Veteran's Day with the Patriot Guard Riders

Here's a couple pics people took before & during the parade yesterday. I couldn't find our camera anywhere, it's here somewhere, haha... So I had to wait to get pics from other, more organized people, haha! Anyway, the whole day was AWESOME!

Here's me before the parade in the 2007 Mustang GT I got to drive:



Here's a closeup of the magnet that was on both sides of the car:



And this one is actually during the parade, with the "PGR Family of the Year" in the backseat -- their son was KIA in Iraq, and they themselves just went to Iraq with several other "Gold Star" families to visit with the troops & such. They are awesome people!



Here's the pre-parade briefing:



Here's folks lined up, waiting for the parade to begin:





I don't know how many bikes were there with us... I just know it was LOTS!!!! 60 or more, probably more, I'm guessing. The 30 biscuits, 4 "boxes" of Chick-Fil-A coffee, gallon of orange juice & 2 dozen donuts I brought with me that morning sure didn't last very long, haha!

In the parade, we were one of the first groups. There were a couple groups or floats, then there was the V.A. float, which is what we (the PGR) were escorting. There were PGR members riding in front of and on either side of the float. Directly behind the float were two Rolling Thunder guys, then me in the Mustang. I was surrounded - literally - by bikes. One on my right front bumper, left front bumper, right rear bumper, left rear bumper, then one or two directly behind me, followed by all the rest, how many they were. We were driving along in a very, very, VERY close, tight formation... Oh boy was I ever on "full alert" the whole ride... I didn't really see much of the crowds or the sights of downtown Atlanta... I was completely focused on the bikes in front, beside, and behind me... constantly scanning around to see where they were in relation to my car - and where I was in relation to them. Thank God we were only going about 2 miles an hour -- but still, anything can always happen at any time.... It was really neat though -- the guy on my front left bumper, Slack, the Ride Captain in Charge for this event, had a CD or some MP3s blaring out patriotic music the whole parade...when "God Bless the USA" came along, he & his wife & me & anyone within hearing distance, it seemed, started singing along -- definitely a Kodak moment, haha -- definitely a very patriotic moment! Of course, I kept apologizing to my passengers, because I CAN'T SING! Hopefully they couldn't hear me over the roar of the bikes!!! ;-) Oh, it was soooo cool - the crowd just LOVED the bikes -- LOVED 'EM! All sixty or so would rev their bikes at the same time, and my car SHOOK from the force of the sound -- it was AWESOME!!!!!! We all definitely had a BLAST during the parade - it was just awesome!!! Here's some pics of the crowd:








Anyway, the whole day was awesome. After returning Mustang to the dealership (which I REALLY did NOT want to do!), I had to stop by the store to pick up some stuff for hubby, and then I got home at around 6:00 p.m. Fell asleep no later than 7:30 -- I was totally EXHAUSTED. Despite having slept almost ten hours... I'm STILL wiped out, haha!

It was a very good day. I felt very humbled and privileged to be able to drive the Johnsons (the Family of the Year) through the parade. I thought of all my adopted Soldiers - past and present -, my Veterans, and those who never made it home at all as we drove.

Guys (and gals): this was for y'all.

Hope everyone had a fabulous day.