Daniel Slocum's Blog

RFTW Day 3: Getting the full RFTW experience

Posted on May 20, 2016 by Daniel Slocum

Today was supposed to be a glorious ride through New Mexico from Gallup to Eagle Nest with a stop at the nearby Angel Fire Vietnam Memorial. Dad experienced all of this as planned, I did not. Instead, I got to experience something called “tapping out”. Tapping out is two left hand taps on your helmet, then you move off to the side of the road. If you don’t need help, but simply needed a break, were drowsy, or stopped for some reason other than a mechanical issue, you just hang out till the rest of the pack moves on, you take care of business and fall in behind the chase vehicles till we all get to the next stop.

I tapped out today. I didn’t want to but it was necessary. On the 2nd leg of our trip, I started having some issues with the bike. I experienced difficulty shifting the transmission between gears. When we stopped for lunch, I’d intended to look at it, but forgot to do so. Part way into the 3rd and last leg of the day, I chose to tap out and get the bike trailored for the remainder of the trip instead of endangering those around me. To get the chase vehicle’s attention, we are supposed to wave and jump up and down, do whatever it takes to be noticed and get help.

Because of this circumstance I didn’t really participate much in the rest of the day except for the fine meal put on by the Village of Eagle Nest. They were so very generous. There is more to say about them, the massive cake which was made special for the event and the free 5 min. massages being offered to all of us, but it will have to wait. I need to hit the rack. Tomorrow, Dad and I will leave ahead of the pack and limp the bike to a Honda dealership in Pueblo, CO for assistance. No matter the outcome here, I am finishing what we’ve started. I’ll leave the bike and rent a car to DC and pick it up on the way back if necessary, though I hope it won’t come to that. Thanks to all of you for your support. It’s needed more than ever right now.

For lots of pictures, check out the link I gave all of you yesterday. Jean is doing a great job of snapping shots as we ride.

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RFTW Day 2: Not enough words.

Posted on May 19, 2016 by Daniel Slocum

Today we rolled out of Williams AZ bound for Gallup NM. The scenery was magnificent and the people I met were more so. From our hosts in Holbrook to the First Nations people who honored us greatly in Gallup. I can’t stress enough how incredibly difficult it is to put the things we are experiencing into words.

It’s absolutely breathtaking, yes literally breathtaking to be traveling in the middle of the desert with nothing visible for miles but freeway, sage, and dirt, to see standing at attention, a lone solitary person holding a flag and saluting. Sometimes that one individual is 20 or 3o standing on an overpass. It’s sometimes a farmer with his flag in the middle of a field. Folks, our country is not dead. Contrary to the cacophony of inputs we experience daily, which are trying to communicate misrepresentations for their own gain, our nation is not dead. For every one of these islands of patriotism I pass, I say a pray of thanks, and a prayer of multiplication. We need our country to stay strong. We need more of these heros.

Our entry into New Mexico and Gallup was amazing. The NM State Police met us at the border and wow it was an orchestra of movement. I was riding as the Missing Man Escort so my position in the pack of 300 some odd motorcycles was 3rd. Yup, way up at the front, so I had a great view as about a dozen motorcycle officers coming from the opposite direction on the freeway took off across the median. This was not your ordinary paved, or grassy median, it was a good 50 yards wide, down a steep embankment and not paved. Essentially, it was natural NM desert. I couldn’t believe any sane person would ride a motorcycle through it. My mind was blown.

When we entered Gallup for the parade through town my mission as Missing Man Escort started in earnest. We rolled 10 miles through Gallup, nearly all of which was lined with bystanders eagerly waving, saluting or standing at attention. I challenge any of you to ride through that and not get choked up. It’s impossible. US Army, SSG Jason Reeves, KIA, Afghanistan, you have now received the Welcome Home parade you should have gotten. Thank you for your sacrifice. You are not forgotten.

After we were all parked, the Navajo Nation and representatives from some other First Nations People gave us a ceremony that was very special. They blessed us with dances, and had a Flag Ceremony. They sang several songs and First Grandfather, and Grandmother from each were present. A group of Navajo Veterans rendered a 21 Gun Salute and played Taps in honor of our POW/MIA/KIA Brothers and Sisters. Having spent a little time with our friends, Chief Ben and Denise Charles, at the Lummi Nation in Washington I know just how special this was. I hope the others in our group understand the significance of being honored with a Warrior’s song by these amazing people.

The final moment of the day came as we were gassing up our bikes for tomorrow. Dad and I were parked side by side at the pump sharing the hose when a Native American woman approached us asking for gas money. Since I’m on a mission of praying for healing as we cross this great nation, I gave her some money but under the condition that I be allowed to pray a blessing over her. It was so sweet to have her take my hands and see her bow her head as I asked God to bless her People with provision and to bring healing to her and her family. She was moved by the gift and the prayer and gave each of us a big hug and a huge smile which is still painted clearly in my mind’s eye. It’s a great scene to go to bed with. I wonder what amazing opportunity God is going to present to us tomorrow.

