Although we were expecting the best off-road show on earth, the 2002 Off Road Expo certainly exceeded our expectations. The sheer mass of people roaming through the isles all weekend long was incredible. The impressive displays and quality product lineup of each vendor was outstanding.

If we were not only to speak for ourselves but for the entire off-road "community," we'd have to say the show was the greatest event of the year. No politics. No politicians. Just a show you can hang your hat on each year, make new friends, meet new ones, see the latest and greatest the off-road industry has to offer and even make a purchase or two. Now, that's an understatement!

We ran into one family (you'll see them in one of the photo galleries and in an upcoming November 1, feature on the show) that marched through the show loading up their industrial-sized wagon to the hilt. It was truly a balancing act, making use of some fantastic off-road accessories for their toys and transport rigs. The off-road family was all smiles - even though they'd just dumped several pay checks worth of loot.

Vendors galore! Skyjacker unleashed it's entire arsenal of rigs, showing that they truly are The Bear of Suspensions with a number of the best bolt-on suspensions on the market. In addition to it's prowess and presence in the Jeep segment, Skyjacker busted loose with a huge Dodge suspension that rocked the house. You'll catch that smooth-sailing rock monster in the galleries as well.

BFGoodrich, who officially jumped into the competition rock crawling arena this season with its new Krawler TA, was out in full force and standing tall. Although it was its first season of competition with its new tire, the Krawler TA tallied a number slew of victories and championships. BFG's success on the rocks was evident with its showing at the Off Road Expo. Nearly every rig was boasting a set. Take for example the FourXDoctor rig or Rod Hall's Hummer H2, decked out with all the trick add-ons.

Roaming the isles of the show was like marching into a family reunion with the in-laws removed, smiling faces recalling familiar places. "The last time I saw you, you were knee deep in mud some thirty miles past Mike's Sky Ranch, some 300 miles into the race." Or: "Hey, where have you been? Remember that time we were riding and stopped off at the Slash X, when Tina the bartender fired off on so and so and recovered only to pour drinks for all on the house. Man, what time did we make it back to camp anyway?"

We could go on and on and on. But we won't. We can only say that if you weren't there, you missed out big time There's always next year, but you will never be able to make up for lost time - unless of course you look back into the never-ending saga of Off-Road.com's Off Road Expo family album.

Before we head off to our next assignment, we were happy to see new additions to the Off Road Expo staff, particularly the addition of our friend, Jim Ober, who has provided the best off-road motor sports photography in the world since 1972. It was that year when he took his camera and crew south to the annual running of the legendary Baja 1000. This year his company, Trackside Photo, is celebrating its 30th year in action. Not only are we here at Off-Road.com glad to see him on board the Off Road Expo staff, but we're also glad to have his company's top notch photography right here on Off-Road.com.

Stay tuned for an Off Road Expo blowout special November 1. Until then, we're off to the SUPERCRAWL in Farmington, New Mexico!