by Analyn Revilla

Live from Goldendale, Washington, while listening to Hank Williams on my laptop, and my hubby is packing up the motorcycles with our gear; I’m thinking of what to share with you that will give your day a panache.  Been on the road since last Monday, over one week ago.  We started from LA and drove through California towards Nevada taking the backroads on a pair of two wheels each.  I ride a Suzuki SV650, and Bruno rides a Honda Shadow 1100.  We’re traveling with my electric guitar and a Line 6 XT with headphones, so that I can noodle at the end of the day when we pull over after a day’s ride.  Our destination was Hayden, Idaho.  It’s just a few miles north of Coeur D’Alene.  We left his buddy Jean Pierre and his family just yesterday.

What’s over here near Goldendale?  There’s a life size replica of Stonehenge in Maryhill.

This was a memorial that Sam Hill built to help us remember that war is not the answer.  Sam Hill was Quaker and was a proponent of peace.

Hill constructed two notable monuments. The replica of Stonehenge, at Maryhill, commemorates the dead of World War I, while the Peace Arch, where today’s Interstate 5 highway crosses the U.S.–Canada border, celebrates peaceful relations and the open border between the two nations – Wikepedia

We visited Stonehenge two hours ago; the replica was impressive as it sat on the edge of the Columbia River, and to the west was a view of Mount Hood.  A few yards away from Stonehenge stood a war memorial dedicated to fallen soldiers from the surrounding area.  The period spanned from WWI thru Afghanistan.  Despite the impressive site, we noted the bare flagpole stand.  We found this strange.  The flowers were dried.  The other two cars that drove to look at the monolith site did not bother to visit the war memorial.

This monument that Sam Hill created has not made the lasting impact he meant it to have.  I stood beside Bruno at the memorial to make a silent prayer.  I thought, despite his efforts to help us to remember that ravages of war and how it only tears families apart and distances cultures from one another, we still continue to carry on with our prejudices.

Traveling through backroads of Nevada and Idaho, I was a little apprehensive, because of my racial background.  I was not sure if I would encounter blatant racial prejudice.  When a dog smells the phenomes of a fearful person it makes the dog fearful too.  Don’t be afraid, I told myself.  Face your fear, and I discovered that 99% of my fear is in my head.  I have met wonderful and kind folks through this part of the country that have been labeled as red-neck country.

I ride on and open my heart, open my mind to the open road.  Take it as it comes, and face your fears.