TOH Update - 3 Visits

Link to my GoFundMe page.

Link to Tour of Honor website.

I took advantage of some decent weather this past weekend to go visit the nearby Washington memorial sites on the Tour of Honor. I was getting a little antsy and needed to get at least 1 site under my belt. Low hanging fruit :)

Saturday's adventure was very close (just down the street in Bremerton) and I was able to time a quick trip around the raindrops. The picture of the memorial makes it look like the sun was out, but you don't get to see the dark clouds moving over the area and sprinkling me with rain!

The Bremerton site was the most interesting of the 3 I visited. The centerpiece of the memorial is twisted steel beams from ground zero in NYC. The walking surface around the beams is used to tell the tragic story of the 4 separate impacts (north tower, south tower, pentagon and Pennsylvania field). The wall behind the memorial is faced with tiles decorated by school children with messages of hope and support. The memorial is well done.

The TOH rally requires each submission to include the memorial, my rally flag and my motorcycle. It takes a bit of creativity to figure out how to capture all 3 together. That's why my submission is a little farther away than I could have been if I had just taken a picture of the memorial itself.

Steel beams from Ground Zero (Bremerton)

Dedication plaque (Bremerton)

Messages of hope and support from kids (Bremerton)

My Bremerton submission.

I had planned a longer ride Sunday to visit Oak Harbor (Whidbey Island) and Darrington sites. I combined the ride with some Big Money Rally bonus visits, too, but my focus was TOH this ride. Planning ahead revealed one of the main highways I had planned to use was closed due to a mud slide with no projected opening date. A detour added about 75 miles to my ride, but it wasn't a long ride mileage-wise so I didn't worry about it too much. Oak Harbor is most easily reached by the Port Townsend ferry. A non-eventful ferry crossing had me at the Oak Harbor site by about 9am. This was another site that required me to think about where to put my bike to make sure it was in the picture. That's why it is parked across the street!

The Oak Harbor memorial is dedicated to flight crews that have been stationed at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station over the years, and there are several plaques with names and assignments dating back before the Vietnam War.

My Oak Harbor submission.

Dedication plaque (Oak Harbor)

The ride from Oak Harbor to Darrington is 2 lane state highway all of the way. It was a good day to be out riding since the roads were dry (for once!) and traffic was light (the North Cascades Highway is closed further east until later this Spring so not as much through-traffic). I made good time with a quick stop for gas and a snack and made it to the memorial. It always amazes me how I can travel 50 miles away from Seattle and feel like I am in a different state without crowds and traffic.

This memorial is positioned in a cemetery, and that posed challenges since I didn't want to walk on a grave to get the picture. I want to try to respect the site as much as possible.

While I was taking a break for another quick snack a series of emergency vehicles sped past back in the direction I needed to go. I was a bit nervous since any road problems might strand me out here for hours! No worries, though. Not sure where the emergency was, but it wasn't on my route.

My submission for Darrington.

Dedication plaque for Darrington.

I give the mountains credit for trying to show up...#toomanyclouds

Overall a pretty productive weekend. I have visited a total of 3 memorial sites. My GoFundMe page got off to a strong start, and I have received many messages promising donations later this summer. I am planning my next ride to eastern Washington to complete the state by visiting the remaining 4 memorial sites later this month.

Totals so far:
Memorials - 3
State Finishes - 0 (so far)
Money Raised for Mission22 - $700
Money Committed for Operation Tango Mike - $30 (and counting)

Get out there and make a difference!