Southern Route 2020 “VIRTUAL Sitrep Day 10
Day 10, May 22, 2020 — Lynchburg, VA, to Arlington, VA, 256 miles
A short day, today. Yay. We’re supposed to get in about 2 pm and get information about going into Arlington National Cemetery tomorrow. RFTW is the only group that is allowed to ride motorcycles into the cemetery.
At our meeting this am they called everyone up that dropped a bike. Just to clarify, I didn’t drop it just by myself. A guy ran into the back of me so it ended up on the ground. It turns out that about half the room went up to get a Purple Heart decal due to dropped bikes. I was in great company. 😊
For the FNGs that started in Ontario, they got the zip ties that will go on their bikes tomorrow before heading to the cemetery. The color is kept secret so people can’t go get some when they’re not supposed to.
PB&J is a favorite. Our last lunch as a group today was just that. It tasted great. And I’m still liking the long lines for the men’s room.
We had a harrowing journey getting into Arlington. Traffic. Traffic. Traffic. And the host hotel was downtown. I think. It wasn’t good. It only got worse after we left the host hotel to get to ours. Fourteen miles of a lot of stop-and-go traffic. People here don’t seem to be very courteous. And they don’t have cars here with turn signals.
It’s been quite the 10-day run. We’ve had a good time but it’s a grueling, exhausting, tense and mentally-draining run. But I believe we’ve helped raise the awareness of the mission through what we’ve done thereby accomplishing what we set out to do.
The folks I’ve met on RFTW all have a common bond, much like other groups I’m involved with, but this one is different. It can’t be explained, but these people are family helping each other to heal from the past. I’m proud to have come and proud to have been a part of it.
It’s been great for so many reasons and I’m ready to do it all over again. Is it May yet?
“Only our individual faith in freedom can keep us free.” President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Peppermint Patti
