Today has been a great day of rest. With no mission to Riverside National Cemetary, we had no reason to set an alarm. I let Crysten sleep away 5 days of groggy and brought breakfast up to the room. She enjoyed hanging out while I ran an errand with Dan and napped.
Dan Koster, whom I’ve mentioned in my previous blog entry, lost a small radiator cover somewhere on the road between Olympia and our time on the Oregon coast. We stopped at several Harley-Davidson dealers trying to source a replacement. Ultimately, we called ahead and had one awaiting our arrival here in Ontario. Dan and I rode out to Quaid Harley-Davidson about 20 minutes from our hotel so he could pick up and install the part. While there, I asked the service department what it would cost to have them wash my bike. The response was amazing… nothing! What a great way to support a veteran on a mission to Washington DC. Dan’s bike fixed and my bike clean, we returned to Ontario where I grabbed lunch at In-N-Out for myself and Crysten.
After sleeping away the afternoon, I had the pleasure of joining a lifelong friend and his family for dinner at The Hat. The Hat has become a bit of a “night before departure” tradition for me. In 2016 my dad and I enjoyed The Hat before our next morning’s departure. In 2018 I did the same and now in 2021, Crysten and I joined friends for dinner. It was great reconnecting with a lifelong friend, Don Nickles, and hearing how God is blessing his family. I’ve known Don since we were toddlers and have done a lot of life with him. We had a few belly laughs telling stories of the dumb things we did in college and of course we ate dipped pastrami sandwiches. Sadly we missed getting a picture with his wife Jayne, but we did get one with his daughter Cassie.
Tomorrow we depart for Washington DC. Our route and a few photos with the friends are below.
