Lesson 3: Live in the Moment

Do not lose yourself in the past, do not run after the future. The past no longer is, the future has not yet come.... dwell happily in the present moment." - Buddha

But who wouldn't be "in the moment" perched on top of a delicious can of smoked oysters? Seriously!

Living in the moment is harder than it sounds. I always thought I was an in-the-moment kind of chap, but last summer my dear friend Madelaine set me straight on this illusion and I started to look at the world, and myself, in a different light.

How often, even on this roadtrip, do my thoughts wander away from the present moment. I would think of places I've been, people I've met, places I have yet to see, and the whole time I would rob myself of truly enjoying the present moment for all it's worth? Nothing was as important as the now, the very thing I am in this very second, typing on a keyboard, drinking tea, feeling alive and vibrant.

Often I look no further than dogs playing to remind myself how wonderful it is to live in the moment. They are true masters at it, living for play and love

My little friend Kiwi!

So this morning when I found myself drifting to far away places I thought of these furry, gentle creatures and became present once again...

...and felt the breeze all around me, my blood coarsing through my body, my lungs expanding and contracting, breathing fresh mountain air, the rising sun on my face, the humm of the road beneath my boots, and here, I AM, in this moment, this tiny speck in this massive universe in this blink of time, alive, vibrating, pure energy, pure love.

Namaste ~ :-)

San Francisco

San Francisco is truly an amazing city full of amazing people. It was quite enjoyable to once again navigate its small streets and steep hills and fight with the cars for my right to exist in my own traffic lane.

(Bay Bridge on the way to Berkely)



This street had two used book stores on the same block. Needless to say I spent a few hours there, and concluded my visit with a $5 plate of chicken, eggplant and rice.








I received a last minute invitation to see Keane in concert. Golly jee, what's a proper city visit without taking in a concert, eh?? Keane just began their US tour and played at the Fox Theatre in Oakland. They rocked!

It always makes me happy to see my fellow bikers excercising proper safety protocol and wear DOT approved helmets!

Brennen, they asked for you by name. meow! :)

Today my bum hurts (...and Lesson 2)

Today my bum hurts. Friends, everything I have ever said about the comfort of my bike and its saddle...
...that one can ride all day without feeling a thing and...
...wake up the next morning, smell the pine mountain air and be happy to jump right back on...
...well I take it ALL back. There is nothing natural about sitting on a 32 year-old foam and vinyl saddle for 2000 miles.


It's my personal penance for all the bad things I did as a child!

I have day dreams about waking up at camp and finding one of those air cushions on my bike....

Oh, how my bony bum and I long for thee......(sigh),

But I am now in San Francisco for a few days and have plenty of recovery time. I stopped in at Dave and Gabi's BMW shop where he gave my bike a little "much-needed love" by adjusting the points. We thought that would be the end of it as the symptoms seemed to have had disappeared...

Recommended Service in San Francisco








...but NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! the next morning the bike would not start. This was a sign from the sea gods. A sign that I it was time to stop being lazy and fix it myself.

Mark, thanks for emailing me my personal wiring diagram from my laptop. It was a huge help.





How pretty is that!?!?!?! I know, you don't have to tell me, I get misty eyed looking at it too.... (sigh). I can make you a copy.... :)-






Four trips to Auto Zone and one to the BMW shop for parts.... and 3 hours sitting on Trina's garage floor (thanks for the work space Trina!) and the bike sputtered back to life!



<------- Notice the little dude on the side of the can right there? Yes, that's new! And of course there was a lesson to be learned here:








Lesson 2: Every journey will have road blocks. These are not to be avoided, but embraced, and take the opportunity to grow and evolve. "Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty..."
-- Theodore Roosevelt

Thanks for that Teddy.

Namaste ~ :-)

Friends

Meet Jenny. She's a totally cool hippie chic who camped two doors down from me for a couple of days. The day we were both headed south I caught up with her one last time as she was hitching to a girlfriends bachlorete party. Grrrrr! We exchanged hugs and and last minute photo. Go with the wind Jenny!

The birthday girl on the left is Michelle. She and her partner came up here to celebrate for the weekend. Michelle talks with her whole body, is very animated and passionate about conversation. We hit it off quite well over beer and campfire along with her campmates.








And then there was Jane who was kind enough to provide a place for not only my tent, but Dave and Peter's as well. Jane lives locally but she loves to camp and would spend a week or more int these parts. She also loves trees as you can tell and asked if I would take a photo of her with this redwood. It was one of the oldest and largest in the campground.

Jane is truly a kindred spirit with a big heart.




But alas, it was time to move south and back into more familiar territory. I was running into a few issues with the bike and I needed a good source of parts and sound counsel. San Francisco would be that place.

