The Motorcycle Muse has moved the blog to the following: motorcyclemuse.wordpress.com .
Thank you.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Mission Completed!
Day 10 - Lewisburg, WV to Washington DC
Day 10 has finally arrived.
Today we will roll in to Washington DC with hundreds of motorcycles. Once again, we have successfully completed our mission from LA to DC by riding for those who can't and bringing renewed focus to POW/MIA issues, as well as support our veterans and active duty personnel.
Saturday
Today, we gathered at the Lincoln Memorial for our group photo
and to pay our respects 
to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice and will never ride with us again. 
Sunday
Staging began very early this morning for the Rolling Thunder Parade.
Anywhere from 300,000 to 500,000 motorcycles annually participate in this event.
Day 10 has finally arrived.
Today we will roll in to Washington DC with hundreds of motorcycles. Once again, we have successfully completed our mission from LA to DC by riding for those who can't and bringing renewed focus to POW/MIA issues, as well as support our veterans and active duty personnel.Saturday
Today, we gathered at the Lincoln Memorial for our group photo
and to pay our respects 
to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice and will never ride with us again. 
Sunday
Staging began very early this morning for the Rolling Thunder Parade.
Anywhere from 300,000 to 500,000 motorcycles annually participate in this event.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Report # 3 - Days 8 & 9 -- Almost Heaven
Day 8 - Corydon, IN to Hurricane, WV
Thank the Lord! Once again, another beautiful weather day. We left Corydon, IN and stopped at the VA Hospital in Louisville.
It was good to see all the friends we've made over the years. However, we were saddened quite a bit because our special friend, Robley Rex (WWI Vet), had passed away about three weeks before we arrived. He was about 1 of 5 remaining vets from the war to end all wars. We visited some of the vets on the floors that weren't able to come outside and greet us. One of the HD dealerships had given us about 50 t-shirts to pass out to the vets, which we did as we visited the rooms.
From the VA hospital, we traveled to the Kentucky Vietnam Memorial.
We heard from two WWII vets,
one of which was a POW in Germany. He talked about his son who was shot down in Vietnam and the documented evidence that he's still alive today. He needs our support to help get his son home. 
Have everyone you know, write or email his/her Representative in Congress to sign on and support House Resolution 111 (H.RES.111 ). This bill will re-open the POW/MIA investigations in Southeast Asia and bring back the rest of our soldiers.
We then had our lunch stop in Mt. Sterling, KY. From there we traveled to Hurricane, WV for our overnight stop. We were greeted grandly by West Virginia with flags everywhere and people all along the parade route welcoming us home. Also, we had air support escort from a Vietnam era Huey helicopter.
By the way, you're never too old to go on Run For The Wall. The mother, "Mom", in this photo with her son traveled "all the way" with us from California. She's 89 years young!
Day 9 - Hurricane, WV to Rainelle, WV
After a delay to the start of our day due to the interstate being shut down, we headed to the West Virginia State Capital, Charleston. We had a group photo with the Governor of West Virginia, as well as a proclamation, and a presentation ceremony at the West Virginia War Memorial.
Several people commented about how impressed they were with the memorial. From Charleston, it was on to one of our most precious and treasured stops, Rainelle, WV.
Rainelle is special to RFTW because every single year the Run has always been welcomed home by the town of Rainelle and especially Rainelle Elementary.
As RFTW crosses the country, we collect funds for the students at Rainelle Elementary to be used on items that are outside the school budget that directly benefit the students. 
Over the years, the RFTW donation has helped the students with the purchasing of library books, playground equipment, additional computers, Weekly Reader, etc.
Thank the Lord! Once again, another beautiful weather day. We left Corydon, IN and stopped at the VA Hospital in Louisville.
It was good to see all the friends we've made over the years. However, we were saddened quite a bit because our special friend, Robley Rex (WWI Vet), had passed away about three weeks before we arrived. He was about 1 of 5 remaining vets from the war to end all wars. We visited some of the vets on the floors that weren't able to come outside and greet us. One of the HD dealerships had given us about 50 t-shirts to pass out to the vets, which we did as we visited the rooms.From the VA hospital, we traveled to the Kentucky Vietnam Memorial.
We heard from two WWII vets,
one of which was a POW in Germany. He talked about his son who was shot down in Vietnam and the documented evidence that he's still alive today. He needs our support to help get his son home. 
