Days 8, 9, 10 and 11

The mission is now over.  This years FNG's are now experienced riders, old hands at this crazy convoy thing that we do.  I pray that everyone gets home safe.  Not much special happened until yesterday.


I got to the Wall before 0700 and completed my mission. I had a remembrance for Capt Wann, his name is located on panel 3W line 63.  I left the remembrance there.  Then I saluted the colors as a contingent of South Vietnamese soldiers, and families brought a wreath to lay at the apex of the wall.  The statement on the wreath was very very moving. Those people are very grateful to our country for protecting them and for bringing them here.

I watched my brother at the wall, I do not think that he knew I was there. I wanted to go give him a hug, but did not want to interfere with what he was doing, it was a good thing to see.

I talked with a lot of Vets and thanked them for their service and welcomed them home.

I also talked with some folks, including two ladies that wanted pictures of my vest, about the run and our mission.  They were actually amazed that that many bikes ride together all the way across the country.  They were also amazed  that I had ridden from Wisconsin to LA to start the trip.  If you go all the way you ride a little over 7000 miles.

The ride out is pretty intense, but the ride to LA and the ride home is fairly relaxing.

I am staying at Jeff Spades house and he and his wife are just great folks. Ribs for dinner, clean dry clothes in the morning.

Here is a picture of my mission complete


Capt Wann is on panel 3W line 63 of the Wall.  He is missing in action.  He is one of the many reasons we ride.
The following picture is the reason the mission must continue



Thanks for reading.  I will be writing more this year than I have last year.  I will try not to rant, I will be honoring a lot more folks, and remembering  a lot more too.

One more day and Clyde will get an oil change, and be put up clean and dry.  It is too expensive to ride him hard and put him away wet.

Seven days complete, three to go

Today I am writing from the comfort in at Corydon, IN.  We have traveled for seven days together, and I have met some new folks, and renewed friendships with folks that I have not seen in two years.  All of them are great people, and good riders.  I can keep pace with anyone, but cannot actually do my job of "truck whisperer" and ride in the pack.  So I am at the back of every line we have.  Sometimes it means I do not get to eat dinner, because the food has run out, sometimes I miss out on things, but I chose to do this job.


Today, and yesterday, Stan Ironfish Hanley, told folks to quit worrying about me and the way and where I ride.  He told them that I choose where I need to be in the pack, and that he and they needed me to do what I do.

Now here is what I do.  In May of 2005 I quickly realized that if we do not inform big trucks what we are doing, and why we are doing it a vacuum forms, and nature fills vacuums.  So I started talking to them, I did this again in 2006.  I rode in the pack, and just every now and again told the truck drivers that we are on a mission, not a rally, not a party, not a poker run.  Suddenly they started saying "God bless you", instead of saying we should be road kill, or get off their highway.

In 2007 I met Krazy Karl Hartz, actually helped him get back on his goldwing at a truck stop where we fueled.  He dropped the bike when it became hi centered in a spot where his legs did not hit the ground.

He and I developed a script, and procedure for talking big trucks past the pack.  It works great, and getting truckers talking positive about us makes it much easier to move the pack across the country.

I get choked up when I say this on the radio because I miss and respect Karl.  He can not do the run anymore, and I can not replace him, so I will just go back to doing it alone.  "In the words of Karl Hartz (sometimes I say Krazy Karl)  "God Bless the American Soldier, and the Great American Trucker, if this country loses either, we are lost."  Believe it or not this works wonderfully to get truckers on our side.  Starting tomorrow we are on a true battlefield, and every inch we lose could cost a life.  I need the trucks to cooperate, and I am pretty good at calming the drivers down.


Bounce

Made it to Rancho in one piece, but tired

I am in Rancho Cucamonga, CA, lots of things going on today.  I am the Official Truck Communication Liaison.  Fancy words for loud mouth truck driver with a good CB.  But it is a job, and I do it well.  Miss Krazy, but hey.
The reason for the picture is of course I was in the Air Force, and this is a trailer and bike that is on the Run.  I thought it was really cool, and it is.  Not sure what year car it is supposed to represent, and I do not even know who owns it, but it is way way cool.

