Hey George,
Glad to hear you had such a great trip. Jason and I went up to Algonquin
for 10 days with his '95 4x4 and had a great time. Too bad that truck
doesn't have A/C though. I've been through Michigan and it is pretty nice.
This past weekend Jason and I took the '98 to Point Pelee which is just
across Lake Erie from Sandusky, Ohio. We thought about a side trip to
Windsor (which is just south of Detroit), but the weather was getting pretty
harsh with Thunderstorms and a Tornado. Had to look out for the new Dak.
It's pretty amazing to see so much of Canada that actually resides south of
the U.S. You know, the Great White North and all. ;)
> The main focus of the trip was the UP of Michigan, Northern
>Wisconsin and Northern Minnesota (more like the Land of 20,000 Lakes,
>they're everywhere!), all of which are unbelievably nice. I always heard
>about how beautiful that part of the country, and it was no exaggeration.
>The only woods I'veseen that are as thick as the ones up there are the
>Rhododendron thickets in the WV/VA/NC mountains.
If you ever get a chance to drive up into Ontario Canada, you have to check
out Algonquin. The Provincial Park is massive and loaded with lakes, which
most of connect and you can canoe to each lake. Unbelievable! Most of the
park is access by canoe or hiking and they didn't want to let us do any
offroading. However, on one of our many exploring expeditions, we managed
to find a road that would normally be closed to the public and, of course
you know, we had to drive it. One part was pretty much all sand and we had
a hard time getting up the hill. We were going to push it, but a park
ranger just happened up be up at the top of the hill glaring at us, so we
backed down.
We did manage to get some pictures of the hill we attempted along with a few
other neat offroad pics. As soon as they're scanned, we'll post them to
either Jason's profile or mine.
> Anyway, the first tourist attraction of the trip was in Warren,
>Michigan. Yep, the place where DAKs are born ( I gotta love my wife for
>suggesting this as a side trip and being willing to drive around Warren
>looking for the plant on a day when we were doing over 600 miles!).
Cool! I noticed from Jason's '95 VIN number and my old '95 (RIP) VIN number
that ours were both assembled in Toledo. Has anyone been to this plant?
>1. There seem to be a whole lot more DAKs up in those states than there are
>down here in North Carolina.
I think the further north you go, the more DAKs you'll find. Two houses
down from us, the guy just bought a '98 exactly like mine only green. Now
that's three on our street, and two on the street below. I seem to find
more and more all the time. I guess the masses are finally developing taste
and joining us.
>3. Speaking of ummph, you gotta love the V8 when it comes to passing on 2
>lane roads. There is no wondering (even up hills) if you can pass the guy
>doing 55 when you come up on him doing 65. (My wife finally pointed out
>that I didn't have to wind it up to 75 or 80 EVERY time I passed someone.)
I find the V8 sometimes gets a little away from me. I guess I've been
driving the V6 for so long, I tend to forget the differences when you floor
it. The V8 made me feel like I was in a rocket! Very cool.
>7. For the most part, DAK owners seem to acknowledge other DAK owners more
>than other vehicles I've owned. I had several nice conversations with guys
>from various states. The most interesting was with a guy who had a red
>convertible DAK. He was the former Mayor of Chenoa, IL and pointed out
>Hoselton road which was named for him. He has a son with I'net access and
>was going to try to check out the Dakota page via him.
Hey, we gotta stick together. Just this morning, on my way to physio, I was
stopped at a red light and a guy walked up to the truck and said: "WOW, what
a beautiful truck!" The DAK is a truck that everyone drives with pride, and
those who don't only wish they could.
Norah
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