that I want to run for President 

but I am over 35 years old 

and I am a United States resident 

My life has been filled with some amazing things 

and I think I’m ready for more 

I just motorcycle through the United 48 states 

and this country is something I adore 

I don’t like the way things are going 

and there are big changes we need to make 

but perhaps a creative connection and direction 

is the path that we need to take 

I come from Sarasota 

where Ringling built a college 

through the museums and the schools

they share the greatest knowledge 

because they teach the appreciation of Art 

the peculiarity of our species 

since we started painting on walls 

probably starting out with our feces 

but we’ve come a very long way 

since we started the forming of words 

but the way that things are going now 

is really for the birds

not just because of this administration 

or the state of the economy 

or the way we hate each other

and are filled with such hostility 

The thing that really grinds me 

is the way we’re forced to do it 

some say our system is hopeless 

but I think we can improve it 

what I see as the biggest problem 

is that hatred is baked into the mix 

because we’re forced to pick from two sides 

and engage in endless conflicts 

I think that we deserve better 

and can find more ways to collaborate 

We’ve got to end the two-party system 

If we have to party, why can’t we have eight? 

Eight is the number of Beatitudes 

the ways Jesus said we’d be blessed 

when we give ourselves to service 

and try to do and be best 

It’s also the number of steps on the hierarchy 

what Maslow said humans would need 

Imagine a government not based on conflict 

but focused on where we agree 

So I recognize that I may be crazy 

but I’m not that impressed by what’s normal 

I think we need a new revolution 

and while this announcement is certainly not formal 

I think I can offer some solutions 

that we need a new direction is evident 

If you’d like an artist in charge, in 2028 

Vote Steve McAlphabet for President

The video in question was under the section called “Motorcycling Music And More”. I made it before my first tour in 2021. I booked a performance of a show I was calling “Steve McAlphabet Explains ABC Squared Economics”, based upon my book of the same name. The show includes a selection of poems from the book and songs that reinforce the themes. Booking the show to perform at the Playthink Festival in Kentucky was the impetus for the tour, and the only time I actually performed the show.

As it was, near the end of my first week on the road while in North Carolina, I hit a patch of gravel, and the motorcycle slid out from under me, slamming me to the ground like a rag doll. So instead of spending my time preparing for my performance, I was actively healing. Unfortunately, healing can still hurt a lot.

I did pull off the performance, though I did it from a chair on stage instead of on my feet how I had imagined it. Since then, I have performed my “Get The Bunk Out” show based on the political humor of Will Rogers a few times, and I have managed to book a handful of musical performances, including a performance of “The Cowboy Cabaret” as a part of “Steve McAlphabet’s Wandering Soul Road Show” featuring a screening of “The Road To Will”, the documentary I produced about my second tour to rediscover the legacy of Will Rogers. And I did at least motorcycle through all of the lower 48 states even if I have not played in all of them yet. So with all the other stuff I’ve been doing, I haven’t really revisited ABC Squared Economics as much as I probably should.

Plus, ABC Squared Economics is still in the experimentation stage, I suppose and I don’t even know how to get it to the next level technologically. However, I do believe it will come in time. In the meantime, since my first tour, I started offering custom pay what you want poetry, and I find it very fulfilling. Although I like performing on a stage, it is very rewarding to write a poem for someone and share that with them in the real world.

So I’m looking for opportunities to set up with my chair and typewriter, and offer that service as much as I am seeking places to perform. If you are aware of a festival, party, or other such gathering where people might enjoy some custom poetry, don’t hesitate to let me know. And if there’s a place where you think I should be playing music, let me know that as well. ABC Squared Economics will ripen in its own time, but I have more to cultivate.

In the last 30 days, I have ridden my motorcycle through 10 states, 4 of which I have never ridden through before. Currently, I am in Idaho, the 44th state on my list, and this time next month, I will have ridden through Oregon, Washington, Montana, and North Dakota, and will have accomplished my goal of riding my motorcycle through all 48 contiguous states. I’m still not quite sure what I’m going to do next.

