Bill headed up to Silver Lake Sand Dunes in Michigan for a Rivian Clubs of America weekend with the Buckeye State Rivian Club. The plan was simple: bring a group of Rivians together, take them out on the sand, and spend a night or two at an EV-friendly campground.

There were R1Ts, R1Ss, and even an R2 in the mix, which made the weekend feel a little like a family reunion where everyone brought traction boards. The weather was not perfect. A little rain slowed things down and dampened the turnout. Still, the weekend never turned into a washout. When it was time to head to the dunes, the weather gave everyone enough of a break to get out there and let the trucks do what the trucks were built to do.

Rivians, meet sand

Silver Lake is a good place to remember that Rivians are not delicate little commuter bubbles. They look right at home with open sky, loose sand, and a line of other owners waiting to see what happens next.

The group got time on the dunes, swapped notes, watched the vehicles work, and came back with the usual evidence of a successful sand trip: sand in the tires, sand in the mats, sand in the trim, sand in places no reasonable person would expect sand to reach. By the time Bill got home, there was still enough sand in his R1T to make him sound dangerously close to Anakin Skywalker. It was coarse. It was rough. It was everywhere. For a dunes weekend, it is totally expected.

Campground hours

After the dunes, the weekend settled into the campground portion of the experiment. That is where these events become less about the vehicles and more about the people standing around them. After hosting a few rounds of Bingo (complete with take home BINGO kits) Bill spent time talking with other Rivian owners, checking out setups, trading stories, and collecting some event swag along the way. The casual conversations are what we appreciate most. Someone shows you how they packed their gear. Someone else explains what worked, what rattled, what they forgot, or what they would change next time. 

Why these weekends matter

Interrobang started because Bill had a Rivian, needed a better solution, and was stubborn enough to work out his own solution. Since then, the Rivian community has been part of the whole thing: the questions, the field notes, the feedback, and the “have you tried this?” conversations that inspire further work on what was just an idea. Bill came back from Silver Lake with stories, swag, new connections, and a Rivian that may never be completely free of Michigan.

A fair trade, if you ask us.