Philadelphia Rocks! And they're fun, too!

Philadelphia FD ... Chinatown.  We love this station!  We've been here three out of four times on the road, and they are always gracious and welcoming to us.  This was no exception.

They also have some of the best and most plentiful amounts of food made onsite, of nearly any other stop we've made.  And they will make sure you eat, too!

The best part about doing return visits, is that you don't have to "sell" the program ... they know about it.  We look forward to LOTS of Philly shirts coming in this year.

One of the other great things about visiting Philly, is that they play well with others!  We laugh hard here.  This is a playful lot. 

An interesting first happened here.  In all the years of my visiting departments, and asking firefighters to give the very shirt off their back, I have never been personally challenged to do the same.  Can't say that anymore.  lol

We usually go for the low man on the pole, or the Rookie/Probie, to do the photo op for the "Shirt off your back" shot.  This time we had 2 of them.  One happened to be a young female, on her first day of duty.  She was a great sport, as I held a shirt in front of her for modesty purposes.

Afterwards, she came up to me, PFD shirt in hand, and said "Ma'am here in Philly we say turn about is fairplay."  I heard the laughter, and felt all eyes on me for a moment.  But, I figured she was right, and if I was going to be able to wear one of our "I got shirt-faced for HeroToHero.US" shirts, I better ponie up.  She held a shirt up for me, and I gave took the shirt off my back.  (Of course, my good buddy Kathy had her camera snuck in from the wrong side of the shirt.  And nooooooo, we don't publish every photo.  Kathy will have to walk home next time.  Sheesh.  lol)  So, it has now been done, and I qualify to wear the shirt.

How 'bout you?

Thanks Philly.  Y'all ROCK!!!

lj & the road crew

Trekking thru Trenton, New Jersey

So ... We're cruising through New Jersey after all the NYC excitement.  It was going to be a full day, but it was another scorcher for us.  We stopped at one of the big malls for a few lightweight tops, and a cool beverage with lunch.

We passes by Sesame Place ... Much to Bo's chagrin, I can still remember him wiggling out of his diapers at the end of our one visit there.  (We'll know soon if Bo is reading the Journal, huh?  lol)  Decided to leave the memories intact, and we passed by the park.

Once in to Trenton, I relied on the tried and true method to find the local fire/police.  we set the GPS for city center, then started an outward grid.  Middle of a workday would pretty much assure we'd find someone in uniform ... after hours, you just roll down the windows and listen for a siren.  Hey, it works!  ( ;

But who knew we'd hit the mother lode on the very first turn?!  Two very official looking gents with fire insignia on their lapels said we were on the right track.

Now, Trenton was a first year stop, so technically this was a return visit.  Technically, because I pulled in to Trenton real close to midnight, and the better part of discretion advised me not to knock on their door that late.

But I always remembered this particular station because glowing in a brilliant red was their huuuuuuuge neon sign.  Every letter was lit, and there was no guessing that this was a TFD house.  Headquarters, to be specific.

This time, we arrived during the lunch hour, and this time that same discretion advised us that parting these folks from the sandwiches of varying sizes and flavors, would get us nowhere quick.  So we sat down in the air conditioning and enjoyed not having the earth moving noticeably beneath us.

One by one, the guys joined us til we had a nice lil crowd for our presentation of the H2H program.  Letting them play with Rookie and Chief, then setting them up with the Iraq'n'Robin glasses sealed the deal ... and all was smiles.  Of course, the Hooter's frisbees didn't hurt, either.

These guys were a lot of fun, and were great sports doing the photo op in the extremely hot early afternoon. 

A special touch was at the second station we visited.  As did a number of other stops, we were each given a t-shirt to wear.  But, they added 2 extra shirts ... one for Bo "Inches", and one for his classmate and buddy, John "Bubbles".  Their written messages on the boys shirts, welcomed them into the brotherhood, but added another ornery touch to Bo's shirt.  Hmmm, this and Sesame Place memoirs ... Bo may not come back to NJ any time soon.  LOL

Seriously though, thank you all for your welcome.  We would love to accept the invite for a return visit, and will likely see you again.

**Karen ... look closely, you'll see the shirt from T(renton)FD E-10 that was signed for you!  ( ;

lj & the road crew

FYI -- This house has a wonderful fire museum onsite.  If you get to Trenton, you really ought to check it out, and shake the hands of some really good guys!

A Pirate's life for me ...

 

Ah, New York!  So good to see you again.  And then you throw the Pirates into the mix, and it doesn't get much better!

 

When you visit the Pirates of New York, you need to be ready for anything.  There will always be laughter and a feeling of home, and you will find yourself revisit the time together with many smiles and happy memories ... this time was all of that.

 

Visiting different departments, we had a number of them in mind for special honors for the way they had stepped up and represented ... and taken great care of us on the road.  When we were choosing which would be honored, the Pirates were one of our first calls.  Then we needed to decide what the honor item would be. 

 

It only made sense that they be given a sword!  And so, our great friends and supporters the Fort Lewis Army Museum stepped up once more, and gave us a replica 1860 Cavalry sword ... Perfect!

 

Next, we needed the sword engraved.  So we were off to Chris' in Tillicum.  We knew they would do the perfect job ... and they did!

 

The inscription reads:

 

Presented to FDNY's Jolly Rogers

"Every Pirate should have a sword!"

HeroToHero.US 2007

 

And so, we wrapped it carefully, and drove it cross country.  Then the morning we woke at Banzai's home, we made the initial presentation to him, before the house would receive it.  Look closely at his face, and you'll know we made the right choice.  If we didn't already love him, he would have stolen our hearts in that moment!  Banzai's face was all the thanks we could have asked for, and you could feel every emotion as he held it for the first time.

 

Later, at their house, we presented it officially to all of the Pirates.  Again, their faces showed their emotions ... and it was all good.

 

It was fun though to watch they way they quickly took control of the presentation.  When you see a military unit receive a sword or saber, you watch them unsheathe the sword, they inspect it, they pose for photos, etc.