Tomorrow we depart.  I stopped to buy an "All The Way 2013" patch last night, and they were completely sold out.  I got one today because their reorder came in, but that is scary cause that means a lot of people are going all the Way to DC from here.  Estimate this morning was abut 550 bikes on each route.  We have a police escort out of here, and the San Bernadino County Sheriff is taking us through the Yermo, CA Marine Corps base on our way to Barstow, CA. it is a few extra miles, we have never done it before, but he is the guy escorting and he has a badge and a gun, who are we to argue?

Shore Party is getting a VERY Positive Response to his CD for the Kids at Rainelle, WV.

OK gotta cut this one short, lots of meeting to attend then early to bed, early to rise, tomorrow we Ride For Those Who Can't.


Bounce

Additional Memo to Clyde, you will be running on 91 octane for the next 10 days, get used to it pal, I will mix it with cheap stuff at the night stops just to keep you from back firing too much,.

Colorado Springs to Richfield UT

Today was a 540 mile day.  My Brother, and Sister-In-Law, left Colorado Springs at 0745.  We met my niece in Denver, and then my Brother and I went on to Idaho Springs.  We met two other riders there.  After some gas, and a quick Hi how are ya, we headed west.

The weather was great.  The other two guys were in the Navy and the Army.  No one thought about it till we got to Green River UT, but the 4 of us represent each branch of the armed forces.  My Brother Bob is a Marine (OK he retired Army, but was in the Marines 7 years) and once a Marine, always a Marine.  The other two one's road name is River Rat, he was in the Navy.  Then the other Bob, was in the Army.  Going to try for a picture of the four of us tomorrow.  All of us have our Branch of service posted on our vests, and I think we all have hats too.  Not sure.

At dinner my Brother met a fellow Marine, and gave him one of the CD's that he is trying to raise money with for the Rainelle School in WV.  He just gave them one because the older of the two is a Veteran of both Korea and Vietnam.  After they read the words of the song they donated some money to the cause.  My Brother did not expect that, but he was pretty happy about it.  He then gave an American flag made of beads that a friend of his had made, then he gave a wrist band to the waitress.  After dinner while were getting ready to go buy gas, a lady from Iowa asked if we were legion riders.  Bob, not my Brother, the other Bob said he was.  We then took a few minutes to tell her what we were doing, gave her some cards, and my Brother gave her a CD to share with the Legion Riders at home. 

The CD is pretty powerful  The song is about the Run, and what we do.  There are some kids reciting the Pledge, and a poem written by a Air Force retired CMSGT  who has since passed.  The poem is for POW/MIA's and alone will make you cry.  That coupled with two versions of the song and topped off with John Wayne's recording of the Pledge, and what it means, makes for a very powerful thing.

So the Armed Forces Brigade (just made that up) will be kickstands up at 0730 and in Rancho Cucamonga sometime after noon. 

Great weather, good riding, great companionship.  It doesn't get much better than this.

Tomorrow morning we roll west.

Getting excited.  Bikes are packed, we are ready to roll, going to be hard to sleep tonight.  Two more days and we are in California, two days after that we roll east on one of the greatest missions ever.  This is the 25th annual Run For the wall.  It is my 7th run and will be my 5th all the way trip.  I have many friends on this run, and am looking forward to talking to them in person again.  Ten days isn't long enough to get all the emotion out, but it is all we have.

Looking forward to all the flags, signs, yells, and hugs.  Looking forward to all those great overpasses.  Looking forward to everything but the end of the trip.   It is going to be a great trip, but it has every time I have done it.  Even when I get tired, or someone angers me, I have the mission to fall back on, and it is that important.

There are too many folks that have not come home, and if we do not do this America and Americans will forget.
We cannot let that happen.
Met a guy today who is a Vietnam Era Vet, he did not go there, and he said he has always felt bad about that.  Hopefully we cheered him up.  Hopefully he will take a look at the rftw.org web page, and then all he has to do is decide, plan, and pack for next year.


Bounce

Starting My Run to the Run. Wisconsin to Colorado. Two days

I left Wisconsin on Tuesday morning, skies were clear and blue, temps were well into the 60 degree range.  I left right on schedule.  OK for those of you who know me I really had no schedule.  I was already packed, and I was awake at 0430. Could of left then but waited till my Wife woke up at 0600, had a quick cup of coffee and some breakfast, then put on gear, kissed her and asked her to take this picture. 

