[SoCalCruisin]

What an experience this event was. I won't go into all the details, but I'll share some of the highlights for me and add some photos.

My son and I made it to the staging area, a Walmart parking lot in Foothill Ranch) at 6:00am on a cold, damp morning to find the area already set up. Listening to Jimi Hendrix blaring loud in that parking lot from one of the trucks was a cool way to start off the day.

We were put in 14 different rows to have an equal number of bikes go to each hotel to meet the families and escort their buses back to the staging area. I was ride captain for one hotel, and my two brothers joined my row. The numbers seemed low for the longest time, but finally the bikes just kept roaring in.

One thing I liked was the variety of bikes too. Just my row alone had my Yamaha, a couple Harleys, an M50, a Triumph, and a BMW. There had been a couple choppers even, but they joined a different group as we pulled out. We left a little later than we should have at about 8:00am, but our hotel was only 20 minutes away.

When we arrived, I had my first of many teary moments of the morning. Little Colton, about 2 years old, came running out to greet us with mom close behind. My brother Steve was barely off his M50 when she wrapped her arms around him and wouldn't let go. She was sobbing and saying thank you over and over for us being there. I went inside to the lobby to greet the rest of the families. The sadness and gratitude in those faces, young and older, is difficult to describe. They all came out to check out the bikes and meet with us before they boarded their bus for departure. I was a little disappointed that my group was smaller than it should have been, but they didn't seem to care. I told them there would be many more bikes where we were going.

We did our escort, and as we approached our exit in Foothill Ranch I saw 3 school buses up ahead with no escorts. Turns out they had left their hotel before the bikes got there, and the bikes were trying to catch up. We kind of all joined together, and then the other bikes caught up too. I could see all the faces in those buses lighting up as they saw more and more bikes. The new groups did road guards for us at the rest of the intersections, and we sailed on through to Walmart.

While waiting for everyone to gather at Walmart, the families were able to check out all the bikes and talk to us. There were a few more teary moments as I met more families from all over the country, and learned some of their stories. The reactions they showed that "people do care" was touching to say the least. My son (14 next week) was great with the little ones we had escorted, but he was much more involved at the staging area. He happened to meet some of the girls closer to his age. He was thrilled when one of the Snowball Express representatives approached him because a few of the girls had requested he join in the photos with them.

Up to this point, a PGR "cager" member who goes by No Chute (wonder how he was injured in Vietnam...) had worked his butt off to bring us all together. From here we were going to escort all the buses about a mile and a half to the Oakley (sunglasses) plant for their huge party. It didn't go as well as it should have, but we did the best we could. We did our best to ride alongside the buses, revving our motors and tooting the horns. For the last quarter mile or so, the street was lined with locals waving flags and signs of support. Yep, more tears. Looking into those bus windows, the kids were wide-eyed and full of smiles, and most of the adults had tears streaming down their faces. I ended up circling back over and over on that last stretch to make sure all the buses had escorts.

We were done at this time, and the families would be spending the rest of the afternoon having quite a party thanks to Oakley and a few other sponsors. NBC Nightly News did a segment on it. A lot of us ended going to nearby and popular motorcycle hangout Cooks Corner for lunch.

I heard there had been about 900 family members in all, and they came from all over the country, all expenses paid. I haven't heard an estimate of the number of bikes, but I would guesstimate at least 140 or so. It was a good day, and one I will not forget.