Friday

 Today started late. I left my wallet at home and had to turn around and drive back for it.  It was raining really hard too.  That part is pretty good, the ranch needs the rain.  Will check the gauge later and post amount tomorrow, but I will bet we got almost an inch this morning.  The only problem is that it rains hard and fast, this can cause floods.  It would be nice if it rained steady for a few hours and soaked everything deep, but it just seems to rain hard for a bit and not soak the ground and then it runs off.

I am again writing this in the Mills County Community Center.  I am still volunteering here and it is still fun.  In a month I hope that I can go back to work.  I miss driving a lot.  I did not realize how much I enjoyed it until I couldn't do it.  I have driven in all forty eight continuous states, and several (I think 5, but it could be more or less) provinces in Canada.  I haven't been to Canada since a little before the 9-11 attack, but I really do not miss going up there.  It is a little easier to do now, but I do not have a passport. Funny thing is you do not need one to get into Canada, but you do to get back into the states.  Driving is not difficult, but it can be hard on a person.  Being alone is sometimes okay, and sometimes not okay.  Since being on this short term disability I have talked more to many folks than I ever did in the truck.  I enjoy the company, but also look forward to getting back to the solitude of solo truck driving.   The work here is enjoyable and rewarding, but it doesn't pay the rent.  I will probably continue to volunteer here, just not all the time.   If I go back to truck driving I will be out for 9 or 10 weeks, then home for 5 to 7 days.  On the days that I am home I will volunteer here.   Billie, and Ann and Laura are fun to work with and talk too.  

Laura is a Nurse, and she checks peoples blood pressure and oxygen levels every day if they want her to do that.  She keeps a record of it and can tell you what it was and how consistent it is.  This is a good deal.

This is a picture of Laura today explaining about how she takes blood pressure readings and what they mean.  Laura is the one standing up.   She is pretty cool.  Today she told me about what she went through with Covid-19.  It almost killed her.  I for one am glad it didn't get her.   She is pretty smart and has worked as a nurse for a long time, she is good at it. She has invited me to come watch her get re-baptized this Sunday, I just may go.

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These are pictures of the early voting area set up in the Community Center.  I have been watching it all week, and I voted on Monday.  This area has been pretty busy all week.   It is great to see that so many folks are voting.  It is also fun to realize that Goldthwaite is a small town where everyone knows everyone.  They are all friendly with each other.     Neighbors help each other all the time.  

Well that is pretty much it for today.  I will be taking a few pictures and will add them before I post this today.  But it is time for lunch and I have work to do.

Final thought, now that I have a trailer I will be going to Wisconsin  to pick up Clyde and Big Red.  Not sure when, might be before I go back to work, or possibly in the Spring, weather will be the issue there.

Thanks again for reading and I will moderate but all comments get posted here.

Thursday Lunch crowd.

Lynn and Laura setting up deserts

and Clowning for the camera in the kitchen.

This picture and next picture were taken before they knew the camera was there.  They work really hard to make everything taste and look good for our diners.

Folks chatting and waiting for lunch.

 I am again at the Mills County Community Center.  I am a volunteer here, but I enjoy the folks here too.  This week is early voting week and that means no fun stuff happening.  Bingo has been postponed for a while and so has chair areobics.  But  lunch still happens every day.   Yesterday was a Thanksgiving meal with Sweet Potatoes and stuffing, and Chicken breasts instead of Turkey, but it was great food.   We fed 40  folks in the Community Center, and another 20 or so meals were delivered.   Pecan pie and Ice Cream for desert.

I was a little busy so I didn't get any pictures yesterday.  There will be pictures from the DID ranch in the second half of this post.   I will get some pictures of the folks that come to lunch today and tomorrow and will post those. I really enjoy this place, it makes my time off work bearable.  I do get to wash a lot of dishes, mostly pots and pans.  There is a dishwasher for plates, silverware, cups and glasses.  Everything gets pre washed though.  Preperation is a lot of work, setting up the Meals on Wheels meals is a lot of work, but there are about 4 or 5 of us volunteers so it goes pretty fast.  I am typing this part of the post during the break between packing cold stuff (desserts, milk and salads today) and boxing hot stuff.  That is almost ready to happen.  Time to go wash my hands.  