The ride through Wisconsin and Iowa were pretty good, traffic was light, and no rain.   I got to Omaha and the skies were threatening.  I really hadn't planned to go further than Omaha, but got to Lincoln.  If not for dark clouds and lightening I might have kept going for another tank of fuel.  That equals about 180 miles with a 4 gallon tank and leaves 2 gallons in reserve.  I did not feel real tired, but 560 miles on a bike is a lot different than in a big truck.  Had a nice dinner and was asleep before 2100.

Wednesday morning I woke up again before 0500. Had coffee and checked the weather.  Bad news, rain ahead all across Nebraska.  I waited for the sun to rise, and skies were purple behind me and pretty black ahead.  But I went anyway.  After about 30 miles the wind picked up so I stopped at York NE at the Petro truck stop.  The Iron Skillet has a great breakfast, and I had coupons that brought the price down to dare I say FREE....anyway it was pretty good.  Except for the Kashi cereal, it is nothing like honey nut Cheerios, just saying, but everything else was pretty good.  Got into the restaurant just as a real Gully washer rain blew through.  Great timing.

The rest of the morning went well.  I was at about mile marker 125 thinking about stopping at the Pilot for gas when a very large Turkey Buzzard, or at least before it killed itself on my head lamp that is what I think it was, flew straight across the road.  I was doing the speed limit (that is 75 MPH in Nebraska) and feathers flew everywhere.  I do not think he survived, but then again I did not swerve, or brake, I just drove through him.  I was glad he didn't fly a tenth of a second later, cause he would have been between me and the windshield.  I am betting that would have left a mark and been a problem.  I stopped at the Pilot and checked for damage.  There was none, a little blood and a feather or two, but no cracks.  I was surprised cause that bird hit old Clyde pretty hard.
The rest of the day was uneventful.  I stopped for about a half hour in Fort Morgan Colorado to wait for a storm to pass.  I made it safely to my Brother and Sister-In-Law's house about 20 minutes behind schedule (see above note on schedules).  The Bear in the drive  way had the "Go Away" sign out, I laughed so hard I almost dropped Clyde in the drive way.  My Sister-In-Law has a way of making me feel welcome that is really quite special.
All in all the first leg was pretty easy, and I enjoyed it.  Managed to get a little over 38 MPG even with the wind, and a fully packed bike.
It was a nice two days.  Tomorrow will get tires inflated with nitrogen, makes them run cooler, and improves fuel mileage a little.  Or at least it did in 2011.

Memo to Clyde;
Once again you saved my but in what could have been a catastrophe....thanks

Bounce.

Correction.....I am not going to miss this years run

In a post I wrote a few months ago I was lamenting that I could not afford to do this years 25th annual Run For The Wall.  Then something wonderful happened.  The company I work for decided that I needed to do the run.  They are supporting me 100%. So much so that they paid for round trip air fare from Dallas, to Wausau, WI for me.  Also they let me through some creative thinking, complete my lease a little early.  The great part of this is that it will complete every year in April.  They won't have to fly me home next time, but they will allow me the time to do it.   For anyone who knows a vet thinking about getting into truck driving, tell them to do it.  Tell them that Stevens Transport supports Veterans and Guard and Reserve troops too.


So there will be stories here from this years Run, and pictures and videos too.  I have to figure out how to get the pictures here, but google has an application to pull them from my phone, so no extra camera to pack.

Have to decide which tent to take.  I am thinking the easiest one to repack will win, but won't know till tomorrow.

Pictures, and words to follow.

This Blog is not dedicated to Run For The Wall, but the writer is, so there will be lots of posts in the next 25 days about Run For The Wall.


Thanks everyone for reading.


Krazy the unabridged, embellished story will end up here.  I will leave out the part about you getting high centered and needing help in Santa Fe.  Ooops just told it.   :)


Bounce.

650 miles completed, 6350 left to go

I left Wausau Wisconsin this morning heading west.  I got to Lincoln Nebraska tonight, and plan to be in Colorado Springs tomorrow evening.  So far Clyde is performing perfectly.  He is getting over 40 MPG and running like a well tuned top.

I did not have many problems today.  I got a little tired at around 1500, but made it as far as I wanted today.  Looking forward to getting to Rancho Cucamonga on Monday.,  Weather so far has been great.  A little rain this evening, but it was light, and will be gone by morning.


