I thought I would take a couple of days after getting back to Boulder to reflect on all the experiences that accompanied biking from British Columbia to Baja to launch SWAE Sports before penning my magnum opus. It’s been an interesting couple of days as I’ve readjusted to civilian life. My initial realization was that most importantly, the 2-½ months on the road helped to solidify our team and define the direction of SWAE Sports.

After getting off the plane and driving back to my Rocky Mountain home, I immediately began to miss the other four guys that I’d spent just about every waking moment with since mid June. After feeding off one another’s excitement, sharing the hardships of the road, and waking every morning to the team immediately talking SWAE, life as it was began to seem, well, rather quiet.

When I separate myself from being a part of this whole expedition, it seems truly amazing that a group of five highly dedicated young men would undertake such an endeavor to launch a company.  As a consumer, it would hardly matter to me what it is SWAE was selling because if anyone was really that motivated, odds are that it was something I should be a part of.  I’d rep their shirt. It would get even crazier for me as I started to explore their website and realized that the reason those boys were so psyched was because they held in their hands a truly paradigm shifting business model for the adventure sports industry.  Of course they’d cycle 2,500 miles to spread the good news. It would all start to feel quite logical.

Whenever I return from a big trip it’s always a bit weird to think about the places I just was.  Sailing through the waters of the San Juan Islands, biking through the primordial Redwood forests of Northern California, and camping along the rim of Crater Lake begins to feel like a dream, or clips from a movie I watched before falling asleep. But they are my memories, my life experiences, the way I became a part of an organization that will undoubtedly shape the course of my life.

The greatest thing I’ll take from this trip is being witness to the fact that my actions along the West Coast will not only benefit my own life, but every outfitter, guide, and outdoor adventure school that sat down with us and subscribed to the dream that is SWAE.  I can only believe that they saw in our eyes the motivation to make our company’s principals a reality and that that kind of excitement was something they wanted to attach themselves to. When looking back over my notes, its almost ridiculous to see that the only companies we didn’t partner with after a meeting were those that didn’t want more business.  That’s crazy and yet it’s the truth.

The way people get outside is about to change, and I’m truly humbled to be a part of that shift. It’s happening because the team that comprises SWAE is actually our targeted customer. We live and breathe this lifestyle and we’ve somehow figured out a way to make a career out of doing the stuff we love. I don’t think I could be more stoked.

The successes of SWAE Sports on this West Coast cycling tour can’t just be measured in number of cities or outfitters the team have met, but from the experiences, the adventures, the people and the entire journey itself.

2,500 miles by bike to launch a company says it all and if it doesn’t, the above slideshow will paint a picture of the adventures SWAE Sports went through to promote conservation through adventure.

Elliott and Will have split up our last two cities on this trip and Elliott has gone on to the San Diego area to work down south, while Will is concentrating his efforts in Los Angeles. Only one more week remains on SWAE’s summer adventure. It’s strange to think that this tour is nearing it’s end.

The graffiti'd walls of Venice Beach.

Since we have ridden into Southern California, we have made a transition from lawn surfing to couch surfing. Because the sprawl of the cities in So Cal are so expansive, we have been able to contact friends in the cities we ride into, and have slept with roofs over our heads for a majority of the time. Dan’s brother, Josh, took us in for our first night in Santa Monica, and Dan and Brendan have made his apartment their homebase for our time in L.A.

Dan has also been spending some quality time with our programmer Rob, and they are beginning the last steps of testing to completely perfect SWAE’s Web site.

Will and I have been working in and out of Manhattan Beach, where his friend Jordan has been nice enough to take us in. The spread of Los Angeles is quite a bit more intense to try and get around by bike than other cities we have visited along the trip. Drivers barely notice us as we pedal along the shoulder of the road, sometimes only looking one way before turning out into the rest of traffic. It has been quite an unnerving experience and I am looking forward to riding in a less hectic area once we leave L.A.

The neighborhoods of L.A. are expansive and this metropolis is as overwhelming as any we have been in along this trip. The constant bustling of people is almost too much to handle.

We have all made an effort to stay close to the coast and the pristine beaches are an incredible juxtaposition to the concrete jungle further inland. The winding bike path makes moving from one neighborhood to the other less complicated compared to the network of streets and freeways dominated by cars.

While an article on SWAE is still being written in Santa Barbara for the SB Independent, another was written for the Examiner.

Eric Duncan, a Hidden Adventures Examiner, wrote an article on SWAE for the Recreation section of the Examiner’s Web site. Check out the full article here.

