21 June '98 Flatlanders Trail Ride
and Fathers' Day Cookout

The June Flatlanders meeting was moved back a week to coincide with Fathers' Day. We carted a grill out to the grove area in the south end of the ORV area, and Jim Arp did an excellent job as grillmeister. Many club members brought other family members to enjoy the festivities. Prizes were given away to fathers in four categories:

After lunch, Doug Knox setup a blindfold driving course. Husband-wife teams would compete, with one spouse behind the wheel blindfolded while the other one rode shotgun and gave directions. Unfortunately, most couples chickened out, so the Butchers won by default.

Despite the heavy rains that most of the state had seen that morning, the ORV area was dry and dusty. Even the usually-reliable mud hole at the entrance was dry (for the first time in 5 years, according to Faye)! The one wet spot was the creek crossing near the base of Driveshaft, which was up because the Corps of Engineers was holding back water in the reservoir so the down-stream pond wouldn't affect affect the stampede. The creek first looked shallow with several logs half-submerged in the water. Upon entering, though, we found that the water was over a foot deep, and the logs were actually floating rather than resting on the bottom. By the time we left for the afternoon, the water was almost up to the rocker panels on a stock YJ.

The Hard Luck Trophy this month went to Leon Smith, who had trouble with a faulty distributor cap while climbing a hill before lunch.