I hope everyone heading to California has a safe trip.  The company I work for is more or less sponsoring me to do the trip this year.  They gave me the time, and flew me home so I could do it.  If you know someone looking for a place to work as a truck driver tell them to go to Stevens Transport.  There is no better company for a Vet to associate with.

Bounce.

An abridged version of the Bounce and Krazy show, how it started and what it did

The following is written without permission of the participants, but I got impatient, so I wrote it anyway



A few years ago I met a good friend and a great guy.  Karl Hartz, aka Krazy Karl.   He had been talking to me and with me on the CB  radio during one of my first runs.  I cannot remember if it was 2006 or 2007, but I do remember he had a fantastic radio, and I on the other hand had two tin cans and a frayed string to talk with.

In 2005 I decided to talk to the trucks, and let them know who we were and what we were doing.  This was as a result of all the questions on the CB about what are those crazy bikers doing.  In 2005 I joined the
Run at Limon Colorado, and they had been building hate and discontent from the truckers since they left Ontario, CA five days before.  Only no one knew it because they were not talking to the trucks.  I am a truck driver, and I just naturally listen to channel 19 when I am on the road.  That morning when we took off the first thing I heard was an exchange between some one in the pack (it may have been the leader, JR Franklin) and a truck.  {"Holy cow that is a lot of motor cycles.  Where is the Rally Boys?"  "Sir it is not a rally, it is not a party, it is a mission, and like any mission you do not have to like it you just have to do it.  We had 250 riders at the riders meeting this morning sir, and we left Ontario CA 5 days ago, we are headed for Washington D.C. to participate in Rolling Thunder, and to honor our fallen heroes"  "Well that is a good thing"  "Yes sir, we do not mean to be disruptive, and most of these guys would do this if they had to walk.  This is a POW/MIA awareness mission, and to promote healing for Veterans of all wars"  About that time someone came up on the air and said some pretty nasty things about how we shouldn't be allowed on the highway like that.  Before I could get on the radio and defend what we were doing, a big truck with a really big radio shouted "leave them riders alone, they are doing good, and besides there must be at least a thousand folks between here and Salinas KS on the overpasses, waiting for them, these guys are popular"}
Well I spent the next several days repeating the mission thing, and by about three days I had a lot more positive responses than negative.  I also got Claire B. Lang, from XM radio to interview me about the Run, and she replayed that all weekend.  This helped a lot.  But all in all in 2005 I couldn't talk over a 1000 feet, so I had to rely on big trucks with bigger radios to relay the information for me. 
Then in 2006 I rode all the way, and started talking to trucks from day one, and by day two I didn't have to say much, they already knew who we were and that we were on a mission.  I want to take the time to thank Both Claire B, and Glen Jones from Sirius/XM radio for that.  They let me talk about the Run on their air, and that really helped to get the word out.  I have always done our Central Route, but I try to get the word out about our Southern Route too.  In addition to talking on the radio, I send, or I sent, an email to The director of Training at Stevens Transport everyday with numbers, and highways that we were going to be on.  He was relaying this information to his counterparts at several large companies, and it helped a lot.  So thanks Mr. Cheney. 
Anyway the year I met Karl, he was relaying for me.  By the fifth day my voice was about gone, because my radio was so bad, I was always yelling into my microphone.  So I just let Karl follow the script.  He actually did a better job than I did.  Karl did not get angry or excited when one of the 1% chuckleheads would say something derogatory about us, he just thanked them, and asked them politely to stay in the center of their lane.  
In 2007, the year I got the road name Bounce, Krazy and I had planned and coordinated the whole truck talker thing, we were even official.  We made a believer out of Russ Sheepdog Cochran, the future pack leader, when we informed him that there was a large deer laying in the left lane about two miles ahead of the pack.  A trucker had radioed back to us that the darn thing had run right into the side of his trailer.  Russ heard my plea to get the pack into the right lane just in time.  When the platoon I was in went by the deer it was still kicking its legs.  I told Karl to watch it, that he might just be taking a nap on the road.  Well I was right, when Karl went by the deer jumped to its feet and took off across the median.  Just imagine if there had been bikes between him and his escape.  Russ, like Tanker and Hammer before him, came to me later that day and thanked me and told me too keep it up.   Well 2007 was really a good trip.  My radio actually worked, for some reason it carries well over 5 miles, even on channel 19, and down on the pack business channel I can relay to both ends of the pack, there are times when the pack is well over 10 miles long, so at least I had a voice when I got to DC.   Krazy and I bantered with each other, and kept the trucks informed on what was going on,  It was fun.  We did this in 2007, 8 and 9 together, Karl did it alone in 2010 because I couldn't be there, and in 2011, I was without Karl, except we emailed and talked on the phone everyday.  I really enjoyed 07. 08 and 09.  We were a team, and the folks on the Run complimented us on the work we were doing.  I felt bad about not being able to go in 2010, and felt pretty lonely in 2011.  But then Rocket flat out floored me in 2011.  When we got to the last fuel stop before DC he got some one, I believe it was SSgt Walrus  (these folks have real names too, but I am using their road names here) to get me to come see him.  He presented me with on of my most prized possessions a road guard patch.  I won't put it on my vest, but that is another story for another day.  I worked pretty hard to keep everyone safe that trip, and the truckers did not exactly love us but they knew why we were there, they knew it was not a rally, or a party but a mission.  Most of them get it, and support us.  The ones that do not, well they are stupid. 
In the words of Krazy Karl  "God bless our troops, and the Great American Trucker, if this country loses either we are lost."  God Bless Krazy Karl, he taught me a lot, and he worked his tail off keeping me out of trouble, and safely getting 300 to 500 bikes a day across America.

