PGR MISSION: CHRIS DRAGE U.S.A.F. 12-16-10

Thursday, 12-16-10, the North Texas PGR had a send-off mission for Chris Drage, a medic out at Sheppard AFB, located on the North side of Wichita Falls Texas. His dad, Allan, requested the PGR be there at the airport for his son, when he arrived to report for deployment. Allan is also a PGR member. Scroll on down and join me on this PGR mission as we send off a true American hero to the Afghanistan Theatre of Operations. REMEMBER: IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE PICTURE BIGGER, JUST CLICK ON THE PICTURE.


When I got to the Wichita Falls Municipal Airport, there were several PGR members already there. From left to right: Crazy Mike, Bud, Tex and Ted. Tex and Ted are both PGR Ride Captains. The Ride Captains and other PGR Officers wear the maroon caps while all other members wear the blue ball caps and bandana's

Ted was feeling good and talkative today. That is, he was until I pulled out the camera

This is Crazy Mike. I met him several months ago when I was down in Henrietta Texas at Four Stars Motorcycle Ranch talking to the guys there. It's pretty kewl because it turned out Crazy Mike is my son's next door neighbor

This is Bill. I met Bill at Red River Harley Davidson and when I get his permission, I will relate to ya'll what had occurred that bright sunny day... For more on Red River Harley Davidson, see the following link: www.redriverharley-davidson.com

The bikes out in front of the airport terminal

This is Ted W. and his wife, Emily. They ride the red Can Am Spyder.

The support vehicle, with the encased flags in the bed, belongs to Tex. He and Ted F. rode to the airport in it, to post some early flags.

As we form up for the flag line, I have my good friend and mentor, Ted F., on my left.

looking down the flag line from the left end.

The left end of the flag line as seen from across the street from the terminal

The right side of the flag line as seen from across the street.

The bikes as seen from in front of the terminal building

As we wait for Sgt . Chris Drage to arrive, several of his fellow airman are there also to see him off. Chris is a medic and assigned to the base hospital

Looking down the back of the flag line to the entrance into the terminal

At about 10:30 a.m. Chris arrives and is accompanied by his wife and young daughter.

One of Chris's coworkers is here taking pictures also. I believe this is SrA Keller.. I forgot write her name down. my bad...

Chris , with his wife and daughter, wait for his mom to walk over from the parking lot.

Co-worker's of Chris, talk to his wife while he gets some items from his vehicle.

looking down the flag line, from within the flag line..

Bill inside the terminal. We would line the walkway to the door that led out onto the ramp.

Ted W.(sitting) listens as Crazy Mike tells a story. Ted F. also listens in.

my good friend Bud takes a well deserved rest as we wait for Chris to check in at the desk.

me and Ted F., as Ted W. (sitting) looks on

This is Allan (holding the flag) with his son, Chris

Allan and Chris. Ya'll put Chris on your prayer list and pray for his safety during his tour. We want to be here next year, waiting, when he returns back to the states

Here is a group photo of today's mission: from left to right: Bud, Ted W., me, Crazy Mike, Chris's Mom, Allan (his dad), his daughter, Chris, his wife, Tim, Bill, Jimmy, Tex, and Ted F.

Just before they open the gate, we line the walkway from the terminal to the ramp. Bottom to top: Allan, Tex, Ted F, Bill, Tim, Jimmy, Bud and Ted W.

This is Sharon. She is the TSA official that was helping us out. Thank you again Sharon!! You Da Woman!!

The guys look out the door as the plane pulls onto the ramp and taxi's to the terminal..

Crazy Mike is deep in thought as he rests against the wall

Ted W. is doing okay.. I think Emily was still inside the terminal..

After the plane departed, we all returned to the support vehicle, furled our flags and put them back into their canvas homes, where they will remain until the next mission. Allan, having put his flag away, walks back toward the terminal followed by Ted F.

Bud gets ready to head out from the terminal

The final picture of today's PGR Mission, is of my bike getting gassed up. I enjoyed today's mission and seeing everyone again. Looking forward to seeing my fellow PGR members again at the next mission.

If you are curious about the Patriot Guard Riders (PGR) or are interested in joining us (it's free) go to the following link and you can join online. Then , if you are here in the North Texas area, get hold of me and I can get you on the mission list and let you know of the different links you can go to. the link is: www.patriotguard.org

Scroll down for more rides, runs and events and don't forget to click on the

"OLDER POSTS" link at the bottom of EACH page or directly under the last post on the page, for more of the same.

Continue to pray for all of our troops, both in and out of Harms Way, and especially for Che Whitaker and Chris Drage both of whom are in the Afghanistan Theatre Of Operations.

Until next post, ya'll be careful out there, keep the rubber on the road, keep you're head on a swivel and most importantly of all........ RIDE SAFE!! ......................JOHN

ARDMORE OKLAHOMA RIDE 12-14-10

Tuesday, 12-14-10, Flip had put together a ride up to Ardmore Oklahoma for lunch at the TWO FROGS GRILL, a rock & roll themed bar & grill. Unbeknownst to us, the temperature that morning when we left was about 34 degrees and that kept a lot of folks from riding. So, the six hearty individuals that did go were: Flip, Nubbin, Ron, Jimmy, Floyd and me. Scroll down and join us on the chilly 195 mile round trip to this great establishment and REMEMBER: IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE PICTURE BIGGER, JUST CLICK ON THE PICTURE.


Our staging area was the Wal-mart on Southwest Parkway/Hwy 79 in Wichita Falls Texas. Here is Jimmy on his bike as we wait for some others to arrive.

This is Floyd. He was in a great mood today and looking forward to the ride. One thing we had going for us was that it was SUPPOSED to be in the upper 50's on our way home.

