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2008 TX District Rally, 8-10 May We had over 300 hundred photos to sort through. I tried to select those that showed what went on the best! Thanks to everyone who submitted photos! If you would like a disk with all the photos on it, just ask Brad and he will make one up for you. Click here for miscellaneous pictures of members having FUN!
A group shot on the Lexington. Should be 32 of us! Some folks just wanted to be part of Chapter U!
Pictures from the regatta on Thursday. Our boat came in 3rd. (pictured in Charlie's hand!)
Picture of the boat! Thanks Jack! Friday, May 6, 2008 saw 8 bikes and trikes and 2-4 wheels ready to head south for the annual Texas District rally in Corpus Christi. We already knew at least 10 Chapter U participants had gone down the day before to join in the first day of FUN at the rally. We heard that Chapter U’s boat entered in the district regatta won THIRD place. Thanks Jack Dowda for putting together and decorating our boat and to Charlie Brown for participating in the regatta. The “goodie” bag of food which was the third place prize lasted the chapter the rest of the weekend! We had a great trip down I-37 both weather-wise and riding-wise. Ken Jordan did a superb job leading, and Black Pearl and I rode drag. We had a first time Chapter U participant riding with us, Dave, and his dad, George, also a motorcyclist, was in one of the cars in the rear. Also joining us were Steve Ochs and his wife, Susan, who was in the pickup truck behind us. The rest of the Gold Wings in our formation were Brad Severe, Wes and Nancy Lewis, Court Van Sickler, and Dale and Diane Goree. I have to tell you the Wings looked beautiful cruising south on I-37, and we arrived right on time to meet the rest of Chapter U at the Bill Miller’s in Corpus right by the rally host hotel. Road Captain Ken Jordan did a great job of leading this ride!
We all met at Bill Millers for lunch Friday! There were a few Chapter Gold Wings already at the Bill Miller’s. What was such a great first chapter participation event at the rally was that 25 Chapter U participants showed up to eat lunch together at Bill Miller’s. We had a great time moving tables, and this time we had the opportunity to show case our skill both in the front and the back of the restaurant. All I can say is that I am glad to have lots of help with the table rearranging! After meeting, greeting and eating and catching up on the initial rally activities, we adjourned back to the host hotel, the Holiday Inn, to register, check out the vendors and meet and greet more Chapter U participants and fellow GWRRA members met from previous rallies, rides and training. If you regularly attend GWRRA functions, you make friends all over the country! After some initial shopping, we adjourned to check in at the chapter host hotel 5 minutes from the Holiday Inn, the Drury Inn. As luck would have it, all the rooms weren’t ready so some of us happened to make a fortuitous move into the “breakfast” room and the Drury staff opened up the soda fountain so we could start to drink a lot of fluids in preparation for moving to the open staging area for the move up onto the Lexington that night. We settled into our rooms and actually most of us “floated” out to the staging area for the Lexington due to the socializing down in the breakfast area of the Drury. Charlie led us down there…20 bikes or so moving along the highway. I don’t think Chapter U has ridden in that large of group except as part of the Joe Harrison Christmas Fun Run but Charlie was the only one who knew where the staging area was for loading the Lexington so we all just sort of stretched out and let traffic work around us. Glad all the CBs were working, and you could really tell all the driveer’s education this last year had paid off! I was glad that I had recently completed the Trike Course up at the Region H rally in Marshall because it gave me the confidence to take on my first co-rider, Linda Brackeen. Linda joined me as Jack Dowda was driving his GL 1000 to the Lexington solo. The Lexington was beautiful as we drew nearer, and there is a really high and neat (remember I wasn’t a co-rider this weekend!) bridge we had to ride over in order to get to the “Lex.” As we came off the freeway and wound our way down into the staging area, it became apparent that lots of other Wings were already there waiting for the “big moment.” Entering the staging area we found that the trikes and bikes were separated for the load. Lucky trikes as we were loaded near the beginning of the process while many Chapter U bikes loaded an hour later. Everyone seemed glad to finally leave the staging area as though it was a fun meet and greet area, it was warm and sunny, and the highlight was still to come!
Bunch of Chapter U Folks Wes & Nancy Lewis...and the birds!!!
Another view of the bikes
Chapter O member catching a nap! Just waiting to load!
