Charting A Course

Well I’m midway through a three week road trip taking me from southern California to Dallas Texas. I hit the road on the 29th with our team manager BC and his son. From Cali we traveled to Williams Arizona and camped out at a KOA. I managed to have a little jam session with one of the locals and blared some Lynyrd Skynyrd through the campground. From there we made a stop at the Grand Canyon and took a 45 minute plane ride over the canyon. It was truly amazing to see one of the most incredible landscapes in all of creation, especially from an airplane.

From Arizona we drove to Canadian Texas where we met up with the Moore family for a show at the 120th annual Canadian Rodeo which doubled as somewhat of a family reunion. It was such a fun time and the entire family welcomed me with open arms. Yet again a surreal experience. Here less than a year ago I was watching these guys on videos and reading about them in magazines and now I’m hanging out with their extended family for the 4th of July. (Texans know how to celebrate the 4th of July!) We were treated like royalty all weekend. The owners of the local steak house had us over for a Texas sized BBQ in their backyard paradise. The menu included the largest steak I've ever seen, chicken, quail, Texas fire crackers (jalapeños stuffed with cheese and wrapped in bacon) and for desert the worlds best homemade bread pudding. If you ever find yourself in Canadian Texas, be sure to stop in The Cattle Exchange steak house. THANKS MILTON AND JULIE!!!
We rode our first show Friday night and I managed to wheelie over on myself during the barrel racing contest. After the horses were done they let me and Colten try our hand at the barrels. As if the embarrassment wasn’t bad enough, I was informed I road around the barrels in the wrong direction. Saturday night I managed to ride around the barrels correctly but we didn’t jump due to wet conditions. Instead we road around the arena and threw mud on each other while Caleb took people for rides in the Razr.

Right now I’m sitting in Krum Texas at our guys facility where the plan was to spend two weeks working in the foam pit and hopefully learn how to backflip. So far I’ve been here six days and have ridden a total of about two hours as it has been raining almost non stop. I’m partly frustrated as I’d really like to be practicing but I’m continuing to remind myself that God has a plan in all of this. My last show in Canadian didn’t go quite as well as I would have liked so I was really looking forward to getting in some serious practice these two weeks. It's been raining almost non stop since I got here. Leisure time is sometimes my greatest enemy. I’ve spent a lot of time questioning how long I’m going to be able to keep doing this. I’ve made a go of it the last eight months but am barely scraping by. There is certainly a lot of opportunity for me to advance in this industry and I’m with the right people to do it. It’s just a matter of time and keeping myself healthy. The rain frustrates me because I want to be out riding and improving and instead I’m stuck waiting and thinking. I’m too much of a planner. I want to map out my course, stick to the plan and be on my way.Despite my lack of control of my situation I'm somewhat excited to see what God has in store in the coming months. My last trip to Texas started somewhat the same as I crashed on my first jump and then left for a three week trip that turned out to be the trip of a lifetime. One never knows whats around the corner and this entire adventure I've been on for the last eight months has given me a greater appreciation for Proverbs 16:9 In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.