After replacing my tire and tube in Denver, I stayed a night in Boulder, and two nights in Fort Collins, where I was able to share some poetry and play at the open mic at The Lyric, a truly one of a kind movie theater that must be experienced to be understood. On Tuesday, I set out on my 450 mile journey to my next host in Jackson, Wyoming. By the time I got to Laramie, winds were blowing at 22mph.

When I first considered strapping a guitar to my motorcycle a few years ago, I did not take aerodynamics into consideration. Now that I have ridden over 40,000 miles with it, I can say with great certainty that it is not very aerodynamic. As a matter of fact, it acts very much like a sail, which can be very dangerous in winds over 20 mph.

I consulted my weather app to see where the winds were blowing, and the northern passage I was going to take was looking at 27 mph winds so I opted for the westbound interstate, where the winds were moderately less. Then I saw the sign warning of 40 mph gusts and decided to pull over to stretch my legs and have some coffee before facing the challenge. When I turned around to head back to the interstate, my tire was flat again.

Of the three tow trucks I have utilized on this trip, this one had the fastest response time, which I didn’t expect considering that I was in the middle of nowhere. But he picked me up and had me to a motorcycle repair shop in about an hour and a half, which is also how long it took to replace the tube.

Apparently, the place in Denver didn’t install the other tubes properly resulting in a pinch in the rubber, which caused a rupture. I’ve reached out to them and asked for remuneration. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Anyway, my tow truck driver suggested I take another road through Medicine Bow National Forest, and when I got back on the road that afternoon, it was only a block from where I was. It was beautiful, and since it went through the mountains, the winds were slightly diminished. I made it to Rawlins where I got a cheap hotel for the night. The next day was a lot more wind.

Wyoming is the least populated state, and all that extra space is filled with wind. It ranged between 20-26 mph throughout the day so I kept my speed around 50-55 mph while cars passed by me at the suggested 65-80 mph. Fortunately, I didn’t cause any major backups. I finally reached the mountains, and though I caught a little bit of rain, the wind subsided, and the ride through Grand Teton National Park was extraordinary. That first glimpse of the ginormous mountains with their peaks in the clouds was amazing. Of all the Tetons I’ve ever seen, these were, by far, the grandest.

My host in Jackson was pretty busy with her own things so for the Fourth of July, I went to the town square, and set up my typewriter to offer poetry and watch the parade. Each corner of the square is decorated with arches made of elk antlers, and the park was filled with people throughout the day. Eventually, I grabbed my guitar from the motorcycle and started playing some music when I ran out of poetry clients, and I was very grateful that a number of people brought me money in appreciation.

After a few hours there, I decided to go explore a little bit, and found a park on the map. Walking along the Flat River with a few hours until people started gathering for the fireworks, I remembered that a song that came to me on the road a few days before called “I’m Free”, and it occurred to me that there was probably no better day to write it than on Independence Day. So I went back to my host’s place and got to writing.

I wrote the last verse first. The chorus had come to me on the motorcycle, and though I couldn’t write it down, I had etched it in my brain. I wrote the second verse before my host dropped by again with one of her friends. I played a few songs for her, and we walked the two blocks to where the fireworks were being set off. She met up with another friend and I eventually had to turn down poetry clients as night set in.

And then there were fireworks. They were very similar to all of the other fireworks if ever seen, but they were on the side of a mountain. I went inside before they were over and finished writing the song.

The next day, I set out in 40 degree weather that heated up to the 70’s when I got to Idaho. I was glad to see that Idaho Falls actually has falls, unlike Grand Rapids, which has no actual rapids, especially grand ones. My host took me to a brewery where some of her friends were playing, and they let me play a few songs between their sets.

