Purpose
We are a group of men ranging in age from 64 to 68 who are riding across America from Astoria Oregon to Portsmouth New Hampshire. We are riding as an individual challenge and to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project. Planned departure is June 2013, arriving in New Hampshire 60 days later.
Team Members, from left to right: Dale, Darryl, Pat, Tom, Ed, and Jim.
Team Members
Below are other team mates the are supporting us or joining us for a portion of the ride
DAVE
I’m Dave Arnesen, formerly Pastor of Worship at Voyagers Bible Church in Irvine, CA where the others in this group attend.
With my Viking heritage, I have been blessed/cursed with wanderlust so this trip has me drooling (all true Vikings drool) with anticipation. I have taken a number of road trips but this will be my first trip across the northern USA. But the bottom line is that this is for a cause that speaks to all of us as Americans: The Wounded Warrior Project.
When I was a kid, my dad would tell stories about Vikings. These stories made me proud of my heritage (even though they were rather blood thirsty). Even then as a kid, I knew I would want to join the US Navy. However, one Saturday during my high school senior year, there was a knock on our door; it was the Army recruiter. That uniform blinded me to my seafaring ancestors. That June, I was at Fort Ord, CA in basic training through the US Army Reserves. There were no military conflicts then so I was active for only six months. But I knew that if ever I was called on to go into battle, I had the best training. Our company commander had been an Army Ranger during WWII in the unit that had been nailed down in Italy. He was determined that we would be the best prepared. He did a great job. We broke post records in PT, rifle range, etc. I was seriously considering signing up for the Regular Army. I'm glad I didn't because I would undoubtedly never have met Dale, my wife. Dale's father, Colonel Paul Hallberg was a WWII pilot who had some of the most amazing events happen to him in that war. Oh, that Tom Brokaw had known about him.
For this trip my responsibilities are two-fold: to drive along with the bikers with their gear and to perform cooking and bottle-washing. I decided not to ride a bike because I would be able to keep up with them about as well as I play golf…everybody would be waiting for me. But, at age 74, I am absolutely able to do everything else we are planning for the trip: eating, sleeping, fellow-shipping sight-seeing, and calling home. So, I’m sure you can understand when I say that it’s exciting to be a part of this group.
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RANDY |
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