May 22, 2016 - Day 5 to DC --- Goodland, KS to Junction City, KS

Well today started where yesterday ended.  WINDY!!!  Walked out of the hotel this morning, and the bike was still upright.  We were not sure with how hard the wind was blowing. Check out the flags.

There was a Service for all since it was Sunday. Then we had the daily start of the Morning Riders Meeting: pledge and prayer.  We also found out there are 2 active duty guys that just came in from Korea to do  the Run. Pretty cool !!

 Nice to be in leadership, we get to be up front so here we go.

 I never get tired of  this.

 Thumbs up for a good ride.

 Largest Van Gogh replica.  Pretty big.

 Windy and cloudy all morning

 Not sure if you can tell, but that bike is leaning right.  Wind was bad. Papa Smurf mentioned in the meeting that the right tread will be wore more than the left after the days of  riding side way..  No big deal for those that will be heading back to the west coast. you will even them out on the way back.

 Still they show up.

 Nice museum in Oakley.  (Ed I thought you would like this one). 

This is where we had lunch.  Best pulled port we have on the Run (this is just my opinion).

 Memorial for our veterans.

Back on the road and check out these pics of all the people.  These over passes had nothing around just open fields.  They still came out. Love the support to the Run.

 This is in the median of the expressway before getting into Junction City.  WHAT A SITE!!

 This is a truck stop.  Had to have been some organization here. 

The sign says "THANK YOU VETERANS"

Hit a gas station in Bunker Hill,KS. I remember this one from last year.  Unbelievable amount of flags and the number of people.  

 Check out the flag, still WINDY!

 This is Mama O.  Remember , she is the raffle ticket lady.  We were next to her at the gas pump. She was also saying how beat up she felt because of the wind.

 This is Kay, AKA 9-Mile,  She is one of the female road guard.  Great rider. They not only have to keep us safe on the road but  help direct the pack every where we go.

Always amazed at how this work.

 Here Shana, she is the "leadership" staging person. Makes sure we are in the right spot and lined up.

 Here is how the chaos gets organized.  Here are all the staging guys waiting for the rider.

 This was kind of fun.  Looks just like Abe Lincoln with a gray beard.  Jenny and I got pics.

 All rookie road guards get their bikes trashed,  this was Brian's turn. Pretty funny.

This is John. He is from Australia.  He does house exchanges around the world.  The house where he is staying is a friend of his.  He started talking about the Run.  John was interested so he got the bike from the person he is staying with. It is a Sportster.  Poor John is 72 and this bike is not exactly comfortable.  All you that ride know this would be pretty tough to go on a day run much less cross the US twice!!  He did invest in a padded seat.

These were on there. along with the animal on the back as a companion.

Glad you joined us John

Some of our veterans saw us off.  It is about all this guy can do to hold onto this flag.

Here is john and his little buddy

Lots of waving wheat!!!! And I do mean waving..!!!!

This is nuts.... KANSAS I think you win.  This was the scene for miles.

I just barely caught this one.  Out in the middle of a field with flag displayed and waving like crazy.

 Now we head into Junction City.  Walrus heads us off the ramp with those lovely gloves.

 Never get tired of this.  This is Ken. Many of the road guards have served.  Great sign of respect.

UNBELIEVABLE!!!

 They are playing the song "American Soldier" as we wait on the program to start.  Boilermaker is not ready to punch me ( I do not think) but he and Larry were singing the song.  Well at least they knew the words.

 Big crowd. 

 Presenting of the colors.

 The Pledge of Allegience 

 The senator of Kansas addresses the crowd.

Medal of Honor Recipient: Don "Doc" Ballard then talks.  He talk that we do not want the same thing happen to the young kids today that happened to those in Vietnam.  We need to support our guys. We need to teach patriotism.

The next gentleman to talk was in the black shirt, Joshua Kegley.  He talked about the alarming number of  men and women that commit suicide every day that have been in the armed service = 22

I pulled this from their web site:  22KILL.com

Mission: 22KILL is a global movement bridging the gap between veterans and civilians to build a community of support.  22KILL works to raise awareness to the suicide epidemic that is plaguing our country, and educate the public on mental health issues such as PTS.

In 2012, the VA released a Suicide Data Report that an average of 22 veterans are “KILLED By Suicide” (KBS) everyday.  The name “22KILL” is meant to grab people’s attention, because our primary mission begins with raising awareness to the issue. Suicide prevention is a very difficult task to undertake, especially when the general public is unaware of the issue in the first place. In order to prevent or “fix” a problem, one must first learn and understand the problem itself and its causes. By educating ourselves, we’ll be able to identify the triggers that can lead someone to thoughts of suicide, and confront those issues as they come, rather than letting them accumulate into something much worse.
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One of the ways they raise awareness is to do 22 push ups per person.  FYI: 22 is a caliber of a gun.   They are trying to reach 22 Million push ups to raise awareness. He does this by asking people to just do 22 to remember these men and women. About that time, one of our RFTW veterans, gave him 22!!!! The crowd loved it.  Joshua then said for everyone to give 22, any way possible.  Check this out.

 Ceremony comes to and end.

 Packed like sardines.  We are getting pretty good at getting a lot of bikes in a small space.

Funny thing happened.  The guy leading to the dinner went the wrong way. Now what do you think you do with 300 bikes in a small town.  The road guards came to the rescue for all different directions. And we got on track. BUT Ken some how ended up on a sidewalk and then had to back up to get down.  Sorry Ken, this looked pretty funny. He also had another guard follow him. Truthfully they were needing to find a way to help the pack. True dedication to the RUN !!!!!

 Hopefully you recognize the guy on the right.  It is Papa Smurf.  But did you know that the one on the left is Kay, his daughter. I had her earlier in this report.  They make a great team.

How far are we going ?   ALL THE WAY !!!

We rode a grueling 290 mikes today. I think 289  were in the wind

The day started about 65 and warmed up a bit.