Official Roadtrip to the Championship Thread 2019

[99Bison]

Thought about trying the Hard Eight tonight, went to Rudy’s instead. Place only had 5 customers at 5:30. Brisket was good, ribs were good, pulled pork was too vinegary, sides (beans and potatoes) were nothing special. Excited to try more BBQ tomorrow. And I want those Texas twinkies. Oh, and we were the third couple of NDSU fans at the wild pitch today, and there are Bison fans at our hotel. Have seen no red or ewu yet.

How was Hard Eight? I smoke a lot of meat and I’m pretty particular with BBQ. I want to taste juicy delicious smoked animal flesh, not sauce and not a bunch of seasonings for a rub, unless it can compliment and enhance flavor, not mask it.

Brisket at hard eight was good, chicken popper things also good, potato salad was also reported good. Other sides we tried nothing of note. Spicy sauce to too vinegary, standard sauce was good.

For reference we do always like the Rudy’s brisket.

[Da Bison]

We just stopped in Norman after about a 1 hour delay for wet roads.
The locals are complete f__ng idiots.
Aggressive driving then hard braking.....into the median wall for you.
Too many accidents to count.

Sent from my SM-T377P using Tapatalk

[KidZer0]

We get Babes to go every year on the way out of the stadium and take it back to the brother-in-law’s and watch the game on the DVR...

[NDSUBowler]

Just went through Watertown. Clear roads. I can only imagine with another day of warmer temps and sun, roads shouldn't be a problem. Hammer down Bison Nation!

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

Appreciate the updates! We are 45 minutes behind you and its nice to know.

[Blue]

We just stopped in Norman after about a 1 hour delay for wet roads.
The locals are complete f__ng idiots.
Aggressive driving then hard braking.....into the median wall for you.
Too many accidents to count.

Sent from my SM-T377P using Tapatalk

Wife and I laugh when there is winter weather here. With their driving ability, we just stay home not to be in wrecks.

[cx500d]

I live in dfw and travel to and from msp a couple times a year. South of KC I always go I 49 to Joplin, then i44 (ok will Rogers turnpike) to us 69 and then south to us 75 into McKinney Plano. I never take i 35 north of dfw.

I just got home to DFW tonight ~ 8pm. Did this drive all today from MSP; left @ 6AM.

Weather was fine until I hit Wagoner, Oklahoma, where the freezing rain started. The road wasn't icing over, but the bridges and overpasses were starting to get slick. According to my car thermometer it ranged from ~ 30F - 33F until about Atoka where it warmed up to about 34F.

That said, if you haven't driven this road (US 69), especially if you hit it at night in the rain, I don't recommend it. Its a little worse than I remember the last time I drive it. As 56Bison73 stated, there are a few stretches of single lane construction that is fairly narrow. If there is freezing rain again tomorrow it would not be fun. My weather app says it should be a little warmer, so keep an eye on conditions and the forecast. Even in Texas, there is a fairly long stretch of temporary lanes south of Sherman towards McKinney, but at least here there is two temporary lanes, but they are somewhat narrow.

Also, if you have a stiff vehicle suspension, the road from Big Cabin down to about Muskogee was more beat-up than I remembered (the northbound lanes I drove up to MSP almost 2 weeks ago and they were much better.) The left passing lane is much better than the right lane although if you are pokey and stay in the left lane you will piss some people off. US69/US75 actually has more semi-traffic on it that I-35 north of Dallas so that is why it is beat up. Also, there are some sections of US69 that do not have a divider so you are directly opposite oncoming traffic; if it's raining/snowing, the oncoming glare can make it difficult to see the lane markings.

I'd almost recommend going I-35 from KC into Kansas/Oklahoma City vice US69/US75. That said, it looks like they might be forecasting some snow over in the I-35 area around Oklahoma City, but its going to be right around the freezing point, so bridges and overpasses on I-35 through Oklahoma could get icy. It also looks like the I-35 route will generally be a couple degrees colder than the US69/US75 route. Looks like both will have precipitation, whether its freezing precipitation is the bigger question. At KC, you should pick your poison on which way to go based on the current forecast.

Although all you northerners can drive on snow and ice generally, its the idiots down here you have to look out for. Since the roads will generally be warm enough so it melts, the bridges and overpasses can ice. What the idiots down here do is drive 75 mph and then hit the brakes right before or on the bridges, which is the WORST thing you can do, especially when the unsuspecting person following has to slam on their brakes to avoid hitting the idiot in front...As you know, when you brake on ice, your vehicle could end up anywhere. Best is to just maintain direction, let up on the gas, but NO brakes. If it's icy, take your cruise control off because you don't know what it will do if it suddenly hits an icy section. Sorry to insult people's intelligence, but the idiots down here never seem to get it.

For gas, Atoka was the most expensive in OK/TX ($1.95), so I recommend filling up after Atoka. There's a Love's Truck Stop between Calera and Colbert that looked to be the cheapest on this stretch, ~ $1.71.

[GreenfieldBison]

Pretty much exploded on impact but I did have to get in the median a bit to miss the core.

I’ve always wondered/feared what could happen if one of those things fell off while I was following. Sure can’t blame you for clenching up and damn glad you avoided it safely. I think that is a good sign.

[GreenfieldBison]

Babes House of Chicken

Does the nutrition staff have you all bulking up for some reason?

[BisonNation11]

Appreciate the updates! We are 45 minutes behind you and its nice to know.

26 miles out of Sioux Falls and roads are great. Dad still doesn't trust using cruise control where after Brookings I would have been all over it. If anything pops up, I'll update as I can. As of now, it's go while the getting is good. OKC sounds like a mess that's unavoidable.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

[cx500d]

Had a round bale fall off a semi right in front of me just north of OKC around 3 oclock today....don't think you could have drove a pin up my ass with a sledge hammer!

I was following a dually pulling a trailer stacked with round bales in 2-high pyramid fashion (3 bales long by 2 bales wide for the base, with two bales on top) in Missouri...It looked like the bottom bales on the left side could have come off anytime; they weren't strapped, the strap went from front to back over the top bales, which were offset to the right, and then just the left edge of the bottom bales on the right side. Only thing holding the left bottom bales was about 1/3 to 1/4 of the weight of the top bales. I very nervously passed this guy, and it looked like the left bottom bales were slightly angled to the left and back, which seemed to me they were starting the process to fall off at some point.