Good evening Midway Route followers. I cannot believe another day of riding is finished, yet closer to our mission goal.
Friday started off at Tripp’s Harley Davidson with the Amarillo H.O.G. Chapter serving breakfast to all of the Midway family. Also being a Friday, our family represented the ‘RED shirt Friday’ very well symbolizing ‘Remember Everyone Deployed’. The morning meeting started off great with the ‘Military Challenge’ to see what branch could out perform the others in charitable donations. Between the Navy, Army, Marines, Air Force, and Patriot branches, so far the Navy is ahead.
Our family also grew by four new riders this morning, even as we were only expecting two.
Everyone is coming together strong in every way imaginable, on the road skills, at refueling stops, and even helping each other everyday with places to stay. Yesterday during a fuel stop, everyone (250+ motorcycles and trikes) were able to get fueled up and off to staging in 11 minutes 30 seconds.
This morning the 16 spouses of Vietnam Veterans, known by many as ‘The Silent Ranks’ were honored with the toughest job in military family, raising the kids, waiting for letters, and not knowing if the next knock at the door would bring a fearful word of their loved ones becoming one of the many either killed in action or even missing in action.
The Veteran Hero bio read was of Eric ‘Doc’ Warren who was killed in action in Iraq by an IED while responding to someone in need of help.
Shortly thereafter everyone took to the road as the sun rose up from the horizon and a cool breeze blowing gently with the riders, a welcomed change from the previous days of strong winds against the pack.
Shamrock, TX was the first fuel stop and rest stop in the heart of the small town. The local police and townsfolk had us parked in the middle of downtown in the middle of the street.
After a short rest we were on our way through Oklahoma countryside towards Weatherford. Another fuel stop and off to the Stafford Air and Space Museum where the staff and folks from Weatherford had lunch and ice cream waiting for us. Having been two years since stopping there last, the hospitality and generosity of these folks were overwhelming. Besides, they brought in an Ice Cream truck for everyone. How cool is that? 
A huge shoutout to the Weatherford Police, Sheriff, and Fire departments as well as Tony Franks Museum, Legacy Bank, Cornell Masonic Lodge as well as Oklahoma Highway Patrol for making this great stop happen. And none of this could have occurred if it were for one of our own, Mark ‘MAZZ’ Masman, the Oklahoma State representative as well as Larry Williams in his watermelon shirt, that were able to get all of this stop possible in only three months’ time.
As we said goodbye to our new friends at the museum and got back on the road, this time heading towards our final stop of the day in Shawnee, OK through some of the prettiest rolling hills of grass and wheat that looked to be dancing in the gentle wind. But before we could get to our destination, we had no choice but to ride through Oklahoma City traffic….. on Friday afternoon….. during afternoon rush hour.
We were welcomed with open arms and personnel standing with flags and salutes as we rode by into the Shawnee VFW Post 1317 parking lot. There they had ready a meal of pulled pork, fried chicken, and smoked bologna, a sight and smell of home cooking for everyone as we were spent from riding in the sun filled skies.
As we look back over these past four days, we have seen folks come together with new family members as well as old, build up strength and bonds, and work through everything that has been thrown our way thus far.
So I close tonight with a curiosity of what’s to come tomorrow. Only time will tell, and with our Midway family, we’ll meet everything head on and work through it, together.
Written by Stitch. Photos by Kim Butler
Due to circumstances beyond our control, Midway Route Photos from previous runs are no longer available. 