One of those good ‘ol reppin’ days

When I first started repping, the part of the job that just felt so new and alluring was the displacement from place to place. Especially the times where you left one perfect place in the morning and ended up at another perfect place that evening. The further the distance, the more the wild mind and body-meld would happen and it became a feeling I really started to enjoy. I imagine touring musicians feel similar. So many mornings on the road, I awake and spend a few seconds recalling where I am!

Driving my truck and trailer over the West this way for 24 seasons! And still finding thrills along the way. Like today!

Last night, I was home in Bend. Two of my three kids had sleepovers at the house and plus my 9 year old made five kids total. We went to the store and bought snacks and they played games and later took Saunas and tried my new ice dunk tank. I had to crash at 11:30 and I fell asleep to all of their laughter on the deck as they ran between the hot and cold with hypered reactions in between. 

I was up by 6am and out the door at 7am with a rather precarious load of big and expensive Carbon/Kevlar/Wood Northstar 18’9” canoes. They were so big I had to strap on bar extensions to my trailer so they would fit and for the first 250 miles I felt the need to check and recheck the load. Here’s one stop that I always love to make. Mt Shasta:

From there it was down to Redding CA to visit Headwaters Adventure Company to quickly drop one of these canoes.  An extra special bonus was that the previous owners, Joe and Terri, had come back from South Dakota and managed to time their visit at the shop with when I arrived. It was great to see them and catch up about what they were up to there. Joe was really enjoying himself driving a tour bus through some of the monuments there, and telling stories of Custer and so forth. He works when he wants and answers to no one really. I could see the appeal.

Next, I made fast time down I5 and cut West on hwy 20 to run the north side of the odd area of Clear Lake. The feeling you get traveling this area is of a town and area that "once was". The motels along the lake are vinatage and run down and the signage at various resorts and restaurants are from a different time, now faded and broken. Perhaps in the 60s or 70s this place was an oasis for Bay area weekend warriors to get to the outdoors and soak up the lake life. I've heard now that Clear Lake becomes more like Icky Green lake in the summer so swimming and water play is mostly "out". That leaves the fishing community who mostly come in and do their thing and leave. As Hwy 20 winds its way toward Hwy 101, you enter a reservation where a few casinos pop up and the access that 101 North gives brings more tourists trying their luck at these attractions. I briefly pop on to Hwy 101 and then at Willits CA before I jump back on Hwy 20 West to wind my way over the coastal pass toward Fort Bragg. 20 mph is the average speed of the hairpin turns under redwoods and after an already long day on the road, my driving legs are tired and I'm ready to be out of the saddle. Hauling a trailer over roads like this has me pulling over often to let cars pass, and I was tempted to bed down at one of these pull outs under the big trees overhead. Eventually, I make the last few curves and drop into the Fort Bragg area and turn left on Hwy 1 south toward Mendocino. 

I had delivered canoes to Catch-a-Canoe a year earlier so this time I had the mental notes from my last visit to inform me of a good place to crash for the evening before making the delivery in the morning.  I arrived in Mendocino for the last rays of the sunset over the coast. I pulled right up to the fence along the Mendocino headlands park and went for a walk. My rig now parked in a spot I deemed "camp worthy", I walked up the commercial street to find a restaurant with an outside upper deck with a view and ordered the perfect veggie burger and NA beer.

 I fell asleep later in the back of my truck with the moon shining in through the canopy window and the sounds of the sea. I had nerves for the days ahead but was thankful to get the hard work of a long drive with pricey canoes out of the way. Thankful to be alive and free and able to take a sip of one of the nicest parts of the country. It’s hard to be away fr my family now and I wish I could take the along to show them this life I live when I’m away. The wunderlust spirit is something I try to instill in them and hope they find a way someday to see all the different corners of the country or world while pursuing their passions.