Since several of you have asked, I have received and was delighted to accept an offer from Real Branding to head their Project Management team. I’m very impressed with the company, the leadership, the team, and the company’s direction. I start on the 18th.

I ran across these notes from earlier in the trip:

Bugs are bigger in the mountains.

People will approach a single person on a motorcycle more often than when two are traveling together. I’m not sure why. Either there is something about a single motorcyclist that invites conversation, or maybe having “Robert De Niro” along on the early part of the trip was just too intimidating.

When all you’ve seen hit the windshield are bees and yellowjackets, a bug flying up your sleeve at 40 MPH will increase your heart rate.

No matter how hard you try, or how clear it appears to you, you just can’t predict where a wild animal is going to cross the road.

Tips for spring travel at high altitude:

• When the sign says “Watch for Falling Rocks,” assume they are already in the road. When there is no sign, assume that a rock has knocked it down.

• When the sign says “Wildlife in the Road,” assume that it means more than “they occasionally cross said road.” They stand in it, lay down in it, and congregate in the road. When there is no sign, assume that some bison pushed it over while scratching.

• When the sign says “Rough Road Ahead,” assume that there are potholes the size of Rhode Island, washed out sections that have been replaced with gravel the size of golfballs, and miles of groves from ripping off the top layer of asphalt. When there is no sign, just assume it’s the normal rough road.

• When you see a sign that says “Motorcycles use Extreme Caution,” just turn around and go back.

Madison Camp, Yellowstone to Jackson Hole

Today breaks a record for me. As a kid I had two 17 day vacations. The first was when I was around 11 years old: our family took a vacation back to South Carolina where we had lived the year before. The second was when I was 15 and went to the World Jamboree in Canada. I’ll talk more about that below.

Somewhere along the line I “got my wires crossed” and I didn’t take another vacation that lasted more than four days until the first 10-day trip to Marble in the late 90’s. The longest I’ve ever been away was a 14-day trip to Maui in 2004. In Maui, I was coming off one of the most difficult projects for which I’d ever had responsibility – and it took me four days just to unwind.

I don’t know what it says about the last 18 months, but I’m just now winding down enough to start thinking about the future, especially career-wise.

I’m running out of adjectives to describe this trip, so I’ll mostly let the pictures do the talking. Having toured with and without a wingman, I have to say that it’s much like life. Touring alone means you don’t have to worry about the other person. You get up when you want, eat where you want, stop when you want, gas up when you start feeling uncomfortable with where the needle is, don’t have to worry about how consistent your pace is, etc… In short, you’re the boss – with no-one else to answer to.

The other side of the coin is that there is no-one to talk with over coffee about the previous day’s ride, no one to crack jokes and laugh with on stops, no one to introduce you to their dearest friends, no one to point out things you missed, no one to second-guess your “seat-of-the-pants” planning, no one to talk you into “gearing up” for rain you didn’t see coming, no one to turn to and say “wow, will you look at that?”

So my friends, in the spirit of sharing the ride, “Wow, will you look at…”

My camp buddy the ground squirrel. He hung around all afternoon and morning looking for scraps.

I got so used to bison, moose, and elk wandering around in the road I quit documenting the encounters. I simply stopped the bike, relaxed, and soaked in the experience.

Other shots from the day (culled from almost 100)

And this is a vista overlooking the new wolf habit created when the park reintroduced wolves in 1995. The rangers had telescopes set up so you could see a couple of the wolves near their den, but it was too far away for a camera.

Continental Divide at about 8000 feet – and yes that lake still has ice on it.

And the first view of the Grand Tetons heading south… I have a similar shot from the same turnout taken in 1983. Which gets me back to Mother’s Day and my first trip to Canada. I’ve thought a lot about mom today. In large part she’s responsible for this trip, at least for sowing the seed that put me here in the first place.

Sometime in 1981, she sat me down at the kitchen table and said (albeit in kinder language) “put up or shut up.” The first payment was due in a few months and she said “I’ve heard you talk for months now about wanting to go to the next World Jamboree, what have you done about it?’ I, at 13, of course had to admit that I had pretty much done nothing but talk. The deal was that if I earned the money to go ($1650.00), that she and dad would buy my uniforms. She asked me if I wanted to go and as I remember; I started into a litany of excuses of how I couldn’t earn enough for the first payment in time. I didn’t get very far.

Her next words summed up a serious life lesson for me: “I didn’t ask you how you were going to earn it – I asked you if you wanted to go. You have to make the decision first – then we’ll figure out the how. Now, do you want to go?” I did make the decision, and she and dad helped me figure out how to earn enough for the first payment. After the decision was made, it was easy. Oh the work was hard, but there wasn’t any internal waffling, no internal conflict when it was hot outside, or when my friends wanted to go play. I had made the decision.

