Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Finally blue skies in Flagstaff
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Just crossed into Texas
We will be having dinner at Cracker Barrel in Amarillo, TX in about an hour.
We're coming home!
We just had breakfast at Ray's Waffle House, said goodbye to Sally at work, gassed up and we are headed home.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Broken Arrow, OK - Dinner with Ray and Sally
by Pat
We're at the Walmart parking lot right down the street from Ray's house for the night.
We took Ray, Sally and Ronnie out to dinner and had a very nice visit. They gave us a tour of their new home that quite a few of you helped with. It feels good that we all helped put them in a healthy environment.
We're at the Walmart parking lot right down the street from Ray's house for the night.
We took Ray, Sally and Ronnie out to dinner and had a very nice visit. They gave us a tour of their new home that quite a few of you helped with. It feels good that we all helped put them in a healthy environment.
Their new single wide mobile home has vaulted ceilings, large master bedroom with a walk in closet and oversized tub. Ray says he uses this tub everyday. Ronnie's room is on the other end and there's a third room they use for crafts. The living room and kitchen in the center of the mobile home is very spacious.
Also, two years ago, Ray Sr. had given me 5 quilt tops that Carol had set aside for her boys. Rob and I bought fabric to match each quilt for the backing material and with the help of Carol's sister, assembled all the blankets. Ray and Sally use their blanket everyday.
Ray is doing really well. He has a blood draw and a doctors appt coming up. He is in between chemo treatments and has to gain weight. He has an amazing attitude and cherishes life everyday.
Sally has to work early in the morning so we are having breakfast with Ray and Ronnie before we take off.
It was worth the 12 hour drive backtracking to Oklahoma. It was a very good night.
I guess we're in Kansas
by Pat
We are headed south and backtracking a bit to Tulsa Oklahoma to visit Ray. We should be arriving around 4pm.
I was in the end of my second hour driving when I had to pull over to adjust the mirrors. It was noon, Rob was up so we decided to take our lunch break. Rob had asked me if we were in Kansas yet...I said," I don't know...you told me to go 81 South and that's what I have been looking for. I told him I saw a sign that said Minnesota but I ignored it..."
Rob was making his peanut butter and jelly sandwich and he thought he heard a knock. I looked out the window and I did not see anybody. Then there was another knock. There was a state trooper at the passenger window. Rob opened the door and asked him to come in. Rob was getting his patch, pin and chip when he asked for ID. At that time Rob said just to let you know I have a gun in here. The officer asked, " Is it bigger than mine?" They were doing small talk when I looked at his arm patch. So I told Rob, "He is a Kansas State Trooper, so I guess we're in Kansas..."We are headed south and backtracking a bit to Tulsa Oklahoma to visit Ray. We should be arriving around 4pm.
Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota
We finally have internet connection again...
The skies cleared up for us yesterday to have an amazing time. It was more spectacular than we had ever thought.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Saturday, September 18
We are leaving Mt. Prospect, IL after a pancake breakfast in the motorhome. We flew through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana.
another driving day, probably 12 hours..Rob found the candy corn in Walmart yesterday so he is set for his drive.
We have lost track of how much we have paid on tolls...it has been a lot! Hopefully not much more...
another driving day, probably 12 hours..Rob found the candy corn in Walmart yesterday so he is set for his drive.
We have lost track of how much we have paid on tolls...it has been a lot! Hopefully not much more...
Friday, September 17, 2010
Niagra Falls Thursday Sept 16
NEW YORK, NEW YORK!
After a 31 day journey, the Tour Of Duty team arrives in New York, New York! It is so hard for me to express how I feel about making this once in a life time journey - but I'll do my best. There were so many unbelievable memories along the way which thankfully Pat documented on this Blog so I wont repeat them in this entry, but they are memories I'll have for the rest of my life and will share with my grandkids (when they come along).
Many times during this journey, especially early on, time seemed to creep along so slowly I would wonder if I'd ever make it to New York. I would get through the tough days of running in a couple ways - by concentrating on the reason I signed up for this run - which was to raise money and support the family's of the victims of 9-11 and to honor those, civilian and first responders, who lost their lives that day, and I also got through the tough days by thinking of my family and friends who have supported me in this adventure.
As I passed through the half way point of New Orleans, and made it up north for the long haul to Chicago, time started speeding up, and before I knew it, New York was coming up rapidly and on the horizon. Part of me wanted time to slow down again but the other part of me wanted to reach my goal of New York to take a much needed break.
There was a little hiccup at the end of the run in New York. My white team finished running our shift at around midnight on 9-10-10. We drove to New Jersey and planned on getting a couple hours sleep before getting up to meet up with the red group who were running down Manhattan towards the end of the run, on the Brooklyn side of the Brooklyn Bridge. We woke up with what we thought was plenty of time (2:30am) and headed towards Columbus Circle to run the final 6 miles with the red team. Everything was fine, until we were turned around at the Lincoln Tunnel due to the RV having propane which wasn't allowed in the tunnel! Needless to say, we weren't able to meet up with the team at Columbus Circle, but most of the team was able to run in (at least for a short while) to the Brooklyn Marriott, the end of the actual running. Once we regrouped in front of the Marriott, the entire team, and many family members and New York supporters, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge at sunrise in mass (there must have been about 2000 people) and on to Battery Park for a final ceremony - the view from the Brooklyn Bridge was unbelievable.