A view of the Venetians from our spot at Mr. Toot's Coffee Shop in Santa Cruz.

Although the sun had not joined us on our trip through Northern California, it was front and center as we settled into the laid back atmosphere of Santa Cruz. We spent our first night in a quaint home with a young group of people caught in post-college limbo. A surfer, an artist, a Wisconsonian and a cook let us sleep in their back yard and the next day, SWAE went to work.

Kyle Thiermann, our surfer host, had recently taken a six-week trip to a small town in Chile, where an American coal-mining plant is being proposed. Kyle spent his time speaking with locals about the impact of such a plant and what we in the U.S. can do to help prevent this from happening. Not only is Kyle an awesome surfer, he is incredibly passionate about supporting local industry and business, just like SWAE. Check out the video of his trip at www.claimyourchange.org.

Phone calls, research and meetings. While the sun hit the surf all day on Friday, Will, Elliott and Alex hit the streets to meet with outfitters. Will met and signed Venture Quest Sea Kayaking.

Since he has joined the trip, Alex has worked hard to sink into the pattern of finding outfitters and contacting them. In Half Moon Bay, just outside Santa Cruz, Alex met Chris Manchester and signed his outfit, Half Moon Bay Kayaks. In Santa Cruz, he was able to sign Pacific Yacht and Sailing.

Elliott and Will teach Ed Guzman, our host and surf instructor, how to slack line at his home near Manresa State Beach.

Elliott has had some great meetings since he joined up with SWAE in San Francisco. He got to go hang gliding in San Francisco and in Santa Cruz, met with two legendary surfers in Richard Schmidt and Ed Guzman, who are both owners of two of the largest surf outfits in Monterey Bay. The Richard Schmidt Surf School and Club-Ed Surf Camps are both well-established surf schools in the area. Elliott was able to line up an evening of dinner and videos with Ed, which gave us an opportunity to crash with his surf camp in Manresa State Beach AND take lessons from him in the morning.

There is no shortage of passion for the water in Santa Cruz. The stories Ed told us throughout Thursday night only reaffirmed this fact. Ed has spent time surfing some of the largest waves in California, just north of Santa Cruz in Half Moon Bay, as well as 50-foot swells in Ghost Tree, just outside of Monterey. Ed can talk surfing 24/7 and loves not only to talk about his experiences, but is adamant about helping people get into the water to learn the sport.

The crew get wetsuits as we get ready to surf with Ed, Friday morning at Manresa State Beach.

I am not a surfer by any means. On Friday morning, Ed thrust a wetsuit into my hands, handed me a board and was almost to the point of pushing into the water along Manresa Beach. This was my first time ever holding a surfboard. It felt oddly foreign in my hands, but I’m not one to shy away from an opportunity to learn something new. The waves were small, but surf-able and Ed and his staff are excellent teachers.

After some pointers on the beach, I was in the water, paddling out with Dan, Will, Alex and Elliott to make my first attempt at standing up on a surfboard. Ed spotted a reasonably sized wave and urged me to start paddling.

I stroked my left hand through the water, then my right, then both at the same time and with a little nudge from Ed, I was being jettisoned along the wave. I slid from my stomach to my feet and was surprised to find myself actually surfing and not eating salt water. It was a great feeling and after a few hours in the water, I was truly enjoying the surfing atmosphere with Ed and the SWAE crew.

Ed Guzman preps Alex and Elliott with fiber glass surfboards before we head into the water.

Santa Cruz is beautiful. A cozy town where the beach is one of its prime attractions. The beach, combined with blue skies and sun, make for a relaxed atmosphere where anyone is welcomed.

Although we only spent two days in town, I was inspired by the sights and sounds we were able to experience while we were there.

Saturday morning, we rode 30 miles down Highway 1, to Monterey, where SWAE will spend the next two days taking care of business. More to come as the adventure continues to unfold!

Some of the last scenes of San Francisco as we rode south towards Santa Cruz.

I haven’t disregarded the beauty of San Francico, but I’ve truly become restless with this booming metropolis. I’ve heard the echos of police sirens day and night through the city, seen masses of people stroll the sidewalks and warily watched traffic as I rode the streets. It’s been a great week in San Francisco, but it’s time to say good bye.

Alex and Bates left a day before Dan, Will and me and rode to Half Moon Bay, 30 miles from The City. The duo met Chris Manchester of HMB Kayaks for breakfast. The meeting went very well and Alex and Bates were able to sign HMB Kayaks on the spot.

