Back on the road again

We are back on the road again. Paul decided we needed to leave a bit earlier to miss all the traffic so we got up at 3:56 am and left at 5:15am this morning. Can you believe it? We are now in St. George, Utah, and arrived after 9 ½ hours of driving and sitting. We are on our way around the USA and will need to rest up after our marathon session. Did I mention that it was 63 degrees when we left and 103 when we arrived here in the middle of a desert?

We had planned on leaving yesterday but Paul decided to attend a 911 event. He and Bob drove the Avalon Fire Truck followed by about 500 motorcycles to commemorate all the firefighters who died in 911. They started in Laguna Beach and made their way to a home in Belmont Heights where a firefighter put up crosses for all the firefighters who died. Karen and her kids and I decided to ride on the fire truck and joined the group near 2nd Street and PCH in Long Beach. It was quite an experience and the Memorial Service was very moving. (Paul here, the Avalon fire truck is a 1956 Van Pelt. I was living on the Island then and was there when they delivered it and before we moved to the mainland I was a member of the Avalon Fire Dept. It was repowered with a Cummins diesel around 1970. Still a lot of fun to drive, no automatic transmission! A real fire truck as we old timers like to say. Very impressive to be followed by 500 motorcycles, as always photos do not do it justice.)