DAY 5 (Friday Morning) - Well, it's the end of the week and the 2005 AVA Rally is in the books.  I met lots of new friends from other chapters, and got to see some of the folks from the NorCal Voyagers for more than a few hours at a time. All-in-all, I think it was a successful rally.  I felt there was a lot to be learned in the organization department, but that is just one person's opinion.  This was my first rally and I enjoyed the scenery, the rides, and the opportunity to talk to others (and look at others efforts). Hope you enjoyed this BLOG...
	DAY 4 (Thursday Afternoon) - After the ride back from Silverton, I came back to the room for a little rest and then headed into town to find out what was going on with the 'parade' and evening banquet. Found out the parade was starting around 6PM, which meant there would be no where to park at the VFW hall (where we were having the banquet).  So a few of us decided that we'd just go ahead and park and wait for the parade to make it. The dinner was good (we were one of the first tables to eat) and I even won an award for the Motorcycle rodeo (for one up riders).  The remainder of the ceremonies were mostly self-serving, but a few business items took place. Bob Jones is stepping down as director of the AVA and they voted in Duane Ash, next years' rally will be in upstate Michigan (sorry, I don't remember the city)...  Kawasaki had nothing to report on a 'new' Voyager (duhn), and they gave out door prizes.  I think it was either the beer or dinner, but my stomach did not leave me alone all night.
	DAY 4 (Thursday Morning) - Headed down to the 'Fun Center' to go on an organized ride to a local lake.  Seems it wasn't as well organized as I thought, no one knew who was heading the ride and we all just sorta scattered. I decided to take the opportunity to ride to Silverton, about 50 miles north of Durango.  It was a real nice ride up there and I stopped for lunch at a patio BBQ.  That was a nice treat.  Did a little shopping and then the rain pulled in.  I was basically done anyway, so I decided to head on out to beat the rain About 1/3 of the way back I fought the rain on and off, it was a nice change from the grueling heat.
	DAY 3 (Wednesday Afternoon) - Got to the room and stretched out a bit before dinner.  Headed on down to the park, the BBQ was supposed to start at 5PM.  When I got there, it was clear where we were meeting as about 30 AVA members had already arrived...  Well, it wasn't that simple...no one knew where the BBQ was supposed to be! Brew and I recon'd the park and darn if we didn't spy any BBQ pits...wonder where we're supposed to be?!?  Brew called one of the board members and they weren't sure as well.  So we decided to drive down to where we had the bike games yesterday and see if that's the place. When we arrived someone already had the tables reserved...a couple of the ladies asked them if they knew what was going on and they said they were having a dinner for about 25.  They discussed for awhile and the party decided to move to a smaller area, that was very nice of them.  But still no BBQ... Around 5:20 the board showed up with the BBQ...well, not exactly, more like grocery store cold fried chicken, potato salad, macaroni salad, and beans.  We surveyed the situation, looked at the large line forming and decided a bunch of us would go to the 'Double Tree Inn' for dinner. When the 7 of us showed up we got some strange looks, the people that ran the place were very nice but some of the snooty folks eating dinner didn't appear to like those of us that rode 2 wheeled vehicles.  No big deal, we eat like everyone else so we ordered and had a fantastic dinner on their 'early bird special' menu.  I don't think anyone paid over $10 for the meal and we all agreed that not only was it a very good meal, but it sure beat cold fried chicken :') We headed back to the park after dinner and socialized for awhile.  There was a bike show scheduled and we entered our votes for the best of each category.  There was also a light show scheduled, but I was getting tired and decided to head on back before that started.  A bunch of us drove back to the campgrounds to sit around for a short bull session to end the evening.
	DAY 3 (Wednesday Morning) - Stopped by the 'Fun Center' to get in line for one of this mornings rides - Mesa Verde.  We took off shortly past 9:30 with Duane Ash in the lead and Bill Overton cleaning up the rear.  It was a very nice ride through the pass up to Mesa Verde, somewhere higher than 7000 feet.  The stop was inside the park, after paying $5 entry, and we all kinda scattered from there.  I made my way to the Visitors' Center and most of the tours were booked for the afternoon.  So I headed down to the Spruce Tree House with a few other folks and did a little of my own sight seeing and stood in line for lunch (that was a real treat, sarcastic emphasis!). I went back to the meeting point at the pre-designated time and it looks like only myself and Duane made it back on time...since he had to be back to get the BBQ going, we took off as scheduled and made a nice ride back into Durango through some threatening clouds and wind.
