RUN FOR THE WALL Jean and Larry: May 23, 2016 - Day 6 to DC --- Junction City, KS to Wentzville, MO

Today breakfast was from the local town. So far to date we have not had to pay for any meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner. Not sure if I mentioned this fact. The towns, VFW, American Legions, Fraternal Order of Eagles...... they all come together and fix food and serve us. They have some of the kids involved and they really seem to like it. All the people on the Run have fun and appreciate what they have done. I will probably gain 10 pounds.

During the morning meeting, we got a little rain. Many suited it, I was one of them. Worst thing is getting rained on then freezing. Here a a few pics. People were ready for us at 8AM this morning. I asked a few of the road guards "how long does it normally take for the full pack to get past you on an entrance ramp". They commented about 4-5 minutes. So think about it again. They on there and it takes more time to put up the flag and coordinate, for a 5 minute pass thru. I LOVE IT !!! So do the riders.

Rain predicted but the sun was trying to come thru.

Check this out. It was about 8:15 this morning. No rain yet.

This says it all.

This is a toll booth. Imagine 300 motorcycles going thru. We did not have to pay but had to go single file.

Pretty neat. This was on all the signs going thru Topeka KS.

This is just a gas stop. Check out this flag , it was huge.

Sorry this was a little blurry but you needed see this one. Look at the ladder trucks.

Second toll. This was interesting in that every cone had a flag on it.

Now we are in Missouri. Still a threat of rain.

Fire trucks sitting on the bridges. Oh MY!! Think of what that is doing on the street above.

From 1-100 people on these bridges. It still amazes me the support and the flags.

Jenny, Larry and I break from the pack for a deposit of the money gathered for Rainelle, donations, etc. First Jenny had to do a little home work before we left Cincy to see what cities have bank branches of the ones she uses for RFTW. Kansas City was one of them. So we took off thru the city. So when do you think the rain hit, while we were heading thru down town. So much fun while on a motorcycle.

We came off the exit for the next stop, and there were only 2 biked, us. This felt very weird. Since we ended up being a head of the pack and hit the gas station first, Jenny got all kinds of attention.

This little guy loved the bikes. Jenny let him sit on hers.

Then of course , he wanted to sit on the next one in line, Larry's.

Lunch is in Concordia MO. These guys put on a great spread. Shreaded chicken and pork.

Here is Shana the staging person for leadership. This is her 3rd year. She jumps up and down so we can see her. She always has a smile and gets us lined up perfect. Thanks Shana.

Here they come led by Papa Smurf. Look at the line of bikes to the left.

A little logistics: Asst. Route Coordinator is the guy that will be the Route Coordinator next year.
The Mentor is the Route coordinator from last year. He mentors the Asst. this year to prepare him for next year. They are the lead of the 6-pack.

This says: Home of the Free, because of the Brave.

Beautiful day for a picnic with some of your motorcycle friends.

The MC for the day said that their normal singer was not able to make it because lost her voice. So once again the full group sang out , and we did not sound too bad.

Here are some of the police officers from several counties and the highway patrol that are blocking the highway all the way thru Missouri. It was sooo nice not to have to worry about semis next to you.

This is "Blue". He is a Vietnam vet. Had his bad times of drinking and drugs and being beat up about going to Vietnam. He stated that this Run has very much helped him heal. The other vets support each other and those that have not servers are also there in support. He is a great guy and has his life turned around. Little rough on the edges but neat to talk to.

These were from the local kids on the pillars of the picnic area.

We head out. Nice!!!

Look real close middle top, this is the start to the express with a full police escort.

This is Skip as we cross the Missouri River. He is he platoon Coordinator. He assigns new people that are joining to make sure the platoons stay pretty even in numbers.

Remember Willie from earlier in the blog. Turns out he had several limp nodes remove. All cancer free. He said he will be back next year. He and his wife drove about 45 minutes to see RFTW go thru.