Among the many incredible sights and fun interactive experiences Kathy Fields has enjoyed over the course of about 10 Marathon Coach Club rallies, she says one thing that stands out as the most remarkable is that “They just keep getting better and better.”
So it was that the club’s most recent gathering, April 12-18 in Paso Robles, Calif., became her newest most favorite rally since the New York resident and her husband, Mark, started attending them shortly after the Covid shutdown had ended.
“I didn’t believe the balloon rally in Albuquerque (held last October) could be beaten, but Lydia and the whole rally planning team did it again,” says Kathy, referring to Marathon Coach Club’s administrator and event coordinator Lydia Admire. “This was the best we’ve been to. It more than met our expectations.”
That is music to the ears of Lydia, the primary planner of the club’s two rallies each year, and the dedicated team members, mostly volunteer, who help her make them a success. For the club’s most recent adventure, the owners of 35 Marathon Coaches converged on the rally headquarters of Sun Outdoors Rest Park in Paso Robles on the central coast of California, about 30 miles north of San Luis Obispo. Among the 70-plus attendees were seven couples experiencing their first Marathon rally.
“We love having newcomers join us,” Lydia says. “Our first event in Paso Robles was to welcome them with a First-Timer social hour where we did some icebreaking activities and played some games before having a Mexican-themed dinner and party.”
From there, it was off to the races with a week packed with planned group activities as well as free days when club members could pursue their own activities. Here are some of the highlights of the Marathon Coach Club’s Spring 2026 Rally in Paso Robles:
After getting a chance to reconnect with Club member friends and get to know the first-time rally goers over dinner, everyone got to experience the unique Sensorio Light Garden. Over 15-acres of beautiful rolling hills, thousands of fiber-optic-stemmed spheres create a spectacular light garden of ever-changing colors.
“It was gorgeous,” Lydia says. “Everyone who went said it was pretty unbelievable.”
On their first full day of activities, rally goers were treated to a tour of historic Hearst Castle, then a stop to view giant elephant seals sunning themselves on their way to Fiscalini Ranch Preserve, a scenic natural preserve stretching inland from the California coast.
“That was incredible,” Lydia says. “They had miles of hiking trails that people could walk on and enjoy a lot of different scenery, from the ocean to grassy inland areas. People really loved it.”
In addition to enjoying lunch at Calesta Winery and tasting their delicious varietals, the group on Tuesday got an education on truffles, including being shown where and how they are found. That evening after dinner, attendees had the chance to take part in a “sound bath,” a form of alternative therapy that involves listening to and feeling the vibrations produced by instruments such as sound bowls and chimes. Rally goers could choose to enjoy the relaxing, immersive experience on air mattresses in the pool or on dry land around it.
On Wednesday, club members participated in another hands-on education experience, this time focusing on making stained-glass art. From there, they headed off to LXV Winery where they enjoyed an intimate wine and spice pairing highlighting the sensory interplay between food and wine.
After lunch and stops at a few other wineries, they enjoyed dinner at the iconic Modonna Inn.
The busy first three days of the Paso Robles rally gave way to a quieter-paced Thursday and Friday that still featured group opportunities but also gave rally goers the freedom to go their own way.
“The food was fantastic all week, and I didn’t have a bad taste of wine all week,” Lydia says with a laugh.
While Lydia is now in full swing planning the Marathon Coach Club’s next rally, scheduled for this fall in Tennessee, club members like Kathy Fields will be enjoying a lifetime of memories of the Paso Robles rally.
“I love the Marathon Club rallies,” says Kathy, the incoming club board president. “The camaraderie is so great, but it’s not just that. I love them for the unique experiences they offer that you never would have done, or possibly even have thought of, on your own, like the Sensorio Light Garden and the Sound Bath. Those are just memories you are going to have for the rest of your life.”
For more information about Marathon Coach Club rallies or club membership, visit the Marathon Coach Club page contact Lydia Admire at [email protected] or by phone at 800-234-9991.
