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Beau Wann, Jr.
Hello mine fine waltripines...Thanks Suzy...means a lot to me...Glad I could take part in the event and represent the real heros like Jim Thiessen, who saw action in Italy and other places in WWII...Teddie and Fran...WOW...they sure grow up quick...fine looking lad...I'll swear though, you dont look like grandparents, more like parents...dont know how youve managed to stay so young...keep it up...Yeah it's kinda neat how they celebrate milestones...like you said, cameras must not have been invented way yonder back then...we didnt have a graduation ceremony till HS...well, thats ok, in my case there really wasnt much to celebrate cept just getting the heck out of there...
Most of our trip to ROLLING THUNDER, was rather uneventful, cept for me and the rain...rain gods must a had a great laugh at my expense on that trip...of course, on the return trip, I woulda welcomed some rain it was so hot.
Once we rolled out of Vicksburg, and left ol man river behind us, we rolled across Mississippi, and into Alabama and spent the night in Athens, Ala, where we met up with an ALABAMA STATE TROOPER. We were in good stead with this one. What a nice guy too, all 7 foot 300 pounds of him. Probably the two most respected and known icons of lawr (Massachusetts for law) inforcement, TEXAS RANGERS, and ALABAMA STATE TROOPER.
I cant remember how many times I watched the troopers escort Bear Bryant off the field.
It seemed as if our hotel/motels all had a Cracker Barrel Restaurant in their parking lot. Suited me just fine. Food was better than just edible, and service was good. Although their breakfasts leave a lot to be desired. The 3 Ms, Meatloaf, mashed taters, mac and cheese on the other hand, was first rate. At cracker barrel, you get a meat and 3 sides...most other places just give you two sides...the cheapskates...
From Athens we went straight north...(northern Alabama is just beautiful) through Tennessee, up into Kaintuck, west virginny, virginny and on into Arlington. All went well, until we descended into the VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH...somewhere in West Virginia...I remember the number well...HWY60...LORDAMIGHTY...I didnt know we were in for such a...a...a...WILD RIDE...
Each morning the temp was in the 50's, which translated to the back of a motorcycle at 75, to about 40 degrees, or a facsimile thereof...I woulda froze todeath, if I hadnt packed for the occasion. Three shirts, one long sleeve, one sweat shirt, and my blue jean jacket...
AFter Athens, Al, we spent the night in Moorhead, Kaintuck...home of Moorhead, University...I must interject at this point, our point man Gary, missed the exit...when you miss an exit on Turnpike 64, you cannot turn around for 21 miles...so a 21 mile error translates to a 42 mile mistake...what moron builds a highway, and gets moron taxpayers to pony up the cost of this moron highway, that HAS NO EXITS, OR TURNAROUNDS????? We finally rolled into this town/burg/village, and there is actually a few stores I recognize...Lowes, and Krogers....yeaaaaa......Of course I didnt need Lowes, unless I was gonna build a house....NO thanks...
The motel we stayed in was something along the lines of THE BATES MOTEL...Friends, it was old...I checked in last, and my room was on the backside...I was the only one on the backside...lots of dark forests on the back side....lots o strange noises coming from the dark back side....I started to ride my bike into my room, until I sawr a sign that said DONT...so I didnt....I figured I'd wake up and ol sasquatch woulda been EASY RIDER on my bike...I did have my own Pepsi machine...onliest think, I DONT LIKE PEPSI...This motel was so old, The TV in the room was black and white....thats ok, Gilligans Island was probably a repeat anyway...
The town of Moorhead, is located in the mountains, and when morning rears it's ugly head, we were socked in by fog/clouds, and cold...time to break out the extra shirts...man it was cold and damp...seemed like it was raining on us the whole way...We probably left around 7 AM, and did not see the sun until after noon...What beautiful country...I would have liked to take pictures of scenic overlooks, and histerical markers, but these ol boys I was riding with, were on a mission...GET TO DC...
We crossed into West Virginny, and it mostly looked like Tenn and Kaintuck....That is until we came upon the VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH...I believe I mentioned that earlier didnt I...Cant stress it enough...
We were suppose to stop off at a school in Rannelle, Wva, and eventually we did...I think....here is where my memory of the events that unfolded get kinda fuzzy....either the DEVILS HWY came before Rannelle, or after...I suppose it dosent really matter, but I do like to have my facts straight...
Here is another interjection...I swear I could hear "dueling banjos" all through our ride in the mountains...glad I was with a gang of sorts...
