The Vastness of America

This country is so vast. I have lots of video of great roads, twisty roads, mountain roads, roads that carve their way through vineyards, forests or coastlines, but there are lots of other roads that connect those places. The USA is big! Sometimes you have to buzz in a straight line for hundreds of miles. I spent many hours on I90 today going east from the Badlands to Sioux Falls for 300 miles of vast nothingness or vast farms and ranches depending on your perspective. The other 184 miles for a total of 484 in one day weren't terribly more exciting, but of the 2,300 miles this week and the 10,300 I've done in 42 days I've always been glad to be on the bike and moving.

Orchestra of Life

Today was a glorious riding day filled with breathtaking views. I started the day taking backroads out of Cody, Wyoming on my way to Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area to see Devil’s Canyon. This would be a brief stop in Montana before coming back to Wyoming and heading east toward South Dakota.

Bypassing neighboring towns, I found myself on backroads or county roads. I was riding in between farms, ranches, and the backdrop of an amazing mountain range filled with a spectrum of colors indicating varied terrain. There were no cars to speak of and I felt the serenity of the ride. It was so peaceful. I started to really take in what was around me as I rode on. I felt especially aware of what was going on around me. It really was an orchestra of activity, of life, happening right in those moments. It’s as if I was bearing witness to creation, to the Universe, to the beauty around me. There were wild horses running in the field playing. Some of the grazing cows paused as I rode by on the bike, their heads tracking the motorcycle down the road. A truly funny sight. There was a man on a tractor plowing his field. Miles later another man was alone standing in the field bailing hay. More horses hanging out lazily up against one another. Birds were darting in and out in front of the motorcycle as if to tell me to slow down and check things out. I saw a family, men and women on a ranch mending a fence. The sky was crystal blue and the mountain range filled the landscape with shades of brown and speckled red rock. The air smelt of perfumes and flowed through my motorcycle jacket keeping me cool. The rhythm of the ride and the beat of all the life around me was yet another joyful moment in an instance feeling everything at once. Some people call it a moment of grace, of pure joy, of bliss. Whatever label you choose, I’ve had that feeling many times on this trip. It’s a moment when all you feel is joyful and blissful. A rush of gratitude and an emotion of bliss. Beatific and beautiful.

It’s the Journey, but you need a Destination

I thought about my motivations today, where I was going, my past travels, and in general life’s journey. We’ve all heard the expression, “It’s the journey, not the destination.” The obvious and general interpretation is simply to appreciate being in the moment and where you are at. No need to obsess on the destination or the final outcome. Enjoy the doing of it. I’m a firm believer in this, not just in travel, but in life. However, the destination is a key ingredient. It’s the catalyst that sparks the chemical reaction. You pick a destination and that sets the journey in motion and keeps it going. You pick a destination or a goal and that sets you in motion. Having a destination or goal is fundamental to starting any journey, whether it be physically traveling or a metaphysical journey. “It’s the journey, not the destination,” doesn’t mean you should travel or go through life without a destination or without goals. You can if that’s your choice. My feeling is that it means you can be flexible to adapt and change your destination and goals as you learn and evolve. The destination isn’t immutable. It’s something that can change, but having something aspirational to go for is a good thing. The meaning of that statement is to focus on the traveling now in the moment and don’t worry about arriving. Again, this pertains to physical travel or life’s journey. Picking a destination and setting a goal isn’t arbitrary. It sparks the reaction that gets you going. It creates momentum that is a push-or-pull. It’s the gravity that draws you to something. Having a destination and a goal is that thing that makes you kinetic. It gets you moving. It’s so important to pick a destination or to set a goal it’s what turns potential energy into kinetic energy so that you can truly focus on the journey, allowing” the road” to get you to where you need to be, which might be totally different than what you envisioned when you started.