On Tuesday, Aug. 4, Will and Dan met the Oceanic Society, a non-profit devoted to conservation of endangered marine life, stationed in San Francisco. The Oceanic Society is an incredible non-profit that shares like values with SWAE: Conservation and a dedication to local outfitters was what drove the conversation.  The Oceanic Society also organizes expeditions all around the world, from Antarctica to Sri Lanka and Will and Dan got them excited enough to join up as an Adventure Vendor on the spot!

A view of the beaches along Highway 1 were a relief to us as we rode to Santa Cruz.

We rode through San Francisco that afternoon towards our next destination, Santa Cruz. We began by riding south on Highway 35, which would eventually link us up to Highway 1. Dan, Will and I arrived at a junction, but were put into a dilemma as a street sign warned us to stay off Highway 1. Another cyclist confirmed that we should continue on 35 and it would eventually meet back up with our desired highway.

Mile after mile passed with no sign of a junction. We rode so far that we hopped onto Interstate 280, where we stopped a highway patrolwoman to ask her where we were and where we should head next. We were lost. She said we had missed the turn to Highway 1, which meant we had to backtrack three to four miles to continue in the right direction. It was 4:00 p.m. by the time we actually got to Highway 1 and we still had 65 miles until we would reach Santa Cruz.

The sun paints the skies with an array of bright colors. We didn't reach Santa Cruz by sun down.

We ate dinner just outside of Half Moon Bay and continued to ride, the sun slowly setting into the Pacific Ocean, painting the sky in pastel pinks, purples and soft hues of blue. As we rode, the sun yielded itself to a full white moon, rising over the crest of a hill as the evening light turned to dusk.

Unfortunately, we didn’t make it to Santa Cruz Tuesday evening. However, Dan found an awesome place for us to camp, in a grove of trees right along the beachfront. We could hear the ocean waves crashing against the shores, the froth from each surge fizzing as it dissolved into the sand. The wind rustled through the trees around us and kicked up small amounts of sand as we set up camp.

Will woke up especially early the next morning and was on the road by 7:30. Dan and I took a little longer to get packed up, but we still arrived in Santa Cruz at a reasonable time. The weather is as you would expect it in a town built on the beach. Bright blue skies, warm sunlight and a cool sea breeze was in the forecast for the day.

SWAE will be in Santa Cruz for the next several days. More to come as we explore the boardwalk and the beach of the city’s surfer’s paradise.

My culture shock aside, I’ve probably learned more about the adventure travel industry in these last few days than in my whole tenure as a SWAE Sports Adventurist. This is, in large respect, due to the fact that the industry was pretty much born in the Bay Area by people with an incredible amount of foresight.

On Friday I had a meeting with Dr. Olaf Malver, the CEO of Explorers’ Corner and I can’t begin to speak to the trove of knowledge this man possessed. In addition to running one of the most respected companies in adventure travel, Olaf’s resume of “firsts” ranges from sea kayaking Hao Long Bay in Vietnam, to exploring the uncharted island shorelines of the southwest Caribbean – populated only by the remnants of Carib Tribes.

Additionally, in recognition of his “true” explorations, Olaf is a lifetime fellow of the world-famous Explorer’s Club. It was an absolute privilege to sit down with him for almost three hours to talk about business strategies and long-term growth, what potential partners SWAE needed to speaking with, and how the systems we’re developing have the potential to truly affect the direction of eco-tourism.

Let me speak to the last point for a second. Because SWAE will never accept money for superior placement on our sites, it allows smaller companies to be able compete beside the big guys. The quality of each guide service is based upon user reviews and the niche in the market they’re filling. In addition, 10% of our company’s revenue is actually dedicated to providing local guides in the developing world with the necessary start up capital and expertise they’ll need to create their own eco-tourism business. Once their company has been created, they’ll have access to targeted marketing and the world of adventurists via swaesports.com.

In doing this, SWAE Sports has the ability to promote true eco-tourism, poverty relief, and sustainable outfitters in the developing world.  This model has been tailored in large respect to meet the challenges outlined by Bill Gates in the book Creative Capitalism, where he calls for a new form of capitalism that works to both generate profits and solve the world’s inequities.

It’s when I start talking about this aspect of SWAE, which is truly at the core of our mission, that I start to get really excited. It was wonderful to speak with a man like Dr. Malver, who in addition to the resume I’ve already lined out, also served as an eco-tourism development specialist for the United Nations.

