May 18, 2024 – Day 4 to DC – Eagle Nest, NM to Limon, CO

May 18, 2024 – Day 4 to DC – Eagle Nest, NM to Limon, CO

YEAH!!!! I believe I have gotten caught up with posting to the RFTW.us site. May 16,17 and 18. I still post every day to mamag03.blogspot.com if you chose to continue to read from there.

My hats off to those saying all those prayers.  Beautiful and a bit cold, 41 degrees.  This is good for Eagle Nest.  Normally it is in the 20s or 30s.  After a great breakfast we head outside for mandatory a meeting.

Nick asked Boots to come up and give the blessing in Hebrew.  Very nice… he did say it in English first. Thanks Boots.  FYI he is one of the road guards.

Bio for the day will be carried by Darwin.  Thanks!!

Morning meeting is finished and so is the platoon meeting.  Gear up!!  OMG where is my helmet? Crap!!!  I left it in the room…. really?  Yep.  5-minute whistle goes off.  We are about in the middle of the pack staging and I am running back to my room.  John, our stagger, yells “you better hurry”.  Got it and am running back.  Thanks John.

Eagle Nest Lake

As we get to the bottom, you can see where the fire that came thru in 2022, and there is a lot of new growth.  Amazing how fast it seems to be recovering.

Heading to Raton, you can see a little of the formation of the platoons.

Look at this pic… soooo beautiful.   Wow I use the word a lot.  How about spectacular.

We saw a lot of this today.

We still have the NM escort.  This is what they do.  Stop traffic on the highway.

I still cannot get over this.

Here is Walrus at our exit.  What in the world…..?  You never know what he will have on.

He says he does this to get the riders attention.  Sometimes they are so zoned, they need a jolt to focus.

Heading into Raton… what a reception.   This is a quick fuel stop…. with donuts, coffee and fruit.

This is TopHat.  He has become my buddy.  Last year I left my vest on the back of the bike.  Needless to say, it fell off on the entrance ramp.  He rescued it.  I think that one cost me $5 too.  He is a road guard and a Vietnam Vet.  Thanks TopHat for your service and all you do for the Run.

This little cutie is just one of the many kids at this stop.  They are all excited and love coming to talk to us. What kind of history lesson is this.  One of the best!!

Ok let’s good…..now it is John’s turn to be running.  I think he was looking for a lost platoon

Love the face!!!

Back on the road. We love the NM escort as we head into Colorado

Lunch and a little rest.

Heather comment “he naps and I dink coffee.”

Back on the road and the weather is not looking too good.  At first, I thought we would miss it.  First it was on our right , then the left, then the right….. but we got caught in it anyway.  Temp dropped at least 15 degrees. We rode in it for over an hour before dinner.  Never fun.

People still came out to respect the run……I wonder how long they stood there.  Thanks!!

I received some pics from Michelle on the staging team.

Here in Limon the people still came out.  YEAH!!!  nice after a long hard ride.

Great dinner and it was warm inside.  Thanks to all.

After dinner Chaplain Howard has a little service.  He started with a poem from Kelly Strong.

FREEDOM IS NOT FREE

I watched the flag pass by one day.

It fluttered in the breeze

a young Marine saluted it, and then

He stood at ease.

 

I looked at him in uniform

So young, so tall, so Proud

with hair cut square and eyes alert

He’d stand out in any crowd

 

I thought, how many men like him

Had fallen through the years?

How many died on foreign soil?

How many mothers’ tears?

 

How many pilots’ planes shot down?

How many foxholes were soldiers’ graves?

No, Freedom is not free.

 

I heard the sound of taps one night,

When everything was still.

I listened to the bugler play

And felt a sudden chill.

 

I wondered just how many times

That taps had meant “Amen”

When a flag had draped a coffin

of a brother or a friend.

 

I thought of all the children,

Of the mothers and the wives,

Of the fathers, sons and husbands

With interrupted lives.

 

I thought about a graveyard 

at the bottom of the sea

Of unmarked graves in Arlington

No, Freedom is not free!!!

OK, where are the tissues…..  Thanks chaplain.

We then stood and tried to sing the refrain of “God Bless the USA”.

Not a dry eye in the place.

And I’m proud to be an American
Where at least I know I’m free
And I won’t forget the men who died
Who gave that right to me
And I’d gladly stand up
Next to you and defend her still today
‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land
God bless the USA

One last note.  As we left, this little girl came up and handed me a flower. She had a device in her throat to help her talk.  Her mother said she could sign about 100 words, before they put the device in.  

This little girl is on her way for a military career of some kind.  She had already mastered “adapt and overcome”….

 

Temps: 37-73

Route: I-25N, Hwy 24

Miles: 301 

Quote for the day:

 Some made the ultimate sacrifice.