While in New York, we were treated to many events, including:
The World Trade Center remembrance were FDNY bag pipes played a tribute to the Tour Of Duty runners; Entry into the WTC site where team members paid our respects;
Barbeque at a fire station in Brooklyn;
A private tour of the shorelines of New York on the worlds largest fire boat. This boat "343" is only a few days old and the hull was manufactured from steel/iron from the World Trade Center columns!
A emotional tour of the World Trade Center Tribute Center by the founder, a father of a fire fighter who lost his life on 9-11.
We were also invited to the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street. We had lunch in the "Board Room" and we were allowed on to the NYSE floor for a private tour (I wish I knew what they were up to but very confusing to me!).
We were invited to a New York Mets Game where they beat the Pirates 9-1. I went to the game only to scout the Mets for the Dodgers!
All the above events in New York were exceptional, but the function I enjoyed the most while in New York (and the reason I initially committed to participating in this run) was a presentation at the New York Australian Consulate's Office. It wasn't the accolades given to the runners by the different dignitaries, but it was one of the guest speakers who reminded us all of our mission during the last 31 days. I listened as the guest speaker, Linda M. Giammona, and her father, spoke about how much she and the rest of her group followed our run intensely, and how she was overwhelmed by what we accomplished. She articulated her appreciation and admiration so well that most in the room had tears in their eyes. Linda's brother, a fire fighter, died in the World Trade Center during the attacks of 9-11-01. She called each of the runners up, one at a time, to thank us and to give each a memorial wrist band with her brothers information on it, along with the inscription "All Gave Some, Some Gave All". That presentation erased any of the "bumps" we may have encountered along the way and reconfirmed to me that what we, as a team, accomplished was well worth our individual sacrifices, and made a big difference to the family's of the victims of 9-11.
Many times during this journey, especially early on, time seemed to creep along so slowly I would wonder if I'd ever make it to New York. I would get through the tough days of running in a couple ways - by concentrating on the reason I signed up for this run - which was to raise money and support the family's of the victims of 9-11 and to honor those, civilian and first responders, who lost their lives that day, and I also got through the tough days by thinking of my family and friends who have supported me in this adventure.
As I passed through the half way point of New Orleans, and made it up north for the long haul to Chicago, time started speeding up, and before I knew it, New York was coming up rapidly and on the horizon. Part of me wanted time to slow down again but the other part of me wanted to reach my goal of New York to take a much needed break.
There was a little hiccup at the end of the run in New York. My white team finished running our shift at around midnight on 9-10-10. We drove to New Jersey and planned on getting a couple hours sleep before getting up to meet up with the red group who were running down Manhattan towards the end of the run, on the Brooklyn side of the Brooklyn Bridge. We woke up with what we thought was plenty of time (2:30am) and headed towards Columbus Circle to run the final 6 miles with the red team. Everything was fine, until we were turned around at the Lincoln Tunnel due to the RV having propane which wasn't allowed in the tunnel! Needless to say, we weren't able to meet up with the team at Columbus Circle, but most of the team was able to run in (at least for a short while) to the Brooklyn Marriott, the end of the actual running. Once we regrouped in front of the Marriott, the entire team, and many family members and New York supporters, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge at sunrise in mass (there must have been about 2000 people) and on to Battery Park for a final ceremony - the view from the Brooklyn Bridge was unbelievable.
While in New York, we were treated to many events, including:
The World Trade Center remembrance were FDNY bag pipes played a tribute to the Tour Of Duty runners; Entry into the WTC site where team members paid our respects;
Barbeque at a fire station in Brooklyn;
A private tour of the shorelines of New York on the worlds largest fire boat. This boat "343" is only a few days old and the hull was manufactured from steel/iron from the World Trade Center columns!
A emotional tour of the World Trade Center Tribute Center by the founder, a father of a fire fighter who lost his life on 9-11.
We were also invited to the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street. We had lunch in the "Board Room" and we were allowed on to the NYSE floor for a private tour (I wish I knew what they were up to but very confusing to me!).
We were invited to a New York Mets Game where they beat the Pirates 9-1. I went to the game only to scout the Mets for the Dodgers!
All the above events in New York were exceptional, but the function I enjoyed the most while in New York (and the reason I initially committed to participating in this run) was a presentation at the New York Australian Consulate's Office. It wasn't the accolades given to the runners by the different dignitaries, but it was one of the guest speakers who reminded us all of our mission during the last 31 days. I listened as the guest speaker, Linda M. Giammona, and her father, spoke about how much she and the rest of her group followed our run intensely, and how she was overwhelmed by what we accomplished. She articulated her appreciation and admiration so well that most in the room had tears in their eyes. Linda's brother, a fire fighter, died in the World Trade Center during the attacks of 9-11-01. She called each of the runners up, one at a time, to thank us and to give each a memorial wrist band with her brothers information on it, along with the inscription "All Gave Some, Some Gave All". That presentation erased any of the "bumps" we may have encountered along the way and reconfirmed to me that what we, as a team, accomplished was well worth our individual sacrifices, and made a big difference to the family's of the victims of 9-11.
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| Rob crossing the Brooklyn bridge on 9-11-10 |
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| The 343, largest fire boat in the world |
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Brooklyn bridge from the fire boat
|
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| inside the trading floor...too cool |
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| view fr inside the stock exchange building |
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| Rob and John with New York's finest |
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| Rob at Mets game |
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