Thanks to everyone that reads this, and if you see a soldier, sailor airman or marine, take a moment and thank them for their service, and welcome them home, because in this day and age if they are wearing a uniform they are either headed overseas, or have just returned.  Those are the folks the we riders are riding for, to make things better for them.  We ride for the folks that have never come back too, but never again can this country treat people the way my generation treated the returning Vietnam Veterans, the Vietnam Veterans, and people like me will not allow it.

Bounce

Well Things sure have changed in the last month. I am really up Now

My last post was all about how I could not do Run for the Wall this year.   I was really down.  This mission that I do is pretty important to me.  This blog is not dedicated to the Run, but I am.   This week I finally got some things to come together, and in May, Clyde and I will be making our annual trek to Rancho Cucamunga, and we will be participating (and with a lot of luck going all the way to DC) in the 25th annual Run For The Wall.  This will be our seventh Run.  I am excited, and Clyde is in the Yamaha shop in Wisconsin Rapids, being tended to lovingly by none other than Troy Donahue.  Yep that is actually my Mechanics name.  This time of year he is usually working on snow mobiles, getting them ready for the summer storage season, but he is pretty good. I told him Clyde was in need of a lot of care, and he told me not to worry, the old scoot will be ready for the 7000 miles that we have to travel.

Clyde is going to be really happy this trip, cause he will be traveling with a free and clear title.  Or to quote the Beach Boys  "I got the pink slip Daddy".  Still have a few more things that have to come together perfectly, but I am going.  Might have to drop out early due to lack of funds, but I am going.  I hope the weather is good.  No more snow in Williams please.  So tomorrow of the next day I am going to write a new story.  It is about old times.  I had a short chat with a friend who is German, and I started to remember some things about my race days.  So I thought why not write the story of Shade Tree Racing, how and why it got started.  We were a great team.  My son Luke, and three friends of mine, we built race cars, and we actually won some races too.  Anyway that is coming in the next week or so.

I will be posting pictures, and videos both here and on Face Book, during the Run.   I guess the question is answered.  I am really glad things have come together.   Really glad.


Bounce

Although I am Dedicated to Run For The Wall, I cannot do it this year

I have been planning on doing the 25th annual Run For The Wall for almost two years.  Unfortunately I cannot do it this year.  There are plenty of folks that will, and many many new riders.  I truly want to be there. It will physically and mentally hurt not to go.  I pray that all riders are safe going to and from and during the Run.

In 2004 when I first heard of the Run, from my younger Brother, aka Shore Party, I told him that it sounded like it was for Viet Nam Vets.  He convinced me to come along with him in 2005 and I discovered that it was not just for Viet Nam Vets, in fact it is not even just for Vets.  I tell folks all the time that  anyone can ride with us.  This is very true.  The people that do this ride are a family.  Sometimes a dysfunctional family but a family none the  less. 

