June 20th 2009.There is a national organization called the Military Vehicle Preservation Association (follow the link and click on the 2009 convoy link on the left hand side of the page) who are holding a convoy of military vehicles. The convoy started in Washington DC and is traveling the Lincoln Highway to San Francisco, CA.
Along the way they made a stop in the Land of Lincoln. The convoy is being escorted by local veterans as well as Motorcycle riders from all over the states.
Our local American Legion Riders are honored to be apart of the Illinois leg of the convoy. Our riders were supposed to camp out at the airport in Rochelle, IL tonight then set out with the vehicles in the morning. However due to the torrential rain falls we had yesterday the fields are flooded so our riders will leave from Forreston Sunday morning.
In preparation for the ride we hopped in a van and drove down to the airport to see what we could see, knowing that the convoy would not be there, we had hoped to see the vendors and get an idea of what was going to happen.
We arrived just in time to hear the new Governor of Illinois, Pat Quinn speak about his "Portrait of a Soldier" program. We also got to see the display. These are pencil or charcoal portraits of fallen soldiers from all over the state. We also got to see the inside of one of the governor's jets, before he left. It was very cramped inside. Glad I don't have to ride in it. Unfortunately Jake and I will not be able to make the ride tomorrow so I won't have any pictures, but I bet it will be very cool. I just hope the weather holds.
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