Thanks to all those prayers warriors out there. Keep it up. We had a beautiful day!!!
All lined up and ready to go. Wow that is a lot of bikes
This is Jim Sloan, aka Sweeper, and Jenny Ward, aka Lady Jen. Jim drives the truck after the last platoon. As the pack gets on the highway, we travel only 35 MPH. This allows everyone to get on the road and get together before going at highway speed. Jim lets Eamon know when all the bikes are on the expressway.
Here is Lance in action. He is our raffle rouser. We also auction items. The money raised is for the kids of Rainelle. This is a school in West Virginia. RFTW has been helping the kids for many years. More on the school as the days go on.
This is Everett and his wife. He drives the truck for leadership support. For each stop, RFTW presents the town with a plaque to thank them for their support. That is a lot of towns. This is just one of the items. Since we have limited space , this vehicle is very much needed. The other couple is the Raffle Rouser from last year. They could not make the full trip this year but they did want to ride a few days. Thanks Jimmy and Judy for coming to visit your RFTW family.
There is a lady from Kentucky, Loretta. She is putting these bags together with a POW/MIA flag and a book for each one of the service men that are KIA or MIA from the Louisville area. The book has pages for people to sign as we cross the country. Once we reach DC, we will get the book and flag back to the family. We have done this in the past and the family are very appreciative that their loved ones are not forgotten. Roger Rash, in the middle,is the FNG that will be doing this. Thanks Roger.
The mayor is in the cowboy hat. We sponsored our breakfast this morning and has done this for many years. Did I mention that from the time we leave Ontario until we get to DC, breakfast, lunch and dinners are provide to us by the communities of the cities we visit. Unbelievable!!!
Wow … this is like the three musketeers or maybe the three stooges. Dan, aka Boilermaker, Dadbo and Larry. Having a little fun before we hit the road today. Dan is our quartermaster. He makes sure we have all the arm bands, hats , pins…..before we leave Ontario. The hats and bands distinguish the role. Example : road guards are red.
Heading in to Winslow AZ it was very flat and very windy. We had to run in a staggered formation. most of the way. (normally most of the platoons ride side by side).
These 2 bikes are the lead bikes into the towns. They carry 3 flags: America, POW/MIA, and the state flag. This one is for AZ. We will have one for every state we travel thru. Something else that goes in the leadership support truck.
The gas stop in Winslow was paid for by the American Legion and VFW from Tempi AZ.
Robin is another one of our road guard. This is her rookie year as a guard, but not her first year on the run. She was on staging the last few years.
Bud has everyone smiling. Some times the legs can be pretty long and tough because of wind , rain, cold…. He keeps us smiling.
Jenny give one of the chaplin’s wives a ride as we head into Holbrook. (sorry forgot her name)
Holbrook must have every kid out of school this day. Their side walks are just full of kids!!
The American Legion served us lunch. Oh my was it good. Another homemade meal. I am gong to gain 10 pounds on this trip.
Gomez was walking around with a shovel. Kind of strange when you are on a motorcycle. He said it was one of the shovels that was used to break ground at the Vietnam wall in DC. Pretty amazing what you see on this trip.
The local Navajos preformed for us. What a treat. Check out the colors!!! so beautiful
I think this little one got a little stage fright. Wouldn’t you if you were about 5 and saw all these bikes? She did actually make it up there with a few of her friends.
Wind was really strong so riding staggered again. If you look real close there is a dust devil. Like a little tornado. We saw them a lot today.
Here comes the LEOs!! (LEO – law enforcement officers) In New Mexico, the law enforcement will escort us 370 miles from border to border. We will not have another car riding on the highway where we are. This is so nice.
As we arrive we here them chatting and playing drums.
They have been since noon. This is for our safety in our travels.
Most of the RFTW riders joined in. What an amazing ceremony.
What an amazing nation!
Sargent P.J. James. He represents the Code Talker during WWII.
with bilingual Navajo speakers specially recruited during World War II by the
Marines to serve in their standard communications units in the Pacific Theater.
The enemy could not break the code.
We are served us an amazing dinner. Ok now I am up to gaining 15 pounds.
Temps: 60-77
Route: I-40E
Miles: 224
Quote of the Day:
Home of the free, because
of the brave