c'est fini.....THE RALLY

After twelve states, six presidential museums, twenty five days and 4560.7 miles we were bound and determined to get "good seats" at the rally...... so we slept from only midnight to 2 a.m. and headed down to the mall, spread our blanket amongst the sleeping patriots, and waited. Dan and our friend, Eric, took a walk up to the steps of the Lincoln memorial to view the sunrise (which was pretty anti-climatic as there was a low cloud ceiling at that point and the day just gradually grew lighter....no stunning sun bursts).
Suffice it to say that it was an amazing event and there were MORE than just a few tens of thousands of people. The crowd was bigger than the 9-12 rally that we attended last year. Here is a little snippet of the rally.....

Day 23-24 Arriving DC

Montecello vs Mt Vernon:

Jefferson vs Washington.......well, as I said, I really like TJ's house. Very cool design with underground passage (all the support rooms were underground....the stable, the ice house, the house servants quarters, the wine storage, beer storage, kitchen with the line of burners and the clockwork mechanism with weights and pulleys that turns the rotisserie), the inside shudders that come out of the window frameworks, the bedroom with the canopy bed next to his writing desk with the windows overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains, the entrance with the museum-like quality of his keepsakes from Lewis & Clark (as well as other artifacts from around the new country)

GW, on the other hand is situated on the bluff above the Potomac River and therefore has access to cool breezes and FISH! He has grand sloping meadows, vineyards, orchards, and the coolest 16 sided barn. He has a grist mill AND a distillery (and don't think Dan didn't take detailed photos of THAT for recreation in our someday-Montana-ranch), and even though we were too hot and tired to stand in the hour long line to tour his house..........we both picked Mt. Vernon as a place to live.

The day we went to Mt. Vernon was our last day on the road and we needed to get into town in a timely manner to meet the truck and say good-bye to the Victory and the Triumph that had so faithfully transported us across the country. The first hour of our ride out of Portland and the last hour of our ride into Washington, D.C. were the most stressful of the whole journey. (just another reason we are trying to move out of Portland and to Montana where the pace is slower)

Just as the truck pulled away with the bikes, our daughter arrived in the cab from the airport. Our son missed his flight from Dallas, but did join us later in the evening wearing his new cowboy hat. Glenn said "bring your kids" and although they are not "kids" anymore (21 and 22 years old), I am so glad they came to hear Glenn's message and see that there are indeed conservative people out there from their generation and they can go back and spread the word to their peers.......the country needs to be "restored" not "transformed."

reflections

1. Boiled peanuts are icky.
2. When you take the back roads, you can go for DAYS without seeing a Starbucks.
3. Lightening bugs should be on the endangered species list.
4. The Blue Ridge Parkway should be charging a "lift ticket" for all the "runs."
5. There is far too much corn going un-harvested.
6. The Indian Reservations need more "stimulus" money to repair their roads!
7. There are a lot of people flying American flags in their yards/on their porches, but it would make me happy to see more.
8. Rain hurts when it hits you in the eyeballs at 45mph.
9. Des Moines, Iowa is my pick for "medium sized" clean and wholesome city. (awesome fair, too!)
10. DuBois, Wyo is my pick for "small" city.
11. When you spend much time in the south, your inner voice starts talking to you with a drawl.
12. You get random travel advice from friendly folks at EVERY gas station. ( it's good to meet the local Rick Steves out there)
13. The restaurants inside of state and national parks serve very bad food. (Acadia Park in Maine is the exception...POPOVERS!)
14. Disappointed in the number of people that said, "the what rally?" Perhaps America is not as awake as I hoped.
15. It had been about 20 years since I had been bitten by chiggers, and I hope I go another 20 before encountering them again.
16. Dan says he doesn't feel the need to go home cuz when I am with him, he IS home. (isn't that a sweet reflection)
17. Never wet down your Harley "air conditioning vest" and then decide to do a cave tour! BRRRRRR.
18. If Thomas Jefferson were alive today, I'd hire him as my architect. (loved Monticello!)
19. It isn't possible to cross the U.S. in August without stopping at least once at a Dairy Queen.
20. People are generally extremely nice, especially if you smile at them and ask them how their day is going.

Day 19-20-21

We've been busy on the carnival rides.....After the tail of the dragon, we rode the Diamondback at Little Switzerland, and the Snake at Shady Valley. And those are just the sections with names. After the Diamondback (about a 15 mile loop), here's what Dan said, "We got screwed! We should have done it the opposite direction! Let's do it again!" so we turned around and did it backwards. And then he wanted to do it AGAIN! But I was having indigestion from over-eating at the wonderful little restaurant up in Little Switzerland so we stopped at 2 "runs" and got back on the Blue Ridge Parkway.....which is also a great rolling, twisting road.