 

When Pirates do it their way, their eyes get big with the surprise of it, then their smiles widen.  Next they unsheathe it and read the inscription.  As their eyes get a tad moist, they seize control, assuming a very swashbuckling stance, and yell "Toss me an apple!" 

 

Three apples flew through the air as they tried to stab them on sword point.

 

Then came the offer of shearing one of them for "Locks of Love".  And though we gave it a shot, we decided to let the barber take that one.

 

We will never forget this particular presentation ... but then, these are the Pirates ... we'd expect nothing less!

 

Now, as for giving these guys a sharp object ... We assume no responsibility once the presentation was made ... I mean, c'mon, these ARE Pirates!  ( ;

 

Love you guys!  Thank you for everything ... Even the bruises-- we wore them proudly. 

 

See you next year

 

lj & the road crew

 

PS ... Kelly has not yet earned her stripes for the ride, so she'll have to come back!

Day 2 in New York City - A stop for Aaron

This was an unplanned stop for the tour, and we decided to make it a surprise stop for the station, just to make sure they had no chance to do anything formal on us.

The purpose for this particular stop was to pay respects from a soldier/firefighter to the station that sent him the shirt off their backs.  Aaron Leming ... one of our all time favorite guys! ... took some great pictures for us while he was deployed,  He posed in the shirt he received from FDNY L-24, in classic Aaron form ... you can always see his heart and spirit behind that great smile.

Anyway, happily, he came home safe, and is now doing great things in the civilian sector.

Knowing we were heading to NYC, Aaron gave us the shirt he received.  You can still vaguely make out the original message, but Aaron added his response on the same shirt and asked us to send it back home to them with his message.

And so we showed up unannounced at the bay of L-24 to bring this shirt from Hero ... to Hero.

They were great, and even had one of their own reaccomplish the original photo for us.

In addition, they sent back some special things for Aaron.  We haven't hooked up with him yet, but hear from his mom (Tacoma Firefighter/HG Cmdr, Karen Leming) that he will be local again soon.  We will make sure that he gets his gifts.

Thank you Aaron, and the members of L-23 for making this all go full circle.  hope one day Aaron makes it out to meet all of you ... you will love him!

lj & the road crew

In a New York State of mind

Day one continued over to Manhattan, and found us with some of our favorite Heroes in America ... FDNY.

They were the first to welcome me with open arms, to New York City, and have only done it with more, and wider, arms every year.  This was my fourth visit, Kathy's second, and Kelly's first.  No matter how often we visit, it is always a lot of fun, and always heartfelt.

There were a lot of requests for these photos, so we kept most of them in.  Remember, they do not necessarily post in order.  But to be specific, we met up with members of the Jolly Rogers, who brought the FDNY van out to retrieve us after our ferry ride from Staten Island.  They helped us swap out materials with Jonathan and Krystal, two of team members who flew out to spend some special time with Banzai and the Pirates.  They are both US Marines, and shared their spirit and patriotism with our friends.  From what we heard, all parties were very impressed.  We thank all for their hospitality for our crews.  Y'all live up to the rep as Heroes!

Jay-Bird & Cav took us over to Ten House ... always a hit!  We had lots of fun with them, and as usual were amazed how people still flock to this particular house.  Once they open their bay doors, they are swamped!  This was no exception.  When the national banner rolled out, a crowd drew near, and the cameras clicked like Brangelina had just walked around the corner!  The guys take it in stride, posing for photos and graciously answering questions.  In between first responder duties, these guys are always "on".  They are also great reps for their city and department, and we salute them!

Next up had to be ... and was ... 24/5.  This was my very first stop in NYC on Memorial Day in 2004.  These guys took me in and made me feel so welcome, and they have done so ever since.  It always feels like home to visit the guys there, and I look forward to sharing it with the road crew each time.

It was good to see these familiar faces, and get welcome back hugs from them.  They also showed us photos on the wall from previous visits.  So I guess we'll have to come back to see if any of these pictures make it up!  Kelly even got to get in a few hoops out back during the visit.

For the record, this was the first house on a national tour where EVERY member on duty gave the shirt off their back to show their support of our troops.  How can ya not love them?!?!  We think they're great!

See ya next year guys!

Now start collecting those shirts ... **FDNY is the most requested shirt by the troops.  If they can't get their hometown shirt, yours are the ones they want!

lj & the road crew

PS ... Our hosts also took us to the Empire State Building for an incredible view of NYC.  The sailors you see, now have the record of having the higest elevation Bad*ss shot in the country!!!  Let us know if you can beat it.

Oh, and for the record ... despite what we thought ... there is NO cell coverage from the top.  Dang!  lol

In a NYPD State of mind --

So, here's the deal.  There are a LOT of photos from this visit, and our first stop was, as ever, Fort Wadsworth.  we stay in the US Coast Guard barracks and then head over to see our NYPD friends down on the piers for Fleet Week, in Staten Island.

So, courtesy of Chief "D" DiTrani, we once again stayed at Ft Wadsworth.  This is a great chance to see how the troops do it.  We don't get fancy handling here, it is a no stuff, for real barracks room ... With the most secure laundry facility in the country.  lol

But they are always helpful and friendly and a most welcome sight when we roll in in the middle of the night, exhausted from the road.

We want to thank Chief D for making this happen for us again this year.  You rock, bud!  Oh, and we stopped by the deli ... so good!

When we leave the Fort, we always head down to the big ships at the pier.  You need only follow the uniforms to get there during Fleet Week.  Everyone looks so pressed and polished, and they are always polite and helpful to us.

Detective Joe B. was our host at the water this time.  He stood with us as they "swept" our van ... next time we hold out for a vacuuming and wax, too.  ( ;  Once we were cleared, we had the guys assume the position for their Bad*ss shot, and they looked pretty danged good.

And then we were off.  More familiar faces greeted us, as I got to hug Vanessa and all the others who played with us last year.

And just to clear the record here ... Rookie wants it stated up front that no NYPD K-9s were harmed in the shooting of this photo op.  And other than the dog drool, he had a great time!

