Quell's Maiden Voyage: AmeriVespa At Last!

Are you familiar with the classic Chuck Berry tune, "Promised Land"?

Swing low sweet chariot, come down easy
Taxi to the terminal zone;
Cut your engines, cool your wings,
And let me make it to the telephone.

Los Angeles give me Norfolk Virginia,
Tidewater four ten O nine
Tell the folks back home this is the promised land callin'
And the poor boy's on the line.

Well folks, the particulars are all wrong, but the feeling was the same... and I couldn't get that song outta my head for the first ten minutes I was on site at AmeriVespa.
Gorgeous, magnificient scooters were everywhich way a fella turned his head. It was like scooterist heaven.


I was kinda in a daze, when I pulled in. I asked someone under an awning where one would go to register, and was told not only that info, but also that I should enter Quell in the Concours d' Elegance. Of course, I'd been debating whether or not to do this, since I'd rushed the detailing on Quell, just trying to get on the road. The rails on the floorboard were in desperate need of attention, as was the fendercrest, the wax job I'd done was defintely sub-par (I'd never waxed a vehicle before), he was still leaking oil, and in muscling him in and out of a pickup truck the day before a bolt had broken on the rear-rack, and another on the top-case had lost a nut.
However, I was giddy about having got there under my own steam (so-to-speak), and this friendly recommendation certainly increased my confidence.

At the convention hall, I registered, received my rally pack, and got the details on entering the Concours. I puttered Quell over to the Concours area, and filled out the entry sheet. In my newbie confusion, I think I even filled it out wrong and entered the wrong category. I know I didn't see "Custom Modern Manual" as category on the form.

I heard announcements for various group rides starting, but at this point I just wanted to soak in the scene, and let Quell get stared at, as well as checking out the other scoots myself.

Coming up next, further observations from Saturday at AmeriVespa, pictures of the Concours d' Elegance, and more.