2014 Tennessee HOG Rally

Memorial Day found us heading east to Cookeville, Tennessee to attend the Tennessee State HOG Rally. For non-Harley friends, HOG stands for "Harley Owners Group". Every summer most states host a HOG Rally which is attended by lots of Harley Owners and is coordinated and organized by a group of local volunteers. In 2004 and 2007, Randy was the coordinator of the Utah State HOG Rally and he's also been on the State HOG Rally Committee a few other years.

Each year, the State HOG Rally Coordinators go on a week-long training, hosted by Harley Davidson Corporation. In 2004 we went to Florida and in 2007 the training was held in Puerto Rico! Two nice vacations... sponsored by Harley! In Puerto Rico, that year, we met Candy and Gary Bagwell. Gary was the coordinator fo the TN HOG Rally in 2007 and again this year. In Puerto Rico, we had a blast hanging out with Gary and Candy and always thought we'd connect again in the future but we didn't, until this year.

In planning our trip we discovered that the Tennessee HOG Rally would be the week we were going to be near Tennessee and Gary was the coordinator. We decided that we should sign up and go visit them.

We knew they'd be busy with the Rally, but it was still fun to see them and spend some time catching up. That's one of best things about Harleys... they bring people together and you're always connected. I thought I had a picture of the four of us together, but I don't! I'm so disappointed!!!

We only spent a couple of days at the Rally and went on a guided ride to Alvin York State Park which was a great ride. It was fun to meet lots of riders when we were lining up for the ride and it's great to check out everyone's bike and even more fun to see the license plates. Two plates got my attention and I had a fun conversation with Jane! By the way, she owns Tarzan!

The ride was a couple of hours long and we road through rural Tennessee. It was a little stop and go, and pretty slow, which always happens with large guided rides. The area was beautiful and the park had an old grist mill and country store.

We were only able to enjoy the TN HOG Rally for a couple of days but I'd like to go back. The 2015 Rally is in Cookeville again and there is a ton to do in that area. Also, most HOG Rallies are usually just a weekend and this Rally is a whole week long and included a ride to an old prison, drag races, lots of parties, and closed with a Montgomery Gentry Concert. We were bummed that we missed the skills contest "HOGS vs "PIGS" which is Harley Riders vs cops. That would have been a great contest to see! This is one Rally where you are never bored! Maybe Randy and I will go next year.... who's going with us?