The journey so far

We are now at the end of the first week's ride across the US, the question is 'How has it gone?'  Well the answer is that that is has gone well, very well indeed.  The bikers have covered around 500 miles of tough riding and finished the week fit and not so tired that the prospect of carrying on is daunting.  The bikes have stood up to the rigours well and the RV has been great.  We find that having 5 souls in the RV makes it just a tad cosy but just fine. Being able to pull over for a break, food and check out the maps etc is just great.


The country we have travelled through has been fantastic, rugged, beautiful and always chugging. The last two days has seen the bikes cover high miles, a 92 mile day and then a 85 mile day - all helped by a strong tail wind.

To prove the point here are intrepid bikers....Tom, Alvon, Bob

Many readers look forward to a picture of Alvon, our celebrity biker. Well today Alvon gave me a self portrait.

During the week we have met the very best of people, veterans from conflicts during this and the last century,  they have freely given their stories to us and their company has been exceptional.

At the weekend we were hosted by Eunice and Wally Hickerson at Prosser in the Washington Desert. The hospitality that have given us has been very welcome and they have been the most tremendous of hosts.  We would like to than Wally's company, ICF International as acting as corporate sponsors.

During the week we met with someone who wanted to share with us and others via the blog, her experiences of the war in Afghanistan, Hope Gallinger-Long.

Hope met her husband, Riley, while as school (they were best friends), they married and Riley then joined the Navy as a Corpsman, in the UK this would be a Filed Medic.   He was then seconded to the Marine Corps and was posted to Afghanistan. Hope and Riley had been married for just 5 months when he was shot and killed by a sniper on Aug 11, 2011.

This is her story, to view click on the train]gle.

So it has been a memorable and awe-inspiring first week.  Tomorrow we start week 2 as we push East towards Idaho and Montana.

Our continued thanks to all the Washingtonians who have made our 1st week truly memorable by treating us like one of their family.