Mountain, Music and Motorcycles Rally

Saturday morning at 0630 my friend and co-worker Wayne Z.(Zack)left from Love's Truck Stop at Morrilton for our first trip to the Mountain View - Mountain, Music and Motorcycles Rally. Before I departed the house at 0600 I checked the radar and saw a band of bad weather headed our way. I was in luck that it did'nt get to my house an hour earlier or I'd of been wet from the beginning (it rained for about an hour at my house afterwards). I figured if Zack and I kept up a good pace and did'nt stop anywhere we would make it to the rally dry.

We actually ended up having really good luck yesterday, we got there without hitting rain (except for a few drops here and there). To make things even better we got a little chilled on the way up. The weather was fantastic, almost fall like. The skys were overcast much of the day and unbelievably cool compared to what we had expected.

As far as road hazards went, we had deer cross in front of us four times (one for me a half mile from home) and had one 5 gallon plastic trash can fly out of a truck in front of me. In deer looking areas we averaged 50 mph, that ended up be a good choice.

Now for the rally report. The rally was set up really well, I'll give that a high mark. There was'nt a problem in finding a staff member, they had the best rally shirts around (more on that later). The rally was sit up around the Courthouse Square. The Court House is a really old yellow/orange colored stone building (I'm not sure if its sandstone or granite). Only the South side of the Court House was open for Automobile traffic, the other three were for motorcycles only. One side for registration and parking, one for the bike show and the North side was for the few vendors and the bike games.

In front was the band stage. They had several bands. The main band (I forget name) played alot of different music, from Patsy Cline and Sheryl Crow to the Rolling Stones and CCR. They were awesome. I was expecting Blue Grass only.

I did'nt see anyone in a bad mood or having an attitude. The atmosphere was really good. For those of you who like to see alot of single men or women. The men were there, the women were not. Maybe the females will be there next year if it grows in attendance.

The games were fun. The highlight of the day was when one of the only women there that seemed to be alone, beat all the men in the slow race riding her Harley.
That was probably the most exciting slow race I've ever seem.

As I was saying earlier, the Staff had the best rally shirts, I think I saw maybe three people wearing the regular rally shirts. They sucked. They were a dull color of chartruse with ads all over the back. Rally promoters,I'm not all knowing but I know what people like were when it comes to shirts and its not one with ads all over it. Next year please buy your own shirt and charge a few extra dollars for it. Put a picture on the back, not ads. Find another way to get financing from the advertisers. Believe me there are ways, BBBQ has been doing it for eight years now. This I bought the T-shirt to support the rally, next year I won't unless its changed.

All in all though, the rally was a good one, there was a good turnout. I enjoyed myself and meant some good people. The city Mountain View is a unique setting in Arkansas. Its just a beautiful area, alot of the buildings are made out of the same material as the Court House. Really nice place. This was'nt my first trip to the town, I like to go up and listen to Blue Grass on cool spring or fall nights, its an awesome experiance and one you'll have a hard time finding anywhere else in Arkansas.
Can you play or sing? Take it along with you and join in the singing around the Court House Square on just about anynight with good weather.
See you next year folks.