Gallup to Angel Fire NM (RFTW as a training Aid for protection of the President)

We left Gallup under partly cloudy skies, and very cool, but not cold air.  Bikes were dry for the first time this run, except for a little morning dew.  There were almost 500 of us leaving Gallup, and 1 Vespa Scooter.  I am not joking there is a gal on the Run riding a Vespa Scooter, the has a spare tire tied to the front end above the headlamp, and she can ride and keep up with us as long as we are not on any real grades, and if the grades slow her down we slow down with her, period.  NO ONE gets left behind by this group.  She did have to jump off the road today because her rain cover started to come off one of her bags.  Admittedly when the wind hits those bags  they tend to deploy like the Air Brake on an F-16 but she is keeping up really well.

We had Jackie McKinney, the newly elected Mayor of Gallup riding with us today.  Last night I was talking to a businessman (owns a towing company in Gallup) who said that since elected Jackie has done more for the people of Gallup than the last Mayor ever did.  That is Cool, Jackie is a good man and a good friend.  My Sister-In-Law Sage Owl Talley told me tonight that after redoing their wedding vows some one gave he and Shore Party a free room with a Fire Place for the night. Great thing to have happen, and those two are awesome and deserved it.

I only talked to West Bound Trucks today, because the State Police were running a rolling road block.  There was one guy who was upset that the City of Albuquerque and State was spending all that money on us.  He state that we were breaking the law and that we should only travel in packs of ten bikes.  Not a bad idea, then we would be disrupting traffic in fifty mile stretches instead of 5 mile stretches.  All in all though the truckers were supportive of us and our mission.  I hardly had a chance to say who we were and where we were going or why because the truckers know.  Thanks to Reed Black from the Owner Operators Independent Drivers Association and Land Line Now, and Glenn Jones from Sirius/XM Road Dog Channel,
888-8 Road dog (drop the g if on a cell phone)  They have talked extensively about our mission.  They are great.
Will post pictures from Williams and Gallup now.  Our gas today was provided by Thunder bird Harley, and the Route 66 Casino on I-40 exit 140, awesome restaurant and casino.   Lunch was provided by another Casino, I will post the name tomorrow because I cannot remember it right now.
Dinner was at Eagles Nest New Mexico, and it was all home made, every thing from turkey to Lasagna, Chili, and way more food and deserts than the 500 hundred of us could ever eat (But we tried).

Spidey, my fellow blogger who is making a documentary of the Run asked me a few very tough questions today.  The first one was why is the Angel Fire memorial so special to me.  He has about 115 minutes of a 55 year old man crying.  It is a very emotional place, and one of the reasons that I do the Run.  I do it because like my oldest Daughter says "It's your mission Dad."  and it truly is.  I do this because I love the people involved in it.  I do it because it is good to see a side of America that the 6 O'clock news will never show, ever.
OK will close this out.  Wait almost forgot.  No trucks were damaged or injured on Angel Fire Mountain today.  I was tempted because one did come at us, but I refrained because Clyde decide it was just not wise.


Thanks to everyone for reading this.  Do not forget to read Spideys "The View From Here"  the link is below, and the Motorcycle Muse, and Jens Blog.  All three of them are much better writers than I am, and all three have different opinions and perspectives on the run than I do.

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