Sunday, the 13th of April, turned out to be a beautiful day for a ride, despite all of the weather forecasts calling for rain. When we arrived at our Starting point, Schroader's Honda, there were a few hardy souls who turned out to see us off. We were especially pleased to see Billy Cannon there.

All of my aunts were there to see us off along with a few of our new friends. Larry and Cheryl rode with Bill down the mountian. They were escorted by Dottie,and law enforcement officers from Henderson and Polk county. Jon and I made our first stop in Saluda. By chance, Mrs. Arrington, a member of the Pisgah Trail Riders was in her realty office, right next to where we stopped! She came out to see us and chat for a few minutes.

When the riders arrived with their escort, M. Snipes, of the Saluda Police Department,  Mayor Rodney Gibson came to greet us. Bill had to replace a coulpe of loose nails on a shoe on Cheryl's horse. We had a light lunch and then they rode on to Harmon Field in Tryon.

There we were greeted by Lorna Deever and Judy Shultz who made us feel right at home. They had refreshments for us and anyone who happened to come by. Dana Bergman was there to entertain us with his acoustic guitar and great songs. He had even composed a song for Blackie. My mom was able to record some of it and we hope to post that segment sometime in the near future. We hope you enjoy the photos and will post more video as soon as Jon has it edited.

Jonny note: My Toshiba laptop's sound seems to be damaged now. I'm not sure if its a software or hardware problem, but I'm guessing its hardware. I'm not to happy about this.

This is the video of Bill and Blackie's final ride during their journey from Lebanon, Oregon. We met many kinda and generous people during the trip. On this final day Bill starts off riding with Cheryl. The two make their way to a place called the Opportunity House. When they arrive they are greeted to a crowd of people waiting to meet Bill. At this point more people join Bill, and ride with him to his final destination in Henderson, North Carolina.