When I made my first Run in 2005 I saw a need for communicating with trucks, and I just did it.  I did this in 2005, 2006 and 2007 without really getting BOD, or route coordinator permission.  It was just something that had to be done.  In 2006 I had help from a wonderful friend, and he helped me in 2007, 2008, 2009, and he did it alone in 2010  because I could not get there.  Then I did it alone again in 2011. I could not go in 2012, and Krazy didn't go either, and I have no idea if anyone talked to the trucks.  But everyone made it through OK.  There were incidents, but not because of trucks, more because new riders made errors.

Riding in a formation at anytime takes 100% of your concentration, and riding in a pack of well over 500 motorcycles takes 500% of your concentration.  

If I could be there this year I would be.  Would I talk to the trucks, probably not, the new leadership sees no need for it, and given the choice I would rather just ride anyway.
Will I be back?  Absolutely!  Am I quitting the Run, NO!!!!!  I just cannot at this time afford to do it.  It costs me a great deal to do the Run.  I have to accrue two months of truck payments, and other bills.  This year there is just no way to do it.  The Company I work for would let me have the time off, but I could never recover from the time I would have to take.  Not this year, maybe not next year, but I will be back.  I believe in and love the mission.  Bringing healing to Vets, all Vets, and their families, and to those who were never allowed to join, and have survivors remorse, or those Vets that have PTSD, and other unseen wounds, it is very important that they be allowed to heal.

So there it is I am not announcing this either on the forum, or facebook pages.  I am simply writing it here. 
This Blog is not dedicated to Run for The Wall, but I am.  Thanks to all who have allowed me to ride with them.  Clyde has done 4 all the way runs, and simply participated (part way runs) twice.  That Motorcycle, and God protected me when I was hit by a truck in 2007 on my second ride down the mountain into Angel Fire New Mexico.  He has 37000 miles on him, most folks from the Run can easily do the math on this, but those that do not know it here is a little fact.  With the exception of one ride from Wisconsin to South Dakota, almost every mile on Clyde is from going to and from and participating in Run For The Wall.  I am not really a good rider, I have been lucky to be accepted by these folks.  I will miss riding with them, and I hope that I am no where near them in May.  Not because I do not want to see them, but because it will hurt a lot to see either route, and not be participating.  The whole thing should come with the warning "any participation in this event will be addicting.  Joining this family means you have the urge, desire, need, or want to ride for those who cannot. If you participate in even one leg, you will at sometime find yourself doing the entire thing."

To my friends on the Run, thanks for letting me participate, and thanks for riding for me as I cannot do it this year.  Be safe, stay upright and visible.

Bounce

Waiting for permission to write

There is a great story that I want to tell, and as soon as Krazy Karl says I can I will.  It is about the "Truck Talkers"  what we did and what I will do again should I ever make another Run For The Wall.  I hope Karl lets me tell it, it is a fun story.  This is just a tease;

Karl and I just talk to trucks on the radio, and to each other.  Typical conversation : Trucker "Holy Cow that is a lot of Bikes!  Wonder what they are doing?"  Bounce "Krazy your phone is ringing"  Krazy (He has a distinct New Hampshire accent and a deep voice that people tend to listen too) "Driver this is Run For The Wall, it is not a Rally, it is not a Party, it is a POW/MIA awareness Mission.  We started out in LA three days ago, and we will be in Washington D.C. to support Rolling Thunder in 10 days.  May God Bless the great American Truck Driver, and our Troops, if we lose either the country is lost"  Driver "Thanks for the info, God Bless you, wish I could do that"  Krazy "You can Driver, I drive 48 weeks out of the year so I can come do this for 4 weeks. Anyone can ride with us, all it takes is a little planning"  Bounce "Thanks for your patience driver, thanks for staying in the middle of your lane, the bikes know you are there and they will give you all the room you need.  You have two more platoons, and then our Missing Man Formation and you will have passed Run For The Wall.  Thanks again and God Bless you"  Driver "Thanks, keep doing it and Krazy I will see about trying to get that done next year.  If not I will think about you guys.  God Bless you for what you are doing."


That is just a minute of what it is like, and the story of how it got started has two sides, waiting on Krazy's side so I can write the full story.


Bounce

Change is good?