We are as different as we are the same

It’s a paradox. In looking at all the places I’ve been to so far in this country, I can say that we are as different as we are the same. Like all people on this planet we share core common motivations and at our core we are the same in many respects. We need to be loved, we need to love, we want to be healthy, and we love our family. We need a roof over our head and food in our belly. We all have hopes and dreams, at least when we start out. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Suffice to say our humanity binds us. In the USA there’s a tendency to say, we’re Americans and for that to mean we belong to one club. While we’re all citizens of the same country and bound by the ideals of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, it probably ends there with respect to Team USA.

Of course, our common humanity and citizenship are pretty strong indicators of “sameness.” All 330+ Million of us Americans belong to a pretty cool club, but there are so many differences and geography is a big part of the reason. Geography, the local economy, the local culture, the local history, the local political beliefs, the local, the local, the local stuff. We are a federation of States, and within States and across States culture develops locally. Just think about all the accents in this country. While we all speak English or try to, some of the accents or dialects of English are as different as a foreign language. I’ve talked with so many different people on this trip from all over the country. The accents are distinguishable and many. From Minnesota, to Mississippi, to California, to Alabama, to Brooklyn, to Boston, to the Carolinas, to Florida, and on-and-on. I’m sure a linguist could explain this in a very scientific way. My point is that within this one country there are many dialects of English, and the differences don’t stop there. I want to avoid basing this conclusion on political orientation, East & West Coast cities versus the in-between. People migrated across the USA for different reasons. Local economies developed differently. Religious beliefs and political beliefs got tangled-up differently. What makes America great, as it is said, is our diversity and how different we all are.

However, sometimes enclaves develop and at a large scale. So, it seems sometimes we have very big pockets of very similar thinking people who are engaged in the same general lifestyle. That’s true in the “big city” or in the “small town.” It’s interesting though that there are places in this country that can seem as foreign to an individual as another country on a different continent. We are as different as we are the same. No judgment, just reality. Best not to have conversations about politics or religion, well there’s a reason that bit of advice has been doled out more often than not.

Moments in Time - Highlights from Week 6 that are captured in the photos that follow:

I went to Yellowstone today. Check that one off. I’m only going to post one pic to summarize my impression of Yellowstone. Here’s a pic at Old Faithful. Get the message. I did see a lot and travel around a fair bit in the Park, but this image captures the Yellowstone experience for me. I’m not saying there isn’t a lot to do. There surely are wonderful things to see and do. I just wasn’t “vibing” it.
Just passing through. Buffalo Bill sure left an impression in these parts
Devil’s Canyon Overlook in Bighorn National Recreation Area #montana
On my way to Bighorn National Forest #wyoming
Bighorn National Recreation Area. Cool Mountain Goat or just a cool goat who can climb.
Close Encounters. Devils Tower.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Searching for Richard Dreyfus. Devils Tower. #wyoming
George, Thomas, Teddy, and Abe. The Fab Four! Mount Rushmore #southdakota
Some other obligatory South Dakota stops. Ok, it was just 1 out of 38 days devoted to crossing off a bunch of checklist items. #southdakota. Deadwood and Sturgis
Badlands National Park #badlands #southdakota
This country is so vast. I have lots of video of great roads, twisty roads, mountain roads, roads that carve their way through vineyards, forests or coastlines, but there are lots of other roads that connect those places. The USA is big! Sometimes you have to buzz in a straight line for hundreds of miles. I spent many hours on I90 today going east from the Badlands to Sioux Falls for 300 miles of vast nothingness or vast farms and ranches depending on your perspective. The other 184 miles for a total of 484 today weren't terribly more exciting, but of the 9300 miles I've done in 39 days I've always been glad to be on the bike and moving.
Day 41 and over 10,000 miles traveled and more to come. The last few days have been twisting the throttle from one Interstate to another, burning miles from the Badlands and heading to the Great Smoky Mountains, all while encountering the heat, the bugs, and the utter vastness of the USA. Almost there, but a massive thunderstorm and a proper soaking steered me to some clear sky, Nashville for the night. Didn’t know it was Country Music Festival weekend after the CMT Awards. The city was packed with excitement!
Day 42 returning to my home time zone. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park #northcarolina #tennessee
Day 42 - Found my oasis in the Smoky Mountains. #brysoncity #northcarolina #serendipity