I’ve got 4 more states to enjoy for the next month before I reach my goal. I’m looking forward to a nice ride.

 that we haven’t thought of yet 

  Can we change the schism 

    and not live in regret 

     Or are we forever doomed

      with what has always been 

       as some ideas have bloomed 

        because battles they did win 

         It seems that there are three 

        that have risen to the top 

       and limiting possibilities 

      is something we need to stop 

     In the great land of the free 

    Capitalism leads the way 

   You can be whatever you want to be 

  just make sure that you pay 

 all of the many stockholders 

who own the world in which you live

 and it’s put upon your shoulders 

  to them your capital you must give

   In other parts of the world 

    they go a different way 

     They’ve had more time for things to unfurl 

      and they have different rules to obey 

       Communism and Socialism 

        are sort of distant cousins 

         They are painted from the same prism 

          but have different repercussions 

         In socialism, the government takes most your money

        In communism, they take a bit more 

       I’ve heard it can be pretty crummy 

      when they come to knock on your door 

     It’s certainly true beyond a doubt 

    there are more isms than that 

   but to those three, people are so devout 

  and about them we need to chat 

 While it can certainly be argued 

that each of them has merit 

 we cannot let them be viewed 

  as the only way that we inherit 

   Capital is amazing 

    and we’ve done many great things with it 

     but we will go out blazing 

      if we let that be our limit 

       Communism and Socialism are similar 

        Both community and society are important 

         We need to keep them within our perimeter 

          but forcing them becomes discordant 

         Do we really need an ism 

        as we explore the road ahead 

       or could we implement a little more wisdom 

      and creativity instead 

     Just a very few centuries ago 

    these isms doesn’t even exist 

   If we can only let them go 

  we can have whatever future we wish

My tour of the Shrine with three people involved in its preservation was at 8:00 a.m. on Monday morning on my last day of my Colorado Springs stay. So the day before I also had time to ride my motorcycle to the top of Pikes Peak and get to know my couchsurfing hosts, Carol and Marty. This year, not only did I just get to screen that documentary at the Will Rogers Memorial Museum last week, but I also got to stay with Carol and Marty again.

The first night, I took them to an open mic at O’Furry’s, where I played In The Air Tonight and You’re The One That I Want, after which I was grateful that one guy pointed out that he’d never heard anyone cover that song before. And then I left them with Every Little Thing and passed out a bunch of stickers. The second night, Carol and I went to an open mic at the Buffalo Lodge hosted by the Black Rose Acoustic Society, and I played my originals On The Road, which I wrote 22 years ago down the road in Breckenridge, and There’s A Way.

The Buffalo Lodge is literally a hotel meant for the crazy people who like to bring their bicycles to the highest elevation they can find and then ride uphill as much as possible. Colorado has more bicyclists than I think I’ve seen anywhere, and it’s one of the last places I’d ever want to ride a bicycle. Not only would my thighs hate me for it, but this state also has the worst roads in the country that I’ve seen so far. But it’s still a fun place to play.

When I stopped for gas on my way out of town the next morning, I gave my rear tire some attention and I noticed how much tread I’d worn off since I bought it last year in Fort Wayne. I decided to replace it in Denver, and completely unloaded my stuff at my host’s place when I got there. After over a dozen phone calls, I rode a half an hour to buy a tire, strapped it to the motorcycle, and then rode another half hour to the place that would put it on, because of course they can’t be the same place.

During the time it took to change the tire, I went for a walk in a nearby park to watch the water. They called to ask if I wanted to replace the inner tube, but since I was really only worried about the tread, and since I am rather frugal, I opted to reuse the inner tube I had. The next morning, the tire was flat again, and I spent the first few hours waiting for another tow truck before spending the rest of my time in Denver on foot.

My first night in Denver, my host Paul took me for a ride in his VW convertible to my very first couchsurfing meet up. Paul is an ambassador among couchsurfers, and it was very fun to meet a dozen or so that gathered at the Mercury Cafe. I even got to play their grand piano for a little while.