	DAY 2 (Tuesday Afternoon) - Later in the afternoon the AVA set up 'games' at a local park.  Anywhere from motorcycle riding skill course to 'land games' to test your skill at throwing bean bags and such.  I gave the riding skills course a shot (after watching other people giving it a try) and it's a lot harder than it looks. The evening at the 'Fun Center' started with the setup of the 'Tricksters Face-Off', an annual event to see who has the most 'tricked-out' Voyager.  Last year's winner, Homie, was in full bloom...taking the attention like a pro.  Once all the bikes were properly positioned (Homie in the middle and everyone else in a horseshoe shape facing the crowd), we broke for a complimentary BBQ dinner.  A few people took off to the local buffet and some of us braved the sun/heat and stood in line for about an hour for the chance to have hotdogs and hamburgers.  Must have been the heat that clouded my judgement, because after I got to the head of the line I was really hungry and questioned whether I made the right decision!!! After dinner, we slowly moved back to the front of the 'face-off' and they raffled off a 50-25-25 raffle and lots of nice prizes.  Then we watched the fun begin.  Lots of chrome and gorgeous bikes were on display.  The 'face-off' was won by a fellow that customized his Voyager in a 'freedom' theme, complete with an etched eagle in his windshield.  He was very much the crowd favorite and deserved the win!  Then they raffled off all the prizes that they were going to give to the winner, which was a nice turn of events. I decided to peel off and head back for an early turn-in around 8:30PM...the temperature was a nice 75F!
	DAY 2 (Tuesday Morning) - First official day of the AVA Rally in Durango, Colorado.  Check in time at the 'Fun Center' (Kawasaki Dealership) started at 9AM.   Lots of folks got up early and stood in line before it got too hot. I checked in and quickly fast-pathed the line (because I was 'pre-registered') and received my goody-bag (AVA T-Shirt, flyers, Rally Patch and Pin, Ticket to banquet, and a back scratcher?!?). Looked through the vendors, quite a few were present: Kawasaki ROK, AVA, Safe-Ride (got myself a new gel pad for the seat), Marvellas, and a couple of private vendors (one that installed LED engine compartment lights and mural/pinstriping, the other sold a nice array of motorcycle related stuff).  Of course, we were in the parking lot of the 'Fun Center' so they were represented as well. Duane Ash did a nice 'Biking and Riding Safety Seminar' and 'Kawasaki Informative Seminar' inside the 'Fun Center' before and after noon. Quite a few folks took advantage of the Guided Scenic Ride for the day, Durango to Silverton.  A total of 96 miles round trip.  I saw Ray take off on the ride, so I'm sure he'll have a nice story to tell. Well, it's off to lunch and a chance to cool off, it's 95 degrees in Durango...
	DAY 1 (Monday Afternoon) - Day before the official start of the rally, I rode into town around noon thirty.  Got checked into the hotel and traveled to the 'official camp site' of the AVA Rally (United Campgrounds). I Was able to find "Brew" (Don Brubaker) goofing off at the campgrounds and we rode down to the 'official' NorCal Voyagers site to meet up with Ray Walls and others. It looks like the NorCal crew had just set up camp, so what better thing to do but start tearing into the bikes.  Ray had Wayne Bright pull off his right saddlebag so he could take a look at the rear brakes (pedal was bottoming out)...nothing to see, but it was a valiant attempt.  Next Ray had to replace his speedo cable, which died on the way in.  All the luck in the world wouldn't have beaten the fact that another Voyager rider in the opposite camp site just happened to have a brand new speedo cable in hand!  So Ray went to replacing the cable while we held the bike up. After a wonderful 'bull' session in the shady grass with Boomer (and a welcome beer from the campsite neighbor) we all split for dinner.  A number of us went to the "Bar-D" Chuckwagon dinner.  The price was a little on the high side, but after eating all we could and enjoying the cowboy music under the stars, we all agreed that it was worth the price.  The ride back into Durango in the cool 75 degree weather was and excellent end to an otherwise wonderful day.