The bikes and trikes lined up in the staging area.
On the way to the Lexington. Driving up the ramp to the lift was very exciting. Thirty or so trikes/bikes moved at a time, winding its way from the staging area to the loading area for the lift. Good thing that none of us realized until we were at the life that there was not a front or back gate. I didn’t realize there was no back gate until Linda asked me to make sure my parking brake was on as the back end of Black Pearl seemed to be slightly lower than the front end. I think everyone on each lift was definitely on both brakes and leaning forward. Slight pucker factor there!
Headed up the ramp!!
View of the ramp from on top. Lots of bikes on each lift!
More views of the elevator with bikes! It really was smooth! No guard rails! We were relieved and exhilarated to arrive at the flight deck and start to unload. Everyone was very careful with steering and moving their trikes and bikes to ensure there wasn’t any mishaps. What I didn’t realize until later was that someone was taking photos of all the bikes arriving and leaving. We were able to buy copies the next day at the Holiday Inn.
It was fairly tight on top! Some bikes were very close. No incidents at all!
Rows look much more even in these shots! The Chapter U trikes parked and quickly found our way down to the hangar deck and the bathrooms! Arriving below we quickly realized there was no line at the bathrooms AND the buffet line was very short as well. Obviously everything is about timing! The Texas District staff was hard at work organizing people into the buffet lines, snipping off our “dinner” armbands, and generally organizing the hundreds of Lexington Gold Wingers! It was great to say hi to the District staff as we moved through the line and then snagged 3 tables for the 30 or so Chapter participants that were soon to follow. Thanks to the Hausmans and Byrds for holding down their tables and special thanks to Linda Brackeen who went through the drink line 12 or more times to make sure cold drinks were waiting for Chapter U as they finally made it to dinner.
It was crowded for dinner too!
Chapter U had 3 tables! Charlie Brown made his first landing on the Lex! After some barbecue and lots of fluids, we managed to snag a position in front of the big American flag on the stage to take a Chapter picture! There was time after dinner to explore the “Lex.” Dave Weaver explored some metal with the top of his head. Lana had to “kiss it and make it better.” There were historic displays to explore as well as a gift shop. All too soon it was time to move up to the flight deck and wait for the offload. We spent quality time waving at helicopters taking our pictures! Well it was nice that the trikes were on first and also among the first to leave. I was glad to see Black Pearl was at the start of the fourth line of trikes and there was plenty of room to maneuver her around during the offload. Again the Trike Course came in handy as we had practiced tight turns! The sun had set and it was cool to see the impromptu “light show” as the trikes and Wings departed.
It was almost dark by the time we started leaving!
Riding on the edge of the deck! At least there was a fence! The day seemed to fly by. Bill and Jane Johnson joined us for the day which was great. A lot of Chapter U departed on Saturday and I wonder who would be left to hold down the Chapter participation in the dress competition that afternoon. Brad and I wondered through the vendors (again), admired Jack’s GL 1000 in the bike show (he won FIRST PLACE!). Somehow we all eventually ended up camped out at the Holiday Inn bar (closed for the day) eating snacks provided by Jack and Linda (this continued out on I-37 on Sunday afternoon!), catching up with new and old friends from other chapters, discussing possible chapter mascots, and organizing who would wear red and who would wear gray shirts for the dress competition. Yes…it was exciting. We had enough Chapter U people that Brad and I didn’t have to wear both shirts in competition! We passed out Region H pins in order to have Region H on our shirts and proceeded to the Dress Competition. Though we didn’t place, we did, somehow, start up a new chapter chant “U, U, U, U, U!”
View of the vendor are a and some of the bikes! We then adjourned back to the Drury Inn for popcorn and sodas and the rest of the regatta goodies. I’m not sure I have eaten this much junk food in a weekend in years! Refreshed and full, we drove the 5 minutes back to the Holiday Inn for the closing ceremonies. We arrived to find a full room but in true Chapter U fashion, we divided and conquered with some getting seats in a back row and others securing extra chairs and claiming a shallow alcove on the side of the room! The closing ceremonies were special. District recognized veterans of all the Armed Forces, and Chapter U won two more awards: FIRST PLACE for the Chapter newsletter and FIRST PLACE for the Chapter website! Congratulations to everyone who contributed to these important reflections of our Chapter’s FUN. The closing ceremony also was fun…partly because somehow the Chapter U chant now began to include hand motions! You’ll have to have a demonstration to believe it! The DFW Rallycats had always had “R-R-R-R-R-R” and now that Chapter U had “U-U-U-U-U-U,” other chapters started to say their initials! The roomd was full of “letters” and cheers as different awards were announced. Last but not least was the grand finale announcement of next year’s District rally in Amarillo!