After dropping my motorcycle off to fix the tire for the second time, I spent the afternoon walking down Poet’s Row, checking out the Capitol building, and listening to podcasters obsess about the presidential debate. I also happened to receive a newsletter from Randal Roberts, an incredible artist I met a few years ago at the Gratify festival, and who happens to live in Denver. I reached out to him and he let me know that you was probably going to an art opening in the Santa Fe District, so I spent some time exploring the various art galleries in the area. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to actually meet with Randal, but I do have a couple prints of his that will one day hang on a wall again whenever I get one.

After picking up my motorcycle the next morning to ensure that the tire was safe, I packed up my things and headed to Boulder. My host Erica was rather busy with a project so I went to Pearl Street. I found free motorcycle parking on the outdoor mall and set up my typewriter next to it.

After typing a page for myself, I moved my setup to a better location and brought the guitar to play a few songs. I let a seemingly homeless guy sitting on the bench near me pick a few songs from my cards, and he offered up some whistle solos for a few of them. I’m still not a great fan of busking.

I saw a few people mouth the words to the songs I was playing as they walked by, but in the 20 or so minutes that I played, nobody dropped any money into my guitar case. Some magicians who normally perform there were about to start a show so I moved again.

I sat down on another bench near an amazing violin player with a beautiful voice and was awed at how few people gave him any money. Busking can be very demoralizing, but it is still one of the funnest ways to be completely unappreciated.

Nevertheless, putting up my “pay what you want poetry” sign, I had three people ask for poems in the next hour or so and made 35 dollars. I sure am glad I brought my typewriter with me. I only made 10 percent of what I’d spent on my motorcycle in the previous few days, but at least it was a move in the right direction.

I’ve long been outspoken about the limits of the two-party system and the first presidential debate of this season perfectly displayed the problem with it. As Robert Kennedy Jr stated in his own debate, the problem with our system is that we can only vote against candidates. We have no one to vote for. 

I’ve heard a lot of people from both major parties say that democracy is under threat in this election, but the truer statement is that this election is already devoid of democracy. Since the Democratic corporation unilaterally avoided any sort of primary on Federal and State levels, ignoring candidates like RFK Jr., Marianne Williamson, and Dean Phillips, summarily handing the candidacy to Joe Biden despite his unpopularity and low polling, they removed democracy from the election. Considering that the two candidates from both of the corporate parties are consistently hand-picked by the wealthy elite, there’s an argument to be made that we haven’t had democracy in a while, if we’ve ever truly had it at all. 

If we had a functional democracy, would we really have these two incredibly unpopular candidates as our only two choices? Certainly any thinking human being can see that our limited system has failed us… epically. Unfortunately, many Americans still fear the “majority rule” that comes with democracy and somehow prefer the minority rule of autocracy and oligarchy that we’ve been saddled with, but it’s still a beloved dream of mine to see the complete annihilation of both the Democratic and Republican corporations.

Some say that the only way to remove ourselves from the stranglehold of these two entities would be to integrate some sort of ranked choice voting. Unfortunately, corporate media won’t talk about it as they continue to enable the corporate parties, and it’s still gonna be awhile before something like that happens. 

As I’ve discussed the concept of ranked choice voting over the last few years, I’m regularly faced with the negative feedback that it could be disastrous, but as imaginative as I may be, I can barely consider a scenario that is more disastrous than our current situation. I also hear people say that ranked choice voting is too complex and that Americans could never understand it, but everyone I’ve ever explained it to seems to grasp the concept right away. Basically, you rank your candidates based on who you like best, and if your preferred candidate doesn’t get at least half of the votes, your vote goes to your next choice until the winner is the person who actually gets the most votes and the most voter support across the board. 

