The Long Way Home: A Motorcycle Journey to My Parents' Past

For years, I'd listened to my parents—now in their 90s—share stories about their brief time in California during the 1950s when my father was drafted for basic training. As a young Texas couple who had barely left their small hometown, their journey to the Pacific coast represented both a frightening challenge and an incredible adventure. Though I could have flown and reached my destination in hours, I knew that experiencing this meaningful place required the unfiltered perspective that only motorcycle travel provides.

If you're fortunate enough to own a motorcycle, you possess not just a vehicle but a gateway to experiences that can't be replicated any other way. The open road awaits with both its challenges and rewards. When you return, you'll carry not just memories of places visited, but of conversations had, kindnesses exchanged, and a deeper understanding of both the world around you and your place within it. What journey are you putting off that might change how you see everything?

Keywords:  Motorcycle travel, Fort Ord, solo road trip, family history, California coast, veteran stories, American West, motorcycle adventure, spiritual journey, podcast storytelling

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Episode Transcript

Ron (00:10):
My goal was to see where Mom and Dad once lived for a
short while in California backin the 1950s.
The old Army base is calledFort Ord.
I wanted to see it bymotorcycle, so I did.
Shortly after mom and dadmarried, dad was drafted into
the army and called to report tohis place on the Pacific coast

(00:34):
for basic training.
Being from a very small town inTexas, neither had traveled
much of a distance beforeDefinitely not this far.
Now.
Mom and dad are in their 90sand they still live in Texas,
not far from where they wereborn.
But they still speak of thatfrightening experience and that

(00:58):
wonderful experience of being sofar from home when dad got
drafted, from home when dad gotdrafted.
But they also talk about howamazing it was to have such an
adventure together.
As 20-year-olds I've heard thestories all my life Stories
about getting the draft noticebeing shipped off to California

(01:18):
for basic training, thentransferred to Anchorage, alaska
, for dad's military service.
All in the 1950s.
Mom followed wherever Dad went,even being a frightened young
girl who had never left homebefore.
She followed Dad, finding workin the area where she could so
that she could stay close Fromthat experience in Seaside,

(01:42):
california, on up to Anchorage,alaska.
Mom and dad remained together.
So this past week my mission wasaccomplished To see what's left
of the now decommissioned Armybase just outside of Seaside,
california, to walk where theywalked about 70 years ago, to

(02:07):
stand on the porch of the nowshuttered chapel where they went
to church as a young couple.
Yeah, I would have been quickerto fly for sure from my home
here in Colorado out to SanFrancisco than just rent a car
and drive 100, and drive ahundred miles south down to
seaside.
But no, I needed to see it bymotorcycle and, frankly, I

(02:29):
needed the road time.
So, rather than take thethree-hour flight, I took the
three-day ride to get to thatdestination, which turned out to
be a seven-day round trip, agiant loop including Wyoming,

(02:50):
utah, nevada, california,arizona and back here to
Colorado.
Was it worth it?
Are you kidding?
I've come back home with soremuscles, for sure I'm feeling it
right now.
I've come back home with soremuscles, for sure I'm feeling it
right now, but also a feelingof gratitude of how amazing the
Western United States is.

(03:11):
Once again I was reminded ofthat.
There is nothing like seeingthe Western US from the seat of
a motorcycle, from the desertsto the high peaks, you see it
all.
But most importantly, Iexperienced a glimpse of my
family's past, a view of thePacific Ocean from a spot where

(03:34):
my parents also looked at thatPacific some 70 years ago.
Wow, there's nothing quite likeit.
The western United States fromthe snow-capped mountain peaks

(03:55):
of the Colorado Rockies and LakeTahoe in California to the
Mojave Desert in Nevada,temperatures on this ride alone
ranged from the low 40s to 90.
I've done this route about fivetimes thus far over the past
many years and it just nevergets old.
I'm getting older, for sure.

(04:16):
I'm feeling it more and moreout on the road, but as far as
the views, it's amazing.
It's just completely amazing.
There's nothing like riding amotorcycle through this part of

(04:39):
the country, as we talk aboutall the time on this podcast.
One of the many joys ofmotorcycle travel is to meet
people on the road.
I met so many good people,mostly short conversations, but
some were longer than others.
Sometimes a short conversationat a gas station and other times

(05:03):
it was having breakfast with astranger, or even dinner one
night with a total stranger.
If you watch the news enough,you'll come to believe that it's
a very angry and dangerousworld out there because there's
so much risk and we need to juststay to ourselves and be safe,
we need to isolate, we need tojust stare at our phones in
public places and maybe no onewill come our way.