Well all the meals are prepared and I got some pictures too.  Lynn and Laura dishing out Ice Cream and clowning for the camera, and the others are of folks waiting for lunch to get ready.

We fed about 60 folks today counting the meals for wheels folks.  Lots of work and fun too.

This is the results of the work on the deserts for today. Apple Cobbler and Ice Cream

Now for a few pics from the Ranch this week.  Eyore the Donkey likes me, and so do Ziggy and Getta (pronounced like it is spelled)  and for the same reason.

Thanks to everyone that has read these posts this week.  More than a hundred views.  Comments are welcomed especially if you have suggestions for things I should talk about.  

Thursday and Friday

 Well I hope everyone liked the pictures.  I am currently sitting in the Mills Counnty community center getting ready to put together the meals on wheels lunches.  This is fun to do and a lot of work.  There is also a lunch here too.   At the time I started this (which was yesterday) It was Charlie's birthday and Bingo day combined.   Two of the Ladies told Charlie that they were going to sing "Happy Birthday" to him backwards.  They did. I was going to video that but only got a picture.  Full disclosure, they stood backwards in front of Charlie and sang Happy Birthday, so they were singing it backwards.

You would think that as many posts as I have made on here I would remember how to add photos.   Believe it or not I had to google how to do it and then still couldn't figure it out.   

After singing Happy Birthday to Charlie we played Bingo.  Now I know that I said I was a volunteer here, but yesterday and today I brought along my friend Dean's son Lynn to help.   He is a great worker, and the ladies here have asked him to fill out an application.  He has.   Hoping he gets the job, it will be good for him and the community center.  The lady that is the cook wants to retire and just come in for lunch once in a while.

This is a picture of Lynn (probably spelled wrong)  He is a hard worker and a good guy. Extremly smart.  He is home brewing wine and some of it is amazingly good.

That is about it for today.  Thank you to the four folks following this blog.  Please feel free to comment and give me suggestions of things to write about.   I am living in Lometa Texas and the Community Center is in Goldthwait Texas.   I plan to explore some of the sights here, and there are quite a few.  I also want to go up to Hico Texas.  There is a small Billy the Kid museum there.   Brushy Bill Roberts died there.  He claimed to be Billy the Kid in 1950. The Govenor of New Mexico refused to acknowledge him, even though he had a lot of evidence and witnesses to back him up.  I think they just wanted that little story to stay dead.

Thanks  again

How I am spending my time while on a forced vacation

 This post is going to be mostly photos.  This is a picture of me in front of the Beast 2.0/.  I had a lifted 2001 F250 pickup with a 7.3 Diesel engine, but I sold it to a friend who wanted it for a project for his son.  A pack rat had eaten through the wiring harness, but Beast now runs and is getting a lot of loving care.  I bought a 2011 F250 that was gas powered and nice for running around in but did not have the towing capacity that I needed, when the opportunity to buy this F350 diesel pick up  came up, I sold the "Tin Lizzy" and am putting the proceeds of that towards paying off the Beast 2.0.   If you know me you'll know that I give my inanimate objects pet names.   Clyde the motorcycle was actually the first vehicle that I did this with.  But the new bike has a name too.  Although I do not have much time with it, I have been using big Red to describe it to me.   Once I get it to Texas and and ride it a little it may get a new name.  Right now I am thinking it is a she, but you never know.   Beast, Tin Lizzy and Beast 2.0 are all female vehicles, bikes are different, and Clyde liked the name Clyde from the first time I used it.  So for now it is  big Red.

Now for some more pictures.   I started working at the Mills county community center as a volunteer a few weeks ago.  I really enjoy it.  I help assemble the Meals on Wheels lunches that they send out, and wash pots and pans for the cook.   Since I am off work until the end of November this gives me something to get up and do.   They serve lunch and I help do that, then I wash dishes and then head home for my lunch.  I have changed my diet a lot, picture shows it too.  I have lost about 50 pounds since January.

