Got Zook 2000 run in Disney Oklahoma

When I heard of an all Zook run in Disney Oklahoma I decided I had to be there. I took a small budget asked a ton of questions on the Suzuki e-mail lists and finished Feb 3rd just in time for the run. I live an hour away from Disney and this being my first run was anxious to get out and do some wheeling. I took the Friday off work to make it up to Disney in the afternoon and to pick up some last minute supplies before heading out. I left Tulsa at 2:30 pm and got to Disney at 4pm.

When I pulled into town, I was surprised to see 5 zooks sitting in a diner parking lot shooting the breeze. I pulled in and introduced myself. It was Wayne and a group of people from the Misfits 4x4 Club out of Kansas City, MO. After introductions, we drove down to one of the sites and checked out Little Blue. It looked mean and nasty, something I didn’t want to try, as this was my first off road adventure. I spoke with Wayne of the Misfits and he explained to me what was going to happen. He asked me about my vehicle and when I told him I have minimal mods, lower t-case gears, 1" shackle lift, 2" body lift and a locker in the rear he suggested I go on the stock group run, as there will be two groups. I think the stock group was modified just didn’t want the body damage.

Later that night, after trying to find out who else was in town, I hooked up with DJ from Houston, TX, and Chris Robbins and his father out of Chattanooga, TN. We spoke for a few minutes and then a local Disney zookster, who’s name escapes me, but he had one nice sami with a full external roll cage and Mazda rotary engine under the hood. I was then off to find a place to sleep. I ended up sleeping in a small town about 16 miles away called Vineta.

After acquiring a place to sleep I went back in search of more zooks. I found the guys from BAZOOKS.COM at the cabins and off we went in search of everyone else. On the last trip I was pulled over for speeding, I know, I know in a sami! Well, yes it can happen ;-). The officer was just doing his job so it isn’t like they harass people there, and I was in the wrong. Anyway, on that note I went back to my hotel in preparation for the 8 am start. I asked for a 6:30 am wake up call and up I was at 6:30 am. I was excited and anxious to get started but I still had butterflies thinking, here I go. When I pulled into the meeting place at 8:15 am it was zook heaven. I have never seen so many Samurais in one place before. Some small, and some tall. After 30 minutes of gawking we all gathered to listen to Wayne talk about this years 2^nd annual all zook run in Oklahoma. I figure there were approximately 30 Suzuki's and a couple of the rock crawler jeeps and other vehicles from AR, when all of a sudden up pulls the Scorpion, which was there to do a photo shoot for something or another.

Wayne explained what was on the agenda for the day. We would separated into two groups, modified and stock. About 10 zooks went on the modified trails and 20 zook went on the stock group trails. We would go off on different paths and then hook back up about 2 pm at the rock Garden and do a little trail riding and get out of the rocks. I, of course, went on the stock group run, as I didn’t want body damage since was my first trip. We lined up and waited a few minutes to make sure everyone was there, and up comes one of the owners saying his zook froze up. Well, he caught a ride. He opened his hood and hoped the warmth would unfreeze it. Oh, did I forget to say it was about 20F*! The first obstacle was about an 80* down slope about 100 yards long but luckily it wasn’t that slippery. We were lead up by one of the Misfits in what we called Smokey. Not because of him smoking cigarettes, but because his sami was smoking like a chimney. We all stopped and gathered up for what we were going to be doing that day. Looks like we were going to play on some stairs for a few minutes and then move up towards the dam after we make our way down a little cut in the levee to gain access to the slick granite rock bed. Then along came the Jeeps and the Scorpion. They climbed the stairs with no problems so AJ of BAZOOKS.COM, not to be out done, climbed in his black zook and climbed these stairs. This was the first look at how AJ drove. Balls out and lets break it style. With a few bounces and a little slippage here and there he made it up. Well, with that under the belt, a few of us got up the courage to tackle these things ourselves. Ray, another one of the BAZOOKS guys, had done an excellent job of spotting me up the stairs with minimal hitting. I said this a thousand times, I would let him spot me anytime.

From this little adventure we made our way to the dam and climbed a little while a few of us watched as Scorpion was stuck and had to winched out after trying to climb this mean ledge. After playing there for an hour and a half we went and drove around meaning to make our way to the Rock Garden, but we got lost and decided time for a potty break and maybe a little lunch. At this point we kind of separated from the main group, and had to find our way down to the rock garden ourselves. We, of course, took the wrong turn and ended up on the backside of the rock garden and were left with either going around or going over. AJ being the wild and crazy guy he is had to think about it a little. I on the other hand decided I was going to go for it. I pulled up and let Ray guide me again. With a little movement in the rocks to get my shackles up and over the rocks I was able to climb through. At a certain point I stopped and got out and looked over where I was. AJ, again not to be outdone, made his way around my zook and climbed through with little problems. After seeing what lines he took and a little more nerve I climbed up to a point that looked like a very difficult area. It was one where you had to put your wheel on a rock and climb around another tall and long rock running the same direction you want to run. There was no way of me straddling it and again with a little more movement of the rocks to get me up I made it through. I know people say do not move the rocks but sometimes you just have too. All in all, with the 5zooks that went the wrong way 2 went over and the rest went around! ;-) Now that I have a little more nerve I went to go play some more. I went over some small stuff still not convinced that I am ready for the big leagues. The day actually warmed up enough to shed some clothing and reached about 60*

After we played a little, we all got together for a group picture with a couple of zooks on top of a rock and all of the others spread out in front. We played a little more and in came the modified group about a half hour early. We sat and talked a little and headed out at 2 pm to run some wooded trails and do some more playing. It was the whole group that went out this time and we ended up at this little cove next to the river that had shell rock on the beach. Eric of Off Road Exposure got a few pictures of some high-speed water play. Then came the drags. Jim of BAZOOKS was the fastest of the day till the rotary powered zook showed up after replacing a tire. Damn that thing is fast. After playing for about an hour we were off for some more wooded trails. Some of the Samurais had left for the day and some had headed home due to breakage. We saw some awesome climbs and very little damage besides a bunch of tree kisses. We headed back to town at about 6 pm and kind of separated. I headed back to hook up with the guys from BAZOOKS to see what they where up to. A little dinner, some BSing about the days events! After a pitcher of barley and hops from Goldies we decided to look for who was around. I ended up back at my hotel about 9 pm for a shower and much needed rest. I was called into work and couldn’t make it back for the second day of festivities, but next year, I will be there will bells on and no cell phone ;-)

I had a wonderful time and thanks to Troy Graham of Kansas who organized this little run. This will be a yearly event and hope to see more Samurais out on the trail.

Keep the Dream alive for all ZOOKS.