Ride Journal

May 20, Day 8, Michigan City, Iniana to Brookville, Ohio

The stay at the Bed & Breakfast was very good. I did laundry there last night as we all sat around and talked. After dark I went inside and did computer work until about 11:00.

Up at 6:00 and almost everyone else was gone. Buzz was still having coffee with Jan when I was loading up the bike. Jan was an awsome hostess! Thank you very much, Jan!

We went to the DAV for breakfast and I saw a lot more familier faces that were going on the ride with us. Some people came just for the day and some all the way to DC. A lot of people spoke to us before our riders meeting. We were introduced to the family of a soldier, who the ride is dedicated to this year, who was killed in Viet Nam. The four family members came from Tennessee to be with us. It was an emotional time for all. Terry came up to me and asked if I would like to spend the night at his house. I told him that would be great.

We got on the road with another police escort with around 120 bikes. We took all county roads for quite a while. There were people standing on both sides of the streets waving American flags, standing in front of businesses and showing us their support. What an awesome town Michigan City, Indiana is! We went by one school where every kid there was standing out front waving American flags for us. A short while later we aproached another school and this time we turned into the school parking strip to say hi to the kids. We shut off the bikes and talked to them for about 10 minutes and a lot of them were glad to see us all pull in. Or it was because they got out of class for a while!

We got on the road again and headed to the Indiana State Veterans Home. When we pulled in there was a very festive reception awaiting us. We had also heard that a bike had gone off the road and the drop off to the shoulder was about 6-8 inches. When the guy tried to bring the bike back on the road, they both hit the pavement. They both went to the hospital for some stitches and were going to be spending the night for observation. I don't know who they were but they were day riders.

The first person who came up to me was the guy who gave me one of his dog tags three years ago. He was very happy to see that it was still there! Bonnie is a volunteer who drives 75 miles one way just to help with the veterans. I asked her about Ruth, who I have seen the last three years and visited with and we have had our pictures taken together. She took me into one building and up to the 3rd floor. Ruth was sitting in a wheel chair with her head cocked sideways. Bonnie told me that Ruth probably wouldn't recognize me due to the Altizmiemers advancement. It turned out that it wasn't the Ruth that I was looking for, so I bent down to talk to her anyway. She tried to talk and say something that was not clear. I told her that I rode out from Oregon to thank the people who have served our country. She tried to say something else but still no luck trying to figure out what it was. I told her "thank you" and as I got up to leave, a very plain and clear "THANK YOU" came out of her mouth. I noticed the surprised looks on a couple of the nurses who were right there at their station. They both said in amazement that she hasn't said a word to anyone in a long, long time, and I got her to say something. A very powerfull emotional feeling came over me that reinforced the fact that we can and are making a difference with our mission! Bonnie took me to see another Ruth, still not the right one, so I talked to her for a while too. She was able to talk and listen a lot more than the last Ruth. Well, at that point in time we apparently ran out of Ruth's to see. I never did know what her last name was.

Back to the bikes to find Silvertops son, Marshall, giving a ride to a Veteran in a scooter. Marshall made a side car for his Harley and a ramp to wheel up patients so they could go for a ride around the parking lot! My hat is off to Marshall for doing what he does to also give the Veterans something more to smile about! I talked to John McDonald for a while. He is 93 years old and said he flew around the world 5 times. He used to be a navigator on the B24's during WWII. He said that he would love to go for a ride, so I got him set up as Marshall's 2nd rider. The huge smile on his face spoke volumes. Marshall continued to give rides to many Veterans who could not have dreamed that was even possible with them being in wheelchairs.

Our lunch was very fulfilling, topping it off with with pleanty of pudding and drinks to go around. It was a very full group of Veterans that were out for our pleasure to be around. Bernadette did a great job of getting everything together and all set up. She is a sweetheart! After an hour and a half, it was time to hit the road again.

This stop was very cool all the way around. I rode off wishing that we could have spent just a little more time there. We went back and forth on back roads with a police escort ending at every county line and another sheriff from the next county would pick us up! Indiana was a pleasure to ride through. Guys on tractors waving the American flag, and almost everywhere else people were waving and cheering to us as we rode by. Very cool looking greenery all around too. Lots of people mowing the lawns and landscaping their yards.

Off to one more fuel stop before we took the Brookville, Ohio exit. John was waiting at the offramp with his 1923 antique fire truch to lead us through town. Another great welcome all through town. We pulled into the AMVETS post for some more greetings from old friends. Lisa, John's wife, was the first person that I spotted with a big smile as we rode in. These folks are always a joy to be around. They had a feast and a half for us. The best food of the trip so far and a great dessert table too! I asked Lisa to point out Terry's wife, Dee to me. When I walked up to her I surprised her and grabbed her and said,” Could I have this dance”? We all hung out for a while and then Terry said he was ready to go. He just wanted to stop by the VFW Hall for a minute before getting gas and going to his home. The “minute” ended up being quite a while as I felt right at home there. I asked about playing horseshoes and right away Barb grabbed me and next thing I knew I was entered into a tournament. Randy & I won our first game and lost the second. I figured good we could go home now. Not so fast; there is another bracket for loosers to play off. Well Terry's wife, Dee, filled in for me so we could go.

We finally got to Terry & Dee's home where I met their youngest son, Scott and his fiancée, Coral. Then Marv and Connie arrived too. Connie gave me the memory card from her camera to put on my computer so I could put the picture of her grandkids and me in front of my bike on the website. I REALLY blew it when I imported the pictures to my computer. I hit the erase button as if I was doing it on my camera. Before I knew it 76 of her pictures were gone off of her card and on my computer. Bottom line was with Scott and Coral's help, they put Connie's pictures on a flash drive to get them back to her. When I told her what I did she came over and whopped me in the head playfully and said "you did WHAT with my pictures?"

Higgie and Barb showed up to visit also. I met them at the VFW earlier that night (I also met them on previous NVAR rides too) while playing horseshoes. Marv and Connie planned to go with us tomorrow to DC together. Everyone left and I went into my bedroom and continued to put in words the day’s events. More tomorrow, I'm tired...........