Would you do it again?

[39520]

I liked the hotel format.

Back in the 60's and 70's, I hitch hiked all across the US and Europe. I did my share of rough traveling and real rough camping (underpasses, abandoned buildings, farmers fields, ...), and I enjoyed every moment of it.

But now I am a little older, and possibly wiser, and my family and I vacation at very comfortable places that would not have let me in the front door 30 years ago (and I don't blame them!) I really enjoyed sitting at the "free" happy hour at Embassy Suites while it rained in Charleston. And I liked wandering around the vendor area inside the convention center; I spent more time and money than I did at the other two rallys I attended (York and Moodus). The only minor disappointment was the beer tent/music being away from everything else; after the awards ceremony, I did not feel iike getting on the bus to go hear the band.

See you in Spokane (if they have good hotels...)

Steve
R1100S

[bmwrebel]

I would attend an other one like this only because it is the "National". They have been my vacation almost every year since 1976. I did not like the spread out set up or the local drivers. I will pull several shifts of securty again, as I do every National (including at least one midnight shift). Venders were great, Beer tent as usual the heart of the rally. Needed a droll bucket for the new R-RS,but still not as cool as my black K75S. Best of all all our friends old and new. This was my feance's first National and she loved it. She is now an associated member. Our cat came with us too. See you all next year if we can. Rambelin Rebel

[39520]

Rebel: you don't by any chance work at the Gold Rush factory in Ephrata?

Steve

[RevWillie]

I probably would go to another one like the Charleston Rally only because it is a National. Having learned from this last one, I would try to agree on a pre-set Rally Meeting Place with all my friends. My big problem with the last one was that many of my friends could not find me and the rest of my group. I didn't like the Civic Center being so far away from the U of C.campus, and I think that there was a problem with people coming out of the Beer Tent and having to drive somewhere else because of questionable public transit options. The Rally felt sorta"disconnected" because of all the sites and I missed the contact and the community of a BMW National. If we could have had a rally with just the U of C campus and a adjacent Civic Center, then we would have a winner. However, with the 4 different sites and a significant distance between each of them (with urban traffic to deal with), this last Rally sank to Second Worst of my 15 Nationals. I understand that we need to accomidate for a increasing amount of motel rally-goers, but we really need a central rally site for the vendors,classes,beer tent, and campers with better transportation options for our motel-goers. The folks in Charleston were wonderful and the U of C folks were great hosts, but we needed better rally organization/communications and SOME SIGNS!. The lack of signage was a huge hinderance to the flow of the rally--nobody knew where to go. It was a good try, but I think we need to look at rally sites with fairgrounds and nearby motels. I think that the Spokane site might be a good rally location for our needs.

[hooliganx5]

Had a great time in spite of rain & naysayers. I enjoyed the downtown venue but would prefer to camp "at the rally". Also, would like to see a better performance from the "Weather Gods Committee". Went to Mid-Ohio following the rally & the weather was absolutely wonderful.

Kudos to whoever booked the entertainment for Sat nite. I had to take a couple of their CDs home with me.

The only downside to my vacation was a dent in the tank on my pristine '81 Yamaha RD350LC. That was my own stupidity. Some people never learn.

Thanks to all those who volunteered & put the effort into making it memorable.

I'm looking forward to the RA Rally at Barbor ( thats a rally venue: camping, rallying & track days). I have reserved a 3 day slot in the CLASS class. Only downside to that is I'll have to trailer to it so that I can take a track bike. Life's a bitch, ain't it?

Ride fast, ride safe
Stan

[Friedle]

Very glad to hear that you enjoyed the Sat night show at the U of C. Despite the difficult circumstances, the sound and lighting guys did an outstanding job putting together enough equipment to let the show go on.

For those of you who weren't there, or didn't bother to read your Rally program, the entertainment on Sat night was the Jim Weider Band. Jim is the guitarist for the last 15 years for The Band, replacing Robbie Robertson after he left The Band. He also had Randy Carlente from The Band with him and a couple of outstanding Woodstock musicians to round out the group. The person on the blues harp was Robbie Dupree, multi time Grammy winner and a special unannounced guest artist.

Jim and the rest of the guys never complained at all about anything, they just played their brains out and had a great time playing long past their contracted set times. They all said the energy and attitude of the audience made up for the conditions and they were happy to be there.

I should also say the same thing about the other acts on Thursday and Friday nights. The Carpenter Ants were just setting up their equipment on Thursday when the tent blew down. They hung around to see what we were going to do to try to salvage the situation. After a quick emergency plan was developed to move the beer garden and entertainment into the U of C gym, the Carpenter Ants, a Charleston based band, went back to their homes to gather up their personal amps, mics, cables and the rest of the stuff they needed to put on a show. The acoustics weren't very good in the gym, but that didn't dampen the enthusiasm of the Carpenter Ants. They knew it was important that the show go on. Thanks to the Beer Crew for making the first hour sound much better with the free beer.

Johnny Staats was the same way on Friday night taking the attitude, "Hell, we're a bluegrass band. We can play anywhere anytime, amplified or not. What's the problem" and then launched into a night of world class bluegrass entertainment. I hope you were there to see it.

All three groups were national caliber acts, not the sort of bad garage bands you usually find at a motorcycle event, and they all showed why they are national caliber acts, rising to the occasion in grand fashion.

Thanks to Brian Manke, our Entertainment Committee Chair, for making sure the bands, sound and lighting guys were all working smoothly together under less than ideal conditions. At least Brian had good sound system support for his MC duties.

BTW, the same guy who booked the entertainment for the Rhinebeck Rally '99 also booked the music for the "Almost Heaven" 03 Charleston Rally. "No bad garage bands playing Proud Mary off key" promise kept once again.

[beemerron]

The hat is off to whoever booked those bands, you're musical tastes are second to none. While I'm tipping my topper, cudos to all who pulled the shows together despite the weather. btw, the brown acid was not all that bad.
My first National was DuQuoin. I was blown away by "Asleep At The Wheel". Unfortunately they are no longer together but as suggested in another thread, Little Feat would do just fine as 2004's featured bands (I suppose the Stones are out of our budget).

[DonHamblin]

Kudo's for the entertainment should go to Michael Friedle,
2003 National Rally Chair and Brian Manke, Entertainment Committee Chair. They firmly believe "you're worth the best" and continually fought to make sure you got "the best"

I know my hat's off to their efforts to bring us high quality entertainment!

Don Hamblin