I guess what I’m getting at is despite being taken out of my comfort zone of blue skies and expansive vistas, the Bay Area certainly has been one of the most important pin drops on our Pacific Coast Bike Trip. In addition to partnering with Explorers’ Corner, we’ve met, spoke, and partnered with some of the greatest companies out there from hang gliding outfits, to scuba diving and kayaking guides. Though we’re all ready to get back on the road, what we’ve learned from being in the city is sure to stay with us for a long time to come.

Bates in Sausolito before our trip up Mount Tamalpais.

I decided to follow Bates into Sausolito, where he met with Adnan Kadir of Life Cycle Adventures. Bates had breakfast with Adnan, who said he would ride with us to Bolinas. As an avid cyclist, Adnan knew the bike routes through the parks and he showed us a local trail up Mt. Tamalpais, over into Stinson Beach and towards Bolinas Bay.

We met Adnan at his house, where we prepared to set off towards Bolinas. From sea level, we rode through Mill Valley, up 2000 feet through trees, a winding road and at one point, a dirt track. The climb was amazing and it was a relief to get back on the bike.

While Bates and I rode up the hill at about 80% of our effort, Adnan, a former elite cyclist and mountain biking pro, was riding along at 45% of his normal power. It was amazing to ride with such a strong cyclist, plus his bike was SO rad!

Bates and Adnan at the top of Mount Tamalpais. Stinson Beach looked tiny from 2000 feet above sea level.

The grade of the climb was not bad, which meant Bates and I had a good time working up to the crest of Mount Tamalpais. At 2000 feet from sea level, Stinson Beach looked tiny along the coast. The white beaches and small shops seemed miles away, although it would only take us minutes to reach sea level again as we began our descent from the top of the mountain.

The road was smooth, the weather was beautiful and the downhill was amazing. Adnan flew past us like an arrow, hunched over his handle bars and taking each turn by bending his knee and turning his hip. Bates and I followed, enjoying every second of the ride.

We were just beginning to come into our first turn when I started to ride ahead of Bates. I pressed my back brake to slow down, but was astonished that it did not do much. The turn caught me by surprise and my experience of the next several seconds turned into slow motion.

Road rash and a gash in my elbow after a tough digger descending Mount Tamalpais.

My back wheel came off the road and my bike began to lower into a skid. I flipped over my bike as it hit the ground and my right hand met the concrete before any other part of my body. My elbow was next, scraping across the ground before I rolled over my right shoulder and onto my back. Fortunately, my backpack broke my fall and I did not hit my head. But I stood up to find a great gash on my elbow and blood running down my fore arm.

Our beautiful ride had been cut short. I was dizzy from shock and sat down to take a breather. My ribs were sore and my shoulder throbbed. It hurt to breathe, which worried both Adnan and Bates. Of course the bleeding down my arm and the hole in my elbow didn’t seem to surprise anyone.

We were able to get in touch with Adnan’s wife, Stacy, and she drove up to pick us up from the top of Mount Tamalpais. Stacy drove us back into the city to an emergency room to make sure I wasn’t broken. Bates and I were both grateful for their help throughout the entire day.

I spent the rest of the afternoon in the hospital, waiting, waiting and then waiting some more. I was eventually called in at 6:30 p.m. and admitted into a room to change into a hospital gown. Both the doctor and the resident nurse had a look at my cuts and started the process of getting the concrete out of my skin.

After getting x-rays of my elbow and my shoulder, I was given topical anesthsia for my wounds. I must have left a chunk of skin on the top of Mount Tamalpais, because not much was left at the tip of my elbow. An hour later, my cut was deemed clean enough for the doctor to get to work repairing my body.

After three hours, three x-rays and eigtht stiches in my elbow, I was let out of the hospital. The doctor said the x-rays were negative, which meant no breaks to speak of. Since I had taken such a vicious fall at 20 miles an hour, I was lucky to leave the mountain with only a few cuts and scrapes.

I am out of commission for the next several days and my bike is also stuck in a shop to get repaired. I’ll be a bit sore as well, but nothing that a little tylenol won’t cure. More to come from SWAE’s adventures in San Francisco.

The ride from Crater Lake was amazing, probably the easiest ride since the beginning of this trip, as we descended over 7,000 feet from the summit of the national park, 75 miles towards Medford. It was all downhill on the highway, which was quite rewarding considering the consistent climb we had powered through the day before. Several glaciers and the high elevation created cool temperatures along the road, which was shaded by tall trees for the first half of our ride.

Will and Dan preparing to bathe in the Rogue River.