I went to Canada, but more importantly, I learned how to set goals, overcome obstacles, and work hard. Thanks Mom (and dad). Happy Mother’s Day!

And now, I’m back here again: retracing much of that route from Denver to Banff, making new decisions, setting new directions – and flat out enjoying the hell out of every moment of the experience! Even the bears: I saw 7 grizzlies (3 were cubs) and a black bear today.

Another shot of the Tetons, look closely for the eagle…

The sign where I took this particular shot of Willow Flats said that this habitat could sustain over 40 moose per acre.

As the following were all true,

• It was getting dark

• I could see more moose and elk feeding on the side of the road than the number of bugs hitting my windshield

• The only campground open was another 30 minutes away

so I promptly stopped as soon as I reached Jackson Hole, found a clean room, warm food, and cold beer – and then crashed.

Pete is right, everyone (and I mean everyone) should do this or something like it. Something that completely unplugs you from the system and allows you to count your blessings, contemplate your future, and recalibrate your trajectory.

Today’s Route:

Monday’s goal is somewhere near Casper, WY.

I obviously don’t qualify as a “real man” in the state of Wyoming. I don’t ride a Harley, I don’t smoke cigarettes, I do wear a helmet, and my preferred brands of beer don’t come with twist-off tops!

Watching bison graze for an hour at sunset beats the heck out of rushing home to watch a sit-com.

Lying in a warm sleeping bag and watching the stars rotate in the sky for hours is a very satisfying way to fall asleep.

Life is too short not to have real coffee over a campfire.

Camping in Yellowstone will make you appreciate a zero degree down sleeping bag.

Northport, WA

I took the day off today to visit with Dave and Sue Chambers and reflect on the trip thus far. Around lunch Sue and I walked over to Rick and Vicky Johnson’s for a short visit with them and their son Joe. Barbara, Sue’s mom was up for a visit and ended up hospitalized in Colville with a serious staff infection. We went to see her before going to dinner at a little pub in Colville.

Over the day, I reflected on my experience thus far on the trip and several things came to mind:

Bear Camp Road: It’s easy to be an armchair quarterback. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the second day out, I took the same route that CNET Editor James Kim took in December of 2006. I remember reading the news reports and thinking “what was he thinking taking his family out on a back country road like that?!” Having actually been there and experienced it, I now know. The road starts fine. It’s broad, well paved and is clearly a two lane highway. It just gradually gets narrower and narrower and rougher and rougher. I hate to admit it, but as someone that has had quite a bit of wilderness and survival training, I sat in judgment of Kim’s decisions – all based on the news reports. Now, having “been there – done that” I’m reminded that the news rarely tells the whole story, and I’ve vowed to come to conclusions much more slowly in areas where I have no direct experience.

Friends: Pete said it well: “Good friends salt a trip like this.” Getting to catch up with Bob Rankin, being there when Connor smoked his first cigar, riding with Pete, meeting Tim and Mrs. Moon, listening to Master Chief stories, and spending time with Dave, Sue and Barbara have really made the trip special. The people you choose to spend time with say a lot about you – because they have the biggest chance to influence your outlook on life. This has been an amazing trip - filled with people that have passion, character, and vision – exactly the influences I’m looking for. Special thanks to the Rankin’s, the Moon’s, and the Chambers for their generous hospitality!

Things happen for a reason: And most of the time we have no idea what it is. Pete mentioned the couple we meet outside of Banff, Barry and Paula. After they had driven off and Pete told me about Barry having cancer, I spent the next leg of the journey thinking about my interaction with Barry. I regretted not being able to offer him some level of encouragement until it donned on me – perhaps spending 20 minutes interacting with a fellow motorcycle enthusiast in a normal way was encouragement enough. In fact, they were probably more of an encouragement to me. Paula said they had been married 44 years and they obviously had a very positive outlook on life despite their situation. I regret not exchanging contact information with them. Had Pete and I not lingered over coffee that morning, would we have met them?

Sitting in a saddle watching the scenery go by gives you a lot of time to reflect. I’m reflecting a lot right now on the decisions that I’ve made in my life; the good, the bad, and the colossally stupid. I’m looking to learn what I can and keep making good decisions, taking advantage of opportunities as they are presented, and setting a trajectory toward the person I want to become.

Now I’ve gone and gotten all pseudo-philosophical on you. Back to the road trip tomorrow.

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