Posted in General | Tagged RFTW, Run For The Wall | 5 Comments

RFTW Day 1: Guest post by Duane

Posted on May 19, 2016 by Daniel Slocum

We are now in Gallup, N.M. Yesterday was Day 5 for 2 guys on 2 bikes over 22 days. It was also Day 1 of the Run For The Wall. We rode over 400 miles and were hosted until late, so there simply was no time to post anything. As it was, we had about seven hours sleep, more or less, mostly less. Our first actual leg was from Ontario to Barstow. As our Platoon leader, “Tanker”, would say, “It was a little Jinky.” There was a lot of speeding up and then braking, speeding up and then braking. I think you can get the picture. How you quickly gas up 300 bikes is something to behold. They never shut the pumps off and have two bikes side by side during the whole process. On the second leg things were much smoother, but I had to “tap out” to fix my luggage. Gusty winds added to our speed, made my reflective band come off and vanish in the Mojave. Then the rain cover tried to escape. I fixed everything and then, all by myself, raced after the pack. I caught up just as they were pulling off for fuel at Ludlow, CA.

They rest of the day was fine. Except, of course, we were crossing the Mojave. It was HOT. We tried to drink enough, but it was still hot. Lunch was provided for us at Needles where

We’ve seen scenes like this all along our route. It’s amazing. Image courtesy of “Mama G”

we experienced an unusually cool day for them–91 degrees. They fed us very well and entertained us with the local high school band and the Indian Marching Band from Fort Mojave. They happen to be the oldest Indian marching band in the U.S. of A. They were founded in 1906. It did cool off some by the time we reached Kingman, Arizona. From there to Williams, our overnight stop. I was privileged to be the Missing Man Escort. Every leg of this trip someone rides as escort for the “missing man.” POWs and MIAs are the main reason for this run in the first place, so on each leg someone rides in the leading group as escort for one of our soldiers who is gone. I rode for Thomas Duane Utter, 2nd Lt, US Army. He was a buddy of Chuck Dalrymple, a friend from Mt. View Church of the Nazarene.

I would like to tell you what that was like, but it isn’t easy. The escort is charged with

Talking with Tom “Bones” Pogue, the Missing Man Coordinator

riding at attention for the entire leg. I was told not to wave at anyone, make any signals, or lift my feet from the footpegs. It was like being one of the guards outside of Buckingham Palace. Many thoughts went through my mind as I rode. I was thinking of Andy Anderson, a Navy buddy who died in a car rollover. I was thinking of the thousands of young men who never came back from so many conflicts. When we reached Williams, the entire town had turned out to cheer us. Then I saw several men standing at attention and saluting as we went by. Before we reached the end of the parade, it was “raining’ inside my helmet. My eyes were burning and I could hardly see the lead rider. I was truly hoping I wouldn’t run into him when I was trying to clear my sight. It was an awesome experience. I was honored greatly to be the escort for Lt. Utter. If he is in heaven looking down on us, He got a “Welcome Home” from Williams, Arizona, but I hope he had an even bigger “Welcome Home” from our Lord.

All ready to depart.

P.S. from Daniel. I met a really great couple today; Jean and Larry. Jean is also doing a blog. Since she’s riding as a passenger, she has the luxury of taking more photos than either of us. I’m also posting from a device that isn’t very conducive to image downloads/editing. So, I’d like to provide you all a link to her blog. There are lots of pictures from yesterday’s Day 1 and I suspect, there will be a post up later tonight from today. RUN FOR THE WALL Jean and Larry

Posted in General | Tagged Mama G, motorcycles, RFTW, Run For The Wall | 4 Comments

RFTW Day 1: Please Stand By

Posted on May 18, 2016 by Daniel Slocum

Good day loved ones. It’s been a crazy long day. Fairly sure it’s the longest of the trip. We are bushed. Tomorrow is a good piece shorter. Dad will guest blog his thoughts on today’s activities and I’ll write something about tomorrow’s adventures.

G’night.

Posted in General | Tagged motorcycles, RFTW, Run For The Wall | 5 Comments

All ready to go!

Posted on May 17, 2016 by Daniel Slocum

Tomorrow is the big day. Day 1 of The Run For The Wall.

God has been with us every step of the way so far and I don’t anticipate that changing at all. Dad’s bike was not operational on Friday. We drove it down on Saturday and a local dealership completed repairs today. Gunney was a Tanker, our Platoon Leader is a Tanker. We’ve had lots of little details that can’t be explained except through Favor and Divine Orchestration. This mission is ordained, blessed and more than just a trip to DC. It’s a mission of healing for this Nation. Everywhere we go, we change the atmosphere and everywhere we go we expect miracles to be the norm.

