May 3 and 4, 2026 - Day 1 to Ontario

May 3 and 4, 2026 – Day 1 to Ontario

Welcome back to all those that have followed me before.  And "Welcome" to all the newcomers.  I am Jean and I will be submitting an entry every day on our journey from Loveland, OH to Ontario, California.  I am riding west with my husband, Larry, and my brother, Ron.  Then riding from Ontario to Washington DC with the RFTW family.

 May 13-22, 2026

 We ride for those who can’t.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------

This will be our 10th year.  The ride is called “Run For The Wall”.  (RFTW.us)
The ride will start in Ontario May 13 and end May 22 in Washington DC.  
Please go to the web site for more details.  My blog will attempt to capture each day the events of this mission once the Run starts.

Mission Statement of RFTW : To promote healing among ALL veterans and their families and friends,

to call for an accounting of all Prisoners of War and those Missing in

Action (POW/MIA), to honor the memory of those Killed in Action (KIA)

from all wars, and to support our military personnel all over the world.

 

Philosophy:

We strive to maintain a safe, supportive, and private atmosphere in

which all participants can reflect and heal on their journey to the Vietnam

Memorial in Washington, DC in the hope that they can return

home to a new beginning.

 

Goals:

1) To guide the participants across America. 

2) To educate future generations as to the importance of accountability

in wartime actions emphasizing that no one should be left behind.

 
I am sure many of you have family member that serve.

We have a brother, brother-in-law, and uncle that served in
Vietnam. Our fathers served in WWII and in Korea. Also, a few
cousins are active today.  

 

Not all of those that served were on the front line or even in the country

where the war/conflict happened.  This does not minimize the fact that

they have given their time from their lives and families to serve to keep us safe. 

 

Any time you see a service man or woman, police or fireman, please

take a few minutes to go over to them and thank them for their service. 

It only takes a few seconds.  Let them know you appreciate what they are doing. 

This trip will end at the Vietnam Memorial Wall but the support we need to give to everyone that serves should never end.  Keep us, and all the riders we will be riding with, in your prayers for a safe ride and nice weather (we ride in rain, wind, and hail 😊 )

=================================================================

So let's get started:

We started on Sunday May 3 to get a few hours in. The day was sunny and 60.

We had a few on hand to wish us safe travels.

Even the little ones want to get into the act of taking pictures. Hahaha 

As we head out, about the only thing picture worthy was all the bridges in Louisville.

As we got about 1/2 thru Indiana, and we all thought we were in Kansas. The wind was crazy and we got pushed a lot. 3 tired people for the day that felt like we had wipe lash.  

Destination: Mt. Vernon, IL        
Temps: 60-65
Route: I71, I64
Miles: 313

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++=

May 4, 2026 – Day 1a to Ontario

Nice start of the day at 62 degrees. Pretty cool pic with the clouds.

We tried to stay off the highways as much as possible.

We ended up on some pretty nice riding roads.

At times however, the GPS had a mind of its own. Ron ended up winning

on this by resetting some of the options.

This road with no lines was a bit bouncy for awhile.

One of the ones the GPS sent us on.

Cross into Missouri on an interesting structured bridge.

As soon as we crossed the bridge, Larry and Ron kept talking about "The Dexter Inn".

This is where they stay for hunting.  They say you need a tetanus shot to stay here.  HAHA

We stopped for lunch at River House BBQ. We try to ask the locals of places to see.

The waitress directed us to Big Spring in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways where

that water is blue.

The water is "boiling" or "bubbling" up from underground.

Hope you can read this. Very interesting .

This is another fun fact.

We decide to stop in Branson MO for the night. Again, had some great back roads.

This was across the street from our hotel.

I cannot imagine the architects that created this.

(If you cannot tell, it is upside down)

Went to a show... Family run and many of them performing or back stage.

We just looked at the weather for tomorrow. UGH... looks like rain.

Destination: Branson, MO      
Temps: 62-78
Route: I-57, lots of back road, SR160, MO21 (to blue stream), SR60, SR99, SR160
Miles: 445

Flag of the Day:

August 22, 2025- Hannibal MO to Loveland OH

August 22, 2025- Hannibal MO to Loveland OH        

After a long last day, we finally got home to Loveland OH.  Crossing the Mississippi River within the first 5 minutes of our ride today. Pretty nice sun rise.

But not too far down the road, lots of fog....slow down boys.

Finally, blue skies as we cross the Illinois River.

We still have corn and soybean fields but not as many.  

So..... only thing left is to look at the cool formation of all the clouds over the next 4 hours.

Blue skies trying to get thru.

Last water for the trip..... our pond in the front yard.

Destination: Loveland, OH

Temps: 63-80

Miles: 436

Route: I-72, I-55, I-74, I-275

This has been an absolutely fabulous trip.  

Here are some of the stats.

Number of States = 15

Number of days = 19

Number of National Parks = 8

Temperature Range = 42-102

Elevation = 0 - 11,200

Total Miles = 7900

We had many route changes and lots of people along the way making suggestions.

I want to thank all the RFTW family member that welcomed us and guided us to the best possible roads and local areas to visit along out way.

Thanks to Ron and Larry for a beautiful, unforgettable trip.  

Goal Accomplished:  We now have ridden in all 50 states!!!

August 21, 2025 Lincoln NE to Hannibal MO

August 21, 2025 Lincoln NE to Hannibal MO

Today started out on the slow side. Last night, Ron noticed our back tire was a little bald. There happened to be an Indian dealer in Lincoln, so we went first thing in the morning.   Can you see the name....Guess, this is John Elway Powersports.  Yes, THE John Elway.  The employee said he stopped in there a few years back.  Pretty interesting.  They said John was a pretty down-to-earth guy.

The service guys were awesome.  They got us right in and by 11:15 we were back on the road.

Kind of hard to see but it is not good.

LOTS for corn and soybean fields!!!  Boring but beautiful blue sky today and nice temp, 80-84.

Crossing the Missouri River.

You guessed it.  MORE corn and soybean....

Check out the clouds.

The bikes are looking a bit buggy.

Most of the view for the day.

Looks like someone missed the runway.

This was at one of our gas stops.

WOW!!  check out this purple truck...

"Trunk Monkey Custom".  Love the monkey on the bumper.

We stopped in Hannibal, MO for the night.

Fun Fact: Tom Sawyer is from the fictional town of St. Petersburg, Missouri, which is based on Hannibal, Missouri, where Mark Twain, the author, grew up.

H

We walked along the Mississippi River.

Interesting... a cruise ship on the Mississippi.

Sun was behind me so we could not see sunset, but it created a nice color on the river.

And the clouds a pretty color.

Here, there were 2 sets of railroad tracks. Ron was between when they went thru at the same time going the opposite directions.  See the red shirt on the right, that is him.

Ron laid a quarter, dime and a penny on the track.  Even though we looked for it (with the help of a stranger who lives in Columbus, OH), no luck finding the penny and dime, but did find the quarter.

Look at the left of the middle one.  It is the silhouette of the dime or penny. The middle one was the one the train ran over, and the one on the right is an original quarter.

A great day even though it was started a little late. We followed St Rt 36 today instead of I-70.  I kept us from going thru St. Louis and Kansas City.  We went thru beautiful farmlands.

Destination: Hannibal, MO

Temps: 72-84

Miles: 367

Route: I-80, St Rt 77, 2, I-29, St Rt 36