Here are a few pictures from the community center. The first one is Billie with the plant that the folks who come for lunch got her for the work she did fixing food the week that Anne, the cook was on vacation.

The rest are of the folks that gave it to her and the community center.   It is a beautiful facility and nice to visit and to work in. 

The next pictures are of a porch that my friend Dean, and I (I didn't do much but hold tools and watch to make sure that the saw and welder sparks didn't start a fire) are putting together at another friend named Chuck's house.  It was quite the project and the framing is all box steel.  The boards are composite wood.

Dean had to notch almost every board because of the panels on the outside of the house.  I will take a few more pics today and add them to it.  There are 46 20 foot boards going into the floor, and it is coming out well, and it will outlast probably the rest of the house, and definitely me or Dean.

Well that is just some of the things I have been doing while not working.  It isn't much, and I am getting a form of cabin fever, but I am relaxing, and getting my blood sugar under control, and continuing to eat regularly and well.   Tish has made several meals, she calls them "Dave" friendly.  Meaning that diabetics can eat them without messing up their sugar.  I am still under a doctors care, and still taking insulin shots.   I hope to be done with that soon so that I can go back to work. The last series of pictures are of food that I have cooked for myself.  I am learning to use an air fryer and intend to take that and a small refrigerator along with the micro wave on the truck.   The air fryer uses 1700 watts but I think the invertor in the truck will handle that load.

This is a picture of the liners that I use, makes it a snap to clean up.

I got them off Amazon and I will post a link later.  Going to do a whole entry about air frying my food I think

Chicken legs and pepper, mushrooms and onions it was as tasty as it looks.

Last picture is of the air fryer basket after using the liners.  no cleaning required.

 

 I started this blog because I wanted to comment on another blog.  That guy had it set up so that folks had to open their own blog to do so.   

I had a lot to write about every May and looking back that was really the only thing I wrote about.  I love the mission of Run For The Wall, and for the most part I love the people that do it.   Some are more interested in their goals than the mission, but there are not that many of them. I moved from Wisconsin to Texas two years ago.  Last year I finally got a Texas license.  That was difficult because of Covid-19.  You had to make an appointment with the DMV and you could not just walk in and get a license.  With a lot of help from the qualifications department at Stevens I finally got it done.  I have a friend that works there that allowed me to use his address, and I got it done.   Now with all this time off I have found a place to live. I have some dear dear friends that have  rented me a single wide trailer that is at the front of their property.   I changed my license and finally got the post office to change my address.  That too was difficult because of Covid-19.  You would think that the whole world caught it and died because of it.   

In some ways, no a lot of ways things have changed.  Here in America people found that they could work from home and not have to drive into work every day.  My friend in Karnack Texas still works from home, he loves it because he doesn't have to drive almost 350 miles a day.   In a lot of ways people are more productive when working from home.  Others not so much.  But instead of logging off and walking outside to smoke or vape, they can do it at their desk.  So they are on their phones more.   Some just play games while waiting for the phone to ring.   But the point is they are at the phone more often than when they had to walk outside for a "break".   Also E-Mail is often the only way to contact some folks now.  

I am one of those.   If you know my email address write me, I will answer it.  My phone is still there and it still works, but I usually just let calls go to voice mail now a days.   There are so many scammers and sales people calling I just do not answer any more.

So what have I been doing while on short term disability?  I started volunteering at the local community center in Goldthwait Texas.  Lots of very nice folks there.  Putting together the meals on wheels and making lunch for the folks that can get to the center is fun.  It is a lot of work, and the Cook is on vacation this week, so we volunteers have been busy.  The lady that runs the program is very nice and keeps us on track.

Wednesday we had live music and celebrated a gentleman's 94th birthday.  Come to find out there are a lot of 90 year olds in the lunch crowd.  The music was great and it was fun listening to it.  Lunch was things that I can't eat but everything else was great.

