So as mentioned earlier, I spent this weekend up visiting some of my dad's family in eastern North Dakota....Farm Country. Fields as far as the eye can see, down home country eatin' and more Chevy trucks than I thought existed.

We took the Highlander up instead of my car (lower miles, less chance of anything causing trouble) and got 25 MPG on the way up, and around 21 in the driving we did once we got up there, and about 22 on the way down. On the highway, we were at a steady 70-73 mph, and in the rural areas we were averaging 55-60, so pretty good and about the same as my car.

Anyways, here's the pictures.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Chadillac8705/IMG_1032.jpg

I LOL'd when I saw the sign for this gas station. It's like they're enforcing loitering. This was in Fargo.


Greetings from Valley City. This is where I stayed, it's a beautifiul city. Off in the distance you can see the train bridge, it's over 100 years old, 3800 feet long and at it's highest point, it's 168 feet above the riverbed. Pretty impressive for something that old!
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Chadillac8705/IMG_1035.jpg


Implement dealer! :D
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Chadillac8705/IMG_1033.jpg
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Chadillac8705/IMG_1041.jpg


The oil filter on that Caterpillar!
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Chadillac8705/IMG_1042.jpg

Big freakin' John Deere! 8WD, 12.7L I-6 Turbodiesel...425hp. I'm 5'6" just to illustrate the size. And I got my mandatory John Deere hat there. :D
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Chadillac8705/IMG_1046.jpg

The tire size on that tractor.
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Chadillac8705/IMG_1047.jpg


Looking up from the base of that high bridge. Very cool.
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Chadillac8705/IMG_1053.jpg

Big dam on the Sheyenne River, this holds back the lake my great uncle lives on. I've always had a thing for dams so this is really interesting to me.
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Chadillac8705/IMG_1054.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Chadillac8705/IMG_1056.jpg
The Highlander parked at the dam. Great backdrop

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Chadillac8705/IMG_1058.jpg


Gasp!
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Chadillac8705/IMG_1064.jpg
It's like it's dozing off! Haha! This is parked at my great uncle's neighbor's house. I remembered seeing this the last time I was up ('04) and had to see it again!

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Chadillac8705/IMG_1066.jpg
This is an example of terrible farm management. The cows literally ate all the grass of this hill.

Mud runs! This is the "rural" version of drag racing. Except for one '80s vintage Ram, all the trucks that competed were the Silverados from that 73-87 style, and one K5 Blazer.
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Chadillac8705/IMG_1068.jpg
07Shv2C9rqQ

This is the farmstead my uncle had until about 4 years ago, this is the one I remember from my childhood. Note the deVille like mine parked by the machine shop. Ironic?
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Chadillac8705/IMG_1067.jpg

They should bring back the cab-over. You never see these anymore.
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Chadillac8705/IMG_1072.jpg

My great aunt's '98 Riviera that she let me drive. I've always liked these, loved driving it, quite smooth and EXTREMELY quiet at speed, much more so than my deVille, but not as floaty feeling. Believe it or not (I didn't), it's got 192k on it.
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Chadillac8705/IMG_1074.jpg

I saw this whaletail turbo 911 in Valley City, the last place I ever thought I'd see a vintage Porsche, especially one as coveted as these. Anyone have a clue as to what year it is?
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Chadillac8705/IMG_1037.jpg

This is the Sheyenne river, it runs thru the middle of Valley City and is the river that backs up to the dam in that other picture.
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Chadillac8705/IMG_1089.jpg

Brougham! I saw this parked by a bunch of other '80s vintage Buicks, Chryslers and Oldsmobiles, but then I looked up and I saw why, it was the parking lot for the VFW.
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Chadillac8705/IMG_1091.jpg
Academy Grey with grey cloth D'Elegance interior. Nice!

Well I'll be damned! A Parisienne!
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Chadillac8705/IMG_1092.jpg

Taco Johns> Taco Bell? One of life's greatest questions.
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Chadillac8705/IMG_1095.jpg

Freaking cool looking elementary school. God bless 1960's architecture.
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Chadillac8705/IMG_1100.jpg

This was just set up in the park in the middle of valley city.
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Chadillac8705/IMG_1101.jpg

The Twin Cities BMW/Mini dealer. This place is massive. Freaking nice two level showrooms!
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Chadillac8705/IMG_1103.jpg

I saw this and LOL'd at the thought of that commercial
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j313/Chadillac8705/IMG_1102.jpg
wYX_zhlTDr8

North Dakota! Everybody's favorite vacation spot!

I can say that because I've been there many times since my sister moved there in 1995. And I've been brave (or stupid) enough to spend several Christmases there when it never got above 0º (and don't ask about the wind chill).

Nice people, though. Lots of good old Detroit iron on the roads, too (mostly GM). Haven't seen many Priuses on the road there. Probably too damn cold for their delicate batteries.

And BTW, that is one freaky dumb-ass commercial. Speaking as an advertising professional, of course.

Nice pics! I love those older Porsches, that one looks to be maybe an '89.

Cabovers disappeared because they bounce your liver out.

I used to live in Grand Forks, well halfway between GF and Emerado anyway.
I see you visited the hilly part of the state!
Boy do I have some memories from my 5 years up there when I was a kid!

One thing I remember is that every town had 2 names up there, the name of the town closest by and the one you were in, like "Grand Forks, East Grand Forks" and "Fargo, Moorehead".
If I remember Valley City was referred to as "Valley City, Jamestown".
And the running joke was Jamestown is where the big looney bin is.

At any rate, it sure is desolate country with lots of nice farm folk.
That is a nice looking F-104, not sure why it is there... I don't remember any Air Force Bases being near there.

Let me see if I can find a picture of my old house.

Fields BMW is Winter Park is effing ridiculous. Like 4 stories plus i dont know how many acres. I dont see how they sell so many of them.

Oh and that tractor with 42'' inchers. I wanna see those on a box Caprice.

Cabovers disappeared because they bounce your liver out.

That makes sense, with the shorter wheelbase and all.


Oh and that tractor with 42'' inchers. I wanna see those on a box Caprice.

LOL! It's only a matter of time my friend, only a matter of time.
Oh by the way, they're much more than 42's, they're like 68's.

Cool pics, thanks for sharing

They should bring back the cab-over. You never see these anymore.

If you ever drove trucks for a living, you would not make that statement
cabovers do not ride good compared to conventional tractors, and they can be a pain to get in an out of

I always thought they were neat looking, but I'd assume they'd be a lot less comfortable than the conventionals because of the lack of legroom brought on by the doghouse.

One local long haul trucking outfit had cabovers that were only a half cab wide. They were really hated.

One local long haul trucking outfit had cabovers that were only a half cab wide. They were really hated.

I've seen some of them in books...is that the type where they had the engines next to the cab?

I've seen some of them in books...is that the type where they had the engines next to the cab?
Where these came from is they were custom built originally for cranes to be mounted on and the missing cab was to acommodate the boom. The crane company went broke so the trucks were cheap.