Gophers and Cheese

I arrived at the Van Nationals on Monday for early bird camping, just after they opened the gates and the long line of people (some of whom, had to stay in a school parking lot overnight) had gotten in.  

The 50th Annual National Truck-In , also known as the Van Nationals (aka "Van Nats" or just "The Nats") are going on right now and the official start date is today July 5th.  I was there and am already home.  More on that later...  I had a really good trip out there.  I booked campgrounds in Sioux Falls and Custer, SD so I could meet up with some members & friends of Twin City Vans .  I pre-registered for the Nats including 2 early-camping days (Mon & Tue) so my plan was to stay for the whole thing, Mon-Sat.  Before leaving, I put some painters tape on my back windshield so it was clear to the rest of the world where I was headed.  I'd been looking forward to this for a while and was doing a ton of last minute projects on my van.  I left home Saturday July 1st with 98,805 miles on the odometer.