In addition to that I am feeding the animals while my friends went on a short trip.   I feed four cats, two dogs, fifteen or so sheep, three cows, a calf, a donkey named EEore, and a Llama named Ethyl.  There are also a rooster and 6 chickens.  Plus an animal that I have not seen that is supposed to be a cat, but could be a raccoon.  That is over where the cattle feed is, and whatever it is eats the food every day.   

Dean and Tish have been very good to me and I am thankful that they trust me enough to do this for them.  The dogs sleep with me, and are not much of an alarm clock, in fact they tend to ignore the alarms I have set.   In fact today I got up, cleaned up and got dressed and the two dogs were still asleep.  When I mentioned that I was going to feed them Jetta yawned and went back to sleep, Ziggy did not react at all.  But I got it done.    EEore likes me and lets me scratch his nose.  Ethyl is a different story.  She acts like she had a bad experience  at a petting zoo, and won't allow anyone to touch her. But I am working on being able to scratch her nose too.  The Bull the Ram allow me to feed them, but they watch me like hawks. That is how I am spending my forced vacation.  I collect eggs and harvest Okra out of the garden too.

So twice a day I am busy, then I volunteer at the community center, and I enjoy all of it.   I have pictures, and will try to add them to this post later.

Time for dinner, then I have chores to complete.  Thanks for reading.

Bounce

 To the four or five folks that follow these posts I must apologize for not writing in here for the last couple of years.   A lot has happened since my last post.   I moved to Texas, got divorced, bought two different Pick up trucks, and have learned how to feed chickens, sheep cows.

In addition to that two years ago this month I was run down by a big truck in an El Paso truck stop.  Idiot driver was reading his cell phone when driving to the pumps.  I was walking no where near the path to the pumps, but he hit me and dragged me a bit over 30 feet.  I was sore, had road rash in a few places.  I insisted on going to the hospital to get checked out.  I was fine. The truck driver (flip flop wearing idiot) that hit me told the responding law enforcement officer that I jumped under his truck.   The video witness statements clearly refuted that statement.  The video from the truck stop security camera clearly shows the driver was looking at the cell phone in his hand.   Before someone asks, no I did not sue.  I called a few lawyers, including the "Texas Hammer" and got the same thing from all of them, I wasn't hurt bad enough for them to take the case.   The one guy that said he would do it wanted 40% of anything I got and told me that it would mean at least six months off of work.   Today I would do it, but then I didn't think I could afford it.   Almost a year later the driver found out that my company had put a lien against him and finally reported it to his insurance company.   That insurance company fired his agent and dropped him for not reporting the accident.  I got almost enough cash to buy a 12 year old used pick up truck.  It was too small to haul the kind of travel trailer I want so I sold it and bought a bigger truck.

The divorce cost me a duplex, and a paid for motor home.  I will never get married again.  In fact it is hard for me to want to even be with some one anymore.  I trusted my Ex wife, and it turns out that she and her daughters screwed me over pretty bad.  But like the song says "Thank God and Greyhound she's gone."  Funny thing is I have managed to save money and still cover all my bills. Never could do that before.

Okay, that should bring everyone up to date with me.   I still work for Stevens Transport, and I now live in Lometa Texas.

More to come, and pictures too.

 First an apology to the four or five who read my posts here.  I have not been here since 2019. Covid is not my excuse. Life is.  Things have changed a lot for both me and Clyde since 2019. He has been fixed and is languishing in storage somewhere in Wisconsin.  His younger sister, aka Big Red (haven't ridden her enough to have any other name.  She is bid and she is red so I guess that works). My clothes, and a desk, a dresser and a bed and a lamp are in storage in Wisconsin. I have moved to Texas, and have not been in Wisconsin since September of 2019.   I am now divorced, not my idea, but I did  not fight it.