We visited Riverside National Cemetery today as a prelude. This prelude was not inconsequential however. RNC has on average 35 interments each day and sometimes has as many as 85. RNC is home to the National Medal of Honor memorial and the National POW/MIA memorial. The Sculptor of the POW/MIA Memorial was on hand to answer questions which was incredible. As a group, we retired the POW/MIA flag and presented the honor of carrying it to The Wall to a really cool participant. Edwin is a Veteran of the South African Defense Forces who saw action in Vietnam. Edwin currently lives in New Zealand. He had his bike shipped to California and is all set to ride the entire Run to Washington D.C.. I find this remarkable. His love of Veterans and the US Allies he served with is so strong that he has encountered great personal expense to participate in the Run For The Wall Mission. I took some pictures and video of our trip to RNC but haven’t yet download them. I’ll see about updating this post with them later.

One last cool event, story for the day. I popped into a grocery store to pick up some water bottles and saw a Vietnam Vet sitting in a motorized shopping cart. He asked me when the RFTW was leaving, which started up a great conversation. Marvin Westlund told me of his life after Vietnam and how he’s wished to go to the Wall for some time now. It was an honor to listen to him pour out his emotional story of injury after Nam which has precluded his participation. I asked him if there was anyone whose name appears on the wall that I could capture a rubbing of for him. That’s when the tears came. I now have another mission. Capture a rubbing of a hero named Gary Miller and mail it back to Marvin upon our return. To read the full story, click here.

Posted in General | Tagged motorcycles, RFTW, Run For The Wall | 14 Comments

Arrival!!

Posted on May 16, 2016 by Daniel Slocum

Day 3 of 22.

From Turlock to Ontario. Our route took us down Hwy 99 to Interstate 5. We summited the Grapevine in what felt like subzero weather. Temps weren’t much better in Ontario, but our spirits were warmed by the welcoming smiles and hugs we received at check in.

We quickly learned that life with the Run For The Wall isn’t much different than life in the Military. These folks have planning, logistics, chain of command, and guidelines down to a T. They have waiting in line down too! We got to wait in the same line twice after being sent away to get missing paperwork from a table we’d missed on our way in. It’s familiar in so many ways. I could be wrong but I believe this is by design to make Veterans participating in the Run feel more at home. I think the logistics of the event are where the parallels to the military will end. Never in the military did someone give me a hug and say “Welcome” upon my arrival.

I wasn’t at all sure of how I’d feel when I arrived, so it wasn’t a surprise when emotion overcame me a bit upon meeting some of the folks who’ve I’ve spoken to by phone. These amazing volunteers have extended themselves to make my experience extremely special. For that I am very grateful.

We dropped Dad’s bike at Mountain Motorsports to fix the charging issue. They will look at it tomorrow. A shout out to the staff there for letting me wash my bike and providing the towels for me to dry it.

Once the Run officially starts on Wednesday morning, I’m not sure how much I’ll actually blog. Some days will be very long. I’ll do my best. It’s my goal to keep all of my friends and loved ones up to date on what is happening with us.

Posted in General | Tagged motorcycles, RFTW, Run For The Wall | Leave a comment

Sunshine in the ole’ stomping grounds.

Posted on May 15, 2016 by Daniel Slocum

Today is day 2 of 22 for these 2 guys on our 2 bikes.

Black Butte

Our route saw us leave Medford, Oregon in route to Turlock, CA. This is very familiar territory as I spent my High School days in the Sacramento Valley. As we passed Mt. Shasta City, I could hear distant echoes of the Christmas Classic Basketball Tournament, where a much younger me stood victorious alongside my much taller teammates who carried the load. I was number 11 of 11 men on that team. But, “I was on the team”. Someone had to be number 11 and I’m glad it was me. Those memories, I’ll never forget. I did get to play some, but mostly I had a closer seat to the action and got into all the games for free.

SQUIRREL

It was a great ride through a sun drenched 80 degree Sacramento Valley, into and out of Sacramento and down the San Joaquin Valley into Turlock. Mt. Shasta was a bit shy, hiding behind the remainder of the rain clouds that soaked us the day before. However, it’s neighbor, Black Butte, stood tall in the midday sun.

Flanks of Mt. Shasta

We made a pitstop at Cycle Gear in Redding to replace waterproof gloves that were instead water laden and to grab a bite of lunch nearby. Other than this stop in Redding, we pretty much just kept the throttle down, with only short stops for gas and liquids.

