Glenn Again Online

US-380 somewhere in New Mexico. This road will get your left arm in shape from waving at the numerous motorcyclists that favor it. When one is riding a motorcycle out on the open road, nearly all motorcyclists wave to each other. I got to thinking, some ride Japanese, some ride American, some ride Bavarian, some ride Austrian, some ride British, some even ride motorcycles manufactured in India. Some are trikes, some are dual sports, some are choppers, some are land yachts. Passing each other on the road, nobody know what or if they follow politics. Nevertheless, they wave.  There are many tribes out on the road. I even waved to some that were cops on motorcycles, and they waved back. I saw a guy that seem stranded at the TX-70 exit off of I-40/Rt 66. I stopped to make sure he was okay. In Flagstaff, I got cold at sunset, so I stopped on the side of the road to put on an extra layer. While dawning my jacket and a set of glove liners, a guy stopped and asked if, I was okay. The World...

“- Young Ellie: Dad, do you think there's people on other planets? - Ted Arroway: I don't know, Sparks. But I guess I'd say if it is just us... seems like an awful waste of space.”    As usual I was running late. The VLA (very large array) radio telescope is about 50 miles west of Socorro, NM. In the movie "Contact" it was supposed to be part of SETI. It is not part of SETI; but if I wasn't late, I wanted to stop at the visitors center to ask if they made contact yet. Oh well, I got a pretty good image post sunset. When I'm in Arizona I usually take US 60 and AZ-260. It's a nice scenic route. Part of it was smokey today between Payson and Show Low. Fire somewhere south of the route. There was a lot more traffic today than I remember. Maybe it was travelers to home coming football games. I took an off-route excursion to Lakeside south of Show Low. There were a lot of people sitting in lawn chairs facing the road. I'm not sure why they weren't ch...

The road to and from Glennville is twisted. It's on CA-155 east from Delano. There's a Grapefruit orchard on the left.just before you cross CA-65. Then the real fun begins -- curves and 13% grades. Varmints (like squirrels but maybe prairie dogs)  wait at the edge of the road and run across just before you pass by them. It's like they are practicing to out run predators. A coyote gave me a nod when I passed by him. Perhaps he was letting me know that those varmints are what's for his dinner. I chose this road not because it was easy -- same as Kennedy chose to go to the Moon. On this trip I landed on Oregon. Metaphorically, there were boulders where I wanted to land, so I maneuvered my craft to a safe landing with only 3 seconds of fuel left. It was a giant leap for Glenn-kind. Other than that the trip was more like Apollo 8. I orbited Yosemite and Sequoia NF, but I didn't land. However, it proved I could get there. Next, from Ridgecrest  CA to Sedona AZ, the desert...

 I have been to Lake Tahoe several times now. This time I didn't really mean to. I just took the road that goes down the western side of the lake. It's sort of true, what they say about Tahoe, it has two seasons -- Winter and Road Construction. It is too crowded. Every time I go to Lake Tahoe, I assume it will be the last time I go to Lake Tahoe. Who knows, I could cross that path again. They changed the name of Squaw Valley to Palisades Tahoe. I'm sort of offended by that. As much as Sheldon Cooper, in the sitcom, dreams that the World is binary, the World is not binary. Some people think that using Native American language to name American places is cultural appropriation and that it is offense to Native Americans. I suppose for some people it is offensive, but I reckon there is a spectrum of emotions involved. On the other hand, doesn't the use of Native American language recognize that Native Americans were here first and pays respect to indigenous people. Removing ...

  Over the years, I have taken a number of solo road trips. It probably seems like I want to do stuff alone. Like, I have said: Compromises are self inflicted when one travels alone. I do tend to just handle things the way I do it. I do enjoy a bit of solitude. The larger truth is I seek connection and symbiosis. I admit it actually feels good to accomplish a project in partnership as long as each partner is contributing to quality and not where one partner wins and the other loses. Sometimes what people, and especially I, do doesn't make a lot of sense, This journey made a lot more sense before I was on it. I don't know... I suppose I'm seeking a quality of life that doesn't exist when I find myself tethered to a metropolis that doesn't care about me.This trip isn't a mistake, but it is valuable learning experience. It brings to light that everyone struggles whether they know it or not. "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" is a book about quali...

On September 15th 2023, I crossed the border of my 49th state. Oregon completes the lower 48 states portion of my life long itinerary for visiting all 50 states. Only Alaska remains. I'm pretty sure that visit will not be on a motorcycle. The globe looks small when it is reduced to a map, but compared to a speck on two wheels, the distance is adversarial. As a result of the intimacy between myself and Nature, an idea was born somewhere between the mountain ranges and the ancient ocean floor of the West. It entered my mind that it would be an interesting business to use a tour bus like rock stars to to travel between gigs like a rolling BnB. It could drag a trailer full of motorcycles and gear. The rolling BnB (RBnB), would carry its guests across vast distances to motorcycle excursion attractions. So, when the RBNB comes into the vicinity of a fun place to ride, the guests would take the motorcycles and the RBNB operator would meet them on the other end of the ride. This is the ide...