If we had ranked choice voting now, I think Robert Kennedy Jr. would be very likely to win. Unfortunately, many establishment politicians devoted to the two corporate parties are very afraid of ranked choice voting, the government of my home state of florida, for instance, has gone so far as to ban it (like he bans so many other things he doesn’t understand in the name of freedom, which he also doesn’t understand), but maybe that’s why we need a guy like Kennedy to win. 

In both 2016 and 2020, I voted against Donald Trump in the only way our system allows us to, by voting for the candidate from the opposite corporation. This year, I can’t in good conscience make that same decision. Although Biden was my least favorite candidate in the 2020 Democratic pageant, I still preferred him over Trump, however after what I watched in the debate, there is no way I can lend my support to either of those two men. 

Regardless of how successful Biden has been at generating impressive numbers so that his devotees can account for what a wonderful president he has been, his ego has thwarted democracy and put the country in a position where another Trump presidency is incredibly likely. Even if I were to swallow the bile of the Democratic party and vote for Biden again, I think he’s the only member of that party who can lose to Trump. Then, I would have gone against my conscience and been a loser, just like I was in 2016, when I was forced to hold my nose and vote against my best interests. 

So in addition to listening to many people comment on the dumpster fire that was the first presidential election of 2024, I also listened to the entirety of Robert Kennedy’s responses as he held his own debate, answering roughly the same questions the two major corporate candidates were asked on CNN since CNN wouldn’t allow him on the stage. Although there were a few times that he deviated from answering the direct questions and made points he wanted to make instead, what he had to say sounded coherent, lucid, and not very disagreeable to my own perspective on the challenges our country is facing. Although I’m still a little hesitant on supporting a legacy candidate, he does have an outside the box approach that I think this country needs. 

I did also watch Jill Stein’s response to the debate, and I think she’d be a better president than either Biden or Trump as well. I appreciate what the Green Party stands for and the initiatives it has started over the years, but although she’s run before, I don’t think she thinks she can actually win. One of the best things about Kennedy, as delusional as many think it may make him, is that he actually believes he can win.

The Libertarian Party is as old as I am, and their candidate is considerably younger. Chase Oliver seems like a smart guy and speaks much better than either of the corporate candidates. He also seems to actually know what he’s talking about and has a good bit of common sense. However, he’s barely old enough to run for president, and as woke as many may think America is, I just don’t know if the constituency is ready to elect an openly gay president. 

As of now, I hope RFK Jr. can pull it off. After what happened on CNN the other night, I think a lot of Americans are going to be much more open to considering an independent. Granted, just as many, if not more, we’ll be doubling down on the establishment of the two corporate parties and will vote against who they don’t want. It’s a sad state of affairs that we’ve gotten to this point, but I think it’s going to take a situation just like this in order for us to move beyond what is holding us back.

I happened to be in Louisiana when they passed their new law to mandate The Ten Commandments be posted in every classroom from kindergarten to high school. While I am not a resident of Louisiana, I am a substitute teacher in Florida, and I know there are a lot of people in Florida who probably think this is a really good idea. So I’d like to address it in the hopes that they don’t pass this sort of law in my state before I get back.

As a substitute teacher who has been in Florida classrooms from kindergarten to 12th grade, I spend time each morning before the students arrive looking at how their teachers have decorated their classrooms. Everything every teacher has ever taken the trouble to affix to their walls, much of it provided through their own money, is put there to inspire their students. Some of it is there to inform, like rules and schedules they need to know. Quite a lot is there to reinforce the subjects they’re learning about and educate them on the basics. It is all there to inspire them to be the best students they can be and the best people they can be.

It’s all about what they can do and what they can achieve. They use encouraging words like “be polite” instead of “don’t be a jerk”. They say “share” instead of “don’t be selfish.” They certainly don’t have anything that says “thou shalt not.”

Decorations in the classrooms also serve to affect the students’ immediate environment and how they should behave in the classroom relative to what grade they are in and what age they are. Other than inspirational quotes on how to live a good life in general, there’s not a lot of information preparing them for the times in their lives when they’ll need to address sexual relationships, ownership of livestock and property, or feel inclined to murder, although there is sometimes info on where to get help if they’re feeling depressed or suicidal.

