Leaning into Life: Lessons from the Road

Route 66, “America’s Highway” runs parallel to I-40 from time to time, but not all the way through. Dusty and I took it for several stretches from New Mexico to California.

Winslow, Arizona

There are plenty of photo opps in the tourist traps that dot the old highway.  Winslow, Arizona ran with the Eagles song  “Take it Easy” to make its kitschey mark — and I fell for it! For those of you too young to remember, or whose taste in music has led you astray, the pertinent line says:

“Well I’m a standin’ on the corner in Winslow, Arizona and such a fine sight to see. It’s a girl, my lord, in a flatbed Ford slowin’ down to take a look at me…”

This photo now has a place ensconced in a Route 66 frame. After all, what’s life without some kitsch? Hats off to Dusty for setting up the shot and capturing the moment.

Oatman, Arizona

We lost more than a day from our planned schedule in the convection oven of the Southwest. From Texas through the Mojave Desert, temps were well over 100 and the winds surged at over 40mph.  Thankfully I had a hydration vest that kept me comfortable — submerge it in water and it works like a swamp cooler as you roll down the road.

In spite of losing so much time I was determined to visit Oatman, Arizona and Dusty humored me in spite of the long day already behind us by the time we approached Oatman (God love her!).

Formerly a gold mining town, Oatman is now a tourist destination thanks to Route 66 nostalgia and the wild burros that roam its streets. The burros are descended from pack animals turned loose by early prospectors, and are protected by the US Department of the Interior. You can set your watch by their 5pm departure from Main Street to the surrounding hills.

Dusty and I had a couple of apples in a cooler and we brought them out for photo opps. Only later did I learn that donkeys don’t digest them as easily as horses — it gives them diarrhea. Sorry!

As an adventure rider I have to note that the road to Oatman has wonderful twisties. Some day I’ll go back and take them at speed.

Travel always teaches me a lot about myself and the world. Here are the top 25 takeaways from my 2011 road trip.

1. Avoid fussy fabrics

2. Sip water constantly for perspiration instead of pee

3. 99% of strangers will help you in a pinch

4. An apple beats a bag of chips (on many levels)

5. Elk often rest in high grass — look for antlers above the grass

6. Wind can blow your bike over; don’t park broadside

7. Floodwaters stink after a few weeks

8. Always carry a camera

9.  Recharge — yourself and your electronics

10. Pink looks good on everyone

11. Even the Mississippi River starts out small

12. Start every morning with yoga and thanks to The One

13.  Life is full of blind corners

14. Pack your warmest sleeping bag

15. Leave some of yourself to the imagination of others

Because breast cancer strikes one in eight women

16. You get when you give

17. Everything wobbles, but not every wobble becomes a fall

18. Clothes can double as a pillow

19. Canadian customs will confiscate your pepper spray

20. Donkeys look like horses, but apples give them diarrhea

21. Rethink souvenirs

22. Bless the detours

23. A news holiday is good mental hygiene

24. Turn your ABS off when going off road

25. Campground squirrels are fearless thieves

This squirrel took our watermelon and stashed it in the tree

People often ask how difficult it is to pack for six weeks on a motorcycle. It’s pretty easy when you get in the groove. Simplicity is the watchword. Oh, and quick-dry fabrics.

On the bike

Camping gear:

Camping in the Redwoods, Crescent City, CA

• tent
• rain fly
• sleeping bag
• yoga mat (for yoga and a sleeping ground pad)
• tiny flashlight on a carabiner hanging from the apex of my tent
• pepper spray (until the Canadian customs agent confiscated it)
• small waterproof flashlight (could forego with my smart phone’s flashlight app but I like it)
• dutch oven
• fork-knife-spoon set
• cooking spoon and spatula
• cooking ring, fuel, matches
• squeeze bottles of oil, Bragg’s, Balsamic vinegar
• camping pillow (the kind you can squish down to nothing)
• microfiber body towel
• toiletries
• tool kit
• first aid kit

