Just getting back from the DakotaUSA meet in Rockbridge, Ohio. Feels good to sit at the computer and be in a seat that isn't moving. LOL Anyway, I have lots of pics going to and from the meet as well as the meet itself. Got to meet a lot of Dakota guys and say hello and shake hands, face to face, with some people I've been looking forward to meeting. I'll get some of the meet pics posted up once I sort through some more of my photos. Took the 4x4 on this trip because going 5000+ miles in a bagged truck on rubber band tires just didn't make much sense.
It was a great time! Both getting to the meet and back as well as the meet itself. Got to see a lot of the countryside, listen to my entire CD collection and well ... just drive. So without further ado here are some pics....
Total mileage from Alberta to Ohio and back on my trip
Total time spent behind the wheel 91hrs and 40min
I left first thing Monday morning and had a week to make it to Detroit, MI area to meet up with Ken (president of DakotaUSA). The plan was to meet up with him and three others, caravan down to Ohio on Fri night, pitch a tent and camp out, then take in the meet on Sat. I ended up making it to MI late Wed. so I had lots of time to kill. Did lots of cruising around MI on the backroads. I booked it across the Canadian prairies and made it to just outside of Winnipeg, Manitoba on the first day, somewhere in WI the second and made MI on the third day.
Favorite shots are these where you can park the truck next to a state road sign. This was entering North Dakota on the beginning of the second day to get there.
Michigan rest stop somewhere on the interstate highway. You might not know my 4x4 that well but the ones that do will notice that the graphics down the side of the 4x4 had been removed? ha ha ha Finally got around to doing that before I left. Been on the "to do" list for a long time.
Didn't get to take a shot of the 4x4 next to all of the states that I entered. When your on the interstates they don't always have signs. Missed Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Illinois. More on the ones I did get later.
Anyway, we all meet up late Fri and caravan down to Rockbridge, OH. Set the tent up in the dark, have a few beers around the campfire and call it a day.
At the campsite This was on Sat after the meet. Had daylight then to get my bearings on where the hell I was and what the campsite actually looked like. lol
The meet on Sat. was AWESOME!! Like I said, still have to go through all my pics, resize them and get them up on photobucket. Anyway, after the meet on Sat we all went back to the campsite to have a BBQ, drink beer and shoot the shit. It was a great time!
Woke up Sun, packed up and started to head back for home. Thought I'd take a different route back home and decided I'd head a little straight west to the Black Hills of South Dakota for a change of scenery. At this point by the time I hit Wisconsin on the way back home it was time for an oil change. The oil had been in the truck for 1 week and I hit 3000 miles on the way back.
After booking it across the midwest states I made South Dakota.
Then to Keystone, SD and Mount Rushmore
Few shots from the Black Hills
After taking in the Black Hills I headed north to North Dakota.
Then west to Montana
Out in the middle of no where in Montana. I loved that feeling of not having a soul around. Nice change after going through places like Chicago, IL and all the hussle and bussle.
And finally after staying in Shelby, Montana for a night .... back home in Alberta
That was the short and sweet version of the trip. lol I'll fill in the missing pieces later. Still have the meet pics and a lot of the in-between pics to post up. I'll get em posted as time permits. In the meantime here are a few caravan pics from the meet.
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