From the Ocean to the Desert...

This time of year in the Southwest has a real appeal for many folks and I get it now in a way I never have before. The weather has been spectacular, especially for riding from hitch to whoa on a motorcycle like I have been. It is also beautiful--different from what I have had so far on this Tour. I've shared just a couple of photos here so you can get a feel if you haven't been here.

This last leg of this first phase of the Turn the Tide Tour has brought me through a good deal of Southern California, through Twenty-nine Palms, to Parker and Lake Havasu in Arizona and then across to where I am now. I spent the Thanksgiving Holiday with my Sister here in Phoenix and even had a meeting with some enthusiasts over the weekend. This week is a busy one with another meeting tonight (Monday, Nov 26), meetings Tuesday and Wednesday down in Tucson, and then back up to Phoenix for another meeting on Thursday. From there, I am on to New Mexico for a couple more meetings and then, I point the bike north toward home.

Each stop along the way has been unique and the people I am meeting with are great, providing lots of opportunities and their time for input to what we are doing at BRC. For example, tonight the meeting is an open Meet and Greet that Charlene Bower of Bower Motorsports Media (http://bowermedia.com/2012/11/meet-greg-mumm-from-blueribbon-coalition/) has put together at Fly-N-Hi Total Performance Center (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fly-N-Hi-Total-Performance-Center/31629915...). This weekend, I had a meeting with some folks from the state and from the Arizona Off Highway Vehicle Coalition. Tomorrow with the Tucson Rough Riders and ASA4WDC, and more as I mentioned above as the week goes on.

All of what I have heard and learned has contributed to me being excited to get busy with doing something with all of this. Like I have said before, it's only data until you do something with it. Then it becomes intelligence.

I am also starting to feel personally anxious to get back home. Well, truth be told, I started feeling that a long time ago. I'm up over 16,000 miles and 14 weeks on the road now and it is looking like when I am done, I suspect I will be close to my original estimate of 18,000 miles and 16 weeks. Rhonda has been great about this whole first info gathering phase of the Turn the Tide Tour, recognizing how important it is that I am out here meeting with people. But still, I think I am going to have some serious dating time to make-up when I get there.

Everyone keeps asking me, "So Greg, you live up north in South Dakota where it has been snowing. How are you proposing to ride home?" I don't expect I will be able to ride all the way, only until I see snow. Then I am calling Rhonda and asking her (nicely) to bring the pickup truck.

In the meantime, there is still some work to do and I should get to it... just sayin'.