We got up at 6:00, which ended up being too late.  By the time we got down to the bikes, there were only a couple of us left.  It had just started to sprinkle.  I packed it all up and realized that my leather pants were packed, so I had to unpack stuff.  We rode to get fuel first and then to Trophy’s for breakfast.  There was almost nothing left.  The last one up to the table in a big family usually is left out.  The riders meeting went like normal except there were a few new faces.  Monkey Butt (Dennis) and his wife Tripod (Sharon) just joined us there too.

We rode about 2 minutes to the Des Moines VAMC to visit some more vets.  They were mostly out patients that we found in a whole lot of waiting rooms.  Our next stop was up in Marshalltown to the Iowa State Veterans Home.  The skies cleared for us and a lot of patients were brought out in their wheelchairs.  Cy was one of them.  Jenny’s “boyfriend” is 101 years young.  I spoke with him for a while and he said he remembered my bike & me from last year.  He started to cry as he said, “I sure wish that I was younger so I could go with you”.  What a touching moment.  I reminded him about all of the things he got to do in his life way before a lot of us were even born.  I don’t think it helped much.  I did an impromptu interview with a TV news guy while his cameraman was filming my bike.  I was told afterward that that was his interview that he was looking for someone to do!  A guy named Terry presented me with a handmade glass bead string with a leather loop and a small peace pipe on it.  He placed it on my GPS unit and I tied it down so it would stay.  Terry is quite the artist as he has a whole display of his goods inside the home.  Some of us walked over to the Korean and Vietnam memorials.  They looked very cool.  Lunch was served of burgers, beans, chips, & good chocolate cake.  We were there more than an hour and a half. 

The next leg was a back road to I-80.  We hit 80 again and after 40 miles or so, Joni pulled off the highway.  I followed her to see what was up.  She said she was feeling kind of weird, body tingling and sending weird signals to her.  She figured it was her MS affecting her.  I told her the next fuel stop was only a few miles farther, and asked if she could make it.  She said ok and then told me “The gauge is at zero” referring to the tachometer.  Her new bike has an electronic throttle and has been acting very strange, idling quite high anytime it wants to.  She again said it shows zero.  I told her she had to start the bike!!   Well that told me that it was not a good thing at that point in time.  Even though we both laughed quite a bit. 

We got back on the road to do the last few miles.  A new red bagger was coming upon us and I saw the rider waving at Joni.  As he got close to me, I saw it was Tom & Vicky from Des Moines.  I met them both two years ago and we hit it off right away.  We also saw them last year and Tom rode with us a ways as well.  He followed us to the gas stop and we talked for a while.  I was expecting to see both of them, as well as Wild Bill & Lucy at Trophy’s as in the past.  Neither one was there.  Tom said he forgot about it.  He was blown away that he saw Joni & I on the highway.  They were on their way to Tennessee.  If Joni hadn’t have stopped early, we would have missed them all together!  What timing. 

While I was filling Joni’s bike, she had to have Cynthia help her walk.  Her legs were giving out rather rapidly (the MS disease).  Einar was riding on the back of another bike as the one he was riding was being repaired (tire).  I asked him to ride Joni’s bike and we lifted Joni up on Svein’s bike.  Our next stop was at the Iowa State VAMC for another visit.  We had to lift Joni off Svein’s bike and into a wheel chair that Cynthia got for her.  Sis took her into the restroom for a very comical event.

Einar’s bike was fixed, so we put Joni’s bike in the trailer next.  After putting her back on Svein’s bike, Randy, Sis, Larry, Einar and I went right to the motel in Davenport, Iowa so Joni could lie down and rest.  About a half hour later and we hear a knock on the door.  It was Gary & Nancy from Illinois.  We met them last year and really hit it off good together.  They stayed in our room and visited for quite a while.  Sis & Randy came in too as did Drew & Cliff and Larry and Svein and Einar.  We decided to order pizza while Larry went for beer & pop.  Since Joni could not walk, we hosted a “dinner party” in our room.  A lot of stories and laughter made for a very enjoyable evening.  It lifted Joni’s spirits quite a bit.  We figure that we will leave her bike in the trailer tomorrow, and she will ride with Svein until her legs start working again.  As we take this challenging ride across country, we realize that the “one day at a time” motto is one to live by!  Time to sleep and see what tomorrow has in store for us.  Goodnight for now…