May 24 - Leaving DC

Sunday is when RFTW meets up with Rolling Thunder.  There is a parade thru Washington.  We had the option to ride in the parade but we did not.  Here are some of the parking lots with the bikes staged. This is unbelievable the number of bikes.

Crowds like this are all over town.

There are lots of cops all around.

Ken and Jenny are heading home as well.

But not until one last stop at Arlington.  There is someone that the Wards and Brian know that was killed.  One thing that is done to let the family know someone was there is to leave something on the tombstone.  

We also stop by James Holt's grave.  If you remember this is the person that was found in Vietnam and returned to US after 47 years.  We stopped by his grave before we left.

 All new grave sites.

THANK YOU TO THOSE THAT HAVE GIVEN ALL!!!!

Cannot go with out showing some last scenic pictures!!!!

We took Jamie back to Lewisburg and had a great meal.

Thanks to Brian for riding the extra miles to allow Jamie to experience the Run!!

 What a beautiful way to end a wonderful experience.!!!!

Washington DC - Mission Acconmplished

As I write my last blog it is bitter sweet.  I have loved sharing our experiences and sites as we went cross country, twice.  Hope you have enjoyed it.

Today was another early day as we had to stage our bike for Arlington National Cemetery in the garage at 7:00 AM.  Only FNGs are allowed , and they only give out 400. Even though, we had to line them up at 7:00 we did not leave until 8:45.  Being they were in a garage, once they all started it was pretty loud.

 Last directions of the trip.

 We have a police escort on this highway.  No cars to exit for Arlington.

As you enter Arlington, there are 624 acres of gravesites.  For the Memorial Day holiday, there were more than 228,000 flags placed by each grave marker.

Run for the Wall rolls in

These will be the gentleman for the wreath ceremony

 Changing of the guard.

 Wreath from Run For The Wall.

At this time Taps was played.

We then head to the Lincoln Memorial for RFTW picture

 There are bikes everywhere.!!!!!!

 Next we proceed to the Vietnam Memorial Wall. This is amazing if you have not seen it.  The person we carried was James Badley.  He is just shy of his 24th birthday. He was lost in N. Vietnam when his plane crashed.

 I also have a cousin that is MIA.  Crashed at sea in N. Vietnam: Leaonard, Fredrick Vogt

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Glenn: you kept us safe all the way.  For you brother.

 We have made it and we therefore have our FNG pins places upside down.  This is a symbol that healing can now start.  Dan turns my niece, Jamie's pin.

Here are a few fun facts about our trip
 - Temperature ranged 34-94
 - We traveled in 15 states + Washington DC
 - From CA to DC – 2998 miles.  Loveland to DC – 5409

We did not pay for meals on our mission. Every town we stayed in welcomed us, fed us, and prayed for our safety.  The support, encouragement, respect that the Americans have for the mission is incredible.  There is an unbelievable amount of time hanging banners, kids making bracelet, making pocket patches, hanging flags on the over passes, closing down streets, organizing volunteer for meal, ....... and the list goes on.

100s , 1000s of hours given by so many to make this happen: route coordinator, state coordinators, missing man coordinator, staging team, fuel team, hydration team, road guards, medical personel…..and the riders themselves.  The logistics to get that many people across the country, coordinated with all the towns for escorts, gas stops, parking, .... involve so many people.

We have endured all kinds of weather: rain, snow, hail, fog, cold, and dodged a tornado but these were short lived.  Our service men and women had these conditions for hours and probably sometimes days in a fox hole.  Our trip was nothing like theirs.

Seven of us crossed the country west ( Brian, Dave, Bill, Tim, Aaron, Larry and Jean) to get to CA. We came back across with a new family of 300+

We continually asked each other : what time is it? what time zone are we in? what day is it?  But there is one thing we knew the answer to: what was your mission?

Many of the common phrase you heard every day:

                                                           - Freedom is not free

                                                           - All gave some, some gave all.

                                                           - We ride because they can’t

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!!

 , 

I want to thank Ken and Jenny Ward for getting us involved in this worthwhile mission.  

I especially want to thank my husband for such an incredible journey.  

One more set of prayer please, and that is to get everyone home safely from DC, and continue to pray for all service men and women, past and present.