Nubbin arrives from Windthorst Texas on his Trike.

Jimmy (on the bike), Nubbin (standing next to Jimmy), Flip (in front of Nubbin) and Ron, who drove in from Archer City Texas, has his back to the camera.

With everyone there that was going, we pulled out and started up to Ardmore Oklahoma. Here is Nubbin in the mirror shot. He was riding tail gunner today.

As we head up TX79 towards US70 in Waurika Oklahoma where we would turn East, the formation is : Flip up front and our leader for today's ride, followed by Floyd, then Ron, then Jimmy, then me and then Nubbin in the rear.

Here is Nubbin, Northbound on TX79

We made our turn on US70 and stop in Ringling Oklahoma, about 30-40 minutes from Ardmore Oklahoma. Here is my bike at the stop.

Left to right: Flip, Ron, Floyd, Jimmy and Nubbin

Floyd & Flip in Ringling Oklahoma

me & Flip in Ringling Oklahoma

The Welcome To Ringling sign, across the street from where we stopped at.

After the guys had some hot coffee to thaw out their innards, we headed back East on US 70 and a short time later, we rolled into Ardmore Oklahoma

As it was getting close to noon and with Ardmore right on I-35, traffic picked up. Here is Nubbin in front of some of the traffic.

The TWO FROGS GRILL is located at US70 and I-35. Here Nubbin stows some gear as we get ready to go in. For more on this great establishment, see this link: http://www.twofrogsgrill.com/

The TWO FROGS GRILL in Ardmore Oklahoma

Inside, Nubbin checks out the menu. When I first walked in, I thought "Oh no, this is gonna be one of those $12 for a hamburger places", because this place had atmosphere and class. I was shocked at the low prices and the great food they had. When you left here, you left full!

Ron & Floyd checking out the menus.

Flip and Jimmy checking out the menu. I got so wrapped up looking around and talking with the guys, I didn't take any other pictures inside. But we will definitely be making another ride there and I'll do the blog right with some cool pics of the stuff they have on display.

After a great meal and feeling stuffed, we wander out to the bikes and prepare to head back. Instead of the upper 50's, it was like mid 40's out, but it was a heck of a lot better than when we started out this morning.

Everyone is getting mounted up. We were going to cross the street to the Shell station and gas up because we were going to do some more back road riding on the way home.

The guys were now waiting on me and Nubbin to saddle up.

We pull out onto US 70 and get into the left turn lane so we can u-turn back to the gas station. Here we are at the red light

My bike at the gas pumps. I call my Harley SO for Significant Other. Janice is my wife, but my Harley is my Sierra Oscar.

Ron topping the tank off

Nubbin and I got to talking about the bakery in Muenster Texas that sells some fantastic apple streusel. To get there we would have to go South on I-35 to the US82 exit in Texas and then West to Muenster. However, we weren't going that way today and we'd have to wait for another ride to get Nubbin and Angela's favorite snack.

Nubbin gassing up the Trike

Flip is gassed up and waiting on us to finish up

Floyd finishes up at the pumps

Jimmy finishes gassing up and gets ready to head out

Jimmy, Westbound on US70

Ron Westbound on US70

Floyd westbound on US70

Flip Westbound on US70

Nubbin Westbound on US70

me, Westbound on US70

As on a lot of rides, there is the ever present construction zones. Here we enter one on US 70 just out of Ardmore Oklahoma.

We exit the first of two construction zones between Waurika and Ardmore Oklahoma on US 70

We did most of the ride between 65 mph and 70 mph. And yes, my bike is dirty and looks like a pig sty. Everytime I tear it down and wash it, it rains and I get caught in it. I washed it three times in October. The last time was October 15th and I got rained on again, so I said screw it, I'll wash it next Spring.

Nubbin Westbound on US70. He was having a good time and rocking on some jams he was listening to..

Westbound on US70, we approach yet another construction zone

They were repairing a bridge and had stop lights at each end of the bridge. Here we are stopped waiting for the Eastbound traffic to clear the one lane that was open.

Nubbin signals all is well. Tell you what, I don't know ANYBODY who has ever met Nubbin and his wife Angela, and doesn't like them. I love both of them and am honored to be part of their friends.

We clear the last construction site and about 20 minutes later, enter Waurika Oklahoma

In Waurika at the South HWY79 and West US70 split, Nubbin continued West on US70 and headed, I think he said, to the Casino's located at I-44 and US70, a distance of about 35 miles. The rest of us turned South on Hwy 79 and headed for Texas.

Heading South, we approach the Red River Bridge, seen ahead at the bottom of the hill. Texas is on the South side of the bridge.

And here we are crossing the famous Red River. The Red River separates Texas and Oklahoma in these parts. For more on the famous RED RIVER, see this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/red_river_(mississippi_river)

We get back to Texas and go back home via the country roads that lead thru Thornberry Texas and the various orchards located there.

The final picture of todays ride is as we approach FM171 which will take us to I-44 and to our various residences. This will conclude this post. I enjoyed the ride with my friends, meeting Floyd and visiting the Two Frogs Grill in Ardmore Oklahoma. I look forward to our next ride whenever it occurs and where ever it takes us.

Scroll down for more rides, runs and events and remember to click on the "OLDER POSTS" link at the bottom of EACH page or directly underneath the last post on the page, for more of the same.

Continue to pray for ALL of our troops, both in and out of Harms Way, especially for Che Whitaker who is in the Afghanistan Theatre of Operations.

Until next post, ya'll be careful out there, keep the rubber on the road, keep your head on a swivel, keep warm and most importantly ............RIDE SAFE!! ...................JOHN