Final leg of Ride the Americas

I sit here in my own home with all my stuff around me and feel a little out of place. It seems having a small world of me and the mule was very appealing and although I am happy to be home I feel a little lost.
Everything is great here. Dennis did a great job of running the shop without me. Encarna is home and into her routine again and my dad and his dog are the same as I left them.
Perhaps part of that is the problem. I have become accustomed to nothing being the same. Each day of the journey I was seeing new things. Each night I slept in a new place with different things around me. The challenges changed from day to day. Where to stop, where to go and what to eat were all decisions I had to make each day. There were always different options and nothing was the same. We will see how I deal with this feeling as the days roll along and I get back into the swing of things here in Cozumel.

I got this little bugger in my tire just before I went into Mexico. It took me about an hour to get the tire off and get it fixed. The rear tire fits so tight on the rim that I have to pump up the tire to almost 70 psi just to get it to seat properly. Same issue I had just before I went up the Dalton.






This was a pretty typical meal for me while in Mexico. Food and lodging is so cheap that I didn't bother with cooking or setting up the tent. I really love this part of Mexico traveling. It is really easy and super fun. Just gotta stay on your toes cuz you never know what might come your way.






Like this little chicky. I thought she was going to steal the mule. Then I realized all he needed was to ask me where I had come from and how fast does this motorcycle go. Once we sorted that out she left to get someone else to bother.







This is the little eatery on the side of the road where I studied my map and planned the afternoon's ride.










This is pretty typical of many of the homes along the road. Just like middle America people live pretty simply. Nothing fancy needed. Just the basics to get by and the time to enjoy it.







Looking back now the journey has been almost everything I hoped it would be. Looking at the big picture what I find myself feeling is small, insignificant really. The scale of the whole journey has left me feeling as a tiny flee on a huge beautiful planet. Canada and Alaska are such expanses of untouched land. The distances between outposts and the wildness of the land have left me in awe and feeling like I could make no impact no matter how hard I tried. This is actually fine with me as I wanted only to get a glimpse of what is arguably the last frontier on earth.

From a human perspective I feel I am a little more significant. The focus of my journey was to influence human behavior by convincing people to give up their cell phones while they drive. Using my trip as a hook to grab peoples attention then shifting that attention to a subject that everyone seemed familiar. Along the way I found that everyone had some strong feelings about it. Most had personal experiences and no one disagreed with me that we should put the phone away while driving. Unfortunately getting people to actually give up their phones in the car will take more than a motorcycle evangelist and a 13200 mile adventure. Cell phones have become too deeply rooted in peoples lives to let them go so easily. I hope it does not take a personal tragedy for them to see the light.

In the past 9 weeks I have seen many parts of North America. I have driven the most distant roads one can find for thousands of miles. I have met travelers from all parts of the world. We all have something in common. We all share the road and the risk that we so often take for granted when we merge onto the road. Weather, bears, rain, ice, snow, open wilderness, and banditos don’t worry me. As I navigate the cities when more than half the other drivers are trying to hold a phone conversation and drive at the same time I am feel my risk is somehow greater than theirs. If only they stopped to think about it.

We need to slow down our lives a bit and really experience the moments we have. Don't wish away your now for the sake of a better one later. In the end we are all headed to the same destination in life. It is up to us to decide how much we enjoy the journey getting there.

Think about your journey and ask yourself it is really the one you want to be taking.

Peace

Tony