Here are some photos of twisty roads, rainy rides (only one in three weeks so who can complain?), and fireside picnics.

Day 18, Saturday's ride

Today we saw the world's largest 10 Commandments (that little pink dot in the middle of the archeway is me)..... right before we started the climb up into the mountains and rode along the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was a lot like riding the tail of the dragon, but with the curves spaced out a bit more.

There is a reason they are called the Smokey Mts. There wouldn't be any more smoke if they'd been on fire! But not on fire......drenched in humidity! The temperature was in the 80's but the wind-chill factor as we rode at 5000-6000 ft altitude was about 68 (we actually used our grip heaters). We pulled into Black Mountain, NC as the sun went down and were told that it had rained here all day. We didn't ride through ANY rain! YAY!
Also, included in these photos: the dam that Harrison Ford jumped off (ok, maybe it was a stuntman.....or just a dummy) in the movie "The Fugitive." Also, a photo of a store we stopped in because we had been passing signs that read "boiled peanuts" and it was making Dan hungry. We bought some peach-brandy jelly.
all for now......

day 17: Tail of the Dragon

I love this little motorcycle inn. It is called Chetohala Motorcycle Resort and it is 4.4 miles outside of Tellico Plains, TN. Two guys run the place, Alix and Buck. It is like being home. We raid their refrigerator (we have a tab!), and use their internet, and share beers, and Alix cooked steaks for us last night. They told us of this little store a mile from here where Billie cooks the best breakfasts. It looks like a run-down gas station and general store (well, in fact it is), and inside you will find the kindest, sweetest, Christian folks and three small tables in the back. If you don't finish your omelet Billie gives you hard time (Dan did of course) and when I told her it was the best oatmeal I had ever had she said, "honey, I won't even tell you what I put in there......well, ok, I will....I use a half stick of butter with brown sugar to soften the raisins first!" Breakfast costs about $2.50 a person. She won't raise her prices because "then people can't afford to eat here!" She pointed to her daughters and husband and said, "they won't let me have no money cuz I just give it all away!" In came big Dave, a local mountain guy, who as Billie said "he's special....always has been." He was wearing a pair of overalls and had a new pair in his hands (that Billie had given him for his birthday) and he asked her if she could hem them up a few inches. Of course, she will oblige. What wonderful people we have met. Today they will be at the Murphy, NC flea market selling the t-shirts that they were printing in the store there while we ate breakfast. When we leave here in an hour or so, we will drive through there and I will warn you all, you may be getting a NC t-shirt for Christmas! I have to buy some because I just loved Billie and her family.
We spent yesterday riding "the tail of the dragon." 318 curves in 11 miles. We did it THREE times, it was SO FUN! It was like Skyline Blvd x 1000! I will add a video here, but warn you that nausea may occur from watching this......

Day 14-15-16

Tuesday-Wed-TH:

At least the states get smaller the further east we go so we are clicking off the states faster. We have now made it to Tennessee and we found a motorcycle inn. Perhaps I will get some photos of it to add later. (It is late and we are in a little cabin with only one outlet....but at least there is internet!)

We did a tour of Mammoth Cave this morning (in Kentucky) and that was very cool!

But the biggest problem right now is.......CHIGGERS! OMG, I had forgotten those evil little pests. (if you don't know what those are, google it....but beware, it is NOT for those with a weak stomach) They must have gotten on me at the campground in Indiana.

Tomorrow we are doing some fabulous and famous motorcycle roads in the smokey mountains. Probably back here to the same inn tomorrow night.

to bed now YAWN

Day 13 Monday-Deep thoughts and honorable mentions

Deep thoughts:
Why is it called America's bread basket when all we have seen for three days is corn, corn, corn, corn, soy beans, corn, corn, corn, corn, corn?
It should be called America's tortilla basket.

honorable mentions:
1. In the town of Treynor, Iowa there is a beautiful tribute to our veterans right there on hwy 92. (see photos) Here is a quote from the bronze:
THE POWER OF ONES WORDS LIE ON THE BALANCE OF THE SCALES OF HONESTY. SOME WORDS ARE HEAVY WITH DISHONOR AND HOLD THE POWER OF LEAD. THEY MAKE THINGS SINK. SOME WORDS OF WISDOM ARE NEVER SPOKEN AND THEREFORE BECOME WEIGHTLESS. THE MOST POWERFUL WORDS ARE SPOKEN WITH HONOR AND CHANGE THE WORLD FOR THE GOOD.