Thank you to all of the NYPD heroes who came out to join us again this year.  Same time next year?  ( ;  Special thanks to Joe!

lj & the road crew

New Haven, CT

Normally when we visit New Haven, we visit the police department, but again it was Memorial Day, and the streets were pretty bare by the time we got in.  So the PD directed us over to the Fire Department for the first time.  And it was a great stop!

The guys were caught off guard, but came around quickly when they heard the program.  There was no question that they had huge hearts ... even "Chuckles the egg thrower".  lol.

We laughed a lot here, must have been a slow day, because they were ready to play with Rookie when the opportunity arose.  Fortunately, Rookie is a very good actor and played his part to perfection, not moving a muscle while they did a mock bowing of the heads for him.

When the Iraq'n'Robin glasses came out we were all laughing.  Sadly the light was fading fast, and we still had more miles to put behind us.  So we tried to get in all of the requisite shots while enjoying every minute of the stop.

This was the last stop to receive one of the 911 Firefighter statues.  For the stations that followed, if they are interesting in getting one, please contact us directly.

NHFD, you guys were great.  Hope to get to spend more time with you next time we stop.  Thank you for being so gracious to three strangers knocking at your door!

lj & the road crew

Note to the guys ... I was fighting an eye irritation, or I would not have kept my sunglasses on at night for the visit.  Did not mean to be impersonal in any way.  Normally the glasses are my headband.  Next time I can look you all right in the eyes, k?  ( ;

 

Durham, CT

When you plan to visit a small town volunteer fire department on Memorial Day, you run the risk of no one being there.  And that is exactly what happened.

No worries, though.  We knew the possibility and times weren't working out.  So rather than ask people to interrupt family BBQ's, we stayed longer in Mystic and got all the hometown flavor of the Northeast.

But to be fair, we wanted to share some of the sights from Durham, Connecticut.  Without meeting any of the folks we had hoped to, their city conveyed their patriotism loud and clear!

Their town square is really a cool place, and we couldn't resist the walk through their cemetery.

So a quick look at some of the things we saw.

lj & the road crew

Providence (Out of sequence)

**THIS POST HAS BEEN A TOUGH ONE ... WE CAN GET EITHER PHOTOS OR WORDS, BUT NOT BOTH.  aS SUCH, I MADE THE CALL TO DELETE IT FROM IT'S CORRECT SPOT IN THE LINE-UP, WHICH WOULD BE PRIOR TO MYSTIC.  HOPEFULLY, THIS WILL DO THE TRICK.  CROSS YOUR FINGERS  lj 

Nothing is better on the road, than seeing familiar, friendly faces.  So, Providence was a most welcome sight.

Danny Rinaldi has been our point of contact for every visit, every year, that we have had the pleasure of coming here.  He always has a big smile to greet us with, and it's contagious among the rest of the crew ... actually this time it was crews.  Danny took us around to as many stations as we had time to reach before it was too late to knock on their doors.

 

Every station had shirts for us, and each of them was friendly, and welcoming.  They all did their Bad*ss poses, and showed their unquestionable support for our troops.

 

Later that evening Danny tried all he could to help us make the online connection to post our journal, with very little success.  At this point, photos had to be loaded one at a time through the browser list ... not fun, especially when you shoot this many pictures.  So, they are delayed, but here they are.

 

Oh, and obviously Kathy and Kelly were swept off their feet by the charms of our hosts!  lol  When they found out Kathy had lost over 100 pounds(!!!) since last she visited, one of them demonstrated how easily she could be lifted.  As Kelly laughed, and I shot pictures, Kelly was hoisted over the shoulders of one of the firefighters ... caught her off guard!  Meanwhile, I stayed out of reach, no need in breaking anyone's back!  ( ;  I settled for hugs.

 

The visit was, as each before it, a lot of fun.

 

So guys, we'll see you next year.  Stay safe, and take care of each other.

 

lj & the road crew

WE ARE HOME!

The tour is officially over!  It was a great success .. except for the journal/internet issues we have had.  Hopefully now that there is no more travel (once I wake up in a few days) I can get this journal completed and post all of the great photos taken over the last six weeks.

Thank you ALL for your amazing support.  You truly are our heroes.  We thank you for feeding us, sheltering us, doing car maintenance, entertaining us, sharing your personal stories ... and your hearts.  You are all the ones who should be taking bows for the success of this effort.

Stay tuned, and we will post the story of the great welcome home at Fort Lewis Fire Department ... but we have to go in order.

Salute!

Liz, Kathy & Kelly ... and of course, Chief & Rookie

Clueless

We have NO idea what is going on with the journal.  We posted Mystic last night, filled in Providence, and now we have a mess.

We've sent SOS calls to Aol Journals Editors, and they've helped us out so far, so we're hoping they can solve this mystery.

We made our last official stop tonight!!!  WooHoo!!!  Tillamook rocked our final visit, sending us off for a night of sweet dreams, in grand style ... But you'll have to wait to see.  Hopefully we'll get his journal fiasco fixed right away.

lj & the exhausted ... but elated ... road crew

Into the Mystic

Can you imagine a more wholesome backdrop for an all American Memorial Day?  We can't!

We were honored to be invited to be a part of the best Memorial Day parade we had seen to date.

Hope you enjoy the photos as much as we enjoyed everyone we met in Mystic and beyond.  Great spirit and heart!!!

lj & the road crew

PS-- We're nearly home now, in real time, and have so much yet to share.  Pix will come faster than the words but it will all catch up.

Poppin' in to Portland

We really looked forward to returning to Portland, Maine ... And no, not just for the lobster rolls -- Though we did make sure to get one to share, before we left, courtesy of the PFD firefighters.  Thank you, by the way ... It was as good as we remember!

Rico and all the heroes at our Portland stop made us feel very welcome. 

We went, once more, to the fire boat for our photo op.  And they came out to make it special.  We are waiting to hear about the new "lil Rico" baby news.  And in advance of that info, we want to say congrats!

There was a very nice moment when Rico was presented a gift from one of our Core Team members.  Larry Kaibetoney is one of the survivors of the Mosul Dining Hall bombing.  He is a great guy, and e are very happy to still have him with us!