And they certainly, other than a few inspirational Bible verses or quotes by Buddha, don’t have any religious dogmas or iconography. I have seen one teacher who is unapologetically Catholic with religious images on her own desk to inspire herself, but overall, the decor of the classrooms speak to what the students are actually learning in the classroom and does not promote religions that aren’t being taught. What good could actually come from forcing this sort of impertinent information into our students’ daily lives, and more importantly, how much harm could it bring?

With the first of the four Judeo-Christian commandments focused on God and his need to be properly esteemed, do we really want to subject our teachers to questions about which God students should be worshiping? The first commandment says “I am the Lord thy god, thou shalt have no other gods before me.” What will this do to the minds of students who haven’t been raised to believe in the Judeo-Christian tradition and refer to God by another name or names?

The second commandment is against making graven images. Other than art class, that’s probably not something that’s going to come up a lot in the classroom. But what happens when they start asking if corporate logos would be considered graven images to the gods of capitalism?

The third commandment says to not take the name of the Lord in vain. Students are already encouraged to not use any sort of foul language. Why would this be necessary in the classroom?

Because the informational decor of classrooms instructs students on how to behave in the classroom, they don’t offer suggestions or dictates on how they should spend their weekends, regardless of which day they may consider the Sabbath or if they don’t consider it at all. The fourth commandment is irrelevant as well.

The fifth commandment is to honor thy father and mother. That’s a great thing to consider, but they’re not in the classroom, and quite a few of the students don’t have one or more of those people in their lives anyway.

The sixth commandment says we shall not kill. Unfortunately, these days that is pretty appropriate in the classrooms. And the eighth one about not stealing is pretty good as well. But the seventh commandment should really not be there.

Recently in Florida, our government has taken to banning books that discuss homosexuality, and they have gone to great lengths to keep teachers from talking about issues of a sexual nature. If teachers aren’t allowed to talk about that, they certainly should not be forced to subject themselves to questions about adultery and coveting their neighbor’s wives.

The ninth commandment about bearing false witness against your neighbor is a tricky one. Elementary students tell on each other all the time for all sorts of little things and regularly accuse one another of lieing. They don’t call it bearing false witness, but it can be a problem.

And to post the tenth commandment about coveting things in the day of social media is fairly preposterous. Coveting is what the American economic system work. It would be great if it wasn’t, but that’s the deal.

If a teacher or a district wants to consider the ten commandments as a historical text meant to educate the students, then it should be displayed in classes where history is being taught, along with other similar religious texts that affected civilization.But to subject every student to such an irrelevant bit of information to their lives as students is unfair to both the students and the teachers. Kids today are already distracted enough. Teach them what they need to know in the day and don’t subject them to this religious lore.

I recognize that there are many people who still hold those ten commandments as very sacred, even if they don’t always follow them. And they should be held sacred for those who feel inclined. But things that are sacred should not be mandated.

Louisiana is going to do what Louisiana is going to do, and certain conservatives may be so narrow-minded that they will think forcing students to read their religious ambitions everyday is a good idea. But I’m pretty sure there are more people who realize what a bad idea it is.

My intention was to watch the full moon rise, which was about a half hour after the sun set, Oddly enough, I never saw the moon rise. I waited about fifteen minutes after it was supposed to rise, and figured the sky may have been too overcast in that direction. I rolled up my mat, headed back to camp, and lay down in the hammock to wait for the moon to peek between the tree branches above me, but fell quickly asleep.

I woke before the sun rose, and probably much earlier than the RVers, stuffed the hammock in its bag, and packed up the bike before seven and headed for breakfast. I found a family owned restaurant, where they made their own tables and chairs, which looked beautiful but weren’t what I would call comfortable. I ordered the biscuit and gravy platter, and like so many times before when I have ordered a biscuit and gravy outside the South, I regretted it. Say what you will about the South, but they know how to make biscuits and gravy.