2. There was a booth in Sturgis that was selling hats and taking contributions for AmericanSnipers.org
Check out their web site and mission statement. Good guys!

Day 12- The Freedom Rock

It's funny how things work out.... If the bridge hadn't been out on hwy 92 we wouldn't have had to take the detour. And then we wouldn't have had to go through Anita, Iowa. And then we wouldn't have seen the sign on the biker bar that said, "bring your asses on in." And then we wouldn't have met the bartender at Huffy's Mule Barn who told us about the Freedom Rock. And we would have missed it.....and that would have been a shame because it was a sight to see.

Take the Greenville, Iowa exit off of hwy 80 and go south about 1 mile. Ray (Bubba) Sorensen II paints the rock with a different scene every year to honor our veterans.

Day 11, Saturday-- Nebraska crop report

CORN
coming soon to a table near you (it's as high as an elephant's eye!)

Day 10 Friday

The most exciting thing happened today. It happened back home in Portland. Our daughter, Jensen, finished her training and passed her FAA exam to become a private pilot! We are SO PROUD!


honorable mention:
We were stuck in road construction in the middle of nowhere on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 100 degree heat. Just Dan and me and the friendly flagger lady, a Lakota Indian. She said it would be a 20 minute wait. Up behind us pulled a truck, with a man a woman and five kids under 10. They were towing a trailer with four horses and headed to a rodeo. The man, also a Lakota, was the hero of the day! He hopped out of his truck in the blink of an eye and pulled cold sodas out of a cooler for me and Dan and the flagger lady. What a sweetheart! The kids were so interested in our motorcycles and I was so interested in their horses. We had fun in the heat for 20 minutes!

Oh, and I also need to mention....for those of you who are appalled at the fact that Dan holds the video camera up while riding on his bike at 60mph....you will be happy to hear that while in Sturgis, we were approached by two fellows who were selling sun glasses with built in video camera! How cool is that?? Tomorrow I will try to download some of his video (although tomorrow we go through Omaha and I don't know how much scenery there will be)

day 9 Thursday

The Sturgis motorcycle rally is, well, sort of the antithesis of the "Honor Rally Ride."
I don't mean to besmirch motorcyclists, after all I am one......although, I also have to add here that I really felt like an impostor for the last day. (did they notice the lack of tattoos? that I was actually wearing a bra? the way my bike wobbled as I clutched and braked my way through miles of bumper to bumper/stop and go traffic? the fact that I ordered coffee at 9 in the morning instead of a bloody Mary? that Dan had to help me back my Victory into a tight parking spot between the Harley and the....Harley? that I was the ONLY one who was wearing a helmet in 100 degree heat? that I begged Dan to leave the Motley Crew concert after just ONE song .....and is that really a SONG? is it really MUSIC??) These are just questions I pose to the universe.
Now when you get one of these "Sturgis bikers" alone to have a conversation, they turn out to be very God-fearing, gun toting, constitution lovin', conservative Americans........BUT, DUDE, get a haircut! And, SWEETIE, does your mother know you are wearing THAT??? (ok, I am just being mean now)

As we approached South Dakota from Fort Robinson State Park we noticed that the motorcyclists began to get very rude. You see, there is a motorcyclist "secret" hand wave (you drop your left hand off the clutch in "salute" to the on coming cyclist in a wave of camaraderie. Sort of a way to say "stay safe out there, buddy.") The further we got into South Dakota the less and less the wave was returned! I was getting very annoyed, until I realized that I was dropping my hand off the handle bar WAY too frequently! Pretty soon, all we saw were motorcycles, for as far as the road was visible. I was truly amazed. If every one of them had turned around and headed to Washington, D.C. with us what a statement we could make!!

Day 8 Wednesday + honorable mentions

As you can see, there are many days piled together here. It has been a while since we have had any wireless coverage.

We made it to Crawford, NE on Tuesday evening and let me just say that the SE corner of Wyoming AND the NW corner of Nebraska AND the SW corner of South Dakota are very VAST and lonesome. A farmer there could see his dog running away from home for two days!

Dan and I decided that we were TOO close to Sturgis to pass it up. It is the 70th anniversary of the Sturgis, S.D. motorcycle rally and we have never been......SO.......we drove north through the Black Hills. And before I describe the debauchery of the Sturgis rally, let me describe the "honorable" mentions:
First, the Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills:
Crazy Horse was a chief strategist for the Indians in the battle of the Little Big Horn (Custer's Battle). He was a revered elder in the Lakota tribe and was killed, stabbed in the back by a U.S. soldier, while under a flag of truce. Chief Henry Standing Bear wanted the "white man to know that the red man has great heros, also" so they hired a Polish-American named Korezak Ziolkowski to carve a sculpture of Crazy Horse beginning in 1948. He spent his life and his fortune to fulfill that commitment.