Motorcycle gear

• computer, ipod,  smart phone, cameras
• front and rear tire inner tubes
• chain lube
• plastic cleaner and microfiber towel
• map book
• jacket
  

  One of the dozen ways to wear a Buff

• boots
• pants and rain/cold liner
• helmet
• heated jacket
• 3 pr gloves, of which I only wore 2 (and one not much at all)
• silk liners for the gloves in case my heated grips were insufficient
• 3 Buffs — I should be a Buff spokesperson for the many ways I’ve used them!
• Camelback
• 2 pr of compression shorts
• 2 sports bras
• 3 short-sleeved performance shirts and 1 long-sleeved
• 3 pr motorcycle socks
• cooling vest (dunk in water, wear)
• 2 cooling neckbands (dunk in water, wear)

Non-bike clothes

• pair of jeans
  

  Sporting the long-sleeve hooded t-shirt and sundress/nightgown. Cat sold separately.

• PJs (un-necessary but nice)
• 2 pr underwear
• 1 bra
• 2 tank tops with built-in bras
• zip-up knit jacket
• long-sleeve tshirt with hood
• sandals
• combination sundress/nightgown
• 5 t-shirts (3 too many)
• denim vest
• yoga shorts
• crushable sunhat
• sunglasses
• skort
• small purse (I knit it!)

 Soundtrack

See my little Nano dangling from the bra strap? Believe it or not, I didn’t own an iPod until about two weeks before I left. No time to go through scratched CDs, I downloaded a friend’s CAKE collection and want to especially recommend these songs:

• War Pigs (Live version), when you really wanna get it and go
• The Guitar Man, for the mellow sweepers
• I Will Survive, when you’re running out of gas
• Race Car YaYas, for heavy traffic
• Rock’n'Roll Lifestyle, for SoCal roads
• Comfort Eagle, when off-roading hills

Audio books

• Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
• Me Talk Pretty One Day
• The Glass Castle
• Moscow Rules
• River in the Sky
• The Inimitable Jeeves
• A Palm for Mrs Pollifax
• Laughter of Dead Kings
• Lake Wobegon Summer, 1956
• The Triumph of Caesar
• Confessions of an Economic Hitman (still listening)
• The Odyssey (still listening)

Friday morning my traveling companion, Dusty, and I turned east at Reedsport, Oregon.  From this point, daylight will no longer be on our side…moving south and east means shorter days.

If you’re following my posts on Facebook or are a newsletter subscriber you know it’s been a whirlwind even though I haven’t had time to tell you 20% of what I’ve done, who I’ve seen and what I’ve thought.

Although I had planned to travel to Calgary, Banff and Jasper, it just wasn’t in the cards for this year. Instead, this week we’ll head to Glacier National Park before meeting the other Conga riders in Shell, Wyoming.

After the Conga rally, I’ll be hot-footing it:

• Friday, 7/22 I’ll be speaking at the Baha’i Center in Winnipeg, Manitoba
• Saturday-Sunday, 7/23-24 headed for St. Paul, MN. From there will travel the River Road along the Mississippi
• Monday, 7/25 I plan to be in Davenport, IA for a fundraiser
• Tuesday, 7/26 in Bowling Green, KY with family
• Wednesday, 7/27 Knoxville, TN area
• Thursday, 7/28 Kickstands DOWN celebration at Carolina Breast Friends’ Pink House

Are you anywhere near my intended route?  Do you know someone else who is?  Please get in touch!

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This year’s trip I’ll be interviewing subjects for the book I’m writing as well as raising money for breast cancer causes. To those ends, I want to build followers for myself and the upcoming book. Based on last year’s experience, I foresee some specific roles the intern will play, but just like a road trip, there will be some surprise opportunities and the right person will nimbly seize them:

If you know someone eager to garnish their resume with a successful campaign please pass this along. Someone with a passion for the breast cancer cause would be ideal.  The person needs to have the maturity to keep the channels engaged but not fatigued.