The River

I began heading south and never really left California... so far. I knew by day 3 that my pace was already slowing down and I was not going to turn down any amazing opportunities like fish frys, river rafting trips or spontaneous dinner invitations.

At the last minute I was invited for a day of tubing with a group of friends from San Francisco. The venue would be down Cache Canyon Creek which runs along HWY 16 northwest of Sacramento.


I rolled into the area the day before with the intention of camping but everything was completely full since peak season was in full swing. I stumbled across a campground privately leased to Cache Canyon River Trips.

I spoke with the owners, John & Julie Karlones for a while who were simply wonderful people. They run the business with their three sons. I explained I was to meet 18 fellow tubers tomorrow and run the river. Even though it was clear that my friends and I were not using their company for our little adventure the next day, they still invited me to stay at their campground, this included dinner and breakfast!!
What an incredible act of kindness I thought.


John and Julie - two wonderful spirits with alot of love in their hearts!!

If you're thinking about a rafting trip, please consider doing it with this amazing family:

http://cachecanyon.com/Home/Welcome.html







Kitchen operation at Cache Canyon River Trips. It's quite a task to feed 200 people for every meal, and the food was excellent!!











I went in search of suitable camping accommodations in John & Julie's campground, hopefully away from the beer-slinging, party-animal tents that were scattered about.

I came across Michael and Angela Lynch who were rafting for the weekend with their three children Aden, Avery and Maya.

The Lynch Family lives in Santa Rosa, not too far from my fellow Mt. Shasta camp-mates.

It was a pleasure camping next to them and I hope to see them again when my travels take me through their neighborhood.



By 9pm it finally cooled off to a comfortable sleeping temperature. Spending hour after hour on the bike in the heat does take it out of me and I was ready to crawl into my sleeping bag. I stood outside my tent gazing at the Milky Way which is quite profound this far from city lights, and night was incredibly clear. But alas, sleep was here and I was out by 10:00.

Namaste ~ :-)

Mountains!

Northern California is home to some of the most spectacular mountain ranges and volcanoes on the west coast. I decided to visit both Mt. Shasta and Mt. Lassen during these past few days.

I camped at the shores of pristine high-altitude lakes under ancient pine trees shading me from the relentless summer sun. Much reading has been caught up on but I think I'm a bit behind on the writing. Such is the way of the road. Go where the wind blows.









Castle Lake at Sunrise,















My humble little abode,













Mt. Lassen snow fields at 8,100 feet









It was almost time to head south again. I wanted to make sure I had time to visit friends and brothers in San Francisco. I was ready for a little break from the heat anyway. Riding long days in 105 degrees with jeans and leathers on. I don't consider myself a wussy or anything but when I start fantasizing about cold drinks and swimming pools with icebergs floating around me I knew it was time for some cooling off....

Signs...

Lesson 1: Friendship

The winds blew me north for a few days through endless winding mountain passes, along side lakes as blue as the summer sky, and past little towns nestled in ranchland pastures encircled by gentle ranges.

My bike happily hummed along next to that ever-present yellow dashed line on the hot pavement. At times it was quite hypnotic and my thoughts would wander to the ends of the earth.

One day in the middle of the Trinity National Forest I came across Dave and Peter, two best friends from Santa Rosa on their own little bike adventure. They had ridden these parts for a number of years now. We chatted for a few minutes while the bikes were getting fueled and said our farewells. Later that day I ran into them again and I accepted their invitation to share a camp at a beautiful, crystal-clear lake in the shadow of Mt. Shasta.

Dave owns a restaurant

and makes the most amazing coffee. Dave and Peter, both in their 50's have a friendship that I once had with my best friend growing up. Just seeing them together was, well, beautif

ul. The love, care and consideration they showed each other, and me for that matter, was a living re

minder

of how good people are, and how good they can be. Dave and Peter became my teachers this day and the next. I was an attentive pupil as they reminded me of some lessons long forgotten as well as new ones learned.

At camp I also met Violet, who spoke 3 dialects of elvish and has a masters degree in Astrophysical Terrorism, no shit, I'm not making this up! At one point while Violet was talking to Dave about outer space and the CIA and what not he gave me this look that said,

"Holy shit!!

Is she for real?!?"

Violet is gracing Peter with one of her sermons as I sneak a photo.

My Bike made a few friends too....

So what have I learned, or relearned...

Lesson 1: Family, friends and loved ones are the most important element we can have in our lives. Cherrish, nurture and hold it close to your heart over all else.



Namaste ~ :-)

Reflection...

The harsh and splendid land

With snow-covered rock mountains, cold-crystal streams,

Deep forests of cypress, juniper and ash

Is as much my body as what yo use see before you here,

I cannot be seperated from this or from you,

Our many hearts have only a single beat.

