Take the Highway

What a long day.... the morning came by way too soon! 4:30am roll call was a little to early for me. We hit the 2,000 mile mark in Vernon, TX in the pouring rain! The rain drops feel like pin needles going 70 miles an hour.

We rolled into the Dallas Harley-Davidson to a warm welcome committee! A ton of Tennessee Volunteer supporters and a huge contingent of the Dallas Hog Chapter. They joined both Nikki and I in a drive by around the dealership.

Another great day for our traveling crew! They all worked through the heat and did a super job. We will continue to spread the word and raise money for breast cancer. And that is what this is all about!!!!

Off to Little Rock in the morning!!

Dallas Rally

The day began at 5:00 am with us heading from Amarillo to Dallas. The RV and the crew had to roll ahead of us so that we could make our 2:00 pm start time. We were able to have lunch together at a Sonic about half way into the ride. I'm not going to say any names, but one of our riders had not had the pleasure of an enjoyable meal from Sonic. Her company is only our presenting sponsor.

Our team did a fantastic job of setting up the event, along with the Dallas Tennessee Alumni Association. It was so great seeing the orange. There were a few future Lady Vols in attendance as well.

Photos of the rally.

We had a special person in attendance, Leslie Reid. She shared her story with her bout against breast cancer. She was diagnosed with Intraductal Carcinoma Stage II in June of 2006. She is championing her cause against this disease. She has 2 beautiful daughters and a loving husband. We wish her much success and we send her many blessings.

We leave for Little Rock, AR in the morning. More photos to follow tomorrow.

Nikki and Holly

Amarillo by Morning - NOT!

Our goal....Amarillo by morning! Sorry George Strait, it didn't happen. Way to much wind!! We almost got blown off the road several times and it was a little scary.

We rolled into Amarillo on historic Route 66. Before arrival, we stopped at an old country store for a bathroom break. Check out the sign in our pictures. Better come with a quarter!!!!

We ended the day at the Cadillac Ranch!! The Lady Vols are now represented on a car. Why did they bury them on the ranch? We don't know, but it was pretty cool to see them in the middle of a pasture.

Heading to Dallas early (5:00 am) in the morning! We've got our 3rd rally to attend at The Dallas Harley-Davidson in Garland, TX.

Holly and Nikki

FedEx Kinko's on Coors Blvd.

A special thanks to FedEx Kinko's on Coors Blvd. for coming out and supporting our cause. We've also got a few pictures that will reveal the surprise they had for us at their store.

Thank you!!

Rally in Albuquerque, NM

The rally at Thunderbird Harley-Davidson was a blast. We have some great photos to share with you. We were extremely excited about the amount of people we were able to reach. We shared our story and in doing so donations were made. Thank you to all who helped make this a special day for The Volunteers Cruisin' for a Cause team!!!

Rally at the Thunderbird

The reception in Albuquerque at the Thunderbird Harley Davidson was huge. We met survivors, families of survivors, friends of survivors, etc.

We were joined by Vicki Macaulay and Kathy Anderson from Albuquerque Komen For a Cure, two women who have a strong passion about this fight.

Thanks to our traveling crew for all their hard work....Andy, Stacie, John, Terri, Tony, Kim, Beth, Traci, and a special shout out to Lori for the great job organizing our event.

How bout our friends at FedEx/Kinkos! What a nice welcome! They had a cake, drinks, and a big smile waiting for us as we entered the door. Don't know how they get any work done cause they face the Sandias Mountains, and they are turning pink as I blog.

On to the next event..........And getting closer to home!!!!

Cindy Catlin - Senior Manager, FedEx Kinko's

FedEx Kinko's photos


Holly & Nikki asked me to blog a bit tonight about FedEx Kinko's sponsorship of the ride and my involvement. First, it is great to work for a company that believes in team member involvement and giving back to the commmunity. I was truly excited when the company came on board as the presenting sponsor and allowed me to serve as the corporate point person. It is an honor to be associated with Holly and Nikki and their efforts to raise funds and awareness in the battle to find a cure for breast cancer.
FedEx Kinko's will be on board again in 2008 as the presenting sponsor, and we encourage you to share our website and mission with your family and friends...every little bit helps!
As we cross the country, it is a great opportunity for me to meet FedEx Kinko's team members in different cities and states. We visited the Las Vegas Paradise location and received a warm welcome, last minute help with extra copies and computer time. Many thanks to Chelsea, one of the assistant managers, for her help following the rally and for shipping a wallet that we found along the side of the road to it's owner.
More to come during the next week! We are having a great time, are a bit tired, but overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response we are receiving everywhere we go.
We keep on cruisin'!

