I have been dreaming about riding across America since my college years, if not before.  I had ridden horses in fields, on beaches, and in riding arenas as a youngster, and on mountain and desert trails and dirt roads in college.  But I wanted to ride farther and longer, on dirt trails, over long distances.  In my 20’s and 30’s, my good friend, Jim Dunaway, took me horse camping in the Ochoco Mountains and Strawberry Mountains of eastern Oregon.  Sometimes we used base camps, and sometimes we just rode out, not returning to camp until days later.  Those trips convinced me that I could ride and pack horses across the state of Oregon or across the country, and would love doing it!

However, there were obstacles to a long ride.  I didn’t want to leave my wife, Kris, or our two daughters for long periods of time, and my career choice was such that I couldn’t take too much consecutive time off.  So I waited (maybe not patiently, but I waited) until  I retired from full-time work in 2017 to ride the trails of the West.   I rode almost two weeks in 2017, as sort of a test ride, with my good friend, Thad Buchanan.   I rode for five weeks in 2018 and for six weeks in 2019.

As I write this note, my ride continues in Montana.  I hope to spend 8 weeks on the trail in 2020, continuing south through Montana and hopefully to the Wyoming-Colorado border.  Photos and text will be posted on Instagram as my ride continues.  This website will also be updated periodically with the help of my skilled webmaster, Melissa Scaramuzzo.

For more information and photos for each year of my Ride Across America, you can hover over the “Ride Across America” heading at the top of this page.