Day 10 - Lewisburg, WV to Washington, DC

Our final day! It's been an exhilarating trip across the country! All the support we've received and patriotism we've witnessed restores your faith in America! We head into our final destination, Washington DC.

After a somber and respectful tribute ride through Arlington National Cemetery and a wreath laying ceremony, we went to the Lincoln Memorial for our group photo and then to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall to complete our mission. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. As always, we ride for those who can't!

Day 9 - Hurricane, WV to Rainelle, WV

We left Hurricane, West Virginia and traveled to the state capital, Charleston. We were well received by a large crowd and had a brief service at the West Virginia War Memorial that honors West Virginians in lost their lives serving their country in World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.

We then went to Rainelle Elementary School in Rainelle, West Virginia. Rainelle is one of the big highlights of our trip. It's at Rainelle, on the very first Run For The Wall, that the whole town and school turned out to welcome us home. In keeping with that tradition, we stop there every year. Also, we raise money as we go across the country for the school children at Rainelle. This year, it has been my honor and privilege to be the Rainelle Coordinator and take the lead in raising funds for Rainelle School.

This year we raised $20,048!!!

Day 8 - Corydon, IN to Hurricane, WV

We left Corydon for the VA hospital in Louisville, Kentucky with an Army Apache helicopter escort. What a rewarding experience to be able to, once again, thank our veterans who have paid a great price in the on-going efforts to secure our freedom. And, once again, at the Louisville VA, we had the opportunity to visit with one of the few living World War I veterans.

From the Louisville VA, we traveled to Frankfurt, Kentucky to visit the Kentucky Vietnam Memorial. This memorial is very unique in that it is a sun dial whose shadow falls on each name on the day and time that they passed away.
This year, we had the additional good fortune of meeting with the designer.

From Frankfurt, we crossed into Almost Heaven and a roaring reception in Hurricane, West Virginia.

Day 7 - Wentzville, MO to Corydon, IN

Before we left Wentzville, we paraded through town again. I think most of the town and all of the elementary students turned out to wave flags and greet us! The parade ended at the town's Vietnam Memorial, which was the first one in the nation. We participated in a wreath laying ceremony. The local high school band played the national anthem and the local fire department honor guard performed the wreath laying. We then posed for a group photo.

We left Wentzville and stopped in St. Louis at the VA hospital and visited with patients and had another ceremony.

From there, we traveled to Huck's Truck Stop in Mt. Vernon, IL for gas and lunch. The Run has stopped there every year of its 20 year existence because a local lady has supported Run For The Wall there every year since the very first year.

Now, it was on to Corydon, Indiana. Again, we paraded through town to the local fairgrounds for dinner and ceremonies. Once again, I believe most of the town turned out for the parade. The food was delicious as we were treated to homemade cole slaw and a fish fry. Also, we had ceremonies recognizing the contributions of local supporters. The local Boy Scout troop provided free bike washing. The rituals never seem to end. But, then again, rituals can be a good thing.

Today's essential question: What are some of the positive outcomes from participating in rituals?

Day 6 - Junction City, KS to Wentzville, MO

Once again, we left early in the morning and headed to Wentzville, MO. We stopped for gas and lunch at a truck stop near Kansas City along the way. A local church provided us a meal of roast turkey, whole hog ham, grilled pork chops, and beef brisket. Yum, yum!

We received a tremendous reception in Wentzville as we paraded through the entire town on the way to reception ceremonies and dinner at the local VFW.

Dinner consisted of roast beef, gravy, homemade mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, rolls, and desserts. Then, it was off to the hotel to turn in early as everyone was pretty tired.

Today's essential question: I'm too tired to think of one!

Day 5 - Burlington, CO to Junction City, KS

We began this Sunday morning with an outdoor church service before our morning meeting. We left Burlington, Colorado and rode to Oakley, Kansas for out lunch stop. They had been grilling all morning for our arrival. We also got to briefly visit a museum with items from the area that was located next door (as in look at everything quickly as you're walking through on the way to the restroom). They opened especially for our visit. Oakley is quintessential, small town America with its picturesque homes and lawns. I would have taken some pictures, but we barely had time to eat lunch before we had to get back on the road.