We arrived on the Rogue River during this time and proceeded to bathe at a viewpoint on the side of the Crater Lake Highway, or Highway 62. The cool waters felt great on my skin and soothed my bug bites from the night before. Dan was happy to finally wash his only pair of shoes and Will was relieved to rinse the sweat off his body.

As we left the river, the heat became more noticeable. The trees became less of a refuge as the sun rose higher into the air and we started to take regular breaks as the day wore on. We crossed a bridge at the Lost Creek Reservoir and by this time, it was nearly 98 degrees. You know it’s hot when gusts of wind feel like standing in front of a furnace. It wasn’t a relief, it just added to the pressing heat from the sun.

Shady Cove sits along the Rogue River, 20 miles from Medford. The afternoon was the hottest time of the day as we arrived in the town of just over 2,000 people. We escaped the heat by ducking into a Subway, which was blasting the A.C., and grabbed a sandwich. The heat was too much for us to ride in and we spent the next hour-and-a-half taking a nap in the shade at Shady Cove Park.

Refreshed and reinvigorated, we set out for the last stretch of our ride. Will and I split with Dan on our way to Medford, as Dan had found outfitters in the small town of Merlin he was interested in meeting. During his time in Merlin, Dan was able to sign Orange Torpedo Trips, a white-water rafting company.

Will and I arrived in Medford at around 8:45 p.m. The ride to Ashland was 20 more miles uphill, so we decided to hitch a ride on I-5 South. After an hour with our thumbs out, we still had no luck finding a ride. Finally, a Medford local stopped and packed us into his minivan to take us up to Ashland. My friend Jeff was attending Southern Oregon University and I was lucky enough to catch him the day before he was moving out. Will and I rested for the evening with a shower and a bed to sleep in.

Will in Downtown Ashland before we set out for Grants Pass.

In the morning, Will signed Kokopelli River Guides and in the afternoon, met with Momentum River Expeditions and Noah’s River Adventures. Ashland is world famous for the Oregon Shakspeare Festival, which has been running since 1935 and is one of the largest professional non-profit theatres in the nation. We spent some time in Downtown Ashland before setting off again.

We left Ashland and rode back towards Medford on the Bear Creek Greenway. The bike trail was beautiful and provided some shade against another scorching day. Once in Medford, it was again the hottest time of the day, so we spent the afternoon in an air-conditioned Target to wait for it to cool down outside. Our plan was to meet Dan in Wilderville, seven miles outside of Grants Pass, to sleep and prepare for our ride another long ride the next day.

It was dusk by the time we left Grants Pass and Will and I rode to Wilderville in the dark. We found an expansive field behind a fire house and began to set up camp. Dan took a wrong turn leaving Merlin and rode a 40-mile detour to get to our destination. Will and I had gotten to our place of rest through the exit to Wilderville, while Dan had turned at the entrance one mile prior. We played a bit of Marco-Polo before Dan was finally able to find us.

The scenery along Highway 99 towards Grants Pass.

The next day would be our last in Oregon and we would ride the last section of Highway 101 that would take us into Northern California. It seemed like weeks since we had been in Bend, but it had only been three days. So much happens in each day that events meld together to create one long timeline. My perspective of time has completely changed and now, I have to check a calendar to find out the date and day of the week. We ride hard for days and I’m looking forward to a day of rest as we ride towards Crescent City, Calif.

In this day and age, the spirit of the cowboy lives on. Dan shaved himself a handlebar mustache to look more rugged and has enjoyed the reactions he is getting with it. We have replaced cowboy hats for bike plastic helmets and spurs have turned into shoes with cycling clips. We ride on carbon-aluminum steeds and go where we please. Sure, our clothes are a bit tighter, but we still get saddle sore.

Bend has a cozy and relaxed atmosphere. Dan and Will were both reminded of Boulder, although the thought made them miss Colorado. A tea house downtown became our watering hole during our four-day stay and the duo were able to catch up on quite a bit of work. This was the longest we had been in one place since Hood River.

Smith Rock State Park, 20 miles north of Bend, Ore.

The town of just over 80,000 people live and breathe the outdoor lifestyle. Smith Rocks State Park, a 20-minute drive north of Bend, is home to some of the best sport climbing in the country. Nestled on the eastern side of the Cascade Mountain Range, Mount Hood, Mount Jefferson and Mount Washington can be seen along the western horizon. Rivers and streams run like veins throughout the lands, which means a multitude of adventure sports are available at the fingertips of every resident.