Anyway, Larry sent out one of Jeff Grier's signed prints of his artwork, "I'll take it from here."  Larry wanted Rico to have it after hearing how much help Rico gave us with tour contacts this year.

He felt it was only right for this to go both ways, so this time to honor was presented from military hero to firefighter hero.

Hope you enjoy the photos ...

lj & the road crew

Makin' the mark in Manchester

May 26th found us in Manchester, NH, for the very first time ... but hopefully not the last!

I met Bob Welch in Colorado Springs at the Fallen Firefighter Memorial, and he was another who asked us to visit their hometown.  We are very happy that we accepted the invite.

Bob got us to the firehouse, and introduced us to a fun group of guys whose personalities meshed so well.  This was another case of the ones who "got it", when we shared H2H with them.

They shared their amazing memorial with us, and even did their Bad*ss shot in front of it, to represent for their Fallen.

We got to see Manchester from way atop the city when they lifted us up in the 95' bucket ... Great view, cool city.  Seeing the church steeples rising above the rooftops and trees was exactly the picture I had in my head when I envisioned this area.

But back on the ground was the real fun.  We had not one, but two, give the very shirt off their back for our troops.

Rookie took the "brunt" of the visit, in great stride.  He really is a trooper.  I remember thinking, there's just not much more they can do to him ... oh boy, was I wrong!

Meanwhile, Chief is looking more dapper than ever, as the pins and badges accumulate on his uniform.  It's kinda cool for us to do this journal, as far behind as it is, because we can see the growth , and it is really something to see.

Kelly was absolutely impressed with the weight room here, and disappeared for a few minutes.  She may have gotten in a few reps, dunno.

We got to sample some of the local fare, at one of their favorite pubs in the area ... and do a media stop at the same time.  It's all about multi-tasking, ya know?  The food was really good, the staff was spot on, and everything about the evening was just as we had hoped.

Bob and his lovely wife shared their home with us, making us feel right at home with them.  Bob even stayed up late trying to get the computer to cooperate with us so we could post the journal, to no avail ... but not for lack of trying, and we appreciate that he made such an effort.

They have one of the biggest most loveable dogs we have encountered ... and the cat is no lightweight, either!  I woke with the latter sharing my bed, causing a couple vivid dreams of overstuffed pillows.  Ok, probably would have had bizarre dreams with, or without, the cat ... but it makes for a better story.  ( ;

Thank you to the Welch family, and the firefighters of Manchester for making this a memorable stop for us!

Oh, when you look at the pictures, take a gander at the one logo with the horses ... notice anything?

You were great!

( ;

lj & the road crew

Feelin' the fun in Framingham

Without question, Joe and the guys in Framingham, stay in our hearts and memories.  They always go above and beyond to share their respect, dedication, respect for, and support of, our troops.  It is an honor to come here, and we anticipate this stop as long as they are willing to have us.

As I write, we are actually staying the Barton Family.  Karen is the Ombudsman for her husband Paul's Seabee unit -- the NMCB 18.  We adopted this unit, and Karen even flew in to help for the PackOut.  As if that weren't enough, they have family ties to Framingham, and after Paul's deployment, they went back to present a unit coin and shirts to show their appreciation.  Truly made this one from Hero to Hero.

We have a lot to write about on this stop and will do so very soon, but we wanted to get the photos up before the next meet & greet (in an hour).

Update: So the meet & greets went very well.  We tried to upload all the photos this morning, but the computer gremlins had a better idea.  Sigh.

As I look through the photos, it brings back all of the great feelings from the Framingham visit.

These guys are class all the way.  From the moment we come off the turnpike, they are with us.  We have never come into, or left this city without a truly impressive escort.  And it is not just the fire department.  this is one of those stops, like Sarnia, that involves all of the hometown departments.

We get to see friendly, familiar faces who make this all the more memorable ... and at least one of them was in diapers when last we visited.

We stayed in the firehouse here, and had a really fun surprise at a local pub, Pepperoncini's.  Joe came out in his kilt & Seabee shirt, with his pipes.  Lovin' that!  The police dropped by, and their CSI agent did a fun photo op with Rookie, Chief, and Sharen.

During the evening's events, our heroes surprised us with a cake adorned with a version of last year's "It's official" flyer.  Totally cool!  But we also had a surprise for them, as they were the first of this year's "Eagle's Honor" recipients ... There were only three awarded!

Framingham, Joe ... and EVERYONE who made this the special event it was ... We thank you all sooooooooo much for the outstanding support you give us.  It is visits such as this, that refills our spirit when the road gets long.  You make us feel like family!

Enjoy, and Framingham ... We love ya!!!

lj & the road crew 

PS ... Benjamin, Mrs R says hello!!

Along the way

Along the way, we of course, need/want/have to stop for potty breaks, meals, stretches, and those stops that you just need to stop for.

10,000+ miles may seem like a long time in just 6 weeks ... but actually, it is a lot longer when you're inside the van.  ( ;

We're not killing each other.  We are, overall, getting along very well.  Our biggest stresses are most often associated with a GPS that is less than ideal in many instances.  All the bugs we need to have ironed out are always fixed by tour's end, and we have to start over a year later.  Sigh ... lol

I am proud of this lil band of road warriors when I look back at what has been accomplished thus far.  I would travel with either of these ladies again, and they are both invited for a future tour.

On the road, we are working with the Outback Steakhouse of Tacoma, Washington (38th Street).  Joe & his crew have been so supportive of our efforts, and are going to be part of our future events to support our troops.  They "get it", and give from their heart.  I have been there several times, and overheard their enthusiastic welcome home messages for our local troops.  We're proud of the things we have heard of Outback.

And so when they asked if we would take along a small mascot, and get it pinned along the way ... Well c'mon, there wasn't a moment's hesitation.

And so, "Joey" has been collecting pins along the way, and taking pictures with Outback teams along our route.  He's looking pretty dapper!

We also got a chance to relay a message from a troop (from 2 years ago).  He asked that if we ever got back to his hometown, Danville, PA., that we would tell them thank you for the shirt and support from home.  And so, at last, we did. 

