Gophers and Cheese

Continuing coverage of the Show & Shine field at the 52nd Annual Van Nats ...

Friday was a really big day at the 52nd Annual National Truck-In with both Show & Shine and Bright & Shine on the schedule along with more bands and other events.  A large rain system stayed just to the south leaving the sky full of clouds but mostly rain-free.  There was a lot of talk about how we might handle Show & Shine if it rained, but I'm really glad it worked out.  While I was pretty sure I wouldn't be taking home any awards, I still very much wanted to show my van so I got it out there on the show field in the Dodge section.

Thursday evening at the 52nd Annual Van Nationals was all about the bands.  Yesterday I posted photos of Beast Eagle and Year of the Cobra .  Next up in the DSV building was Rifflord !

Thursday at the 52nd Annual National Truck-In featured (among other things) the swap meet, pub crawl, and a bunch of bands.  Oh yeah, and it was Aaron's birthday.

Coverage continues from Wednesday July 9th at the 52nd Annual National Truck-In ... I mentioned in yesterday's blogpost how vans were arranging themselves for the aerial photo before the opening ceremony and cruise to the Surf Ballroom .  Well, this is the result.  My van is the top-right corner of the "n" in "52nd".  It was pretty cool to be a part of that.

The 52nd Annual Van Nationals officially started Wednesday July 9th.  Here are a bunch of shots I took walking around the fairgrounds that morning.

I joined Twin City Vans a few years ago and we just finished hosting the 52nd Annual National Truck-In (aka Van Nationals or "Van Nats" for short) in Albert Lea, MN with help and support from a few other local clubs.  It was a good time and I took a ton of photos.  Get ready for a series of very photo-heavy blogposts.  Since I was part of the host club, I spent a decent chunk of time working and helping out.  I couldn't go to all the events or get photos of all the things that went on.  That said, what I did go to was fun and lots of photos will be shared but there was even more going on than what you'll see here.

I went to  Forgotten Star  Bike night hosted by  The Litas Twin Cities  on July 1st and it was packed!!  It was the busiest I think I've ever seen it.  Great weather led to a very big turnout.  I brought my Schwinn Stingray because... why not?