Colorado, USA
What a blast! Tim decided to take 11-11-11 off from work. A few days ago Charley Barnes of Journey 4 Justice broadcast on the radio and social networking sites they were looking for riders in the area to join J4J riders in the Veterans Day Parade in Loveland, CO. So, we accepted the invitation and I spent last evening decorating the ride parade-style. We started out in full leathers but the sun was shining and breakfast at Fatso's Diner in Loveland was just what we needed to shake the early morning chill off. We then rode over to the staging area which was - in three words - chaos on wheels. Bikes and trailers and a huge assortment of military vehicles were parked helter-skelter over several blocks. We parked as best we could and eventually hooked up with Charley and the rest of the J4J crew.
We spent some time strolling through the bikes and military vehicles and socializing with Veterans including the WWII Veteran riding on J4J's float/trailer. By the time we lined up (if that's what you want to call it - ha!) for the parade it was warm enough to ditch the leathers. What a great experience! We rounded a corner from the staging area to see the streets lined with veterans, patriots, parade-lovers and what appeared to be every school child in the Loveland area, most of them waving flags and cheering at the top of their freedom-loving lungs. The parade moved rather slowly and it was more a walk 'em and rev 'em parade so before we reached the end of the route we were smelling hot Harleys...
After the parade we joined the J4J crew for lunch at The Village Inn not far from the park where the parade ended. They welcomed us into their ranks and we spent just over an hour laughing and talking and munching.
We were reluctant to call it a day and rode off from the restaurant in the direction opposite from home. We rode as far south as High Country Harley-Davidson where we stopped for a stretch and a warm up with some thermos coffee. Clouds and chilly temps finally forced us to turn The Ride north toward home. By the time we rode in, it was cold. We are not complaining though - it is not often we get a whole day in on the Harley in northern Colorado in November.
Here is a slide show of today's fun (72 photos):
THANK YOU VETERANS!
Journey 4 Justice is a great organization and the people we met today are a great bunch of bikers. We recommend you check them out and if you are so inclined - join a team and ride with them to Topeka for an exercise in free speech and a reckoning of justice, biker-style.
J4J Mission Statement:
1.To honor our fallen military men and women by exercising our right of free speech and displaying the American & State flags in all their glory.
2.To field teams that will travel to Topeka, Kansas to honor and defend the city by countering the vile and foul rhetoric from local hate groups.
3.To honor any and all people targeted by “hate groups” including, but not limited to the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas.
4.To respectfully obey all State and Federal laws in accordance with the 1st Amendment.
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