U members in the knit shirt competition! Didn't win but had a lot of fun! Eighteen of us then adjourned to the City Diner downtown Corpus for dinner followed by a moonlight ride following the shoreline. We welcomed two Kansan friends of JD and Millie Kvapil to our dinner party. City Diner must have known we were coming as they had a separate room for us AND they had already arranged the tables so 18 of us could sit together. I have to tell you the pecan-crusted snapper with the white wine sauce, crab meat and shrimp were delicious! After dinner, JD and Millie Kvapil led our merry little group for a moonlight ride along the shoreline, pointing out local points of interest. The light breeze, comfortable temperature, low level of traffic, beautiful houses and water made the ride very memorable! Next time we will do it during the day!
18 of us had dinner at the City Diner Saturday night!
Unwinding at the Drury Inn. They always had free drinks and popcorn!
Jack Dowda took 1st in the GL1000 Class. Our door labels. One last evening in the breakfast room of the Drury eating popcorn, drinking soda and spending time together. We sorted out departure plans and finally turned in…late but happy. What a weekend. Sunday morning came all to early and while it was windy and overcast, we managed to get breakfast and out on the road without too much delay. It was windy heading north with Dave Weaver and Lana in the lead, Brad and then Black Pearl bringing up the rear. Brad’s CB, again, was on the fritz. Just as we were reaching mile marker 46 and the “Swinney Switch” exit, Brad pulled over. Ugh…alternator problem. Shades of what had happened to Black Pearl several months back. After considering our alternatives, we called our handy Rescue Plus. Mother’s Day is not an easy day to get a tow truck and 4 hours later, our tow truck had not arrived. However, all was not lost as I-37 was full of fellow Chapter U participants and Texas District staff headed north. Somehow Black Pearl and Brad’s Wing were very identifiable and we soon had offers of bottles of water, pretzels, candy, tissues, and an ice chest (full of ice!). I don’t think I will ever forget Bert Navin coming back from an exit a few miles down the road with a small Styrofoam ice chest full of ice and water in the co-rider’s seat! We had a steady stream of company including Ruby and Jim Seale who were on the way to San Antonio for the night. Ruby and Jim stayed with us until we determined it was unlikely the tow truck was close (it had been four hours at least since we had first called Rescue Plus) and night was approaching. In the mean time, Jack and Linda had pulled over in their 4 wheel pulling Jack’s GL 1000 on a trailer. We finally started north again swapping out Brad’s bike and Black Pearl’s batteries before Brad’s battery died. Jack and Linda rode drag and it was very comforting to know they were back there! We arrived safe and sound, not too much worse for the wear, and we celebrated with one last pizza party with Jack and Linda! We had a great time…even with the alternator problem on Brad’s GL 1500. The rally was such a great experience not just due to being on the Lexington but because this is the first real big attendance at a rally for Chapter U! We had about 16 hours a day of meeting, greeting, eating, riding and having fun. I really appreciated all the days of hard, hard work the District staff put into making this rally FUN for both first-timers and experienced rally goers. I think every time I saw a member of Texas District staff they were working! I really valued that whoever showed up to join Chapter U fun was welcome, and we had the chance to meet and spend time with Dave and George, and Dave and Lourdes Merriman. I appreciated the suggestions on where to go to eat, what to do, willingness to stay at the Drury (despite the rambunctious younger activity!), and the representation to the rest of Texas District of what Chapter U is really about…riding safe and having FUN! “U-U-U-U-U!”
Even the ride home was eventful with my alternator dying 46 miles out of Corpus! Special thanks for all of you who assisted Jill & I: Dave & Lana, Sal & Phylis, Bert & Linda, Ruby & Jim Seale (District Staff) and Jack & Linda.
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