I saw the first sign...you know which one I mean, the amber colored, diamond shape sign with the squiggly little snake in the middle of it saying, S NEXT 7 MILES...OMG...seven miles of S translates to about a year in the twilight zone...there were 180 degree switchbacks, left S and right S and up and down S...then we got to a straight patch of road, and I breathed a sigh of relief...until I sawr the next amber colored diamond shape sign...S NEXT 7 MILES...Now we all know what S is dont we...Sh************************************t...dont mean to get so graphic here, but we dont have these kinda roads in Texas...straight and flat...is where we are at...in the great state of Texas...
all I know was, "I WANTED TO HELL OUT OF THIS VALLEY"...I really wasnt interested in having "deadmans curve" named after me.." Ladies and gentlemen, if you will look out the right side of the bus, you will see, the "beauwan memorial curve"..."the drop is so far, it took him a week to hit bottom...probably starved to death before he hit bottom"...
Finally we get through the devils backbone, or tail of the dragon...more like mouth of the dragon, whilst he is munchin on my butt...You woulda been proud of me though, I kept up with the group...there were only 2 bikes behind me, and two chase cars....one of the passengers in the lead chase car videoed the ride into the valley of death....he said he was going to upload it to YOUTUBE...I havent seen it on you tube, but I watched it that evening on his IPAD/computer. I am the third bike from the truck if you happen to see it. He says it lasted 7 mins, but he lies...had to be a week and a half if it was a minute...He might upload it as ROLLING THUNDER TX 2 VIRGINIA RIDE, or at least I heard someone ask him to do that...
Riding down into that valley, we came upon a small unique town alongside a river...downtown was lined with telephone poles, and each pole had Old Glory on it...the townsfolk were waiting for us with hand held flags, and waving for all they were worth...kids, old folks etc, all turned out....some sitting in lawnchairs and on sides of the hills...it was cool....dont know how many bikers came through this town, but must a been a bunch...by the time we got there, we were about a couple a hundred strong....by the time we got to Arlington, we were about 3 thousand strong...give or take a couple O bikes...when we hit a hill, you couldnt see the beginning or the end of the procession...dont like riding in formation, but this time was cool...
We rolled into Arlington somewhere around noon on Friday, and descended on the Holliday Inn like a plague of locusts...I must say, the hotel staff handled it with ease and class...I requested a room on the ground floor, or as close to it as possible....they gave me the 1st floor...translated into Holliday Innese, that meant the 6th floor....did I miss that in algebra???? I allus thought the 1st floor WAS the ground floor...musta slept through that...as usual...oh well, the room was very large and comfortable AND COLD....YESSSSS!!!!!!
I might interject here, that all the motel/hotels I have stayed in, have no idear how to arrange the furniture in their rooms...I had to move and rearrange things as to the correct positioning of said furniture...well, I couldnt move the things that were bolted to the walls, didnt have my tools, and lots of the furniture was bolted to the wall....Hmmm, I wonder...were they expecting me???? I saw one of the maids, and showed her my room, and told her that this was how the furniture should be...in it's new places...dont know if her look was in AWE of my talents, or a look of terror...she ran down the hall hollering something in whatever language they speak nowdays..."madre de dios" she kept repeating over and over, till she disappeared down the elevator...oh well, some folks just dont cotton to helpin em out...
I couldnt rearrange the bathroom, cause EVERYTHING is attached to the walls...but what I could do, was line up and arrange all my "POSSIBLES" in a neat and orderly fashion....each item equadistance from the next...and so on...I'm a firm believer in ORDER...plus my two rubber ducks that the inn keeper gave to each of us in Staunton, Virginia
Friday night was a candlelight vigil at THE WALL...very moving...saw the names of my friends...I could have sworn I heard them laughing and shouting at me from the cold etched stone...I know I saw their faces somewhere through the tears...and there were tears...hugs from strangers, yet a brother...arm in arm we swayed and prayed...wept and wondered..."why them, why not us"...you dont question God...he has a plan...not clear to us most of the time, but I'm sure it will be... in time...
Saturday we rode down to DC to "THUNDER ALLEY" a vendors heaven along Constitution Ave. You can, and I did, buy patches and pins and food and drink and people watch...and I did...Then we rode to Fort Washington Harley Davidson in Maryland...WILD WILD WILD...they had free food, courtsey of Harley Davidson...barbecue, hotdogs and hamburgers, and Papa Johns pizza and drinks....musta been a zillion people there...why not, FREE FOOD...got my bike serviced, oil change, check plugs etc...Pegasus was right on...the gang left before my bike was finished...I told em to go on, I could find my way back to the hotel...i could find my way back to the hotel...I COULD FIND MY WAY BACK TO THE HOTEL...WRONG...I eventually did, but not before getting lost and traveling through some territory that probably had last seen humans sometime when George Washington was alive...
When I finally made it back, I related my story to the guys, and they were somewhat amused...more like rolling on the floor amused....I told em the number of the highway, 210, and they exclaimed, "why thats in Maryland", to which I added, "why yes, yes it is" ...My sense of direction is second to none...just point me in any direction, and I'll get lost...yessir...good thing I wasnt on the Lewis and Clark expedition....probably woulda wound up in New Jersey...It probably would be a safe bet to say I'm not kin to Daniel Boone...
