Day 9 of the Run - May 21

Well today started out a little rainy.  Everyone geared up.

 Including this guy, Check out his goggles  

 Jenny came to wave good bye, under a tent of course.  She drives the Kia van that carries all the plaques, raffle items, popcorn..... etc.  She is the person behind the route and assistant route coordinators.  She does not have a easy job, so I guess ok to stay dry.  :-)

 We did get a few out to cheers us on, umbrellas in hand

 Today we go to Charleston, capital of WV.

During a few of the speechs, they talked about West "by God" Virginia.  Did they change their name?

                                     

Now we head to Rainelle. All week there have been  raising money for the kids of Ranielle.  There are 50-50 raffles ( all the money went back to the fund),  There were challenges (mentioned it in earlier blog). There were "damn it " dolls:  1 for $5 or 2 for $10.  What a bargain Boiler Maker!! We had engraved knives and quilts that were in the drawings.  I am not sure what the final total was but it was over $10,000.  AMAZING!!!!

As we were walking the hall looking at the picture the kids had done, we  talked to a lady that is currently on the board of directors.  When the first riders came thru,she was a kindergartner teacher.  The principle at the time said let's take the kids out to meet them.  When she looked out her window, she saw guys in black leather, riding motorcycles and they are all strangers.  For one thing, they were trying to teach the kids to not talk got strangers.  She said ok.  The rest is history as they have not missed a year since.

The higher we got in elevation, you could see the clouds were just hung there.

 Very nice road.  

Fairfield Harley: this was a great road.  We all talked about how fun it would be if it was not raining.

Then we got the fog!!!!

 Ok so even though it was a rainy, dreary day, I still managed a few scenery pics.

We arrive in Rainelle.  What a reception from the kids.

 We brought little trinkets for them.  It was like Holloween.  They all had bag to keep them in.  Each kid had a little booklet they made in school of plain paper..    They ask for our autographs. It was so much fun.

 The lady in the picture was a small child when the first RFTW came thru.  This is her son and he is now the second generation for this wonderful event.

This lady has not missed a single year.  She loves it.

This little girl had Aaron wrapped around her little finger!!!

This sign has the kids hand prints on them with their names.

As we walk down the halls, the walls are full of posters like this.  It is pictures from all the years of the RFTW participants and the kids.

As the day was coming to a close, Leroy talked to the kids.  He showed them his medal.  He also told them, you to not have to be wounded to be a hero.  Showing kindness and helping others make you a hero. He is such great speaker and every speech comes from the heart.

The kids all had shirts the same.  I love the saying on the back.

WE ARE THE FUTURE

They are our future. Lets keep this legacy running.