Hello Everyone!
It’s wonderful to be back with you this week and to be back on the road. I’d first like to take the opportunity to say thank you to all of you who reached out with kind words about my uncle since last I wrote. He is doing much better and seems on the road to recovery. It was a hard few months at home, but I was glad I could be there to support him and my mother through some very tough days.
Edward and I
I’ve also had some really good news on my photography front as the two photos above have been selected to hang in the Rockwell Gallery of the Salmagundi Club in New York City. This club is one of the oldest art organizations in the country and it’s truly an honor to have my photos included in their current exhibition. If you’re in or anywhere near New York City, go check it out, entrance is free.
With that good news in my back pocket, I flew back to San Francisco about two weeks ago and enjoyed a day to myself in the city before I ventured out to check on Shadow Catcher. Before I even turned the key, I changed the oil and checked all of the fluids etc., but she started right up with no problem. She definitely has a little bit of an issue with one of the front brakes, and while it didn’t seem to affect how well we stopped, it did make a heck of a noise each time. This should be an easy fix when I get the time to do it. Other than that, it was great to take her out for a spin for a few days.
I spent a couple of days cleaning her out real good and getting rid of some things which I just don’t need. In Stockton I went to see the Garden Brothers Nuclear Circus which was incredibly entertaining. I even got to meet the second shortest mobile adult in the world, Edward Niño Hernández, who stands proudly at just 27.64” (70.21cm). Then I went out for a night in Isleton, a cool little city with a lot of Chinese-American history right in the Sacramento River Delta. It also has one of the best little beer bars in the region. I spent my last night out in Pacifica getting a little beach time in before putting my old van back in storage. This is the last summer I plan to do that as I plan to be back to blogging and traveling in her full-time for a while after this season.
After a few days in San Francisco to get all of my paperwork etc. done, I drove solo up to Seattle where I began a two week camping trip through the U.S. Rockies. This is going to be my 17th summer guiding overland tours of the U.S. and Canada, something which seems truly beyond belief. This tour took in Glacier, Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, three of my absolute favorites. It was still really cold out there with nighttime lows below freezing and plenty of snow still on the mountains. That being said, it was also really beautiful and we saw a ton of wildlife. I had a really fun group and everyone really seemed to enjoy the tour, myself included. It’s a very challenging trip with a lot of logistics and long days, but it was definitely worth it to show these guys a good time and to be able to enjoy such a magnificent corner of the world. It took some time to shake off the rust after what seemed like a very long winter, but I think I managed just fine.
The tour finished last week and I had a day to relax in Salt Lake City before meeting the group I’m with now and turning around and doing the same trip in reverse. This is a hotel version though, which also has a lot of logistical challenges, but should be a lot easier to manage as well (plus a warm bed and a hot shower at night). I’m really looking forward to the next few weeks going back through these three beautiful parks. When I finish this tour, I’ll head back to San Francisco for a while and probably run a couple of Yosemite trips and then it’s north to Alaska for a month or two after that which I’m really looking forward to.
I hope to keep up this blog a little better this summer than in summers past, but the tour season is the tour season and it’s tough to find the time when I’m going 24/7 for the next few months. But I promise to keep taking photos and to share them as often as I can. And it won’t be long before I’m back to soloing around the country trying to take another big chunk out of this project. I want you all to know how much I appreciate you reading this and following along on my journey. There’s a lot left to come and I can’t wait to get started. I’d love to write more, but I really must run. I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep…
-Mike