I heard a patron mention the farmers market, and looking for a reason to go to Wichita, I looked it up and found that they did have a market. I set my GPS and set out with a full bottle of coffee, thanks to my lovely waitress. My hope was that they’d let me set up my typewriter to offer some poetry, but like many farmers market, they don’t take kindly to interlopers. But it was a nice market, Wichita is a beautiful town, and I was fine with heading on to Bison. 

A few months ago, I set up a Public Trip for Dodge City, among other places, on Couchsurfing.com to see if any folks from that area may want to host me. A guy named Mike reached out to me from Bison, which is an hour or so away from Dodge City, and offered to host me on my way through. I had no real desire to go to Dodge City and figured any place in Kansas was as good as Kansas was gonna get, so I took him up on his offer.

They’d invited me to come camping with them Friday night, but the mishap with the clutch cable had delayed me by about six hours, and I spent it camping alone. On Saturday, Mike and his partner were attending a Gay Pride event in Hays, about a half hour north of Bison, and I again hoped for a place to offer poetry. But the wind was blowing at 22 mph, and when you have a sail-shaped guitar strapped to your motorcycle, that makes for a lot of diagonal riding, which is a bit more taxing on the body than my normal leisurely rides.

Arriving in Bison, I knew I didn’t want to ride all the way to Hays to offer poetry for the last hour of the event, but I did manage to muster up enough strength to ride the 6.5 miles to the nearest convenient store (and stoplight) to get some beer, a sandwich, and a cigar while I waited for my hosts. Mike messaged me to let me know the back door was open and to make myself at home. When they arrived, they were about as tired as I was, having spent so much time in the day’s heat, and they shared some conversation and food with me before we all retired early.

I woke again before the sun and received a message from Mike that he had something come up and wished me well so I packed up the bike and headed for coffee. My next host was about 350 miles away, which was estimated at over six hours of riding, and I was glad to get an early start, and very glad that the wind was a lot more mild. There’s not a lot to say about Kansas other than it eventually becomes Colorado, and the roads get considerably worse.

Hours into Colorado, the mountains finally emerged softly on the horizon, and I looked forward to being out of the plains for the hours it took to actually get to the mountains. After stopping for a bite to eat, I headed toward my next host. I’d reached out to him on Couchsurfing.com, and he’d sent me the address, but we hadn’t communicated since, so I was hoping he was expecting me since he’d not responded to my message a few days earlier.

Winding through the hills, GPS told me to take a right, and the pavement ended with a grate of metal pipes which led to a much rougher road. I stopped to check the texture and decided that I could handle five miles of it if I rode slowly. About a mile in, I saw the road turn to gravel, and the sight of it caused me to flinch, which caused me to take the bike down with as much grace as I could muster. 

I released my leg from under the bike, and as gas leaked from the tank, I was grateful that I have a relatively light motorcycle as I grunted it back to its upright position. Beyond the bruise to my leg and my ego, I was unscathed by the accident, and the motorcycle just needed adjustments to the rerview mirror and the foot peg. So I turned around, took a right on the main road, and hoped that Google Maps would find me a better way. 

It suggested a number of other dirt and gravel roads, and a few left turns into open pastures, but I decided to give up on getting to my host and considered other options. The first consideration was that I was out if water, and that if I were going to spend another night in the hammock, I was going to need to hydrate. So I followed the road until I found a gas station to refill my bottle and tank, and I looked up the hotel next door on my phone, but didn’t want to pay 141$ for a place to sleep. 

There was another hotel attached to the liquor store down the street, and I figured they would have much better rates. With taxes, it would have come to 100$, which was still more than I wanted to pay. I asked the manager about places to hang my hammock, and he recommended any of the trail heads.

“Are the roads to get to them paved?” I asked.