Continental Fire sends back their messages of support for all of our deployed troops.  We salute them!

It was a really good day ... a really long day.  We drove into the late evening, and found ourselves in Sturbridge, MA.  The hotel was dark and we were concerned about parking.  But we needn't have.  Right next door wazs the fire and police department.

We parked it out in their rear parking area, and in the morning, Kathy went over to meet them and thank them for allowing this.

They were great to her and even began to wash our rig, only to get a call.  Kathy finished the car wash and we were off for Framingham.

lj & the road crew

Hollidaysburg was a hit!

We spent a little more time than we had anticipated in Shanksville ... And wouldn't miss a minute.

But we also wouldn't miss meeting the guys in Hollidaysburg.  Trooper Chris Patrick had extended the invitation to us before and we were finally able to make this one happen ... No matter how brief.

It was another really hot day during the Memorial Day period that found us in Hollidays.  We were still adjusting to the temperature changes, and here they were in suits and ties and uniforms with boxes of shirts and more, so we figured we could take the heat, too.

The entire visit took place right out in front of the courthouse.  What a pretty town.  There is a quaintness, a feeling of generational family living that harkened back to days long gone.  It was the kind of place you thought about raising a young family.

And the people were friendly as well.  We'd have to say that overall, this was a stop we would love to try again, and spend more time exploring the local sites.

Thank you Chris, and all, this was a really warm (Okay, hot ... lol) visit.  We appreciate your tolerance of our late arrival, and your welcome.

Hope to see you in the future!

lj & the road crew

 

Sharing Shanksville

A moment of silence please, for the memory of all we lost on a beautiful day, in a quiet field in Pennsylvania.

Thank you to Chief Terry Shaffer and all of the heroes of
Shanksville who were called to duty in a way none could imagine ... nor ever forget.

We honor you all, and are happy to see your smiles returning.

We will present your flag with pride.

Liz, Kathy & Kelly

Wheeling ... Worth waiting for!

This post is in progress ...

There are some great people in Wheeling, and we should know, cuz we've gotten to meet a number of them ... twice!

We are playing catch up, and will be for a while yet ... We are in the southwest now, and have spent three days under the giant "L" that hung over the weather map of Texas.  Talk about amazing storms ... Wow!  We had a few episodes of nervous moments on the road(s), but nothing we couldn't handle -- okay, we did have to pull off for a while.  More about this later.

We want to tell you all about this great return visit, and the big smiles we shared with our Wheeling friends.  We want to thank Chief Steve Johnson, of the WFD for his gracious welcome, and for arranging our stay on the very scenic, and spacious Oglebay Resort.  Very nice!  Thank you so much!  **Anyone visiting Wheeling would do well to make their lodging reservations at the Oglebay ... and swing by to meet some great guys!

We will re-visit this posting once we catch up.  In the meantime, we're gonna share the photos with you.

Enjoy,

lj & the road crew

PS:  We have been asked all along the way about where we got the car det.  That would be the awesome 3rd year efforts of John & Pam Sissons, of Military Memorabilia, in Lakewood, WA.  They are also responsible for our banners, and made the black honor bracelets for our Fallen Hero families.  They do this from their heart and are to be commended for their support of not only the HeroToHero.US effort, but all of our heroes.  We truly love them and recommend them without reservation!!!  ( ;  Check them out at:  www.AllGaveSome.com

 

Cambridge, Ohio & golfballs ... Who knew?

It was a sweltering day when we made our first stop to Cambridge, Ohio's Fire Department.

The guys were all waiting for us, and gathered round the dining room table to hear what the program was all about.

Sometimes it's hard to get the message out to a dept before we make a first time visit, but Cambridge caught on quickly.  They really got into the Rookie photo op, and before we knew it, we were back outside as they were lining Rookie up for a few special swings of their clubs.  We were all in stitches watching them, and Rookie came away with a special golf ball addition to his uniform ... This golf ball will show up again later on the tour, so keep your eyes open to see when.

Rookie has realllly changed after all of his experiences.  You can actually see a wisdom as he is doing more and more dangerous stunts.  **Remember, do not try these things at home/station.  Rookie is a highly trained stunt stuffed animal, who has conditioned his body and mind to feel no pain.

Cambridge, you guys were fun.  Hope to see lots of shirts from you for your first year effort.

Thanks for the laughter, and welcome aboard!

lj & the road crew

The "heart" of a lot of things is in Cleveland

Helllloooo Cleveland ... again! 

We love these guys ... especially our third year hosts, Mike & Shelly Rosepal ... talk about hospitality.  It always feels like home with them and their girls.  They make us feel like family, and even share recipes with us.  This time their youngest daughter taught us how to make a sandwich ... though we threw her a curve when we suggested she add pickles.

This daughter is a character.  When Mike was just shaking his head listening to her, I let him know how fast time can pass ... Now that my kids are way grown and my eldest grandchild is a teen.  I told him that he needed to be careful cuz if you sneeze twice she'll be grown with kids.  At this point she turned to him and urged, "Sneeze, Dad, sneeze!"  We feel your pain guys ... ROFL!!!

We spent time before the overnight stay, at the main station, and did the media "thing" while we were there.

After doing our standard photo ops,  we were treated to a tour of Cleveland, and were joined by a Cleveland police officer who gave a most touching and heartfelt tour of the memorials honoring the CPD.  He was able to tell us specific details about the officers they had lost.  As we listened, and watched his body language, it was obvious that these were indeed his brothers and he felt each loss personally. 

Moments like these remind us of the intent of this tour.  And while it is a morale campaign for our deployed troops, it is also a tribute honoring our Fallen & Wounded Fire, Police & Troops.

He stayed with us for the entire visit downtown, and shared more about the memorials as Mike showed us the firefighter memorial.  This one one of the more unusual tributes we has seen.  From different angles, the flames appear to come out like a hand reaching for the firefighters.  Kelly also noticed from her angle, one of the buildings in the background of the memorial looks like American flags, as the sun hits them just right.