The sculpture is only partially finished and the entire project will be much larger than the faces of the presidents at Mt. Rushmore and much bigger even than the Sphinx sculpture in Egypt. And this is what Dan and I really loved......Korezak refused government money several times to the tune of tens of millions of dollars because he believed in free enterprise and knew that if the government funded any part of the monument he would lose control and it may never be completed.
His widow and his 10 children continue the project today with private funds. If you ever are near Rapid City, go see the Crazy Horse monument (oh, yeah, and also that little one.....Mt. Rushmore) (I know, Glenn, that you LOVE George Washington, so I will include a nice little photo of him that I took....profile...as we zipped past Rushmore)
Second, the "traveling" war memorial:
Dan and I had heard about the Buffalo Chip campground in Sturgis so we headed there in the late evening as we made our way (slowly) through the throngs of motorcycle traffic. From a half mile away we could see the GIANT American flag waving in the breeze and there at the entrance to the campground were hundreds of smaller American flags planted in rows and rows. Historical photos and placards were there representing wars from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, as well as names of the victims from 9/11 to the Ft. Hood massacre. Frankly, it was about the only thing "honorable" that we could find in Sturgis. (more on that later)

Day 7 Tuesday

I asked at the coffee shop, "Is it pronounced DU-BOY? or DU BOYS?" And practically everyone there said, in unison, "DUBOYS!!!" So after all these years, I stand corrected.
We keep trying to focus our trip on RESTORING HONOR. And we came across a story in DuBois about a local young man named Chance Phelps. Perhaps you have heard of him. There was a movie made about him with Kevin Bacon called "Taking Chance." He was a US Marine killed in the line of duty in Iraq in 2004 at the age of 20. He was wounded when his convoy came under attack and he chose to stay in the battle using his machine gun to cover the retreat of his comrades. Another hero, like John from Boise.

Although two people in town told us "you can't miss it" when we asked directions to the cemetery, we drove around and around in an effort to pay our respects to this fallen hero. By the time it was noon and we STILL had not found it, we gave up. But if anyone is interested, the Chance Phelps Foundation is having a fund raiser THIS weekend! ON the 20th of August, the Bacon Brothers (Kevin Bacon and his brother, Michael) are playing a concert there in DuBois. The Foundation is trying to raise enough money to purchase a dude ranch there in town for a retreat for military families. What a great way to honor Chance!

Day 6 Monday

Ok, screw the altitude! I could REALLY live in Driggs, Idaho. Or maybe Victor. (just on the west side of the grand Tetons)
Glenn Beck, you picked the perfect spot for the fourth of July! I'll bet it was glorious!

And by the low morning light the farm land from Rexburg to Driggs was coffee-table-book perfect. I wanted to stop every five miles to take a photo of another silo, or barn.

We took a break in Jackson for lunch and to buy me a squish-able cowboy hat, and since my thermometer said it was 100 degrees, we found a faucet to wet down our Harley "air-conditioning vests." (think big diapers that hold lots of water to cool you as you ride)
HOWEVER, ten minutes outside of Jackson we hit a thunderstorm front and the temperature dropped to under 60 degrees! I was COLD! So I pulled off onto the road to Kelly (just a few miles from Sophie & Derek's house!) and took OFF the vest and put on my coat and THEN the HAIL started! I had been flashing my lights at Dan and honking my horn (our blue tooth communication device has failed!) but he didn't see me pull off so he kept on heading north towards Yellowstone! I texted him and said, "I'M GOING TO SOPHIE'S HOUSE....LETS SPEND THE NIGHT WITH THEM!" I was heading to her house, when my phone rang and I pulled over in the Gros Ventre camp ground and Dan said, "where are you ??? I am up in Moose at the gas station!" I hunkered down in the DOWNPOUR and drove up to Moose, where we got some coffee and waited out the storm. In just 20 minutes the sun was shining again and the Grand was picture perfect (as you can see from the photo)

OK, but NOW we took a turn east to DuBois. There was road construction for miles with gravel and dirt and then......it started to hail and pour again.....while we were on the dirt road! There was a couple in front of us on their two motorcycles (headed for Sturgis) and she began to slip and slide in the mud. We were soaked! I managed to keep the wheels in line just fine, but my motorcycle is FILTHY now!