We traveled from Oakley to Junction City, Kansas for our overnight stop. The town lined the road to our dinner location with over 100 people holding 3x5 US flags! It was impressive to see that riding into the stop. Several presentations were made and they served us an excellent spaghetti dinner.



Basically, we did a lot of riding today. Tomorrow will be a lot of riding as well as we continue to roll east.

Today's essential question: How would you plan for the arrival of a big group of people in your home town?

Day 4 Angel Fire/Eagle Nest, NM to Burlington, CO

Early in the morning on Day 4, the Village of Eagle Nest, New Mexico provided, quite possibly, the best breakfast burritos I've ever had. On my way to Eagle Nest, I did have to stop in the road and wait for the elk and antelope to finish crossing. We left New Mexico and headed into Colorado. We were going to Burlington, Colorado via our lunch stop at La Junta, Colorado. Yes, this is our group filling up a good portion of a Wal-Mart parking lot at the lunch stop. We finally arrived in Burlington, Colorado after our third longest day on the road.

We paraded through eight towns this day. This doesn't mean we rode through eight towns. When we parade through, the entire pack goes into parade formation with the front two motorcycles flying huge US and POW/MIA flags and traveling at parade speed.

Upon our arrival in Burlington, Colorado, the local senior high and junior high drum corp greeted us along with most of the town. These students were really good. At our request, they continued to play for about 30 minutes after our arrival. Our arrivals usually take about 10-15 minutes by the time all the bikes enter and park. We then had dinner and entertainment provided by a local country band.

Today's essential question: What are the ingredients that make a band good?

Day 3 - Gallup, NM to Angel Fire, NM

We left Gallup, New Mexico for Angel Fire, New Mexico. Along the way we had another flyover by a Huey helicopter and rode in some beautiful scenery.

We had lunch and a presentation at Espanola, New Mexico. We were greeted by students who had made welcome signs for us.

We were traveling to a special place for many veterans, especially those from Vietnam. Angel Fire is the site of the Vietnam Veterans National Memorial. It was built by Dr. Victor Westphall as a memorial to his son who was killed in action in Vietnam. As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. I'll let the pictures do the talking.




For more information, check out http://www.angelfirememorial.com/history/index.html.

After our visit to the memorial, we were hosted at a dinner by the Village of Angel Fire, which is basically a ski village town in the mountains of New Mexico at about 8,500 feet in elevation.

Today's essential question: Why do people erect memorials and why are they important?

Day 2 - Williams, AZ to Gallup, NM

The day broke crisp and clear. We had our morning meeting which consisted of announcements, the Pledge of Allegiance, a spontaneous rendition of the national anthem, and prayer. We headed for our first stop of the day, Holbrook, Arizona. When we arrived, we had a parade through town and stopped at the American Legion Post for lunch.

The American Legion also set up a missing man table.



From Holbrook, we traveled to our evening ceremony and dinner location: Gallup, New Mexico. As soon as we reached the New Mexico border, we had New Mexico State Police escort. They accompany RFTW the entire time we are in New Mexico. It really aids in our travel. Once we arrived in Gallup, we had a parade through town to the main park.
We were treated to a special native American program that included religious dancers, gourd dancers, and ceremonial drummers. I'm not sure of the names of all the nations involved, but I do know it included the Navajo and Zuni.




One sixth grade student was walking around and passing out letters to veterans that read:

Dear Veteran,

Thank you for your service to our country and for your personal sacrifice to keep our country safe. I hope you have an enjoyable journey to Washington, D.C. I will pray each night for your safety.

God Bless You.

Tomorrow it's on to the Vietnam Veterans National Memorial in Angel Fire, New Mexico.

Today's essential question: What is the significance of the missing man table and the meaning of each of the items? What are some other types of symbolic presentations that you know?