We want to thank Cleveland and it's Heroes for making us so welcomed once again.  This is one of our annual stops, and we always look forward to the Cleveland shirts arriving.  this year we plan on CPD shirts as well.  Way to rock it, Cleveland!

Next year, Shelly has to make her famous chicken for dinner, and Mike, you're on for the ice cream made from honey.  What is that called?

Thank you to each of you for making this one so memorable!

lj & the road crew

Shufflin' off to Buffalo

So we wound our way back over the bridge, through customs at the American border, on to Buffalo, New York.  (For the record, US Customs doesn't play, though we did get a big smile this time -- TA DA!)

We have come to Buffalo before, and gotten to see some of the guys in Colorado at the Fallen Firefighter Memorial.  So it was comfortable to come back and see the guys again.  Peter Margerum is one of our favorites, he has a great big smile and heart to march, and always finds a way to get us lots of shirts for the troops.  Gotta love that!

This time the guys up in Niagara, Ontario, Canada, sent down a "message" in the form of the hockey stick they used for the Rookie shots.  And Buffalo had a response for them.  hehe  Oh, those rascally hockey folk.  ( ;

Hope you enjoy the photos, we are going to start trying to speed post to get them up for you sooner now.

lj & the road crew

 

If you haven't been to Niagara Falls

You HAVE to go see it.  And even the Americans said we needed to see the falls from the Canadian side.  We have to agree.   They rock, and are absolutely beautiful day and night.

We got to meet some good people once more, and see some of that Canadian sense of humour we've come to love.  They are, generally speaking, quick with smiles and most hospitable.  Two really good qualities!

Rookie was again, not amused.  But, again, we reminded him of his application and interview.  so, he begrudgingly allowed himself to set the tone of the visit.  What a sport ... get it?  Sport.  Hey, it's late, so I crack myself up.

We figured out in Niagara that we need to keep the crew outside and close to a net, they are more animated.  In the classroom, they tend to go formal.  So we've made a note of that for our future visits and we're ready!  In any event, really good people, beautiful scenery ... and ...

They put us up in the Loft, a nice golf resort loft/cabin, that we shared with our newest member of the Core Team -- Kevin McHarg, our Canadian Ambassador -- and his wife, Sue.  She will likely hunt us down for this last move when she sees how much is involved to get all of this done each year.  Or she'll just lie in wait for the next go round.  Sigh.

We were even treated to a taste of Canada, via the dinner theater escapades of  "Oh Canada, eh?"  An irreverent and laugh out loud look at Canada's past, present, trivia, and more ... with dinner!  Thank you, Kevin & Sue!

Thank you Canada, you always make us feel so welcome.  We wish you much luck with your HeroToHero.US troop morale campaign this year. 

Salute!

So here are the pix  ...

lj & the road crew

PS ... Something special.  As we were finishing our breakfast on our last day in Canada ... in a spaceship diner ... We were approached by a distinguished older gent who wore atop his head a rather dignified, yet worn, beret with a classic emblem on the front.  He asked if he could add his patch to our dashboard collection and we were honored to accept his English Glider Pilot patch.  He wrote his contact info on the back of the patch and asked that if we come across another  English WWII glider pilot, that we put them in contact.

So if you have any connections, this gent would love to speak with what he referred to as a "dying breed".  We just call them Heroes!

And with that we were headed back to America.

Enjoy!

lj & the road crew -- hint -- headed west.  ( ;

We see London ...

London, Ontario, Canada ...

We're posting pix for y'all. 

This was day 2.  We left from Sarnia and headed over to London, Ontario.  It was a so much fun.  They had shirts already collected, and the stacks were impressive.

This was our first official Canadian stop outside Sarnia.  We had hoped to visit the Stryker plant, but with it being Queen Victoria's birthday (Happy Birthday!!!) the plant was closed.  Guess we'll have to come back.

The local EMS and Police joined with the Fire Department for a wonderfully unified show of support for the Canadian troops from Canada's first responders.

"A Channel" came out for an interview, as did print media to do stories that we have heard were very well done .. we truly appreciate that!

Kelly got arrested for not drinking Tim Horton's on the Queen's birthday.  Oh, Kelly ...

Rookie got the shower of his life in London, and we have to give props to John for helping make that photo op happen ... that water had to sting!  Way to represent!

The whole station gave the shirt off their backs when asked if one of them was willing to do so.  Niiiiice!

Cpt Fritz Beck kept us all laughing, and the entire department showed their hearts through all of their smiles.

This was a fun visit ... and we would do it again!  Maybe next year, in fact!  lol

We're trying to rush the pix a lil bit ... everybody wants to see their pix, and we understand that.  Cuz there are some great photos and moments caught on here.

Get ready!

( ;

lj & the road crew

Where oh where are we tonight?

So, most of you know the journal is waaaay behind after our posting glitch at the start of the tour.  Today we marked a month on the road!!!  Time to share some of the goofy things we do on the road to keep our spirits up ... or keep us awake for the long stretches of blacktop.

So how are we doing?  Click on the icon below, and you can judge for yourselves http://youtube.com/watch?v=CRKxV77dFH8... Or you can go right to YouTube ...   (Can't believe Kelly got us to do this!  hehe)

 

Drunk, you think?  Nope, not a drop!  Loopy, you say?  Hey you try living in a van (sometimes down by a river) for a month, with 2 more weeks to go!

Seriously though, we are having a blast ... and there ARE clues in the video to our current location.

We have several thousand photos to get up here for you, and are usually so tired at the end of a day of visits and driving, that we are trying to catch up.  We'll get there.

Thanks to every one of the departments that have come out to represent for HeroToHero.US this tour!  Y'all rock!

lj & the rockin' road crew

Another day with our neighbors to the south

I have two options right now.  I can tell you all about it ... or I can show you.  Emails tell me that people really want to see their photos, so that is the priority.  Will fill in the details as I can.

lj & the road crew

Meanwhile, back in Canada ...

So, back in Canada ... Part 2 of Day 1

After the ceremony, we visited the Coast Guard Communication Center,  Sam Babisky gave us a great tour of their facility.  But you'll have to trust us that it was fascinating, because this is one of those places where the cameras stay put.  Thanks, Sam!