Contributed by Cindy

Best Day Yet

Check out some more photos!

Bye Elvis, we want to thank you, thank you very much! We did Las Vegas and headed out to Hoover Dam! Massive! Probably the biggest challenge for me today was to deal with the wind. It was blowing me and the bike all over the road. We hit the 1000 mile mark in Williams, AZ heading toward the Grand Canyon. Spectacular! All I could do was stand and stare! It was one of the most fascinating sights that I have ever seen. And to end my favorite day, I stood on the corner of Winslow, AZ and sang with Jackson Browne and the Eagles....And as the song says "Take It Easy"

PS - Thanks to Jackie, Sherry and Renee for the great help! Ya'll were great photographers, organizers and runners! Can ya meet us in Dallas?

Holly

The Hoover Dam and The Grand Canyon

Unbelieveable photos...This was my first time seeing the Hoover Dam and The Grand Canyon. It was amazing. We've got some great photos of both places. We are now in Holbrook, AZ.

On September 6th we will be at Thunderbird Harley-Davidson from 4 pm - 6 pm. The address is 5000 Alameda Blvd. NE Albuquerque, NM. Come out and see us!!!

Viva Las Vegas

OK the King is still alive!! Only he lives in a slot machine. I found an Elvis slot machine. When you win, it plays the theme from his Hawaii concert!! Too funny!! It suckered me in....but I did win my money back plus a couple of $100.00!!
I spent all night with Elvis....WOW!! Found out how he gets himself in that studded suit.

Remember what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!!!! OK I was in bed last night by 9:00pm.

-Holly

Las Vegas Rally

Rally photos, a special fan showed up!!!

A huge thanks to the Las Vegas Harley-Davidson. Thank you so much for helping us with our quest to fight breast cancer!!

Day 2 to Las Vegas

More photos to view.

The ride to Las Vegas through the Mojave Desert was one word ---- HOT!!!! To keep from being dehydrated we would ride about 30- 40 minutes, gulp the gatorade and water, and ride again. We can't say enough thanks to Gatorade for refueling us and of course Pilot for refueling our motorcycles.

110

This is the first time that I have travelled 374 miles on a motorcycle. I must say it was an eye opening experience. The reason I entitled this post 110 is because I listened to 110 songs on this ride. Now, take into consideration that we were in traffic for awhile trying to get to the coast line. We rarely even got out of first gear. The coast line was fairly windy and we were travelling about 20-30 mph. So the 374 miles felt like 600.

There are 2 things that stood out on this ride.

Hot to cold, cold to hot. This was the weirdest thing ever. We would ride along the coast line for about 10-15 minutes, the temperature would be like 100 degrees. Then we would hit 50 degree weather. Crazy!!!

Since we were travelling at night time, the second thing that was crazy was the bugs. I had to hide behind the shield!!! They were coming at us. I just kept my mouth shut too.

But all in all, a great day.

Nikki

Day 1

Photos say it all. We've put together a photo album for you to view.

I must admit, the ride was long, but going down the coastline was priceless. We will be leaving out today heading to Las Vegas. We will be back to share more photos.

Nikki and Holly

The Tree People

Oh yeah, we did have the opportunity to see the tree people. It was amazing the hazing the tree people endured from the local.s

Game day

Although we fell short of a victory against Cal Berkley, all was not lost. It was amazing to see the Tennessee fan support at the game. I must say, it's great to be a Tennessee Volunteer...There had to be about 12-15,ooo fans there. Awesome!!!

Holly and I on the Bart heading to the game!!! Quick story, there was nothing but Tennessee fans on our train car. A Cal fan got on with us. Obviously we where giving him grief. Then Holly and I started clapping and began singing Rocky Top. The entire train car chimed in and the poor Cal fan just shook his head.

Holly and I with Tennessee fans who were

showing us southern hospitality. Thank you Seth and Waun!!!

We are heading south to the Pacific coast highway. Will keep you posted on our first day adventure!!!!