Have everyone you know, write or email his/her Representative in Congress to sign on and support House Resolution 111 (H.RES.111 ). This bill will re-open the POW/MIA investigations in Southeast Asia and bring back the rest of our soldiers.We then had our lunch stop in Mt. Sterling, KY. From there we traveled to Hurricane, WV for our overnight stop. We were greeted grandly by West Virginia with flags everywhere and people all along the parade route welcoming us home. Also, we had air support escort from a Vietnam era Huey helicopter.
By the way, you're never too old to go on Run For The Wall. The mother, "Mom", in this photo with her son traveled "all the way" with us from California. She's 89 years young!Day 9 - Hurricane, WV to Rainelle, WV
After a delay to the start of our day due to the interstate being shut down, we headed to the West Virginia State Capital, Charleston. We had a group photo with the Governor of West Virginia, as well as a proclamation, and a presentation ceremony at the West Virginia War Memorial.
Several people commented about how impressed they were with the memorial. From Charleston, it was on to one of our most precious and treasured stops, Rainelle, WV.Rainelle is special to RFTW because every single year the Run has always been welcomed home by the town of Rainelle and especially Rainelle Elementary.
As RFTW crosses the country, we collect funds for the students at Rainelle Elementary to be used on items that are outside the school budget that directly benefit the students. 
Over the years, the RFTW donation has helped the students with the purchasing of library books, playground equipment, additional computers, Weekly Reader, etc.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Report # 2 - Days 6 and 7
Day 6 - Junction City, KS to Wentzville, MO
Once again, we traveled in beautiful weather. We arrived in Concordia, MO for lunch and was greeted by a flyover and landing from and Apache helicopter.
The food was fabulous with roasted turckey, pork, beef, and baked ham. The entire town welcomed us there. 
It's always a big plus when the school children line the parade route. 
After lunch we went to our overnite stop at Wentzville, MO. Just about the entire town of Wentzville turned out and welcomed us to town and gave us a hearty dinner at the local VFW. It's amazing to see how Americans really are and not how the media tries to portray them. The State of Missouri along with the State of New Mexico gave us border to border police escort which made it much easier getting through the major cities. 
Day 7 - Wentzville, MO to Corydon, IN
Tuesday morning started out bright and clear and continued throughout the day. We had a wreath laying ceremony as we left Wentzville.
Our first stop of the day was at the VA hospital near St. Louis. We had ceremonies and visited many of the patients and thank them for their service to our country. 
We had a great lunch at Huck's Truck Stop in Mt. Vernon, IL. Huck's is one of the three original stops from the first Run with Jefferson Barracks (St. Louis VA Hospital) and Rainelle Elementary being two others. Then, on to Corydon, IN for a parade through town and a fish fry dinner. 
It was great to catch up with people we've gotten to know over the years and see how they're doing. Only three more days until we complete our mission.
Once again, we traveled in beautiful weather. We arrived in Concordia, MO for lunch and was greeted by a flyover and landing from and Apache helicopter.
The food was fabulous with roasted turckey, pork, beef, and baked ham. The entire town welcomed us there. 
It's always a big plus when the school children line the parade route. 
After lunch we went to our overnite stop at Wentzville, MO. Just about the entire town of Wentzville turned out and welcomed us to town and gave us a hearty dinner at the local VFW. It's amazing to see how Americans really are and not how the media tries to portray them. The State of Missouri along with the State of New Mexico gave us border to border police escort which made it much easier getting through the major cities. 
Day 7 - Wentzville, MO to Corydon, IN
Tuesday morning started out bright and clear and continued throughout the day. We had a wreath laying ceremony as we left Wentzville.
Our first stop of the day was at the VA hospital near St. Louis. We had ceremonies and visited many of the patients and thank them for their service to our country. 
We had a great lunch at Huck's Truck Stop in Mt. Vernon, IL. Huck's is one of the three original stops from the first Run with Jefferson Barracks (St. Louis VA Hospital) and Rainelle Elementary being two others. Then, on to Corydon, IN for a parade through town and a fish fry dinner. 
It was great to catch up with people we've gotten to know over the years and see how they're doing. Only three more days until we complete our mission.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Report #1 - Days 1,2,3,4 and 5 - RFTW 2009
Day 1
Run For The Wall 2009 started off, actually, with a very inspirational dinner on Tuesday evening. It was a time to talk to old friends, enjoy some food, and hear from some special guests, including Medal of Honor recipients. The number of participants are down a little this year due, from what I hear, to the economy. We have about 220 motorcycles on our route.
Wednesday morning was full of excitement, apprehension, and purpose as everyone gathered to start the Run. As usual, the desert passage was extremely hot. However, on the plus side, I didn't have to bury a bike in the desert. We stopped for lunch in Needles, CA before heading to our first overnight stop in Williams, AZ. Just about the whole town turned out as for our parade into town. The local American Legion put on a whopping meal for us and the mayor stood and shook hands with every single visitor.
