It's getting closer - Rally Info Update

[Todd]

Well the time is getting closer.......I just wanted to update everyone a little with some tentative things so you could start thinking and maybe stir up the excitement. If you've been on the fence..maybe this will make you decide to saddle up and ride on out.

First, the host hotel is pretty much booked up except for a few smoking rooms. They have secured the same rate at a couple smaller, neighboring hotels that some have already discovered and posted about on here. If you have not made your reservation you had better get crackin'.

If 10% of the people that said they were coming have conflicts and have to backout, that will still leave us with 75 bikes and that is not counting some that may decide at the last minute to come. So I am thinking 70-80 attendees.

Amy (Kawgirl) is hard at work on the tshirts and designs and working with vendors to get those available as soon as possible for everyone. I am not sure at this point if they will be available at the rally or if you will need to pre-order. It is usually difficult for a vendor to send or bring them to a rally so I am thinking they will be available for you to preorder and have sent to you prior to the Rally. Amy will update us on that when she gets word from the vendors.

We are planning for most people to arrive on Monday sometime as the official "Rally" will start Tuesday morning first thing. We will have a check-in area somewhere at the hotel on Monday probably from late morning to 4 or 5pm. Amy is the master of organized check-ins....I think I am just gonna stay out of her way and do what she tells me to do. :-/

We are planning a welcome cookout/dinner at the Maggie Valley Inn and Conference Center for Monday night. We will have burgers/dogs and fixin's outside around the pool/grounds/tikibar (tikibar will be on your own). Will probably have tea/water provided with that. WE DONT WANT ANYONE TO HAVE TO GET BACK ON THE BIKE AFTER A COLD ONE... The cost per person will be somewhere in the neighborhood of $12 for that cookout if you wish to attend. Adult Beverages will be on your own. I am not sure yet when, or how, we will be collecting the money for the cookout for those that wish to attend, but more to follow as we get closer. After the dinner, and since the hotel is pretty much booked with "us" I think there will be plenty time to mingle and meet your fellow KawaNOW members in person around the outdoor TikiBar and pool area.

Tuesday we will have two organized rides to chose from. Depending on numbers, we may even break out into smaller groups.
One to Deal's Gap (the Tail of the Dragon) then back through Tennessee toward Gatlinburg and back over the Smoky Mtns to Maggie. ( http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...6,1.755066&z=9 ) I don't plan to have anyone lead a ride through the actual "Dragon" itself, but the organized ride will take you to the store and motel at the bottom and then meet on the other side after a designated amount of time so everyone can run at their own pace and some may want to go up and down a couple times. The ride will then continue back to towards Maggie Valley as a group.
The other organized ride Tuesday will be to Mt. Mitchell State Park (Highest peak east of the Mississippi) along about 100 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway with smooth pavement, no stopsigns or intersections and tons of overlooks and views of the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains. ( http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...,0.877533&z=10 ) Each is around 200 round trip miles give or take. I plan to have fuel and lunch/break stops built in but just have not ID'd those yet.
No organized dinner but let's plan to gather by the TikiBar for the evening after everyone grabs some dinner.

Wednesday, there will be no organized rides. Everyone is welcomed to go explore on their own, rest up, or do whatever they want. I will be getting area info out ASAP about shopping, tourist spots, etc. I would recommend the Great Smoky Moutain Railway if you like old steam powered trains. There is also whitewater rafting, lots of sites, and of course, lots of nice roads.
Kawasaki Corp will have their demo trailer available for rides and demos set up in the parking lot at the Maggie Valley Inn and Conf Center on Wednesday. We are also planning to do a swap meet on Wednesday. More details to follow on that, but if you have some things to bring, start collecting them...plenty of Nomad and Motorcycle customers will be available.
No organized dinner but again, there is the TikiBar and the hotel grounds for us all the mingle after grabbing some dinner on your own or with a group.

Thursday, we will have two organized ride options again. I plan to have the ride to Deal's Gap (see map link above for Deals) again because that seems to be the most poplular so we will have 2 options to choose from as far as days.
The other option will be what I call " The Waterfall Ride". It is through several areas where there are waterfalls to see (4-5 major ones) and some great motorcycle roads. We will use a small part of the Blue Ridge Parkway again also just because it never looks the same twice and it is just such a great motorcycle road with no stop signs to get us separated. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...3&ie=UTF8&z=10
Thursday night we are planning a Finale' dinner. I have been advised that there are not many, if any places in Maggie Valley that can handle our sized group. We may do it at the hotel, or I may be successful in finding an offsite place. More details on that as I find out more about what is available. But, for those that went to the National in Custer....we will use this for announcements, prizes, door prizes (everyone try to bring something as a give-away..there will be more on that coming also ASAP) and just a final chance for everyone to get together one last time.

Friday morning is for your departure if you wish. Of course, if anyone wants to stay a while, we will be glad to have you in NC...just leave those "Northern" ways somewhere else...and learn to eat grits for breakfast ;)

Everyone is free to participate in as much, or as little of the organized activities as they want.

I hope you all are as excited about this as I am. Stay tuned..........