Trail Lizards Jeep Club Holds Jeep Show

The Trail Lizards Jeep Club (based out of Bossier City) held it's annual "Go Topless With The Lizards" Jeep show at Landers Chrysler/ Dodge/Jeep/ Ram dealership today, bringing together jeep enthusiasts and jeep owners to help raise canned goods for the local food bank.  And Yours Truly was there!

The event started at 9am, so I knew that I would have to get an early start out of Lafayette. Mr. Sunshine started to show his face just before I made it to Opelousas, bringing a pleasant glow across the fields.

All I needed for the day was a few things:  to make it to Bossier City; to pick up water and snacks; to pick up some canned goods for the food drive; and to make it to Bossier City.

The reason that I said "to make it to Bossier City" twice is because, well honestly, when I am taking a trip by myself, I don't look at my gas gauge often enough.  If there is someone else in the car, I worry about it because I don't want to make them mad or upset.  If it is just me, I don't worry about it (I think that it would just add to the adventure if I ran out of gas!!).

Anyway, compare what you see in this picture to what you see in your head when you hear "21 gallon fuel tank":

When I pull up to Landers' dealership in Bossier City, I am instantly greeted by volunteers from Buffalo Wild Wings.  They handed me my 'goodie' bag, my event t-shirt, and a clip board with a registration form.  Then they take the canned goods (donated to the Bossier/Shreveport Rescue Mission) and the completed form, and they send me to find a parking spot for the day.

Every Jeep that shows up is eligible for the People's Choice Award.  Now, understand my Jeep:  it is a 2008 4-door Rubicon, yellow, with no bells and/or whistles.  Just a plain Jeep. I'm thinking "it'd be cool to win a trophy!!"  That is until, as I pulled in to my parking spot, this caught my eye:

It's a YJ with 49-inch tires!!  That's over 4 feet tall!!  Ugh!!

Well, I put hopes of winning a trophy on the back burner (and then turned the burner off, no need to waste gas!) and reminded myself that it's all for a good cause, trophy or not.

The next thing I noticed was that Snickers with almonds tastes good with Dr. Pepper.

By the way (I know that I am skipping around a lot here, but that's just how my brain works.. ask CJ, this trait of mine aggravates him!!), today is Armed Forces Day.  Thank you for serving our country.  If you haven't:  thank you for supporting those that do.

Landers Jeep loves the good ole US of A.  I was able to get a few good shots of Landers' American Flag, which they display proudly.

Now, back to the Jeeps.  We had CJs, YJs, TJs, JKs, XJs, an MJ and a CJ8 (which won Lander's Favorite, I think).

"Mango" has a "Girlie" Jeep.  I mean, her Jeep is VERY capable, she just makes sure that EVERYONE on the road and on the trail knows that Jeepin' isn't just for boys!!

CJ has diagnosed me with ADD.  I don't think that he is medically authorized to diagnose ANYONE with ANYTH----  Oh, look!!  A B-52 Bomber!!

Now, back to the Jeep show.  There were lots of Jeeps, great people, great food (Buffalo Wild Wings sponsored a wing eating contest, and the winner had hot sauce from ear-to-ear.  It's his 4th year in a row to win!) and lots of prizes!  Rims for a Jeep, a 4 inch lift kit, a Warn 8000 winch, t-shirts, jackets, lots of other great stuff, given away as door prizes!

Mike Micheels (Lime Lizard) won "Best Display Jeep" with his green rig:

One of the things that I like about the 'clubs':  when they hold an event, it is usually tied to a charity of some sort.  Whether it's the Trail Lizards, Cajun Jeepers, Louisiana Jeepers, Bayou State Land Cruisers; they all do FUN stuff that helps GREAT causes.

One of the misconceptions about the 'clubs' is that you have to be a hard-core off-roader to join a club.   There were almost as many "soccer mom" Jeeps at the event today as there were big-tired, lifted, trail-hardened Jeeps.  You don't have to even own a Jeep to join the Trail Lizards Jeep Club.  Same goes for Cajun Jeepers, Louisiana Jeepers and the Bayou State Land Cruisers.    And you don't have to have a blind passion for the vehicle, either;  it's more important to have a passion for people, and for helping them.

Thanks to the Trail Lizards for the invitation to join the party today.  Next time, I am going to bring more Jeeps from Cajun Country!