More than 50 automobiles, ranging from antique, vintage, classic, and even a few modern, wait in a single line on a dirt road at the fairgrounds, revving their engines before they take the hour-long drive from Logan to Bear Lake.
Jim Crozier, from Morgan, Utah, holds the line at the start, his silver, bullet-like ride's door open. It's shaped like a flying bird's wing.
"It's been a great car," he said. "The only problem is, when I'm going down the freeway, I can't change lanes because people are right next to me taking pictures of me."
This car is recognizable to anyone who's seen "Back to the Future." Crozier confirms it's an actual 1981 DeLorean, and the winged doors are why he wanted it in the first place.
"Normally, for anything like this, I have my wig on, and a dark, dark brown goatee," he said. But he's saving the costume for the following day, during the 44th Annual Cache Valley Cruise-In parade.
Shortly after, he gets in the car and more cars join him, with their engines rumbling as they roll forward. They’re off to Bear Lake.
But that's not all of the Cache Valley Cruise-In. Throughout the three-day event, just under 1,000 vehicles park inside the gated fairgrounds.
Food trucks line up in the middle of the gathering, and people wander the rows, checking out the old cars. Everyone seems to be having a good time.
Dan Dresser is polishing his black 1982 Toyota Celica Supra.
"This Celica is fairly rare. They only made a little over 4,000 of them," he said. "Toyota actually didn't make them at the factory. What they did is they made all the coups like usual, and they sent them to a company in California back in the 80s called ASC, and ASC chopped the roof off."
Dresser restored the wedge-shaped sports car with pop-up headlights himself, and he said it now looks just like it did on the showroom floor.
He said the eccentric part is that buyers couldn't get the Celica without power windows, power locks, power mirrors, and other electrical extras. That was unusual for the early 1980s, when most cars still had hand-cranked windows.
Next to his car is his son’s 1985 Celica GTS convertible.
"We have come to Cache Valley Cruise-In, me and my son, since he was about four years old, and he's now 27," Dresser said.
Like Dresser and his son, Rick Moore, president of the Cache Valley Cruise-In Association, which puts on the event, said he had a similar tradition with his own father growing up. Back then, the event was called Logan's Run.
"My dad raised me on this show; he loved the show. Every year we go to the parade, we'd eventually hit the inside the park," Moore said. "I was born in 1983, so this has been my whole life I've been able to see this show, and just to be able to finally be a part of it and help continue that legacy."
The Logan resident said the family-friendly event has evolved over the years, but it's always stayed at the fairgrounds.
"It's a great community, and it's awesome scenery for the show," Moore said. "We've had different attractions of the show come and go — we've had games, we've done burnout competitions for a while, had to leave that because of insurance liability issues. We've got Bear Lake Run and Poker Run."
Moore said the nonprofit uses proceeds from the Cruise-In to buy next year's car for the door prize. This year, it's a cherry-red 1965 Cobra — instantly recognizable by its flared fenders.
Back outside, Ogden resident Lizette Enriquez walks the fairgrounds with her mom. For her family, this event is tradition.
"We enjoy my parents coming out. They fly in from Texas," she said. "My son has been coming since he was probably two years old. He's 21... and we just enjoy it."
Enriquez said her son has spent the weekend chatting with other car owners, picking up tips for his partially restored 67 Camaro.
Most people wandering the fairgrounds are here for the obvious reason — to check out the cars. But for some, like Moore, Dresser, and Enriquez, the cars are almost beside the point. What keeps them coming back, year after year, is who's standing next to them in the parking lot.
