May 18, 2017 - Day 2 to DC --- Williams, AZ to Gallup, NM

BRRRRR!!!!  We woke up to 27 degrees.  Check out the ice on the seats!!

Jenny could not get her key in the ignition.  Larry had to heat it a few time and worked fine

 Flag even were frozen.  Like they had starch in them

Staging crew trying to get all the bikes in a main street in Winslow. Way to go  guys.

 One of the guys is pulling this trailer and has 2 black labs.   

 Every morning there is 50/50 ticket sold , raffle, auction to raise money for Rainelle

 Winky thanks the Mayor of Winslow for having us

 If you recall on the post on May 9.  There are 2 men we are carrying  flags to the wall. Kenneth A. Stonebreaker was from the AirForce.  Stacey Dobson ,FNG, Air Force,  will carry this cross country

Hugh M. Byrd, Jr  flag will be carried by Rosa Maria Delrosario.  She is Army.  Quick story about her.  We had dinner with her tonight.  She is 70.  She grew up and an Air Force brat.  As a child she was born in Philippines and moved to Guam. 2 quick funny stories.

1)  When she was going to school, people asked her how she was.  She would say I am "gay".  Kids stayed away from her and she cried. Apparently gay is the term she was used to.  It meant "happy" at home.  The teacher had to explain to the kids and thing got better after that.  

2) She decided to join the Army and trained in Alabama.  During one of the training exercise they had to crawl on her belly thru a tunnel with an M16 in her arms.  She was  the fastest ones to crawl thru it. She was also a Surfer so her legs were very strong.  But she had another reason.  She did not want the worms to get on her and no bugs in her face.  And there were plenty in the tunnels. 

Because she already had 2 brothers in Vietnam, they would not let her go.  Her brothers died later of "agent orange".  Very interesting lady and very active in her American Legion Chapter.  She is also a Vietnam Veteran

Harland, "Whiteburch", the ARC, was in a break out today.  This is where a platoon will go into a town and see a memorial.  They catch up the the first gas stop.  So Papa Smurf , the Mentor, moved to the ARC position, and Larry and I went to the mentor spot.  So we are now in the front of the pack, right behind the road guards.  Pretty neat .

Here is what is on the back: Papa Smurf... He takes if everywhere

Check out the mountains.  Hopefully you see them.  They were so beautiful

 Some pics of what we went thru

 Heading into Winslow, AZ.  The RFTW goes into towns, side by side with flags out.

 Great welcome from everyone on every corner.

 Love this little boy. He was waving as fast as his little hand could go.

 Teri and Eamon are part of the registration team.  They also run up in the 6-pack

 Here we go.  Check out the sea of helmets.

 The person on the right is one of the road guards.  The one on the right give them a thumbs up to move in front of the pack.  This is process as well as many others are done to keep us safe.

 Check out this bridge.  There are sooooo many people.  And I am sure it took time to set up.  THANKS  TO YOU.

 Now we head into Holbrock, AZ.    I think we passed every school... HERE IS OUR FUTURE.

 This says it all!!!  He had a huge grin on his face

 American Legion served us dinner.

 This was flying above.... Love it!!

Kids helped put all over

 Rosa stood with the line to get everyone to sign a book that was is for our MIAs going to the Wall

 This gentle man was 91 and from WWII.  He had tear in his eyes , EVERYONE thanked him

 High school band provided entertainment.  Same kids as last year .  They are getting better.

Ken as we are leaving

So remember the pic from yesterday of her sleeping, this is Sami and DC wide awake.

 We see a sign "Entering Navajo Nation".  WOW is was like a switch was turned on.    They were out in the middle no where. Check out these pics.

Sorry more pics of scenery.  They sky was so blue and just gorgeous!!!

In the state of New Mexico, we get a police escort all the way across.  The officers stay with us in to Saturday.  They have a waiting list for this detail.  They are AMAZING riders.  They out out in front of us and push trucks, semis , cars, ... to the side to let us pass.  I am told the only time they this is for the President of the US and RFTW.  I wish you could see these guys in action

 They are working on getting this semi pushed to the shoulder. Kind of hard to see. 

Heading into Gallup.  This city is awarded "The Most Patriotic Small Town in the US".

The pics do not come close to our welcome.  Larry took the mileage. 12 miles of people waving , flying flags, cheering.  Unbelievable.  Here is a sample.

 Look at the elderly lady on the right.  There were sooo many like her and waving, jumping smiling. All native Americans and proud to be part of all of this!!!

 This is one of my favorite ones.

Turning into the park .

This may be hard to see but this is  the bikes behind me.

 Our Fuel Team

 LOVE IT...

 Been preparing for our arrival since noon

 We all joined in behind him.. lots of chanting and drums.

 Gomez is from New Mexico. He was so excited for the day.

 Ron with one of the chiefs.  There were 4-5 tribes represented here.

They played God Bless America and Amazing Grace.  The word really hit home.  Think about it.  This was one of those tear moments.  I was not the only one.

The wind at this time was pretty strong the flags in the circle were waving. Had trouble getting pics as they kept getting in the way.   As Amazing Grace was ending, the wind totally stopped.... not a flag was moving.  There was s calm for about 15 seconds.  It was a good feeling

 Winky handed out several plaques

This is Gunnery Sargent  P.J. James.  He represents the Code Talker during WWII.

The name code talkers is strongly associated with bilingual Navajo speakers specially recruited during World War II by the Marines to serve in their standard communications units in the Pacific Theater. The enemy could not break the code.

Well the day was going really good. Finished dinner up early and thought I was going to get more than 4 hours sleep.  Well i guess the bike had a mind of its own.  Yes this is our brand new Harley with just over 5000 miles.  UGH.  It will be going to Albuquerque for repairs in the morning.  Ron has graciously let me ride with him tomorrow.  Hopefully it will be fixed and Larry will meet us in Angle Fire. FYI it looks to be the clutch.

FYI, he forgot about his back with all this going on.  Very disappointed.  Will give update in the morning.  Told he we look at the positive. It did not break down in the middle of the road, no one was hurt and still early in the trip.  

Total miles = 224 miles

Temps = 27-50

Route = I40E