THE ROAD AHEAD

Edition 3 | October 4, 2026

FROM THE EDITOR

This week was a pretty good example of how Dirt Rock Team, Gearbox Garage and Old Soul Adventures tend to overlap.

We started out scrambling to figure out how we were even getting to Minnesota, spent three days working in the rain, had to redo some of our work after losing tracks, found a couple pieces of Milwaukee Road history for Levi, and somehow made it home Saturday night with four minutes left before midnight.

It wasn’t exactly the week we planned, but those are usually the weeks that give us the most to talk about afterward.

Here’s what happened on the road ahead.

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DIRT ROCK TEAM

Getting to Minnesota Was Half the Battle

Coming off our Arkansas trip, the Wrangler had a pretty good list of things that needed attention. We had twisted wheel studs, a brake line and hose to repair, a leaking pinion seal, an oil change, a clock spring to replace, tires to rotate and several other smaller things that needed to be handled.

With only a couple of days available, we eventually decided we’d take the Gladiator instead and let it pull the camping trailer.

Then the Gladiator tried to leave me stranded at Sam’s Club.

That put the Wrangler right back into the plan and gave us about four hours to get as much done as possible. I even ended up driving the ‘92 Dodge to Ames the night before we left to pick up ten wheel studs.

We also needed something for the ATV and side-by-side trails at Appleton OHV Park, so Jarad’s dad’s canned ham came along. The Wrangler ended up pulling the camping trailer while the ‘92 Dodge pulled the canned ham north.

Once we made it to Minnesota, the rain settled in and stayed with us for most of the trip. Jarad spent his days getting soaked in the canned ham while we worked our way through everything we needed to cover.

We also lost some of our tracks from day two, which meant going back out on day three and doing part of the work again. Luckily, the geotagged photos from the previous day helped us figure out where the missing sections were.

By the end of the third day, everything was finished. We packed camp in the rain, headed home Saturday and pulled into the driveway with four minutes left before midnight.

Next up for Dirt Rock Team is Rendezvous in the Ozarks, October 15–18, when we’ll be heading back to Arkansas.

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GEARBOX GARAGE

The ‘92 Keeps Earning Its Keep

Friday’s Gearbox Garage video featured an upgrade we made to the 1992 Dodge before our trip to St. Louis for the Big Boy stop.

We swapped the old headlights for AUXBEAM LEDs. They’re not necessarily our favorite-looking headlights for a first-gen Dodge, but we also weren’t willing to spend roughly $700 on the Holley LED option. The AUXBEAMS gave us a reasonable balance between better lighting, cost and keeping the truck looking decent.

The timing of the video was fitting because the ‘92 was busy working again this week. It made the emergency parts run to Ames and then pulled the canned ham all the way to Minnesota and back.

Once our travel and event schedule settles down, we have several older projects waiting for us in Gearbox Garage. The 1983 Camaro is on that list for new fuel injection, and the ‘92 needs some attention to its cab floor before a small problem becomes a much bigger one.

There are plenty of other projects waiting too, and we’re looking forward to getting back to some of the things we walked away from years ago.

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OLD SOUL ADVENTURES

Two More Depot Discoveries

Levi got a bonus out of our Minnesota trip when we came across two old Milwaukee Road depots.

The first was in Watson, Minnesota, a small town with a population of around 182 people. Its depot dates back to 1879 and is still standing in its original location.

The second stop was in Montevideo at the Milwaukee Road Heritage Center. Unfortunately, their tour season ended September 5, so we were a few weeks too late to go inside. They still have the old turntable and a recreated 1950s-era rail yard, though, so this one has definitely made our list for a return visit.

Both stops will eventually make their way into Levi’s Depot Discoveries series on Old Soul Adventures. First, he still has his Cheyenne Depot Days video to finish.

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THE ROAD AHEAD

Minnesota is behind us, but there’s still plenty happening as we head into October. Dirt Rock Team has Rendezvous in the Ozarks coming up, Gearbox Garage has a growing list of vehicles and projects waiting for attention, and Old Soul Adventures has more railroad history coming to the channel.

If you want to follow along between editions, make sure you’re subscribed to Dirt Rock Team, Gearbox Garage and Old Soul Adventures on YouTube. That’s where you’ll see these trips, repairs and discoveries turn into videos as we work our way through them.

Sometimes one trip leads to a repair, a repair brings an old vehicle back into the story, and the drive itself leads us somewhere we never expected to stop.

That’s what The Road Ahead is all about.

Until next week, we’ll see you on The Road Ahead.

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