Breakfast at the Ag Center, clean clothes waiting for us, & cool, misty weather—-it couldn’t get any better! In the briefing, we heard “Puff Daddy,” one of our chaplains that has been with us for quite a few years, speak on why he rides. His story really hit home to me, as he is also one of us civilians who work the run.
For the ride out, some of us suited up for possible rain later this morning, as we were checking the weather & radar apps on the phones. Sure enough—-halfway through our 92 mile trek, we hit light rain. The good thing is – that it stopped before we got to the fuel stop, so at least we weren’t sitting in it while fueling up. And guess what? Two local women who work or worked at the Mercedes Benz facility came out again and paid for our fuel! These two generous ladies have done this for a number of years. “Backseat” stood with them and explained a lot about how RFTW functions and of the different logistics involved. These ladies are truly one of the hidden treasures of the run.
Off to T Town HD dealership for lunch, also in Tuscaloosa, but on the way, we did a “drive-through” at Tuscaloosa VAMC, so that at least some of the veterans could come outside and see us and wave. We used to stop here for lunch, and would get to visit with the veterans, but alas, another change because of Covid. Back to lunch—the rain had subsided, which made the outdoor meal quite pleasant. And man, the Mexican food we had really hit the spot! And NATURALLY, the HD showroom was packed with shoppers and lookers!
On to Chattanooga – where the roads were drying out, and the sun had come back out, but yuck—-the traffic on I-24 and in Chattanooga! We finally made it into White Lightning HD dealership for another great meal. Since there were no activities scheduled for the evening, all had the chance to just sit, chat & head to the hotels. Another night of catching up on some sleep!
