May 15, 2024 - Day 1 To DC - Ontario, CA to Williams, AZ
Reminder From RFTW.US web site:
In yesterday's post, Larry, my husband, talked about his brother, Glenn.
Recap if you missed it:
He starts out by telling everyone about his brother, Glenn. He was a Vietnam vet and was severely wounded. He had a traumatic brain injury that left him paralyzed on his left side. They told him he would possibly not speak again and not walk. He spent 1 year at Walter Reed Hospital. Glenn had told them "They carried me in, but I am going to walk out". And guess what, he did. He also got a bachelor's and master's degree, along with many other certificates in his life, as well as being a Deacon of his church. He received a purple heart and bronze star. He walked until he was 79, and passed away at 81.
I found a picture of Larry and his brother before we went on the Run in 2015. We went to see him before we left, and he told us about what happened when he was in Vietnam. He never told anyone before. He was very proud to have served this country. We were very proud of him.
His motto that he lived by:
I am what I am
I do what I can
And if I cannot
By the grace of God I will.
THIS IS WHY WE RIDE
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On with the day's events. What a great day even with a little bit of rain. The road guards and staging teams are out at o-dark thirty. The people in Ontario are fixing eggs and sausage, and they have a supply of donuts. And of course, coffee.
The staging team has to get there early to mark the parking lots, so everyone is lined up in their platoons. Here are 2 of the stagers. They say they love their jobs and always have a smile on their face.
Pledge of Allegiance is said and a prayer.
The gentlemen in this pic are both prior RCs.
Aimen, on the left, is from the Australian army, and both are Vietnam vets.
John Staub, the president, introduces the board. He acknowledges our blue and gold start families, those active military, our vets, and of course our FNGs.
We break out into platoons for one last review. Here Lance is going over hand signals. This is so important for lane changes, slowdowns, objects in the road and many more. Not everyone has a CB and even if you did, sometimes they do not work.
Everyone is ready to rock and roll.
Bernadette is excited to get moving to DC.
Heading out of Ontario. Our mission has started.
Oh My Gosh.... they have shut down the highway for us. This is awesome.
Normally we leave and the hills are beautiful, but today was a very foggy day but no rain.
Then the blue skies appeared.
The skies cleared up and we head to our first gas stop in Barstow. Ok folks let's see how we do. Road guards in place, fuel team directing bikes to the pump, all lined up....
Looking around, I see Gomez. You just never know when or where he will show up.
Some pics of our awesome country. Get used to it because I love showing them.
Did you ever sit at a railroad crossing and wonder how long these trains are? Weird, but I have. Out here you can see a full train, 50-80 cars. The technology, the mass transit, and everything behind it reflect on how our veterans have allowed us the freedom to accomplish anything.
I look around and see lots of families on the Run. Here is Judy with her kids, William and Heather. How cool is this. Yeah, the younger generation.
Kirk Olson is the ARC and his dad Harlan, who was an RC about 5 years ago.
This is a great way to keep the Run going!!!
Please remember to always take a minute to thank them, not matter where you are.
Next stop we are greeted with all these flags. This is just a gas stop!
Amazing the support for are veterans that they are showing.
Staging team is all set up, but look at the sign above them....DQ and ice cream. You can eat it any time right, even if it is 9;00 in the morning, right? Hahaha. One of the road guards got an extra cone, and guess who got one....I love it.
They have a cool wave. Normally it is 105 in the shade. Today it is only 93.
Lots of people waving flags.
...... the allergies kicked in... anyone have a tissue.
On the last leg of the day, Nick had lots of problems with his GMRS headset. He could not transmit, could not hear and he said his head hurt. Well, I guess so, he had his wife's helmet on. I am sure he will not live this one down.
Looking really good. All working together as a team, the America way.
Cross the Colorado River and into Needles.
Star Spangle is sung and then...
They played Echoing Taps, and this gets me every time.
It was beautiful and not a person moved during it.
Needles always has the kids do something like this every year.
Needles always has the kids do something like this every year.
This year, "What being an American means to me"
...I have freedom. I can go to school, do sports. I am also safe because the US has a military". SO TRUE.
....means a lot because my grandpa was in the army. He fought for this country, but he died in 202-"
Coming into the last gas stop of the day. Again, look at the people coming out in the middle of the day to support us. We need to keep the Run going. This is patriotism.
Kids are so honest. Very refreshing to see how proud they are.
Yeah we finally start seeing people on the bridges....
Only the third gas stop, and no issues so we flew thru this one. Way to go teams.
Then the closer we got to Williams, the rains came. Not really hard but temps went from 80-60. Hope everyone was wearing rain suits, I know I was.
Rain or shine, the town of Williams is already waiting for us.
This is the new American Legion Post Commander. She was there greeting everyone as thy moved thru the line. They were all so excited to be able to support us.
The food was excellent, and the desert were amazing, and all homemade.
There were several gold star family members. These women get together once a month and support our veterans several ways.
I had the fortune of sitting next to Patty. She had a son killed in Afghanistan. He was an EOD Bomb Specialist. He had disarmed a bomb, removed his protective gear only to have it booby trapped. He jumped on it in order to save all those around him. Her other son and grandson have both become EOD Bomb Specialists. Thanks Patty for sharing this with me.
I had the fortune of sitting next to Patty. She had a son killed in Afghanistan. He was an EOD Bomb Specialist. He had disarmed a bomb, removed his protective gear only to have it booby trapped. He jumped on it in order to save all those around him. Her other son and grandson have both become EOD Bomb Specialists. Thanks Patty for sharing this with me.
Here is Nick, his wife and Kirk.
It was one of our longest days, and everyone looked pretty exhausted. Get some sleep and we start again tomorrow.
You prayer warriors are doing great. That little bit of rain was not bad, but for the next one, let's ask that the temps do not drop so much. Thanks for all the support.
Destination: Williams AZ
Temps: 53-95(in the desert), 50
Route: I-15E , I-40E
Miles: 402
Quote for the day:
Freedom is not free
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