We arrived during the weekend The Bend Summer Festival, where dozens of vendors lined the streets of downtown, hoping to sell their hand-crafted goods to the people along the promenade. Dozens of tents lined the streets and live music had the entire town in an electrifying mood.

While Dan and Will made phone calls and set up meetings in the tea house, a constant, bustling crowd moved seemlessly outside. I was tempted by the atmosphere and set out with my camera to capture the  sights, sounds, tastes and smells of this twice-a-year event.

A vendor shares a laugh with a customer after a Congo drum session.

The sound of Congo drums pulsated from one tent, while the jingling of wind chimes and wooden instruments emitted from another. Local food vendors and wineries laid out samples along tables, and people passing by could try home-made sauces and delicious cabernets, freshly made throughout Oregon.

During our stay, Will met with and signed Smith Rock Rock Climbing Guides, First Ascents Climbing Services, Chockstone Climbing, Cog Wild Bicycling Tours and The Patient Angler. He also spoke with Gourmet Flyfishing Adventures, Fly and Field Outfitters and Halligan Ranch Llama Adventures.

Dan signed Wanderlust Tours, Sun Country Raft Tours and spoke with Ouzel Outfitters. What an eventful four days!

Bend is a gorgeous town, full of life and energy. Big N and Pettibone made it difficult to say good bye, but alas, like modern-day cowboys, we had to ride off into the sunset. Next, we ride on to Crater Lake, down into Grants Pass and Ashland, before we head west back towards the coast and on into California. I am slowly catching up on our adventures, but if photos are more your style, check out our trip so far at www.flickr.com/photos/swae_sports. Until then, keep riding!

So Hood River is sick. The Columbia River Gorge blazes its path through this arid high desert leaving an exposed convergence of land and water where the hot dry winds from the east meet the cooler damp winds from the deciduous west. What results is that these winds funnel between Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams with such ferocity that any kid or forty-something in a half pulled down wet suit with boards strapped to the top of their Subaru can tell you makes for the best kiteboarding locale on earth. Dan spent the last couple days meeting with guys like Kite the Gorge, Big Winds, and Brian’s Wind Surfing School and getting them stoked on SWAE. Next time you’re in the area look them up. If they can teach John Kerry to rip it, you stand a pretty good chance.   

To make this area even more of a playground, the White Salmon River cuts its way from Adams on the Washington side of the bridge and empties itself into the Columbia. If you’re not familiar, the White Salmon is the most intense commercially run river in the country. Two-thirds of the eight-mile stretch the guides take you down is Class III and IV with a Class V waterfall in the middle.  The water that forms is virtually continuous white froth that is a combination of glacier melt and water that seeps up through the area’s lava tubes to make its first appearance in daylight. What I’m getting at is this river will probably be the cleanest body of water you’ll ever lay eyes on. I had some wonderful meetings with rafting outfitters up there. My first day in town I met with All Adventures Rafting. They are a great hometown outfit and Karen took a lot of pride in the intensity and uniqueness the White Salmon had to offer. Our meeting concluded with her filling up my water bottle with some crystal clear spring water that bubbled up on the edge of her property. The next morning I peddled back up the canyon to meet with Jaco of Wet Planet Whitewater. Looking at their new site, I was seriously impressed not only by the skill of their graphic designer, but how it laid out everything their company was doing to minimize their ecological footprint: from using biodiesel in their buses to implementing a system of carbon credits. I am just always impressed when people use their businesses as a medium for social and environmental change, all the while doing what it is they love most.  

So that was written yesterday morning but I didn’t get around to posting it until just now. Currently, I’m sitting in a big Adirondack chair, whose back is a series of masterfully crafted inter-woven trout, along the banks of the Deschutes River in Maupin, Ore. We did a 60-mile tour yesterday through the rolling wheat fields of Central Oregon that I’m sure must have been the inspiration behind Katherine Lee Bate’s America the Beautiful. The Deschutes is apparently one of the best trout rivers in the country and thus, makes for a very good reason why world-class guides like Brian Silvey’s Fly Fishing, The Deschutes Angler, and the Deschutes Canyon Fly Shop call this quiet little town home. I’m waiting to meet with one more fly fishing guide this afternoon whose sign on the shop has informed me that he’s “gone fishin” and that there’s a good chance he’ll be back around 1:30 pm: right on!  I’ll leave it at that and hope all is well in your world.  We’ll talk again in Bend and to Claire: Happy Birthday Darling, I LOVE you and can’t wait to see you soon!