All sites are memorials or monuments around the country honoring members of the Armed Forces, First Responders, etc. Some are simple small granite markers while others are elaborate memorial parks honoring our nation's heros. In order to be considered a finisher of the Tour of Honor (TOH, you must visit and document your visit to seven sites. The first three riders from who complete all memorials in a state are eligible for trophies.
The list of memorials was scheduled for release at 12:01 AM PST. Not wanting to be up at 2:00 AM, we were up early morning on the 1st to start our tour of Alabama. The original intent was to finish all seven sites in one epic ride. After looking at the locations, we knew that wasn't going to happen.
A bit of explanation of why is in order.
Wednesday, January 3rd I had surgery to remove a Haglund's Deformity from my right heel and repair the torn/calcified Achilles Tendon. I have significant degenerative osteoarthritis in both ankles and after viewing X-rays, Dr. Waldrop related that it looked like a bomb went off in my ankle. Oh joy!
Surgery went off without a hitch and I was resting fairly comfortably at home late that afternoon with my foot immobilized in a foot to ankle cast. Friday morning I was rudely aroused by the most horrific pain I have ever experienced. There were not enough drugs in the world to calm this down. Not only was I now trying to recover from the surgery, but GOUT had attacked that right ankle. Everyone has heard tales of someone who has experienced gout, and let me reassure you that everything that they may have said about the pain is very true. Excruciating pain that just can't be relieved. I can barely wiggle my toes, much less flex the ankle to get some relief.
We all suffered terribly for a week or so until things calmed down a bit. Barbara was and is a trooper who suffered right along with me. It's hard to be a happy camper when you are wishing for a sharp axe to just chop the offending member off! And admittedly, I am not a good patient!
Two weeks of the soft cast went by and then back to the doctor to have it replaced with a knee length hard cast. 5 weeks of no weight bearing and then slowly putting weight back on the ankle while in an immobility boot. Thank goodness for those neat little knee scooters that allow you to move around without crutches! You can really zip along on one of those little jewels. Hardly a replacement for my motorcycle, but not a bad way to get around.
A normal ankle has 25 degrees of upward flexion and 45 degrees downward flex. When I started visiting the Physical Therapists, hereafter known as the Nazi's, I had minus 4 degrees up flexion. Extensive abuse at the hands of the Nazi's have gotten the ankle to 11 degrees up flex which is probably the best it's gonna get.
So with all that said, I haven't done much motorcycle riding in the last 3 months. Barbara and I consulted and decided we would tackle six of the seven memorials on the first day. We left the house around 7:00 AM.
Some days things go your way, others well don't! Our first stop of the day was planned for Florence and the Point Park Memorial. About 30 miles up the road we encountered some repaving. Normally not a big issue as you wait for the pilot car to lead the way. Seems that one of those gigantic roller machines had broken down in the open lane completely blocking traffic. I could see the crew standing around scratching their heads and asses while they pondered how to move this monstrous heavy broken down roller. Finally, they got a road grader behind it and started to push inching it along. After 30 minutes of sitting and waiting we finally were able to proceed. This set the theme for the day with delays. It seemed as though we hit every red light in north Alabama.
Point Park is a neat memorial to war veterans of the area. Many pieces of artillery, anchors, helicopters, etc. are in the memorial along with a large monument. Snapping the required picture at 10:36 AM, and making a quick potty break we were off.
Huntsville is our next stop at the Huntsville Veterans Memorial. This is a work in progress with flags, historic time lines, bronze figures and an impressive flag pole. The US Flag flown here is 30 x 60 feet, weighs in at 130 pounds and is flown on a 140 foot tall pole. It is one of the tallest in the South.
While standing outside, a fellow and his wife walked up to inquire about my fuel cell on the rear of the Goldwing. That tank gets more questions! We chatted a minute and he related that he was also a rider of a StreetGlide. Curious about the multiple GPS's, we told the story of the TOH and discovered that he was Colonel David Haight, Commandant of the Infantry School. Turns out that today was his last day as an infantryman, since he was getting promoted the Brigadier General on April 2nd. Congratulations!
It's now 6 PM and we have 2 more stops to make before the day is done. Night is falling so we hit the interstate to Montgomery and the All Wars Memorial downtown on Jackson Street. We finally convinced the camera to take a picture in the dark and headed off to our last stop in Mountain Brook.
The Alabama Veterans Memorial in Mountain Brook is a sprawling monument on 20 odd acres. It is 10:30 PM and pitch black dark as there is no lighting in the park. Instructions said to take a short walk to the memorial site. Short is a matter of interpetation! Flashlights in hand, we walked along a very dark path through the woods with no idea how far "short is". It quickly became obvious that short means something totally different than it does to a fellow recovering from Achilles surgery. We heard a strange "tinkling" sound coming out of the dark from ahead. Stopping and listening, we tried to figure out what the sound was. Looming out of the darkness we could see the backside of the memorial as the path continued to wind around through the woods. The "tinkling" sound turned out to be the flags surrounding the monument. There was enough breeze to make the halyards ding against the flagpoles. There is no light so we illuminated the best we could and snapped a picture.
After a brisk session Tuesday morning with the Nazi's, around noon, I suited up and headed south to Mobile. Beautiful day for a ride and I decided to stop in Leroy, AL for a quick pit stop and snack. A fellow Goldwing rider pulled up the pumps and we started chatting. Turns out he too was retired Army, and the quick chat turned into a 45 minute visit. So much for a quick trip!
Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile is a neat place to visit. Home of the battleship USS Alabama, the park also includes many other pieces of memorabilia including a WWII submarine. Open daily, the $6.00 entry fee is well worth it. You could easily spend hours wandering around taking in the sites.
Next venture is the Cape Fear 1000 which kicks off April 19th from Union City, TN. Stay tuned.