I still work for Stevens Transport, and still for the most part like my job.   Currently I am in a motel in Albuquerque, NM.  The wonderful new Freightliner I got a few months ago doesn't run properly, and right now the dealership it is at has no idea why.  They have had it since Monday, and did not even look at it until yesterday.  They are giving our Road Rescue a run around, but at least they have looked at it.  Main CPU keeps losing programing, the only way to start the truck is disconnect the battery cables, wait 5 minutes, reconnect and it works.  While parked at night it locks up again.  unfortunately it will also lock out the neutral on the transmission if turned off during the day.  Truck is set to only idle for three minutes, so it will shut down when getting out  to look, or opening the doors at a dock, and then won't start.  Then I have to disconnect batteries and reconnect to get it started. Sometimes the four way flashers work, sometimes they don't.  Along with that the traction control, anti roll back and lane departure switches and units do not work.  This truck only has 20,000 miles on it so it is a warranty issue and the shop it is at does not want to replace the computer in the truck.  If they get it fixed fine, if not I will just limp it back to Dallas and see if I can get a different truck.

Okay that is enough about me.

I have some exciting news

Run For The Wall has not been cancelled again for this year.  I am not going because I cannot afford it. I like everyone that does it. I love the mission, but I just cannot do it this year or next.  After I retire I may be able to.  In 2019 before it cancelled I resigned from my self made job of Central Route Communications team.   I hope the keep doing it but  I doubt seriously that they will.  Current leadership doesn't think what I did was important.  I know it was, but Central Route was the only route doing it.  I will be posting information here as I receive it, and OOIDA is supporting us again this year.  They were pretty happy that the Run is on.   I have no idea of the numbers, but since it has been two years I am betting that there will be a huge turn out this year.

So that is about it for now.  

Except that I plan to start a new blog.  No name for it yet, but it will be about my retirement, and Clyde may be in it.  I plan to give him to my son Luke. Clyde likes Luke and Luke rides very well.  Although Clyde is old, he is far from obsolete, new brakes, new tires, new clutch and all body work repairs done.  Old Clyde is pretty much like new.

I plan to buy a toy hauler trailer and see the country.  That is what the new blog will be about.  Might even try video blogging to.  Never too old to learn new things.

Thanks for reading.

comments are appreciated, suggestions on what you would like to see here, or maybe suggestions for the new blog?

Bounce is out

Wow it is hard to believe that I have not been in here since last year.   The last post I saw dated May 5, 2018.  I thought I posted more than that last year. 

A lot of things have changed for me and good old Clyde this year.   First off he is getting a ride most of the way to California. I trailered him to Ken and Carol Neufeld's home in Arlington Kansas.  So this trip is  going to be from Wasau, Wisconsin to Arlington, KS to Ontario, CA to Arlington VA back to Arlington, KS to Wausai Wisconsin.

We are using our new (it is not new, but it is new to us) motor home.

We will be traveling with the Neufelds, and our Grandson Jake.  It will be a little crowded, and Clyde gets trailered part of the way, but we will have fun.

Today Ken and I and Jake whacked some golf balls around Ken's 9 hole golf course.  Jake is 14 but he really had fun. He even hit the ball better than I did.  Clyde got his oil changed, and some of his electronics updated. Retired the old Garmin Street Pilot that the maps can no longer be updated on, and set it up the new power plug a newer Garmin, and changed the power plug for the SiriusXM Radio.

The bike is ready for the Run, and will be loaded on the trailer in the morning.

Ken will be driving the Coach, and I will be on Clyde, but it has been raining a lot here, and after last years little mud bath we are going to give Clyde a little break.

Well We are on our way to Run For The Wall. 

The plan is to sell the house and retire debt free and live in the motor home.  Will have to do all that next year. 

Many more posts to come.

Bounce

This is the pin for the 30th annual Run for the Wall 

This year is pretty special. It is my 14th Run, and the run has been going for 30 years.  The first year, 1989, there was no internet.  Facebook was not even a gleam in a college students eye, and you could not take your phone out and take a picture.