During our down times, times between events, the gang, now joined by other gangs, would set up lawn chairs right in the entrance and driveway to the Holliday inn, forcing the Airport shuttles and limos to go around em...the guys brought coolers of beer and had fine cigars, and just made themselves right at home...WELL??? thats what you do in Texas, right???? I must commend the hotel staff, they were magnificent...whenever a lawn chair would protrude to far into the driveway, the bellcapt would push it ever so gently so a shuttle could get around it...guy in the chair never knew...they even set up beer coolers in the lobby...we were everywhere...I refrained from partaking of any adult beverage, mainly because it puts me to sleep...real quick...plus I wanted to actually REMEMBER my trip...
Sunday Morning 5 am...Thats when ROLLING THUNDER BEGAN...this is a sound and sight that you have to see and hear to believe...it is actually ROLLING THUNDER, all day...it never stops...Sounds like a jet plane on afterburners...When we got there about 5:30 AM, there were already a few thousand bikes....lots of vendors set up the night before, and also a mile of porta-cans...which as the day progressed, came in handy...well duh...After about 7 hours of steady streams of bikes, 4 parking lots were full, and they were still coming...some 900,000 to one million bikes...OMG...One group that came in, and they were next to us, so thats how I know about this, had a double amputee from Iraq riding with them...they were the NAM KNIGHTS...you can bet they took care of this young man...
I also met the Marine that stands out on the street in DC and holds a salute for 4 or 6 hours....there were two or three of them this year...you can bet we saluted back...
"LITE EM UP...LETS ROLL"...was the command...We left the pentagon right at noon...each person in their private thoughts and prayers...me hoping I didnt run into the guy in front of me...as we crossed the Potomac, people were lined up 2 and 3 deep, waving flags and shouting and smiling and saluting US...woulda been nice 45 years ago...but it was really special this time...I carried with me the names of the fallen friends...the ones that made it back, scarred, but alive...Gary, Burge, Kieth, Richard, Scotty, Lynn P., more names than my little pea brain could remember...but I did try...they were in my heart...
There were a few WWII vets, some in wheelchairs, some with canes...lots of Vietnam vets, Korean vets, Iraq and Afghanistan along the way...they were saluting me, US...I saluted back...lots of youngsters just smiling and waving their flags and carrying signs..."THANK YOU VIETNAM VETS, WE LOVE YOU"...what a sight...I have never felt more humbled and yet proud in my life...all the while, the sound of ROLLING THUNDER, reverberated throughout Washington DC...NEVER STOPPING, OR DIMMING...I could not believe what I was witnessing...if you have never seen it, or heard it, mere discription from me, or watching it on TV, does not do it justice...
This was a once in a lifetime adventure for me...I am so glad I participated in this...seems almost like a dream...I know that I am probably the LEAST of whirld travelers in our class, but, if any of youse youtes want to experience what I so inadequately described, make reservations for Memorial Day weekend, and fly up and experience it...I dont think you will regret it...if you ride a bike, rent one from the Harley place in DC, then head for the Pentagon parking lot...
Once we got through DC, and headed back out on 66 back by the Pentagon, the parking lot that we came out of was still half full with a steady stream of bikes pouring out...3 more parking lots to go...UNBELIEVABLE, JUST ABSOLUTELY UNBELIEVABLE...I am so blessed to have been a part of ROLLING THUNDER...a small part...more of just a witness to history...this was the 25th year of ROLLING THUNDER...Our lead rider, Gary, has been 12 years in a row...and something I didnt know until after the ride through the VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH, was that this was half of the groups first time also...a rookie, just like me...
Only a few of the riders in my group were veterans...the rest were staunch supporters...ROLLING THUNDERTX2 meets down at the VA hospital on Main st, on the 1st Saturday of the month, and after the meeting, go and visit all the vets there, and see if they can do anything for them...these guys put their money where their mouths are...good men all...
Also in the Pentagon parking lot, a coupe of bikers, man and woman, were handing out NEW TESTAMENT bibles...the lady handed one to me, to which I replied..."do you take donations", ( I know these are not free) to which she said no...Now here are two people that are the real deal and right with God...just doing it, because it needs to be done...
Oh, I almost forgot. I checked every motel room I stayed in, and sure nuff, Mr Gideon had been there...started in 1899, and still going strong...every motel room had a Gideon bible...nice to see some things havent changed...
Guess I better sign off for now...if your reading this now, youre probably nodding off, if not plumb asleep...
I'm glad I made the trip...thanks for listening...might get to see yall at Fudds...I hope!!!
your frien and brethern...Olbeauwannkanobiemagoo
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