start crawling.

Like many rides, we started watching the weather forecast with apprehension early in the week. This year promised rain on Thursday night but when the lights went out at the pavilion at 2 am, we could still see the stars. The rains came just before dawn and the calm, picturesque creek transformed immediately into an angry surge of water overflowing its banks. It swamped the Bayou State campsite and floated Josh Baker’s OZ tent. Our event coordinator, Jes Harrington, only stayed high and dry by pulling his truck under the pavilion that night and sleeping under the camper shell in the bed. Before it was over, some of The White Trash’s finest made a makeshift boat and floated down the still swollen creek. Rather than abandon the ride, this group of people got busy drying out and cleaning up and then set out to go wheeling ‘til the sun went down.

Friday afternoon turned out to be a great adventure of slippery rock crawling for everybody and even with the bad weather that morning, more friends in FJ40s, FJ60s, FZJ80s and 100 series trucks rolled into camp for a great weekend. We were often distracted by the storm runoff cascading down the trails and creating waterfalls—but wheeling is what we came to do. Two of our friends, Darius Weaver and JP Sevuleda, drove up from Texas for the weekend and with sixteen hours of travel time, they both made it worth the drive. Darius put us all on notice as to what a great driver and an 80 series are capable of on the Can Opener trail. We thought something would happen at any moment—he would break a birfield, hit a tree, flip over, get high centered or blow an engine—but Darius just kept at it.

Friday night, like the previous two years, the Cajuns fed over 80 people. They didn’t let a flooded campsite keep them from enjoying the Crawl—they kept smiling and proved more than willing to help out in any way. Anyone who has put on an event knows how good it feels when you get a call or email from someone and they ask, “How can I help?” Led by Larry Landry, the Bayou State boys don’t just talk about helping, they throw in with gusto. They love their Toyota’s and it shows with the pride they have in their great club.

After their delicious gumbo, it was time for Matt Stell and the Crasher to take the stage and rock the pavilion into the wee hours. How cool is it that we got to rock out all day long and then rock out all night long? For those who turned in early, an apology is in order—we couldn’t get Bodean to quit singing!

Saturday delivered great wheeling weather and most of the camp went out and wheeled the whole day. A group of wagons led by Nolen Grogan in his beautiful 60, new CottonLand member Parker Graves in a newly acquired 40, Scott Spivey in his 100 series and me in my 40 found everything you would want for trails. Water obstacles, steep inclines, tight spiraling turns and great scenery. Scott even managed to rip a running board off his 100, probably because of some masterful spotting by his copilot, Greg Thompson….

The Rubicon Trail, one of the longest trails at Superlift, reminds many of the trails at Tellico or its namesake because of its distance and sheer beauty. We spent long hours on the trail, occasionally due to obstacles but mostly because of my horrid carburetor. It kept stalling and taking forever to crank back up. If not for the Odyssey battery under the hood, I am afraid the truck would still be on the trail.

You might wheel with smaller groups of friends during the day but on the night of the raffle, everybody gets to visit under one big metal roof. And with the Whistle Stop Restaurant catering the Crawl, everybody enjoyed catfish and all the fixings that go with it. With wheeling buddies by our sides, we laughed about somebody backing his wife’s 80 into a tree or how when a guy rolled his 40 over, the only thing that fell out was the trash from the night before—or ragged on somebody’s stupid carburetor (ahem).

Before we kicked off the raffle, Kowboy Holt took the mic and informed the crowd of the sad news that fellow rock crawler Jim Alexander had passed away on the rocks in Oklahoma. Many in the crowd knew Jim and you could see and feel the loss of a great friend. It was a sad moment in an otherwise great day. Jim was well respected and loved in the Cruiser community and he will certainly be missed.

Every year, Bodean and several other CottonLand members work hard to get the best prizes for the Crawl and this year was no exception. Two sets of tires, a Mile Marker winch, gift certificates, a battery charger and more were all on offer for a $1 ticket. What a bargain! This year, the drivers’ raffle included a set of Cooper STT mud tires and a CO2 tank with the CottonLand logo on it. Again this year, CottonLand held a charity raffle benefiting The Blair E. Batson Children’s Hospital in Jackson, Mississippi. Napa Auto Parts donated an air compressor for this special raffle and CottonLand raised nearly $1,000 for this important charity.

The raffle was not even over when a mayday call went out. Another new friend, Mike Mardis, had taken his stock 100 up the backside of Superlift and blown his front differential. Daryl and the 396 to the rescue again! Daryl should get set up with AAA with all the towing and winching he performed. After the truck was brought back, another CottonLand member, Rob Wilder, went about turning the four-wheel drive into a two-wheel drive. After several hours, the mission was accomplished and Mike got to drive it home and explain to his wife just what happened.

Watching this repair was another new CottonLand member, David Price. He had brought his wife Val up to The Crawl and couldn’t believe the organization of the event. What really surprised David and Val though, was the next morning when they arrived around 11:00 am to help clean up. “I have to say how totally impressed I was this morning,” David said. “I stayed at the pavilion until 2 this morning, yet when Val and I returned to the camp site about 11:15 to help clean up, fully expecting to see everyone just getting up and starting to move around, the whole camp was dismantled, completely cleaned up and every single person gone…. Val and I were blown away.”

I remember my first Southern Cruiser Crawl and I felt the same way. These events are a lot of fun and the hard work Bodean and CottonLand put into the Crawl shows. The trails and the rocks are fantastic. All the Land Cruisers, 4Runners and mini trucks are cool but what truly makes these events are the friendships that are fostered. Every year we have a good mix of old hands and first-timers who help keep the Crawl as fresh as it was five years ago.

The 5th Annual Southern Cruiser Crawl proved that notion time and time again over the four nights at SuperLift in Hot Springs. See y’all next year!

The Southern Cruiser Crawl would like to thank the following sponsors: Metal-tech, Marlin Crawler, Valley Hybrids, Cruiser Outfitters, Overland Journal, Camping Lab, Revell Ace Hardware, Hi-Lift, Dicks Sporting Goods, Red Line Landcruisers, Smittybilt, TRDparts4U.com, Ultimate Air, Specter Off Road, Wab Fab Off Road, Mule Expedition Equipment, Cooper Tires, Firestone, 49 Tire, Ferguson Metal Fabrication, NAPA, Car Quest, Interstate Batteries, Sack Wear, Rust Bullet, Pennzoil, CottonLand Cruisers, Lazy Magnolia Brewing Co., Capital City Beverage, Outland Trailers and Warn.

Print PDF