After that, it was off to visit Lambton College and one of our favorite guys, Ron Sparling.  What a great guy!  He has made our tour feel so at home, and we always have a lot of fun and the College.  And you have only to look at his face as he was given the 9-11 Fallen Firefighter statue for all of his support of H2H to see his heart. 

The cadets had fun with Rookie "putting him through the ropes", as it were.  They also had a lil fun with Ron.  Remember, always be aware of your surroundings when we're around ... Think that's Rule 9.  lol

After leaving Lambton College, and hitting a local Tim Horton's  (Starbucks represented at the ceremony with our first Canadian barista.  Talk about cool!  C'mon ... when in Canada, eh?) We were taken back to the States by our Canadian hosts, Kevin & Sue McHarg. 

Gotta tell ya ... I have found - and I won't speak for anyone else, but - You don't play with the American side of the house at our international borders.  Our Customs folks don't smile as much as their Canadian counterparts.  Not sure why, but I just try to rein it in a tad when crossing the border home.  Sigh.  So, again no pix for this one.

But there are plenty of pix from Port Huron,Michigan.  Apparently there is a very good working relationship on both sides at our borders.  So Kevin wanted us to come meet their friends at the station.

A side note, our own Tacoma Battalion Chief, Ron Stephens, is from Port Huron, and sent 2 of his department challenge coins up for them.  So were presented them during our visit.

We can see why they are so liked, they were all smiles and willing to support the program, wholeheartedly.   They even made sure to get a patch over to us at the International Flag Plaza (US side).  And showing their support is not just talk, we got another shirt for the troop, on the spot! 

We just missed the french fry truck.  Guess we'll have to come back, eh?

Enjoy!

lj & the road crew

 

 

 

Mama's so proud!

A personal note here ... Bragging rights.  I would like to announce that my son just called and it is official.  He graduated from Fire Academy tonight!!!

Congratulations Bo!  I am sooooooooo proud of you.

Love,

Mom

**Hey "Bubbles" ... Congrats!!!  You two make a great team.  Oh, and love the Bad*ss shot!

Congratulations to the entire class.  We're all soooo proud of each and every one of you!

HEADS UP

K, most of you know that we are not posting til after we have visited a location.  The plan was to post about a week from our stop.

Buuuuuuut ... We have a couple pressing issues.

1. We unfortunately left on our tour about the time that our friends at AOL Journals were changing their set up.  We were kind of hanging til after Memorial Day weekend, when they worked their magic, changing the posting process back to what we have always used.  THANK YOU JOE & the AOL crew!

2.  There are THREE of us shooting pix at every stop.  Raw pix do not look as sharp on the journal, so we edit them.  But the sheer numbers alone can be maddening.

3.  There are days where we have had no internet access.  This has been resolved, via the use of a card to get us on, anywhere!  Gotta love technology.

4.  We're tired.  lol  After a long day of driving and visits, we are sometimes pretty beat.  Safety is a serious concern on the road, so sleep is crucial.  I post til I am not able to stay awake, then get est before driving the next day.

All of the best pix will be posted, but bear with us.  The stops like Canada, NYC, Fairfax County, etc are filled with so many shots, they may require more than one post to get them all up for you.  But we will.

In the meantime, we're taking more photos, and making more memories to share with you all.

The latest ... Won't tell you exactly where, but our hints for you are ... We are in the Eastern Time Zone, moving South, and the Pentagon ROCKED!

Stay with us.  More from Canada to follow ...

lj & the road crew

Hey y'all, let's go south to Canada, eh?

First things first ... Welcome to one of Canada's newest citizens ... can't wait to meet you, Logan Thomas.  Happy birthday!!!  And congrats to your whole wonderful family!

So here are the long-awaited photos from Canada.  There are soooo many of them that will likely be posted in several sections -- over a couple nights.  Bear with us ... there are LOTS!!!

We had a blast with all of you.  And for the record, y'all ... it IS south of usto go to Sarnia, if you live in our neck of the pacific northwest. 

First up ... Customs.

  Now, you have to understand that we knew our Canadian Ambassador, Kevin McHarg, would not let us just slip in to Canada unnoticed, or unscathed.  As was mentioned on several occasions ... Spending the weekend with Kevin was like going to hang with Ashton Kutcher for a couple days ... You're always on guard!

And we knew as soon as the window slid shut at the border, that we were getting punked ala Kevin!

So we handed over our documents, and waited.  Sure enough, we were pretty much denied access in to Canada when the Customs vehicle pulled across the lane in front of us, and the officer got out, directing us to follow him.  Luckily, no cavity searches were involved, and aside from a great big smile & hug from Carol, a fun photo op for Rookie, (Apparently he thought he could smuggle in a bit of his tulip bouquet from Holland.  Sigh) and some good-natured kidding, we were none the worse for wear.  Whew, got through again!  lol

The ceremony - Wow!  After Joe came to get us, and a few minutes to compose ourselves at one of the firehouses, we were off to the ceremony.  It was held in the bay at Station 1 Sarnia Fire Rescue Services.  It was as special, if not more so, than I remembered last year when JeeNee came along.

Kathy and Kelly were both smiling broadly and it was great to relive my first moments with our Sarnia Heroes through their eyes.  They both talked about this visit long after we had left, and still moments will come up that cause us all to reflect on this outpouring of support from all of our Canadian friends (to the South -- love that!)

Jason Bosker was my escort in.  Jason is one of those guys you never forget.  He says he won't let me come back again because I always bring him to tears, but, it is only because he has such a big heart that he feels this effort so deeply.  So Jason, try & stop me.  ( ;

Kathy had her first escort with a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman ... and a fine one at that!  RCMP Officer Bob Hillier was my first official escort in, as well.  He stands so straight and proud in his uniform and makes it look so perfect.  He'll likely be mad when I write that I keep hearing "When I'm calling you-uu" in my head as I write.  But that is Kevin and Sue's fault, eh?  More on that later.