Well the visit is over, I will be going back to work tomorrow.  The Company I work for has some great management.  I asked if I could get home more often, and the overall manger for the group I work for told me I could.  It involves getting a passport and having to go into and out of Canada.  Going in is pretty easy, coming back to my own Country is the tough part.  Our Government cannot do anything simply.  My youngest Brother is an electrician, and he said that working in Government buildings is just crazy.  They have parts of the building that are restricted (some of these restrictions are from decades ago, but have never been changed, even though the reason for the restriction are no longer present).  If he has to go into the ceiling areas of the restricted areas he has to make a not of the label and location, then he goes for a walk over about three blocks, and if they are in the office he fills out paperwork for a permit to work on that area.  A week and a half later when the permit is returned he goes back to the job site, opens the ceiling (now he has to take and submit pictures before and after, and since there is no wi fi in most of the Milwaukee VA he has to take pictures, go back to the office show them, then go back to the work site, open the ceiling panel and look for the wiring he needs to work on.    If he guessed wrong, or he has to open a panel three feet over, he has to stop work and close the ceiling up, then head back over and fill out more paperwork.  This all takes time, he has to charge this time, and so what should take about 30 minutes takes over 16 hours.  The Government requires this, and has to pay for the time.  So almost every project costs 30 times what it should.  He is there, willing to do the work, but cannot because of the way he is required to work.

This Blog is not POLITICAL, so I will not rant about how stupid the above is, make your own conclusions.

So I will get a passport and go to Canada, and will waste a lot of time coming back into the Country of my birth.  Funny thing, I do not need the passport to get into Canada, I need it to get back into the United States.

My income will decrease, have to adjust a lot of bills for that, but at least I will still have a job, and I will be able to see my Dad a little more often.  Some folks do not understand this, and in truth neither do I.  I owe him nothing, I want nothing from him, but I feel that I should be there because he asked me to be there more often.
I will still be able to train, just not the same as I used to.  Hopefully students they send will have passports, or I will have to leave them in motels on the state side and pick them up on the way back in.
As for this years Run For The Wall, I won't say I am not going to do it.  I want to but everything will have to fall exactly right.  It is not looking good right now.

Thanks for reading.
Bounce

Believe it or not I have not had much to say lately

I will start this off with an apology to the folks that follow this blog.  I have not written much because I have not had much to say lately.
Today I visited my Dad, aka The Old Marine, at the Milwaukee, WI, VA hospital.  I will be going back tomorrow, Friday, and Saturday then I have to head home and get ready for work.

Some who follow this know my Dad, he participated in three consecutive Runs for the Wall.  2005, 2006 and 2007.  In 2006 he planned to go all the way, but he got a little ill in New Mexico and had to bail in Illinois.  But he has made all the stops at least once.  He grades the stops by the meals.  Williams Arizona, and Wentzville, MO are both awesome.  At least in his book.  I and Clyde think all the stops are great, but those two above do sort of stand out for a lot of different reasons.

Tonight when I got to the hospital I really did not know what to expect.  The old man is pretty tough, but he is a lot weaker than the last time he was in the hospital, and of course the dialysis is taking it's toll on him.  He fully intends to leave the hospital next week, and he may get that done, provided he gets a little stronger.  He is doing rehab physical therapy three times a week, and dialysis three times a week.  Tomorrow he gets Belgian Waffles, with strawberries, and syrup and a dollop of whipped cream.  (These are home made and will be duly smuggled past the "pogey bait" police  aka hospital staff, and consumed tomorrow before lunch.)

For my friends that are praying for his recovery, I read some of your posts, he smiled and said to make sure and thank you all.  He did get tickled about the Air Force Colonel that sent him the Semper Fi wish, but I thought he would.

In closing I am not sure when I will post again, but I will post again.  Take that as a warning, or a promise.  I talk way too much to stay silent for long.  

Final thought, I am planning on doing this years Run.  I have no idea how, but as I will be camping all the way, no reservations are needed, just time and gas money, and I have the gas money, so forcing the time will be the hardest thing.  This year I will be riding for a whole generation of very tough VETS.  They are from the forgotten war.  The so called Police action known as the Korean War.  My Dad is a Vet from this war, and if I am half as strong at 60 as he is at 78 I will be a happy man.

Bounce.


P.S.
Note to Clyde you will be in the motorcycle shop all winter long, and you will get the royal treatment from Troy, the Royal Venture Mechanic.