"I grew up a-dreamin' of bein' a cowboy,and Lovin' the cowboy ways. Pursuin' the life of my high-ridin' heroes, I burned up my childhood days." -Willie Nelson
That makes two of us Willie; I dreamed of riding across the old west's plains and prairies, past the mesas and buttes of Monument Valley and along the rim of the Grand Canyon and on to the mystical Sonora Desert.
It took me a few years to realize those dreams but I managed to fulfill them from the saddle, like my heroes had done, but with a twist as it where.
The Saddle I was sitting was firmly affixed to one of my Motorcycles; this fact in no way diminishes the joy and exhilaration of seeing the longed for landscapes of my childhood big as life before my eyes for me to drink in the beauty and the years of wondrous anticipation realized in the flesh.
The sites and landmarks of the old west form the images that formed the foundation of this life-long wander lust I so greatly enjoy and feed at every opportunity.
This morning I came across photos of two of my childhood heroes, John Wayne and Roy Rodgers and both photos show them posing with Motorcycles!
Now I don't know if they shared the same love of Motorcycling that I have but It sure warms my heart to know they at least spent some time on two powered wheels, and at some point I hope each of them had at least one Yah-hoooo moment while riding.
Roy Rodgers posing with a Honda 305 Scrambler:
John Wayne posing on a Hodaka125 Wombat:
It took me a long time to come around to long distance riding and it was this that allowed me to find myself in these places of my dreams. At times I long for the open road and not as part of some mind numbing corridor of anonymous traffic droning along between gas stops, but the Open Road, clear of traffic ahead of me and eagerly watching for what's coming over the horizon at me.
I like to think the Pony Express Riders of the 1800's shared this longing for being out there, away from everyone else and on your own for however long it takes you to traverse the distance between now and then.
The Grand Canyon
Monument Valley
Sonora Desert Sunrise
Devil's Tower Wyoming 
Nevada Desert
Lolo Pass Idaho
I'm going to keep on riding and looking for the tracks of my heroes out in the great western expanse of our beautiful country and I'll keep an eye out for Roy & John along the road as well.
Later
3 comment:
I think the picture with Roy Rogers is a reverse image - the honda pipes should be on the left side. And, the way Ray is holding the rifle indicates he'd be left handed.
Ray
The picture of the Sonora Desert makes me wonder of you've read "Ghost Rider" by Neil Peart.
I want to find out more about that lolo pass place.. 77 miles.. nice!
Honda Parts
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