Hi aknovaman! Yes you aren't too far away at all, in fact I know there are some others on here that may be closer, which is great! I would love to meet you and the others and see your builds.
I may have already, I've been to a few meets, and a couple of Midwest Nationals. Hopefully I will have mine there soon. Seems that my truck is on hold while my full time job and my full time family seem to take precedence. Of course that's why it's called a project I suppose.