Augustine of Hippo is accredited as saying, “The world is a book, and those who don't travel only read one page.”  Never mind that this saint of early Christainty hated traveling, I take this admonition both seriously and literally.  

The road tells many, many stories and I have to pick out the one(s) speaking to me when on the road. Pre-ride research predicts what I find interesting and/or attractive, but always it’s the road that tells me not what I want to read, but what I need to read. 

Since moving to a modest middle class neighborhood in southwest Portland, Oregon some fourteen years ago I have not once seen a single police squad car patrolling our neighborhood - not once. It is a very peaceful and friendly ungated community. I am current to the violence around the world, the country and in the greater Portland area. I like to think I have some semblance of empathy for those suffering under the threat of violence whether it be physical, economic, political or emotional in nature, but it never seemed pointed directly at me. This ride would change that false perception.

Still the Cascade Mountains would tell their own story of awe and beauty. I will attempt to weave the disparate narratives together, but make no promises of revealing an underlying rationale for our planet and world in the telling.