(05:26):
But in my experience as amotorcycle traveler, no, that's
not the case at all.
What I've seen is that thegreat majority of people are
good people, whether they'rewealthy or homeless.
Good people are all around usall the time.
We just have to look up fromour phone and say hello.

(06:01):
On this trip, I spent one nightin Las Vegas, and I've done that
on previous trips before.
It's fascinating, to say theleast Dazzling lights, the
sounds, noise and music fromevery direction, the amazing
fountain at the Bellagio Hotel.
Yeah, if you like all the noiseand all the bling and the very

(06:27):
strange, unexplained smells inevery direction, then Las Vegas
is the place for you.
But Las Vegas is no place forme.
It's on these road trips andvisiting these busy areas like
this where I'm reminded of howmuch I love the Rocky Mountains
of Colorado, areas like thiswhere I'm reminded of how much I

(06:51):
love the Rocky Mountains ofColorado, the small towns, the
tiny little coffee shops and thecafes in the middle of nowhere.
Yeah, this is home for me.
I met a gentleman while inSeaside, california, who ended
up having dinner with me onenight.

(07:14):
We're about the same age and hewas such a kind heart.
We vowed to stay in touch.
What was cool is he grew up inSeaside.
He told me all about thehistory, how things used to be
had, told me about all thethings that had changed over the
many years of his life outthere.
He also shared with me a dreamthat he had for having a

(07:35):
motorcycle and riding across theUnited States, just as I had.
I hope that dream does cometrue for him and, along with
meeting wonderful people on theroad for these past seven days
out there and seeing so manyamazing things from the mountain
peaks to the desert floors also, I saw a lot of people in pain.

(08:03):
I saw a lot of people on drugsor with schizophrenia or
whatever may be going on.
Some people literally passedout on the sidewalks and in the
corners of abandoned buildingsin these small little towns all
over the place Saw a prostituteat a gas station In both Reno

(08:24):
and Las Vegas.
I especially saw a lot ofpeople all night long mindlessly
pushing a button at a machinewhile smoking a cigarette and
drinking from a warm beer.
That had been there probablyfor hours and hours.
A lot of desperate lives outthere.
Lives out there, yes, those ofus who have both the mental and

(08:52):
the physical ability to ride amotorcycle and the financial
means to own it and maintain it.
Man, we are so blessed, soblessed, so blessed so let me

(09:26):
close with this so grateful forthe opportunity to take this
journey and especially to seewhere my mom and dad lived for
that brief time in California,while dad was in basic training
at the army, to make thatpilgrimage by motorcycle
especially.
Oh man, what a gift.
If you're lucky enough to own abike and have the ability to
ride it, you too have a gift, agift in the garage.

(09:47):
The world is full of incredibleplaces to see and amazing
people to meet, and among themare folks who simply need a kind
word or, if you're feeling bold, an invitation to go share a
meal.

(10:08):
This episode may feel a littlebit less structured than usual,
and that's because I'm stillcarrying the road with me 2,700
miles, as it turned out, solo,riding across the desert in the
mountain peaks.
A lot of reflection in thatmotion.
But now, sitting at home, backwith the family, and with my dog

(10:29):
and my cat and a hot coffeeright next to me, I'm very
grateful, very grateful, sore,but grateful.
My hope for you right now isthis that you'll pause for a
minute, look around andrecognize how very fortunate you

(10:49):
are.
Then, if you're brave enough,go out, strike up a conversation
with a stranger, someone new.
Better yet, find someone who maybe going through a tough time,
whether they're out on thestreets or something else going

(11:09):
on.
Ask them their name, introduceyourself and find a small way to
let them know that they matter.
And all of the memories I'vehad of this past week, that's
what it's been all about.
I've had of this past week,that's what it's been all about
really.
What will stick with me isthose human connections, those

(11:31):
conversations, those meals.
That's what I'll carry with me,as always.
Thank you so much for listening.
I wish you peace and I wish youlove.

(12:10):
Thank you.