The amazing thing on that first year (I have asked the founder and this was his answer) was that people did what they said they were going to do.  Gunny had all these riders following him, he knew the route, and people had promised over the phone to support, but he had no idea if they would show up.  One story he told me was about a lady in Colorado who was so happy to see him, and all those riders (about 100 at that point) because she had a lot of food and did not want to see it go to waste.  They had a small freezer full of little cups of ice cream, the freezer was not working, and the riders were eating three and four cups at a time to keep it from going to waste.  Think about it though.  Organizing something like this. Ten days from L.A. to D.C. having an advance team that was almost 2 days ahead of you checking road conditions and possible places to stop.  Most of them camped in those days, and not everywhere they went loved them.  Bikers had a reputation formed in Hollywood, and in 1989 it was not stellar.   They had no Cell phones, the advance team would arrange with a fuel stop or a Truck stop to receive a call and then would call with a number to call back and wait for the pack to show up. Then long distance calls were made and paid for

Think about that for a moment, all of that.  Organizing something like this today is pretty easy. You pick up your cell phone or go to your laptop and email some folks, get on Facebook and post information, then you get responses and you know the thing is going to happen.   But in 1988 and 1989 things were a lot different.  How do you get the word out?   You make a lot of calls, and most of those are long distance calls (nothing today, but in 1989 a pricey proposition.

Then the day comes when you start this first journey, and wow people show up, because they said they would.  Then you start the trip, and people in the towns you plan to stop at show up, they feed you and your group, and tell you to come back.  

The people of Run For the Wall are simply amazing.  Not the riders, we perform the mission, and we number in the hundreds every year, and every year that gets a little larger.   But the people that support us across the country (there are now three routes so we cover a lot more ground) number in the thousands.   That first group of bikers (strike one) were pretty much all veterans (strike two because America in 1989 didn't treat her veterans well) and veterans of the Viet Nam War (Strike 3 because America literally shat on those veterans in 1975), were amazing people too.  They did not know what kind of reception they would get, and it was not always friendly, they did not know what the weather would be like, they did not know where they would sleep, or shower, or eat.  They just knew that they had a mission to perform, and they did it in an outstanding manner.  That first year laid the ground work for the next 29 years.   

Think about this.  When did you see your first POW/MIA flag at a State House, or Court house, or business, or rest area?   It has only been about 20 years that these are proudly displayed.  That part of the mission worked pretty well, because now those flags are flown in all 50 states, I know about 48 of them because I have been there and seen it.   Then think about how America sent soldiers to the Viet Nam War and brought them home.  1 or 2 at a time.  We don't do that anymore, and instead of protesters waiting with signs and bodily fluids, our troops are now  greeted by Patriot Guard, or simply applauded by large groups of people in a spontaneous manner.   In 2005 in Wentzville MO my brother and I met a Marine who may have been about 20 years old.  He was on leave and in civilian attire, but he told us something that is very true.  He said that his commander told his unit that they could proudly wear their uniforms anywhere they wanted to, and that they should thank the Viet Nam veterans for that. You see Viet Nam veterans, and Cold War era Veterans (I am one of those) will not allow anyone to be disrespectful of our troops today, if they try they will be shut down pretty damn fast.   I am a rider on Run for the Wall, I am a Veteran, and I am proud of the accomplishments of that first run, and the 29 follow up runs.   If you could see the America I see every year, you to would be pretty proud of your country.  The media doesn't see it or show it but America is a great place.

gotta go finish packing, Then do a shake down ride to make sure I am ready, I know the bike is.

Bounce

Wow there sure is a lot of dust in here.  I have not been in here for a while.  To any who follow this I am sorry about that, been busy trying to make enough money to afford this years RFTW.  The good news is that I think I have gotten it done.   I plan to ride all the way again this year.  I am a long way from where I was in 2004 when my Brother Bob called me and told me that I needed to do this ride.   He was right by the way, and being his older brother I often hate when he is right.  This time I am glad both that he invited me to do this run, and that I did it.  There are lots of stories about the run, and some of them are about me, but most are about the healing that goes on.  There are pictures every where, and I will be posting loads more of them here because I have finally gotten computer literate enough to do so.  

