2014 Tour of Honor

The 2014 Tour of Honor began today and runs thru November 30th.  I have ridden to the Oklahoma sites the last 2 years and was the 2nd person to ride to all 7 last year.  I rode to 4 of the sites today.  This is a great way to honor those who have served in our nation's defense and I have the honor of being the state sponsor for this year's sites.  I rode to 11 different sites earlier this year and submitted pictures along with GPS coordinates for each location.  Each state has 7 sites selected and those in Oklahoma are spread out enough to take a rider thru various parts of the state and some good riding.

I began the ride this morning with 2 friends, Mark and Tom at Veteran's Park in my hometown of Moore, OK.  This park was heavily damaged last year by the tornado and while the memorial is back in place, there is still ongoing construction on the rest of the park.  As you can see, the day dawned dark and gloomy with temperatures in the 40's and a strong north wind.

Our next stop was the small town of Minco, OK.  I submitted this site not only for the memorial but for Minco police officer Mycal Prince who was killed while serving in the Army National Guard.  His police dog was later adopted by his family.  The flags weren't up yet today when we made our stop.

After Minco, we hit Highway 152 west and Hwy 6 north to Elk City, OK.  This memorial was recently completed in the cemetery just north of town.  To my disappointment, the BBQ restaurant was closed so we settled for one of the most poorly managed, filthiest McDonalds I have ever been in.  The north wind was sweeping down the plains in western Oklahoma today.

Mark had to leave us at Elk City so Tom and I continued on to our last stop at Seiling, OK where we ran into 2 other riders on 3 wheelers who were also riding the Tour of Honor.  I really like the memorial in Seiling.  It's almost a full city block with a mural and some surplus military equipment.  Almost dropped the bike getting it into place on the sidewalk but managed to save it.

After Seiling, we rode back east and I parted ways with Tom in Watonga.  It wasn't the best riding day weather wise but I've ridden in a lot worse, at least it was dry.  Of course when I pulled in my driveway, the sun came out.  4 of the 7 Oklahoma sites have been visited and the pictures submitted, I'll get the other 3, Ardmore, Atoka, and Owasso, later this week.  If you haven't signed up for the Tour of Honor, it's not too late and it's for a good cause.  Here is a little map of today's ride taken from Spotwalla with my iPhone app SWConnect.