“Part of the way,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of paved roads around here.”

I told him I’d head to Pueblo, and he said there were plenty of turnouts along the way where I’d be able to pull over and put up a hammock. About twenty miles in, I found my spot. Easing the bike in gently on the loose soil, it didn’t take long to find a place to hang my hammock.. 

It was 8:04 when I looked at my phone, and since that’s my birthday, I decided to call the place home. I’d put on my jacket for the first time on this trip just a half hour before as the heat of the day had faded with the sun so I set up the hammock, wrestled my way into my sleeping bag (which can be a bit of an endeavor), and listened the to babbling brook sing me a lullaby. A little after 10:30, I had to pee.

The air was brisk, and I looked forward to getting back into the sleeping bag. However, as I again struggled to get it to the sleeping bag, my beloved hammock ripped, delivering me gently into the grass below. I mourned the loss, but couldn’t help but laugh.

I got my yoga mat off the bike and found the flattest, rock free surface I could find. That place didn’t exist, but I at least found a patch of grass out of the biting wind. I woke many times, but time passed that I don’t remember so I’m sure that I managed to get some sleep. 

I woke up at 5:30, and the day was bright. I stuffed my hammock into its bag for the last time, and took the windy road toward Pueblo, riding into the blinding sun in search of coffee and a new hammock. The temperature got up to 101 degrees that afternoon, and I realized that it had been 90 degrees or more every day of the trip so far, but at least I now have a new hammock.

At the suggestion of my host in New orleans, I took the Blues Highway to Natchez, legendary Highway 61 revisited. Once I got past baton rouge, the scenery got a lot better but it was still a highway. At the suggestion of my host to be in Little Rock, I took the Natchez Trace Parkway, wherefore most of the trip, I was the only vehicle around. It was blissful.

I had a little rain along the way, but I saw and felt it coming, so I had pulled over, put on my rain gear, and covered the bike with a tarp before it started. But it gave me time to call my dad for Father’s Day and to do a little hiking. I stayed with a couchsurfing host in jackson, Mississippi, where are mostly produced some videos and stayed out of the rain the next day.

The ride to Little Rock was nice, and it gave me a chance to reconnect with a fraternity brother from college. He started making beer as a hobby 21 years ago while he was working as a high school teacher. Now, he is about to open his 6th location of Flyway Brewery, and his beer is sold in every store in Arkansas.

I already really appreciated that he’s building his business with what I call ABC Squared Economics already built into his plan. He’s mastered the art of making beer, he’s expanding his business to find new markets, he’s practicing Citizenry by giving his employees equity in the company, and he’s donating a lot to charities that protect the wildlife community and natural habitats. He’s also starting another company to make THC infused seltzer water, and it is really refreshing.

The next day’s ride took me to Oklahoma, where the Will Rogers Memorial Museum had booked me two nights at an Airbnb, and we’re hosting a screening of my film The Road To Will in the theater. The film was shown at 3:00 p.m. on a Thursday afternoon to coincide with the start of an event celebrating route 66 so the turnout was rather sparse. And considering that I still had a few audio issues that I need to address, I’m glad that the audience wasn’t bigger.

However, all in attendance liked the film, and even the staff said that I had nailed it, although there were a few controversial issues they wanted me to consider removing. They even liked Every Little Thing, and it was a lot of fun playing that on that stage. Unfortunately, when I was ready to leave, Vivian wasn’t.

It didn’t take me long to realize the clutch cable had snapped, and since it was after five, most of the shops had closed. I found the part I needed in Tulsa, and called the tow truck. I spent the morning at the museum, the driver showed up at noon, and I was back on the road by 1pm. Plus, the stipend I got from the museum was more than enough to cover the costs of towing, repair, and lunch at Taco Bueno.

I found a place to camp by a wonderful lake on the Osage Reservation. It’s right by a dam, and I’m surrounded by RV’s, but it’s a nice place to watch the full moon rise.