Our Yogic Journey Across America – A Wild Goose Adventure is Born

My wife Amy and I have explored the West Coast quite a bit in the three and a half years since moving to SoCal. On each adventure we have set out to see new places and focus on taking in as much of the landscape as we can. Since we have only small stints of time we attempt to capture the essence of the scenery in photographs, both as a lasting record for ourselves and as a means of bringing a bit of the world home to those unable to tag along.

After last year’s whirlwind tour up the Pacific Coast Highway  through California, Oregon and Washington and then inland to Seattle, Portland, and Mt. Shasta and finally back down the central corridor of California in just nine days; we weren’t sure if we could top that adventure this year. Over this past winter, or what passes for winter in SoCal, we toyed with the idea of a Yellowstone trip for a week or more. I woke up one morning and thought, “Grizzly Bears!” So, that is out until we can either procure a travel trailer or rent one inexpensively. Next we started exploring the idea of a backpacking trip into the Sierras, Joshua Tree or perhaps the first leg of the Pacific Coast Trail, just to get away from the electronic world for a while and recharge ourselves instead of our peripherals. This seemed like an amazing idea. Ok, so reality crept in. Although, Kundalini Yoga has changed our lives and personally, I have lost forty pounds, we still have a way to go physically and need more than a few training hikes before tackling remote locations like those. “Hmmm…what will this year bring? Surely there is an adventure out there with our name on it.”, I thought and resigned myself to allow the universe to show us the way and bring us the big adventure we wanted.

In April the universe answered, giving us a catalyst and the latest adventure immediately began to take shape. In the midst of a rare phone conversation my best friend Rich, he asked, “Would you be interested in buying my goose?” My first thought was, “I’ve been waiting for you to sell your motorcycle for years now. Of course!” But I held my tongue and turned to Amy. Before I completed the query to her, I got my response and much to my surprise she said eagerly, “Yeah, Hell Yeah Even!” So within minutes we agreed on a price and a rough timeline to pick up the motorcycle or goose, as Moto Guzzi’s are referenced. Hanging up I heard my spirit guide chuckle a bit and distinctly say, “You asked for Big Adventure…now you got it.”
Well, that was it, we were destined to a new adventure incorporating our yogic lifestyle, motorcycling two up and our return to travel without defined plans, simply allowing the Universe to guide us day-to-day.

A couple of months passed and although we had discussed the trip a few times we never really nailed down an itinerary to ensure we got home in time to start back to work. Letting the universe guide us is great but there is no reason to get to the end of our time off and be in the middle of nowhere. We needed to start laying out at least the major arcs of our route and in early July we began that part of the planning process. Minutes into pulling up the google map we came to a sobering reality…all of our previous adventures pale in comparison to this one, and it will require us to reevaluate how we travel, in order to make this a successful enjoyable trip.

Consideration:
Flight: SoCal-Boston

Timeframe: 17 days to get home

Two Yogis: Riding Gear

Camping/Hotel: 2 days/1 day

Motorcycle: Supplies loaded on bike (entire day to pack on bike)

– Clothes (hot and cold weather)

– Food (Vegetarian)

– Yogi Tea (homemade packs)

– Tent (backpacking size)

– Sleeping Pads

– Blankets (no room for sleeping bags)

– Yoga Mats

– Medications

– Towels

– Stove

– Pots

– Utensils

– Cups

– Bowls

– Phones (primary and backup)

– Power sources (solar panels/battery packs and cables)

– Hydration Packs (1 water/ 1 Yogi Tea)

– Extra gloves (waterproof/extra dry set)

– Maps (atlas for emergencies)

– Guide books (Nat’l & State Parks)

– Journals and Pens

– Warm Gear (liners for jackets)

– Head lamps

– Toiletries

– Sunscreen

– Bug Spray (homemade)

– Swim Gear (suits and ear plugs)

– Dry box (electronics & documentation)

– Bear Box (?)

Miles on Motorcycle: Gill MA – SoCal 5,346

POI and Temp:

Mohawk Trail ☀️ 82 NA

Ohio 🌩 91 NA

Iowa 🌩 84 70

Badlands Nat’l Park 🌩 93 64

Sitting Bull Marker 🌥 82 60

Glacier Nat’l Park ☀️ 72 48

Idaho ☀️ 93 61

Oregon ☀️ 90 50

Inland CA ☀️ 100+ 60

SoCal ☀️ 80 NA

Motorcycle: Moto Guzzi California V11

This is gonna be one serious adventure. Come back tomorrow to read about Our Yogic Journey Across America – A Wild Goose Adventure the Plan  #YogicJourneyandWildGooseAdventure