Day 2
We left Williams, AZ and headed to Holbrook, AZ for a lunch stop at the American Legion there. This town is located on, as is Williams, on historic Route 66. Holbrook has a wigwam motel and theater that looks very similar to the ones in the movie, "Cars".
Again, many in the town turned out to welcome us and the theater even changed their movie title on their sign to a welcome for RFTW. From Holbrook, we traveled to Gallup, NM for an overnight stop. 
Gallup is always special as the Navajo provide us with a traditional welcome home ceremony in full regalia.
Day 3
We left Gallup, NM and headed north to Santa Fe, NM for lunch and then to our overnight stop at Angel Fire, NM and the first Vietnam Veterans Memorial in the country. Both yesterday and today have been unseasonably cool, but no rain thankfully. Angel Fire is a special place for Vietnam Veterans. It was started by a doctor who lost his son in Vietnam. He built a chapel on top of the mountain in this New Mexico town as a memorial to his son. Over the years, a visitor center and exhibition area has been added. After the doctor's passing, the foundation and the State of New Mexico worked out a public/private partnership that has turned the memorial into a state park and allow for it to have the necessary funding to continue. Here are some of the scenes from the Angel Fire Memorial.
Day 4
We left Angel Fire, NM heading down through a beautiful canyon ride. I really need to get one of those helmet cams! We traveled to La Junta, CO for our lunch stop. From there, we traveled to Burlington, CO for our overnight stop. Since we traveled the back roads except for the last 78 miles, we were able to parade through several towns. All of the towns had good turn-outs with everyone welcoming us and waving US and POW/MIA flags. What an awesome feeling! And, once again, Burlington, CO turned out the town as we paraded through and had the combined drum corps from their high school and middle school playing for us as we arrived. Once again, the day was unseasonably cool and very windy, but no rain.
Day 5
Today we traveled from Burlington, CO to Junction City, KS. Once again, we had unseasonably cool weather and, thankfully, no rain. We stopped for lunch in Oakely, KS and visited their new memorial.
Often times, as we travel the interstates, people will assemble on bridge overpasses to welcome us, show their patriotic support, and fly flags. Once we crossed into Kansas, almost every single overpass was lined with people welcoming us and flying flags all the way to Junction City. The town had thousands of people welcoming us and lined the last half mile of our parade route with people on each side of the street holding 3x5 American flags 
and then as we pulled in to stop at their memorial, they released hundreds of POW/MIA balloons into the air. 
It's great to see how much people still care about this country and what it stands for!
That's all for now folks. For those of you wanting more, I apologize, but I don't have as much time to do the blog this year due to having more involvement in serving Run For The Wall. Stay tuned for the next update.
Run For The Wall 2009 started off, actually, with a very inspirational dinner on Tuesday evening. It was a time to talk to old friends, enjoy some food, and hear from some special guests, including Medal of Honor recipients. The number of participants are down a little this year due, from what I hear, to the economy. We have about 220 motorcycles on our route.
Wednesday morning was full of excitement, apprehension, and purpose as everyone gathered to start the Run. As usual, the desert passage was extremely hot. However, on the plus side, I didn't have to bury a bike in the desert. We stopped for lunch in Needles, CA before heading to our first overnight stop in Williams, AZ. Just about the whole town turned out as for our parade into town. The local American Legion put on a whopping meal for us and the mayor stood and shook hands with every single visitor.
Day 2
We left Williams, AZ and headed to Holbrook, AZ for a lunch stop at the American Legion there. This town is located on, as is Williams, on historic Route 66. Holbrook has a wigwam motel and theater that looks very similar to the ones in the movie, "Cars".
Again, many in the town turned out to welcome us and the theater even changed their movie title on their sign to a welcome for RFTW. From Holbrook, we traveled to Gallup, NM for an overnight stop. 
Gallup is always special as the Navajo provide us with a traditional welcome home ceremony in full regalia.Day 3
We left Gallup, NM and headed north to Santa Fe, NM for lunch and then to our overnight stop at Angel Fire, NM and the first Vietnam Veterans Memorial in the country. Both yesterday and today have been unseasonably cool, but no rain thankfully. Angel Fire is a special place for Vietnam Veterans. It was started by a doctor who lost his son in Vietnam. He built a chapel on top of the mountain in this New Mexico town as a memorial to his son. Over the years, a visitor center and exhibition area has been added. After the doctor's passing, the foundation and the State of New Mexico worked out a public/private partnership that has turned the memorial into a state park and allow for it to have the necessary funding to continue. Here are some of the scenes from the Angel Fire Memorial.