- from The Warrior Song of King Gezar

This was a day of relaxation and reflection. As I shed the last of my drifting thoughts and concerns with respect to... quite anything really, I felt my spirit slowly synchronizing with my surroundings. This day, that was the north fork of the American River which has a magnetic pull on me.

I sat at its banks and read "Three Cups of Tea" about an American climber who built schools in the most remote regions of Pakistan. I enjoyed learning about this person with direction and purpose and an unwavering committment to what he believed was his life's most important work. I was truly in awe of him.

The book of course led me to look inward once again and reflect on my own path and spiritual growth. Riding through such vast spaces, one is reminded that we are here for but a short time, a blink in the universe, and then... gone. But what to do with that blink is the million dollar question.

My purpose today was to climb to somewhere around 8,000 feet above sea level where the temperatures were more forgiving, and find an amazing spot to put up my tent.

The further north I ride the hotter it gets, and the longer the days become. Days melt into weeks. It seems I have traveled through a time warp because it seems as though I left home 6 months ago.

It is once again time to put up my sails and see which way the gods will blow me...

~ Namaste ~

"The people paint the landscape."

To me this statement means simply that one can see the entire world, drink in fantastic vistas and landscapes, but still find it somhow devoid of the spirit of life without people. I have met the most amazing and wonderful spirits while on the road. That is not to say that the same opportunities are not present while on the homfront. However, when on the road one is more open to engage others or be engaged by them since our familiar surroundings, habits and routines are not with us.

Meet Shijir Khan. He moved to the states from Ulan Bhatar, Mongolia and has lived here for around two years. He works at the Angels Camp World Mercantile. Shijir's spirit is gentle and kind. He always greets me with a warm smile when I stop by for a cup of tea and a chat about what's going on in our lives.
Shijir, thank you for allowing me this photo.






On a beautiful late morning, riding further north, I met Melissa and Teal of the Sierra Rizing Baking Co. They invited me to the semi-annual fish fry that night assuring me I would make life-long friends. Who could say no??


I was quickly and willingly volunteered to help in the kitchen to prepare for the event. The food was spectacular.

Teal had a recipe for a broccoli salad that included a grain called quinoa. Mmmm, veggie hippie food!!






They were right about the event. I made new friends whom I'm sure I will come back and visit and go river rafting with.

The bands were both amazing but the best part was that the entire event was set up as a fundraiser for local nature conservancy and advocate groups like the American River Conservancy.







And so went the evening. The band played late into the night, with several hundred wonderful people from the community and afar gathered for this beautiful night.




I felt very blessed to be a part of it. The landscape had been painted once again.

Namaste ~ :-)

Did I bring enough underwear?

Did i bring enough underwear? ...was the first question that went through my head as i pulled out of my driveway on a hot weekday morning. I spent only 3 hours packing, the road was calling me, it was time to go.

I had been praying for some sunshine since the last week at Catalina Island was nothing but overcast.

The sea gods answered my call and now it was blazing hot, or as the Britts would say "bloody hot!" Either way I had blue skies for the next 1,000 miles.

Did I forget anything else?? Mental inventory check:

tools

books

sleeping bag and pad,

camp stove and fuel

clothes

sunblock

munchies

camera

camel pack

miscellaneous stuff

......

and the monkey!

The bike took well to its first road trip in over a year and we..... (the bike - the monkey - and I) quickly fell into a rhythmic harmony, cruising north, leaving L.A. far behind.

My first destination would be my parents ranch house in Angels Camp, about 400 miles north, nestled in the Western Sierras and not too far from Yosemite.

I already started to feel my head clear as I entered the greater San Joaquin Basin at the top of the Grape Vine, also known as the bread basket of California.

The mind can do funny things when a motorbike helmet is wrapped around it for hours on end, especially in the heat, and did I mention?? it was bloody hot!

I tend to revisit unanswered questions, like old friends you only see once in a while. The road is that venue for me, where I spend time with these questions, like

“What am I doing with my life that has a positive impact on my fellow man and planet?”

“What am I supposed to be doing with it?”

"How can I be a part of spreading peace and love in the world?"

“Where can I get a fresh bag of baby spinach?!?”

Thoreau once wrote "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.”

Socrates said that “the unexamined life is not worth living”.

Pretty heavy shit boys!

These have always been profound statements and resonate with me like city traffic noise does with a New Yorker. It’s always there, whether you want it or not, and sometimes you really don’t. Nevertheless, a part of everyday life.

That’s what this trip is about. To come closer to that resonance and let the particles of my being, my body and spirit, melt together again with the earth beneath my boots & tires. As the miles roll on and the landscape rises before me and falls away behind me, as the sun appears on the horizon and passes overhead and sinks into the purple silhouette of the Cascade Ranges, I'm puttering along on this trusty old bike and perhaps answer a few of those old questions.

Namaste ~ :-)