Two more days with no rain, Wentzville Missouri to Corydon Indiana to Hurricane West Virginia

 

Photo courtesy of National WW II Museum LINK:

Because we met a POW from WW II Battle of the Bulge today, I did a little research on that battle.  I found this telegram, and I have to tell you that this brought back such a flood of memories, I nearly changed my mind about blogging about Run For The Wall.

My Mother worked for Western Union, I used to go to work with her and watch her make up these telegrams.  My Dad worked there, too, for many years, he started with the Teletype and Morse Code, and worked there through computers in the 70's.  He is a World War II Veteran and I'm so proud of him.









NOW FOR MY UPDATE on RFTW Days 7 and 8

Well it happened, I couldn't blog in Wentzville Missouri because we didn't have wi-fi and I barely got time to shower and sleep after doing the Famous Fish Fry in Corydon, IN.  So here I am doing what I hoped I wouldn't do this year - posting for two days riding.
Getting to Wentzville Missouri is always a great ride.  We've gone from Ocean to Desert, from Mountains to Foothills, to PLAINS, snow, hail, and now through the windy state of Kansas, into Missouri.  The highways are surrounded by standing pools of overflowing rivers and streams, the fields smell of recent rain, and road kill is everywhere.  Everything is growing, bushes, trees, they're spreading out all over the sides of the roads, medians, power lines and road signs.  Tree trimming will be a huge industry this year.

http://www.nationalww2museum.org/history/bulge.html

After leaving Wentzville, Missouri, we stopped at the Veterans Hospital in Jefferson Barracks, in St. Louis and the hubby talked with a WW II Veteran who was a POW and at the Battle of the Bulge.  He had the opportunity to pray with him.  The gentleman was in his 90's and noticed I was a lady Chaplain, he was so excited to meet a lady that was a Chaplain, he was a very sweet man.  He loved having prayer.

We talked with several patience and completed our ceremony for that location, and began rolling through Illinois, kind of on a South East track, things continued to get greener, and soon we were in areas that were being mowed.  Now many have their allergies acting up.

One man commented on the Southern Indiana "Hog Farm" odor.  He was nearly sickened by a smell that is very common to us - being from the Midwest.  He's from the Mojave Desert.  I guess there aren't hog farms there.

Odors are definitely a topic of discussion when you're riding a motorcycle.  We had our share of manure and fertilizer spreading wafting our way, but the closer we got to Corydon, the more beautiful the hills became and the sky was perfect, it was close to 84 degrees but cooling, and Overpasses were occupied with Hoosiers waving flags.  Slowing to make the turn into the little town where we would soon have a fish fry, there were families, groups of children, business people all standing at the curb, in backs of trucks, up on hillsides, and all along the sidewalks, out in front of homes and businesses waving flags, clapping, some sitting in lawn chairs, waiting for this parade of nearly 400 bikes to roll through their town.

There was not a dry eye in the pack.

Leaving Corydon this morning we went to the Robley Rex VA Hospital in Louisville, KY.  Then on to the Frankfort, KY Vietnam Veterans Memorial.  At the hospital we talked with a lot of the staff, who need encouragement because of the nature of their jobs.  The hubby was able to spend time with some interns and hear of their needs.  It was a great visit.  I stood and talked with a patient named Jerry who was a Vietnam Veteran.  He really wished he could get on his bike, which was in his garage, and ride with us, but he had health issues that had him hospitalized.  I hope we were an encouragement.

I also spend some time with office employees who asked several questions about the logistics of the Run.