When I did my first Run in 2005 I started in Limon, Colorado.  My Brother and I met the Run with a few other folks in Lamar, Colorado, and we just fell into line at the fuel stop.  I knew the hand signals and had lots of other information because I was my Brother's FNG that year, and he took good care of me.  A great deal has changed since 2005.  You can no longer just join the pack any where, you have to register online (We take walk ons, but it costs more that way) and can only join at a night stop.  Our registration folks are busy during dinner, and in the morning too.   I miss the old days sometimes, but  having folks registered and informed and at the riders meetings is pretty important.   When people were allowed to just jump in (we called them Day Riders) there were always problems.  We still have problems, but nothing like it was.  Day Riders often had no clue what the hand signals meant, or that we ride in formation, and tight all the way across country.

In addition to being better organized, we have a lot more police escorts today than we did back then.

I remember my first trip through Kansas City, KS and MO in 2005.  The route coordinator missed the exit to I-670.  Not his fault, the road guard (Injun Joe) could not get where he could be seen do to construction, and JR just missed the turn.  Part of the pack, the guys in front mostly, took the turn because the knew the route.  The guys in the back also missed the turn.  The pack exploded, no police protection, and no leadership.   There were about 300 bikes in the pack that year.  70 or so of them were on the right road and picked up the police escort.  The rest of us were pretty much on our own.  My Brother and I had radios, and he got me going.  After about 3 miles of fast riding (I refuse to say how fast, but my speedometer goes to 140 and although not pegged it was close) I decided that JR was in front of us, I could hear him talking trying to communicate with the rest of the pack.  All he had was the 5 bike missing man formation and a few road guards in sight.  I got Bob to slow down to about 10 or so over the limit, and very shortly bikes started catching and passing us, and then all of a sudden bikes started forming on my Brother and I.   Pretty soon the entire pack, the part that did not take the right road was behind us.  I knew that we were on I-70 and that if I could get into the proper lane we could go straight through.  I had driven my truck through there many times.  Seems I was the only one who knew that 1 JR was still in front of us, and 2 that we were going to catch him.  after about 10 miles I was close enough for JR to hear my radio.  I do not remember his exact words, but it may have been "Hello, come in. Is there anyone from the Run behind me?"   I clearly remember replying "yes sir! most of the pack is formed up and we are catching you".  He responded with his speed and mile marker  and we caught him.  In retrospect, it was a good thing that all the cops were on I-670, cause a lot of us could have gotten speeding and even reckless driving citations that day.  When we got to Wentzville, MO one of the guys that caught us (he actually flew past us and then slowed down to form up behind us) came up to me and told me that he was really glad that he caught me and Bob.  I asked him why, and he said, that he knew that I had a radio, and figured I would be talking to JR.  He also said that he had ridden beside me the day before, and that I was pretty steady.   That made me feel really good, because when it comes to Run standards, I am a novice rider.   I ride very little other than the Run.  In fact an All The Way trip is between 6500 and 7000 miles.  I have participated in this run in one way or another every year since 2005.  This will be my 14th year.  Clyde was new in 2005 and has a little over 70,000 miles on him.  Do the math, I do not ride much.  When I ride with folks that have not done RFTW I tend to scare them, because I want to be right behind the guy in front of me and right next to the guy next to me.  Normal riders do not ride this way, they do not consider it safe.  They  have never ridden with over 600 other bikes in rush hour traffic in Charlottsville, WV, or into the middle of the Mall in Washington D.C. with over 1000 bikes with no police escort, I have and believe me there is safety in numbers, and protect your buddy is a good rule.

So More to come in the next few weeks.  If you have questions comment, if you like or dislike something leave a comment.   I moderate the comments because kids read this stuff too, but all comments will be posted here (please remember there are children in the audience.  I will redact any and all bad words, but all comments will be posted.

Dave Talley,

Aka Bounce the truck whisperer.

(there is a story in that name too, and I will relay it this year)