Day 4
We left Angel Fire, NM heading down through a beautiful canyon ride. I really need to get one of those helmet cams! We traveled to La Junta, CO for our lunch stop. From there, we traveled to Burlington, CO for our overnight stop. Since we traveled the back roads except for the last 78 miles, we were able to parade through several towns. All of the towns had good turn-outs with everyone welcoming us and waving US and POW/MIA flags. What an awesome feeling! And, once again, Burlington, CO turned out the town as we paraded through and had the combined drum corps from their high school and middle school playing for us as we arrived. Once again, the day was unseasonably cool and very windy, but no rain.
Day 5
Today we traveled from Burlington, CO to Junction City, KS. Once again, we had unseasonably cool weather and, thankfully, no rain. We stopped for lunch in Oakely, KS and visited their new memorial.
Often times, as we travel the interstates, people will assemble on bridge overpasses to welcome us, show their patriotic support, and fly flags. Once we crossed into Kansas, almost every single overpass was lined with people welcoming us and flying flags all the way to Junction City. The town had thousands of people welcoming us and lined the last half mile of our parade route with people on each side of the street holding 3x5 American flags 
and then as we pulled in to stop at their memorial, they released hundreds of POW/MIA balloons into the air. 
It's great to see how much people still care about this country and what it stands for!That's all for now folks. For those of you wanting more, I apologize, but I don't have as much time to do the blog this year due to having more involvement in serving Run For The Wall. Stay tuned for the next update.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
It's That Time of the Year Again --- Run For The Wall !!!!
Is it already May again?! It's amazing how quickly time goes by. You realize more and more that time is often more precious than riches. That's why I take the time to participate in Run For The Wall (www.rftw.org). I do not know how much more time I will have to honor those who have served our country. More importantly, we do not know how much more time these veterans have for us to tell them "Thank You" and "Welcome Home" for serving our country so that we may enjoy the freedoms that we have today.
We (the particapants in RFTW) have once again arrived in California to go "All the Way" from LA to DC. Why do we do this?
Once again, our group (Bones' Brigade) had our trials traversing the country side to make it out to LA. We had a monsoon-like rain in Missouri. This was the northern part of a storm that produced tornados in the southern part of Missouri, Arkansas, and Kentucky. We rode through heavy fog, mist, sleet, and snow as we left Bones' Barracks in Fort Collins, CO and traveled through Denver going west across the Rocky Mountains. We got to smoke some tires on the interstate in Utah as the mule deer inevitably had to get to the other side. And, of course, 106 degree heat as we sweated through the desert. However, we did have two gorgeous views during our trip. We had a gorgeous view of the Rockies from a friends driveway as he hosted us at his home for lunch. The pictures below show the view looking towards Aspen, CO (that's my motorcycle in the middle of the picture) and the other bikes in front of our friends house. And, we had a gorgeous view (albeit fast so as not to be run over by southern California traffic) of the San Bernadino Mountains as we rode down into LA.
We begin our journey anew from LA to DC on Wednesday morning. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Stay tuned for future updates.
We (the particapants in RFTW) have once again arrived in California to go "All the Way" from LA to DC. Why do we do this?
- To promote healing among ALL veterans and their families and friends.
- To call for an accounting of all Prisoners of War and those Missing in Action (POW/MIA).
- To honor the memory of those Killed in Action (KIA) from all wars.
- To support our military personnel all over the world.
Once again, our group (Bones' Brigade) had our trials traversing the country side to make it out to LA. We had a monsoon-like rain in Missouri. This was the northern part of a storm that produced tornados in the southern part of Missouri, Arkansas, and Kentucky. We rode through heavy fog, mist, sleet, and snow as we left Bones' Barracks in Fort Collins, CO and traveled through Denver going west across the Rocky Mountains. We got to smoke some tires on the interstate in Utah as the mule deer inevitably had to get to the other side. And, of course, 106 degree heat as we sweated through the desert. However, we did have two gorgeous views during our trip. We had a gorgeous view of the Rockies from a friends driveway as he hosted us at his home for lunch. The pictures below show the view looking towards Aspen, CO (that's my motorcycle in the middle of the picture) and the other bikes in front of our friends house. And, we had a gorgeous view (albeit fast so as not to be run over by southern California traffic) of the San Bernadino Mountains as we rode down into LA.
We begin our journey anew from LA to DC on Wednesday morning. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Stay tuned for future updates.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
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!
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!
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