Northern California Fall Sales Loop

Five thousand miles driven in the last two weeks of August. West coast to the midwest to help my parents with some downsizing. I was able to tie in some work as well by delivering a few canoes on the way East and picking up a couple canoes at the Northstar Canoe factory to bring back to the West Coast at the end of the trip. 

I was thankful to be able to help my parents with their move. It wasn't easy for all to have so many long time possessions become donations. We all work so hard to build-up our resources but we ought to spend an equal amount of energy learning that it all is just "stuff" and that the special sauce is in our connections, community and fellowship. That being said, I had to bring back a few things to my place and I'm sure some day they will also just be "stuff" in the way. I left with a renewed purpose to keep practicing non-attachment.

About a 5 days after I left the West, my family flew in to Minneapolis and we visited the grandparents and then had five splendid days at a family property in the upper peninsula of Michigan on Lake Superior. A couple great rainy days for games inside and a few vibrant days on Lake Superior. I captured some of the sights and sounds of Lake Superior in my Melker Varmdo LV on the Happy Paddlin Youtube Channel. I'm absolutely loving the Varmdo and can't believe how much my paddling has been held back with so many years firmly only paddling one brand.

Upon returning back to the West Coast, the planned mission was to keep on the road visiting dealers to resume order writing for spring of 2026. I won't lie, this year has been one of the most challenging business environments I've experienced since the start of my rep career. Post pandemic hangover along with a lot of political and societal discord seems to have everybody on edge. Stores have spent 2-3 years trying to adjust to this new "norm" but the only constant they can really lock into is that everything is always changing. Crystal balls seem to be murky at best. 4-5 major retailers in the West have or are going to be closing their doors this year.

It is with this backdrop that I traveled from Bend to Redding to Hwy 101 North of SF to Lodi/Sacramento and then up to Lake Tahoe and then finally home over a busy 4 days.

Day one had me finishing the day in Redding where Headwaters Kayak/Dan Arbuckle was nice enough to take time to get on the water with me. I'm paddling the Melker Varmdo and Dan shot a great review of the new Mocean Ace this evening. Having left my house a bit unwillingly, this evening brought me back to life! I was thankful to carry this stoke to my visits into the Bay Area and Sacramento.

While on the road this trip, I used my big cooler next to me to eat almost all of my meals. I had made a 3 bean minestrone soup that is affordable and tasty cold or hot! This is a total staple for me for 1/2 the year usually beginning in the fall. Everything you need in one meal. Check out the recipe HERE.

In Sacramento, I visited with the crew at Kayak City/Adventure Sports in Sacramento. They carry some of Bending Branches nices Angler and Touring paddles. I was also able to visit SUP CA on this day and loved checking 

Showing Lodi Paddlesports the new Bending Branches Angler Bruiser paddle and talking paddle grips. These guys carry a little bit of every type of watercraft and have access to some of the best paddling in the Sacramento Delta.

My wonderful urban camping spot in Sausalito CA. I find I can usually poach some really good spots if I come in at midnight and leave by 6:30am. In 27 years of repping, I've actually only been rustled out of a spot twice. Both were retail mall parking lots where hired security is tasked with that mission of clearing lots. Spots like this didn't have a sign saying I could turn it into 8 hour 5 star urban camping! 

It was on my way up to Lake Tahoe that I found this gem of a truck parking/camping spot on the South Yuba River. Cleaned myself up and slept with the windows open to the sounds of a rushing creek! These little wins on the road mean so much to me. They literally keep me doing this job and after two hard days running around the N Bay area and Sacramento, I really needed this. I'm going to try to make "Gem Spot Finding" a bit more of a priority next year and make sure that my sales trips have a healthy bit of adventure built in vs just seeing as many people as I can. I'll share the stories of those adventures to try to help highlight the gear I use and maybe inspire others to plan their own adventures. After a tough year, I feel I've found my Northstar again!