Need Some Rally news!

[voyager55]

What's going on at the rally? Need some stories

[Tonyvdb]

Updates are here >>http://www.amervoyassoc.org/forum/viewt ... f=6&t=8119

[debron]

Tonyvdb's link takes you to my chronicle of my trip getting TO the rally. The news from the rally is here:

http://www.amervoyassoc.org/forum/viewt ... f=6&t=8163 In the Travel Reports section.

[Lucasind]

We had the pleasure of joining these fine folks on a all day ride thru the
nantahala national forest of N.C. apparently by this time the gals all were weak in the knees. The ride was led by local Dave H. who then suggested lunch at a mexican restaurant.The 7.5 hour ride ended by stretchin out on the hotel bed before the tuesday night AVA dinner, what a great day !
......................................tony

[sir old dirt]

Do AVA members look like they are having a good time or what?
Char and I put together the following thoughts concerning the rally. Sorry, no photos.

To Our AVA Family

We truly hope everyone made it home from the wonderful 25th AVA International Rally of Asheville, North Carolina. When we arrived on the third day it seemed all tensions we felt prior to the rally had all dissipated. From the moment of recognition everyone had smiles on their faces and hugs in their arms for all friends of years past. Everyone seemed they could hardly wait until their arrival to judge for themselves how things were going to work out. It was mentioned many times that folks simply did not know the feelings of all the attendants. In retrospect it seems all concerns were needless.

Mike and Robin McGee proved they had been working very diligently on the rally preparation, from the rally site location, to the activities planned, to the registrations, to the board members in attendance, to the web master, and all the incidentals that are always not considered by the attendees. Mike and Robin had everything covered. Both of them served as Master of Ceremonies and displayed a relaxed atmosphere throughout. During the rally they had the able assistance of Bob and Doris Falvey who took over the preparation of the rally rides of fantastic scenery and road selection, and Don and Trish Medina who organized and conducted the sales tables of AVA merchandise, with the help of a few volunteers. The registration table was never without assistance as it was under the direction of Judy Barth. Judy even conducted the registration of several late attendees as they arrived unannounced to the rally. She was not to be outdone though Bronson was prepared to entertain at a moments notice. Anytime anyone observed Judy rolling her eyes it was a sure sign that Bronson was on. Ron Riggs set up a couple of excellent photo and video displays and everyone did the “Ooh and Aah” show to accompany the presentation. Jim Loiselle has since displayed a gallery of fine photos that gives the rally a nice display of activities. All our leaders of the new AVA seemed to go out of their way to bring this rally to the level of excellence all of us expect.

Char and I felt the rally was an awesome display of love and care. All the feeling of wanting to be present was never absent. The tire kickin’, polishing, fussing over, teasing, snacking, rain watching, and just down home being friendly was always present. When it came time to eat the big celebration dinner everything tasted so good. Many folks felt the food was the best they had ever tasted at a rally. The service was excellent and the awards following were very well accepted. Many walked away with gifts provided by ROK and Kawasaki and the feeling was that the AVA is a very positive organization under the Kawasaki banner.

All of us missed the presence of former AVA board members, Bob and Jean Decker and Dave and Dot Wirtz. They recently resigned because of health problems. Robin and Mike made a special effort to keep each of them up to date concerning the rally through photos, videos, and phone conversations.

The rally came to a close after the 2015 rally site was announced as Estes Park, Colorado. Everyone really seemed enthused. The tentative date has been selected as sometime in June of 2015. Everyone within hearing of the announcement was very happy with the selection and with the date change.

Was the rally fun? YES! Was the rally well attended? YES! Were any tensions relieved? YES! Did the Board outdo itself? YES! There was some nice healing on a personal as well as a professional level. For those that missed Asheville, we are so sorry you missed a super good time and an excellent rally. Char told me the big hug from Delbert was worth the 1200 miles she added to her bike riding “tush”. That adds to her 275,000 miles to date.

[Lucasind]

Three guys standing on a bridge in the middle of the day with nothing to do except ride motorcycles ! what's wrong with this ? NOTHING ! A much needed vacation was enjoyed by all ............................tony

[ekap1200]

And the fun didn't stop there, 2,339 miles later Marie and I finally made it home. We left the rally and headed towards the Tail of the Dragon stoping at a motorcycle only campground for a week of running the mountains in a 60 mile radius of Dave's home of Franklin NC. The best mountain roads full of great sights and waterfalls galore. Hat's off to you Dave for being the tour guide. Running the mountain roads with you got me right back into it and was needed for riding with several more local guys and gals up from you in Stecoah. Much like Dave you rarely ever seen brake lights on ......I had several great tour guides this week and we took the foot tour of several waterfalls. Had to leave early by one day and break Marie in on the joys of running in severe rainfall and fog. Good thing she had her eyes closed most of the time. 800 miles home mostly in bad weather but I made it into a two and a half day trip. We made it in at high noon today and got right into chores here after unpacking and laundry. More pics to follow and will catch up with everyone after the horrors of returning to work tomorrow.