Kelly had a handsome young escort as well, but I have ask Kevin for his name.  I apologize, but there were so many people who came up and greeted us all.  It's hard to keep everyone straight!  I asked kelly is she had gotten his name and she just lit up as she told us that it was such an incredible moment she was lost inside of it ... Great place to be!!!

By the way, the photos of the ceremony (thru pic 143) were taken by Logan Thomas' Aunt Hailey.  Great job!  You can give us some pointers for shooting inside.  Thank you so much!

So much was going on, and all the while you could smell the great aromas of handmade sausages while Cousin Kenny's Smoked Meats prepared lunch for all in attendance.  Kenny and Kevin helped raise funds to help our tour effort ... and it has helped! ... Kevin can tell you what all was supported by this wonderful teaming.  And while you're at it, tell them about the cool shirts you guys made, and how that works.

Carole Whitson from Customs got coined, as did Jason, Kenny, Bob Hillier, Les Jones ... and oh geez, that is gonna be a long list!  lol

We had our shirtless firefighter, an ornery shirt from the law enforcement side of the house.  An amazing shirt presentation for the 2/3 Inf Stryker Brigade when they return, a great lunch, met amazing people, presented black bracelets to honor Fallen Hero Cpl Brent Poland ...  The photos are going to have to help tell the story and Kevin & all are welcomed to help input.

You are looking at just a tease of the rest of the photos.  And this was just day one of our three day visit to Canada!  Next up is the Port Huron visit from day one.

Enjoy!!!

lj & the road crew (getting some sleep now)

"Motorvating" to Motor-City ... Detroit

Detroit was a second year visit for us.  We got in late, late, in the afternoon ... on a Friday afternoon, if memory serves.

Friday afternoon is not the best time to try to catch anyone at work ... even firefighters.  It's wind down time in most of America (And likely in Canada, as well, but I'll have to ask Kevin to know for sure).

Headquarters was petty quiet when we got in, but Terence (sp?) made sure the doors opened, and our rig got situated inside.

A quick tour for Kathy and Kelly ... who were very impressed with all of the murals, paintings, and building antiquities, and we were off to do some station visits ... pretty sure there were three of them, but feel free to correct me if I am wrong.  By this point in the tour we were just readying to get our second wind and cities were beginning to run together.  Think sleep deprivation might have been involved?  lol

Terence got us to the local stations where we played and did photo ops.  As usual, we got off slowly, but this grouped warmed pretty quickly.

Rookie found himself in the pond, and waxing the floors, but finally got a lil rest as we ate dinner with the guys at the "clown" station ... You'll figure that one out.

It was dark in Detroit by the time we got back to headquarters and parked our rig safely inside the bay.  As we crossed over to the hotel, which our DFD hosts so generously provided, we were treated to the sounds of country music playingup to our window.  Turns out it was "Downtown Hoedown", and we could hear Darryl Worley serenading us in our room.  Okay, maybe he wasn't actually serenading us ... but it's our story and that's our version.  hehe

We thought about strolling over, but before you knew it, we were all under covers and searching for some much needed rest.  Seems to be a common theme.

Hope you enjoy the photos as much as we enjoyed the visit.

Next time we visit, I hope to see one of our favorite chaplains ... outside of ours back home.  And Orlando, stay healthy so we can see your smiling face, too!

lj & the road crew

 

Big hearts & wooden shoes in Holland

Back on dry land we headed for Holland.  Yes, Holland is in America.  In fact, it is in Michigan ... and it is a beautiful city.  We had just missed the annual tulip festival, but even the remnants were something to remember.

We had never been to this part of the country, so we had no idea where to stay the night before our scheduled visit.  We stopped by the station to seek guidance.  What we got was a great hotel tip, and an evening of laughter & relaxation. 

It was a quiet night for the crew, so I think the diversion from the norm was welcomed.  All we can say for sure is that they were friendly, and sent us off for the night looking forward to the next day's visit back to their station.

We even got a ride in with them before we set out for some zzz's.  And -- BONUS! -- their finishing touch to our rig was a strobe light ... which you will see in use on a future stop!!!

We bid them goodnight, got some much needed sleep at a nice hotel per their recommendation (good call, guys!) then came back in the morning.  

The day shift had a different feel to it.  More reserved, but still a lot of fun!  We decided that the night shift guys were so bored by the time we got there, that anything would make them laugh.  And this is a morale campaign after all.

Day shift started out a bit quiet, but you could see them getting into it more and more, as our shared time went on.

We had to laugh at their antics when one of them posed Rookie in a precarious position, and got called on it.  So they gave him a nice bouquet of the remnant tulips and invited us up for the highest basket ride we've had yet ... 118 feet!  Rookie got a great view of the city, with the beautiful water all around before ... you guessed it ... over hewent!  Last view we had of him was as he hit the pad and the pretty pink petals floated down over him.  Hard to believe he auditioned for this job, huh?

We went inside, spread out the banner for more great messages to be added.  Met some of the city's men in blue, making sure to represent for the police side of the house.

As we were wrapping things up, sharing photos, and addresses for future references, they added something we had heard of, but not seen up close ... a for real wooden shoe  Even better, they signed it for us.  What a beautiful souvenir of our visit with some class act folks!

Would we come back?  You bet!  Thank you all for a great time!

lj & the road crew

 

lj & the road crew

A big "thank you" to Joe & the AOL Journal folks

As our journal followers and the great Heroes we have been visiting during this tour are well aware ...

We have been having problems posting this time.  There was an upgrade to the AOL Journals, that we're sure is a big help to many bloggers, but for us it was a serious headache.

Joe and the fine folks at AOL Journals made the fix, and we are once again able to add the photos we take during our visits, in the original format we have used for our past tours.  This also means you can, once more, pull pictures from the journal for your department/personal use.

While we are a ways behind, we are grateful that Joe followed up on our issues and helped us get this fixed.  THANK YOU!!!  ( ;

So now we play catch up.  Hope you enjoy the pix.  Once we get caught up, we will go back and fill in all that was missed.  At the end of the tour there will also be collections of fun pix from all the stops put together, so stay tuned!

lj & the road crew