We found a great place to stay in DuBois. The Longhorn Ranch/Campground. And the video here I put together shows views of our last couple of days on the road mixed in with the local Wyoming artist/musician on the main street, DuBois.

day Five Sunday

Nothing exciting happened on our drive through central Idaho except that it was our first time from Stanley down to Ketchum and it was very beautiful. There are a lot of very big expensive homes for sale in the Ketchum/ Sun Valley area (if anyone is in the market). We took an hour break in Sun Valley at our good friend, Sophie's house. I could live there! (except for the altitude!)

We figured we could make it all the way to Rexburg (very secluded road......through the Craters of the Moon State Park) and Dan's GPS said we only had half an hour to go, but he was looking at the "time to go" instead of the "miles to go" and for some reason the GPS did not switch time zones and we ended up traveling an hour past our comfort zone. We were very tired by the time we got to Rexburg so we opted out of camping. Our guardian angel was keeping track of us steering us around all the thunderstorms in the area. I even stopped to put on my rain gear, but it is a given that if I stop to put it on .......we won't need it.

DAY FOUR ON THE ROAD

Saturday found us at the Valley County Fairgrounds in Cascade, Idaho. And what better American August tradition is there, but the country fair!? I was disappointed that as we arrived we could hear the National Anthem playing and I could see a gal on a horse with the flag circling the rodeo grounds. But by the time we got our tickets and our seats, the rodeo was under way. The following is just a quick sampling of a local rodeo......in case you have never been to a rodeo. ME? I can finally say, "This ain't my first rodeo!" and I won't be lying!

Riding to the Rally, day 3: Dan's birthday dinner

There is a German American gentleman who lives across the lake from our cabin, and we invited him over Friday evening for Dan's birthday dinner. His son, John, his only child, was a friend of our kids and used to "play" with them while we vacationed here. John was a year older than our son, and the year he graduated from high school in Boise he joined the Army. John paid the ultimate price when he was just 19 years old. He was the gunner on a vehicle that was guarding a new post in Iraq. A truck that was laden with explosives crashed through the gate and came barreling up the road. John had little time to react, but he quickly took out the driver. Apparently there was some sort of remote detonator, because the truck blew up anyway, instantly killing John and several others. But John was credited with saving over 50 lives that day by stopping the truck where he did. In this video, John's father speaks about immigrating to this country 52 years ago, about medals of honor, and about the way he tries to honor John by giving back to the military.

The journey begins:

People who know us know not to set our place at the dinner table until they see the whites of our eyes.......we just fly by the seat of our pants. That's just the way we roll.
So we blew off the wedding we were supposed to go to on Saturday (sorry, Angela and Jerry, happy nuptials), we will miss our daughter's FAA exam for her private pilot's license, and I was supposed to take my car in to get the oil changed......but Dan decided we should leave Portland a couple of days early to allow for "slop." You know, those unpredictable problems that arise out of no where.....like flat tires, or forest fires that make you detour your planned route.
Wednesday was a beautiful day to begin our journey. We drove past Mt. Hood, through Shaniko, Antelope (where the Rashneeshi's used to hang out), to Fossil, to John Day. (This is a highlighted scenic route in the Harley atlas!) It was rather hot, up to 100 degrees, which I gather we should get used to as we cross the country in August during "global warming."

After spending a rather unrestful night in the tent (think: graveyard shift truckers on the highway 40 yards away, a gassy skunk, crack of dawn roosters, and well, yes, menopausal night sweats) we awoke to a glorious morning only to discover that neither one of us had packed the camp coffee pot. SCHEESH!

Day two was just as hot but we managed to find some shade at a tree along the highway in Unity, Oregon where Dan could join his conference call at 10:00 a.m. Between Unity and Vale there is a lot of empty space and spots where the road lays out ahead like .....well, like I imagine it will do in Nebraska. It was too tempting and so we let the throttle loose and I actually hit 80mph. But the wind didn't get any cooler no matter how fast it blew through my open visor. There was a farm (ranch?) near Pole Creek Reservoir on the south side of hwy 26 and 400 miles later I am STILL kicking myself for not stopping to take a photo! The owner had splurged on a 30 ft flagpole and the hugest American flag that could be seen (was in fact ALL that could be seen) from miles around. And that is what this trip is all about.....I need to stop and "smell the roses" and photo the things that stand out to us as representing honor in this country.
We "landed" on day two at our cabin in Donnelly, Idaho. So two days down and one and a half states under our belts. Today is Dan's birthday so we will stay here for a rest day (huckleberry picking!)
Here is a little (very boring) video of day one. I warned you....it is boring.