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2014 BMWMOA National Rally

Awesome....lived in White Bear Lake for 15 years before my exile to Iowa. Just a 4hr cruise to get to the fairgrounds...and they are nice! Like Paul G. my first thought was geez, it'll take a little ride time to get out of St. Paul to hit some nice roads. Definitely some nice roads along the St.Croix river valley north/south of Stillwater, MN. Western WI has lots of good stuff close too.

Looking forward to it.
 
AH... The summer of eleven...

.... It was "mostly" a pleasure to have joined many of you at both; though it was tough at times (many)! We'll never forget will we.
Hey, that will (temp's) NOT happen again.... I'm guessing! .:brow
 
Happen Again? Art You Kidding?

Yes, the summer of '11...a memory for certain! Camping next to the Beer Garden (at both rallies) a long with the inflatable swimming pool at both rallies saved the day!!! HEY, you do what you have to do to stay COOL!!!

RALLY on DUDES!
 
Can anyone confirm that the 2014 rally would be July 17 - 20???

thanks
mike

Hi guys,
I am also having the same doubt whether it would happen soon. Because i am very interested in attending the automotive rally and eagerly waiting for the date. Can anyone share the complete details??
 
It will be nice....

I'm in agreement with you tvtommy... possibly for some of the same reasons. The cost of attendance to the region of said rally!
I know your bike shipping & amtrack train ticket will be expensive to Salem.... same as my "operational" costs riding round trip, even
from the Midwest; those from over East really rack up the bottom line! I just made some ferry reservations through the pacific northwest's
San Juan Islands off Washington State/British Columbia while in that rally region.... including lodging; the train looks like a bargain!

I love a good July "western ride" and all that goes with it, but a jaunt up the great river road & around a lake will be cool.... I hope.....:rolleyes

Travel'in John
 
Here's some info from a friend of mine that lives in the area:

The average day time temps in July run in the low to mid 80s, but what kills you is the humidity levels, often in the 60 degree+ dew point range which feels tropical even late into the evening hours, especially in the metro area. Out near the lakes and rivers the temps and dew points feel much lower, but the mosquitoes can carry you away! DEET is your best friend in MN during the summer months!

:drink
 
Here's some info from a friend of mine that lives in the area:

The average day time temps in July run in the low to mid 80s, but what kills you is the humidity levels, often in the 60 degree+ dew point range which feels tropical even late into the evening hours, especially in the metro area. Out near the lakes and rivers the temps and dew points feel much lower, but the mosquitoes can carry you away! DEET is your best friend in MN during the summer months!

:drink

:rofl

Much of the comment can be very accurate. When you talk to a Minnasnowton about the weather any time of year keep in mind we like legends like Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue OX, Viking rune stones and more. Wait a day and the weather can change drastically. A week ago we had 4.5 inches of snow. Saturday it was mid 70's - low 80s. Tomorrow we are expecting snain.

Temps in the rally period normally run between mid 70-mid 80 range with higher temps possible. Yes we have periods of high humidity but they don't last very long. The fair grounds have plenty of wonderful shade trees. There are many places to visit and enjoy in the metro area that have ac, beaches to enjoy and more.

We joke that the misquote is the state bird but at the fair grounds it should be more legend than major concern. After all our real state bird is the Loon.
 
Of all of the MOA rallies that I've attended, the Minnesota State Fairgrounds has almost as many trees as all of them combined. Shade shouldn't be a problem for most. If the fairgrounds open up a few buildings to campers (as many of them do), most of us will be able to camp in the shade.

Being a native, as the event draws near I am going to start a thread for out-of-towners to ask questions pertaining to local culture, food and beer. The Twin Cities is home to many microbreweries and many, many great restaurants. Como Park Zoo is close by and the AA series St. Paul Saints baseball team is within easy walking distance of the fairgrounds. Lots to do here, folks.
-K
 
Great news to hear. Maybe Aerostitch will actually be onsite for this rally, or better yet a ride to Duluth in the offing. Look forward to hearing more details.
 
Being a native, as the event draws near I am going to start a thread for out-of-towners to ask questions

What streets border the Fairgrounds?
Looking at Google Maps, it's hard to tell what areas are within the grounds.


http://goo.gl/maps/nuQ6U

<iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Minnesota+State+Fairgrounds+&hl=en&sll=41.938317,-93.389798&sspn=5.867551,9.832764&t=h&hq=Minnesota+State+Fairgrounds&radius=15000&safe=on&ie=UTF8&hnear=&ll=44.98183,-93.174748&spn=0.010898,0.019205&output=embed"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Minnesota+State+Fairgrounds+&hl=en&sll=41.938317,-93.389798&sspn=5.867551,9.832764&t=h&hq=Minnesota+State+Fairgrounds&radius=15000&safe=on&ie=UTF8&hnear=&ll=44.98183,-93.174748&spn=0.010898,0.019205&source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small>
 
The major roads are Como Ave on the south and Snelling Ave on the east. There really aren't roads to speak of on the other sides...houses and stuff.
 
The Minnesota State Fairgrounds is like city within a city. Pretty much that whole square plus more is the fairgrounds.

Snelling on the east, Como on the south, U of M St. Paul Campus on the west side, you can see the designation.

Some of the other streets, i.e. Dan Patch, Carnes, Judson, Underwood, as examples are all within the bounds of the fairgrounds.

With the size of the grounds, and the number of buildings within, it will be interesting to see how the rally is contained. Bear in mind during state fair time at the end of August through Labor Day, it's not uncommon to have 100,000+ visitors...daily.
 
Thanks Kurt and Brad.
Is the area that looks like a compost site the north boundry?
 
I haven't been to the fair in years, but from the satellite image, my guess is that Randall Ave, just north of the stadium is getting near the end of the fairgrounds. There's a nice green area north of that which might be used for camping. Also NW of the stadium are more buildings with names associated with Dairy Cattle Teaching and Research Facility, Commercial Student Organic Farm, etc., that are probably part of the bigger area of the fairgrounds when the fair isn't going on. I would think they would try and keep the rally into the SE corner at Como and Snelling and up to the stadium.
 
Thanks Kurt and Brad.
Is the area that looks like a compost site the north boundry?

It's not a perfect square. Hoyt Avenue would be the north border street. The area to the west of Hoyt and north of Randall I *think* is part of the University of Minnesota. It looks like there's some construction going on in the satellite picture.

Also, the " Dairy Cattle Teaching and Research Facility, Commercial Student Organic Farm" that Kurt mentioned are part of the University of Minnesota's St. Paul campus, aka "farm college". They're adjacent, but definitely not part of the fairgrounds.

Like I said, it's really like a small town. It should be an interesting rally. There are a lot of green areas for camping, including much of which is used for car parking during the fair. They also have a real campground with hookups that could be used for RV's.
 
Thanks again Kurt and Brad. We're only 300 miles away, so we'll go if work allows.
 
Maybe Aerostitch will actually be onsite for this rally, or better yet a ride to Duluth in the offing. Look forward to hearing more details.
Hmmmm......I could probably arrange a ride to there. Figure in roughly 2.5 hours, one way. I'm also considering a micro-brewery tour, which the Twin Cities has a fair amount of (which would also involve renting a bus). Looks like I have some work to do.
-K
 
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