RFTW Day 3

Cool again this morning and I put my long johns on. More mountain riding today. The guys I am riding with love riding in the mountains and going fast. I am getting use to it now. I have not rode much in the last five years because of back problems and I was a little rusty. My right arm and hand are numb from all the throttle work you need to do riding in the mountains. We stopped at Salina, Utah for gas and lunch and again people are admiring the bikes and asking us about our trip. One man asked if we would like to see a Vietnam Memorial that is being built in their small town. We followed him to Redmond, Utah population about 500 people. They stopped by one house and yelled something to the people in their house. When we got to the memorial all of a sudden about ten other people showed up, one of whom was a brother of the man who lead us there. He was a Vietnam Vet and humped a radio in the infantry. Only job worse was carrying the M-60 machine gun. The radios then had antennas and Chuck loved to shoot the radio man first because that guy could call in artillary and air support. I didn't know what to expect for a memorial in a small town. It was beautiful. It had two bronze life size statues. One was of M-16 with bayonet stuck in the ground with a helmet on the butt plate and a pair of jungle boots representing a fallen soldier. The other was a life size statue of a soldier in jungle fatigues on one knee and holding his M-16. There were flag poles for each branch of the services and plaques listing the fallen soldiers from Redmond, two in Vietnam, two in Korea and about a dozen in WWII. The VFW had built this memorial through donations. After hugs and handshakes all around we continued on. If you are ever in Redmond, Utah stop and see this memorial. We were still at altitude and cool temps. We had decided to make it to Mesquite, Nevada and stay at the Oasis Casino. We dropped down about six thousand feet and all of a sudden it was 90 degrees, but it was a dry heat. Ha! Got to Mesquite and a room for four was $44 and half the price of our previous motel. It was good to get out of all our clothes and be warm. Tomorrow we head for L A and headquarter's hotel for RFTW.