Why are we doing this? This question has a lot of answers, some of which I may offer later on this journey. The first and foremost is to give honor to those who have served in our military. Our brothers who served in Vietnam, never received a hero’s welcome or a parade in their honor. This is that parade. We also ride in memory of those lost in battle, those who served but never returned, now classified as POW or MIA, and those who returned but have gone before us. I’ll introduce you to two of these men in subsequent posts, but for now I’d like to mention one in particular.

GySgt, Thomas A Shirey, USMC. Pops and I have been given the honor of carrying a flag retired from the GySgy Thomas A. Shirey memorial at the Orting, Old Soldier’s Home, in Orting Wa., to Washington DC. Gunney was a true hero, not just during Vietnam, but to the countless Veterans he served afterwards. His devotion to others, was an example to everyone on how to live a selfless life. We’ll take more photos of the flag at various memorials as we travel across the country, but today, we captured a quick one in Galt at one of our gas stops as I wanted to post it here tonight. A cool thing, that would make Gunney proud is that we accidentally captured it underneath the image of another
Marine being honored by the City of Gault. Semper Fi, to the Old Guard, and the new Faithful.

Photography disclaimer. Pretty much everything I’ll post on this blog until I get back home, will be general snapshot documentary photos. The quality won’t be as high as I prefer to post, but I really want to get something out here while the memories are fresh.

Posted in General | Tagged motorcycle, RFTW, Run For The Wall | 1 Comment

2 men, 2 motorcycles, 22 days.

Posted on May 14, 2016 by Daniel Slocum

Pops and I Over the course of the next 22 days, 2 men, Father and Son, will be on a journey which will see them travel via motorcycle, ~8500 miles on a pilgrimage to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (The Wall) in Washington DC. I am one of these men, the son.

For many The Wall is hallowed ground, not in a Biblical way, like Moses’ burning bush, but most definitely spiritual. It was with this reverence in mind, Pops and I embarked on this journey this morning, sent off like Paul and Barnabas on a Missionary journey by dear friends and family.

On our trek, we will navigate the continental United States from North to South, West to East, and back again. From Washington State, to Southern California, where we will join the Run For The Wall for a 10-day mission from CA to DC and then from DC home on our own.

The days leading up to our departure, were full of sunshine, “August weather”, the weatherman said. Alas, all things come to an end and so the sun gave way to drizzle before our departure and the drizzle gave way to rain, and the rain let up only to usher in his good friend Downpour. By the time we’d made it halfway into our journey, I’d had my fill of rain as did one of Pops’ saddle bags, and as did one pair of my gloves. Other than the rain, our only adventure this day, was when Pops abruptly pulled off the freeway and declared “The engine just stopped!”. We left knowing his charging system wasn’t working properly, (repairs planned for tuesday in Ontario) so this was a big concern. Ultimately, it was just a case of operator error. A tip to all of you on behalf of Pops, turn the petcock to “reserve” when the bike starts to sputter.

I intend to take pictures along the way. Today I did not, Downpour is somewhat of a bully to cameras. However, I do have two images to share. One is of us just before heading out, and the other is of my gloves drying out.

Thank you to everyone who is praying for us 2 men on our 2 bikes over the course of these 22 days. There is no way we’d make it without you.

Posted in General | Tagged Motrocycle, RFTW, Run For The Wall | Leave a comment

Sunset Cliffs

Posted on February 20, 2016 by Daniel Slocum

There is a special place in a special city called Sunset Cliffs. These cliffs are adjacent to the college in San Diego where I met my wife, thus the special city part. San Diego is a remarkable city of amazing beauty. I experienced some of my best years there, soaking in the sun, somewhat soaking in my education, and certainly soaking in it’s splendor.

From Balboa Park’s architecture and museums, to the Coronado Hotel, sun drenched beaches and ultimately the many sunsets uniquely painted against the Pacific Ocean’s sky every night by a Divine Creator. Very few cities in North America can match San Diego.

I was recently on a business trip and had the opportunity to once again view the sunset at the aptly named Sunset Cliffs. My camera hardly does this one justice, though I hope you find it as remarkable as I did.

Sunset Cliffs, San Diego. January 2016. © Daniel W. Slocum

Posted in Photography | Tagged pacific ocean, san diego, sunset, sunset cliffs | 1 Comment

Washington State Lighthouses

Posted on January 4, 2016 by Daniel Slocum

Washington State has about 25 Lighthouses. Of those, I’ve visited just 5. I can’t seem to locate the images I took of the Dofflemeyer Point Light, so you get to see just 4 of those 5. Most recently, I visited two of these lights. My sister was up for the 2016 New Year so we closed out 2015 with a road trip to Ilwaco, WA to see both the Cape Disappointment and the North Head lights.

Cape Disappointment and North Head Lights were shot with a Canon 40D in December of 2015. Gray’s Harbor light and related images were shot with an iPhone 5s in June of 2015 and the New Dungeness Light was shot with a Fuji FinePix point and shoot in 2005.