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Nearly two months ago we departed on our journey from Minnesota and traveled over five thousand miles visiting some of the most awe-inspiring natural places of beauty on earth.  We are extremely grateful to have had the good fortune to returned to Durango, Colorado safely and are now decompressing and reflecting on some of the incredible experiences we’ve had.  Josie and I planned our return to Durango to coincide with a 34-mile ultra-running race on a Navajo reservation in Chinle, Arizona called the “Canyon de Chelly 2017”, to support our son Eric and Daughter-in-law Lauren as they were both lucky enough to have secured a spot into this sacred event.  I say sacred, because for the Navajo, foot running has been a sacred and honored tradition that has been happening for as long as their oral history has existed.  I say lucky, because this particular Ultra event, while celebrating its Fifth Year Anniversary, has gained such tremendous interest worldwide, that they filled their maximum of one hundred and fifty entry spots in only eight minutes.  Aside from the moments I spent weeping tears of Joy and Gratitude beneath the Red Wood Forest giants this past month in Northern California, supporting our kids with their participation in the Canyon de Chelly touched a space deep within that will remain with me for many moons.  The evening before the race, we are all gathered together in the local campground outdoor amphitheater to hear a young man by the name of Shaun Martin share the history and logistics of this event, his dream if you will and how it all began.  Like many dreams, his was born out of frustration and touched by nature.  While running alone in the Canyon de Chelly, he was given the privilege of running with some wild horses.  I won’t attempt to retell his story, for I could never do it justice.  However, his story like mine and many others that have had serendipitous experiences in nature, transforms your awareness and you’re never quite the same again.  For the past several years, Josie and I have gotten involved in many indigenous tribes throughout the United States and have become acquainted with their philosophy in life.  They’re all pretty much the same with respect to spirituality, each with its own unique story of how they came to be on this planet.  They all honor mother earth as the creator of life and everything natural is sacred.  I believe that’s why I’ve been called to collaborate with all indigenous peoples of the world, because I too have accepted a similar belief with respect to nature.  Another thing I’ve observed about indigenous people is the honor and respect they have for their elders.  In our modern culture, my conclusion is that an entire industry has been established to stuff away our parents and grandparents into institutions we call retirement homes or care facilities and forget about them.  It would appear the same has been done with respect to the treatment of indigenous people throughout the world, all being treated equally in respect of stealing the lands they’ve lived on for generations and exploiting the natural resources such as precious metals, gas and oil and placing them into a retirement home called a reservation.  But history has shown that if the reservation we’ve placed them on turns out to be of some value, we’ll make them move again and take the land that was given to them to live on.  If you find these words I write offensive, allow me to explain that my purpose and intention is not to create more division among the peoples of the world, I’m just stating the facts of our humanity.  The way it normally plays out is, winner takes all, and let the rest fight over the left overs.  I believe we are simply evolving as a species, and as we evolve, so does our consciousness.  As we evolve, our hearts become stronger, we become more sensitive to the negative effects we project onto others and our planet.   We become more willing to give a voice and action to help balance the scales of injustice, inequality, human rights and natures preservation.  Before we departed the start/finish line of the Canyon de Chelly, I briefly explained my dream and vision to Shaun and asked him if he would like to be a G.A.S. Station.  I’m not sure exactly how and what that looks like, but he accepted the offer and only time will tell the story of how this new relationship will develop, expand and touch the lives of those that are ready to take up this challenge and, “To be the change you wish to experience in the world.”

It has taken a long time for me to process what recently happened and to post this blog.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to all affected by the recent tragic event in Las Vegas.  While I was writing my blog “Timing is everything”, we were in the Sonoma wine valley region of California and learned through Facebook that a good friend of ours Chris (an airlines pilot stationed out of Stuttgart, Germany) we hadn’t seen in 14 years, was going to have a layover in Las Vegas.  Neither Josie nor I had ever been to the Vegas and didn’t have any intention of passing through there any time soon.  However, after contacting our friend Chris, we decided to meet him there for dinner.  During his layover and before our arrival, a lone gunman opened fire on thousands of innocent lives at the Harvest Festival concert killing 58 people and severely injuring countless others.  Please take a moment of silence to remember and honor those that were killed, and send your thoughts and prayers out to the other victims that are continuing to struggle for their lives at this very moment.  As Josie and I walked the Vegas strip, we were constantly reminded of this heinous crime by the postings of gratitude for the First-responders displayed on numerous large video screens plastered on the sides of buildings throughout the city.  Also, a constant reminder was the yellow crime scene tape, patrol cars and policemen surrounding the killing zone.  It felt surreal how something so catastrophic could happen and somehow life continues to carry on, people laughing, gambling, eating and going to shows as if nothing had happened.  When tragedies such as this happens, it leaves a gaping whole, not just in the hearts of friends and families directly affected, but also that of the entire world.  After arriving in Las Vegas, we learned that my cousin Debbie from Illinois was there in town as well and so we met up with her at the 55^th Annual Art festival in Boulder City, Nevada.  Debbie and I were never close growing up because our age difference.  However, within a short time of our reunion, we engaged in one of the deepest and most meaningful conversations I’ve had since undertaking our G.A.S.  journey.  Josie and I have been brainstorming about how to implement some unique Nature based therapeutic programs to help heal the wounded souls of this world and our visit with Debbie was very inspirational.  Throughout human history, Nature has been the primary source of  inspiration for art and innovation, just as tragic events have influenced us and created opportunities to help shape us into the caring, compassionate, loving human beings we have the potential to become.  To truly heal our hearts and souls together in harmony with Nature, it’s crucial that we honor, protect, and nurture Nature. It’s an individual responsibility to become aware of this fact and teach others how powerful our choices are, in regard to the purchases of goods and services we make and the overall affect we have on the health and well-being of our planet, be it good or bad.

Josie and I have been on the road just over a month now and I can honestly say it’s going very well considering we’ve been living in a very small space together 24/7.  When we started this journey, I told Josie the thing I wanted to do the most was to visit the Redwood Forest.  So finally, the past several days we’ve spent camping and hiking among the most magnificent trees found on the face of our planet in the Jedidiah Smith Redwood State Forest.  While having lunch we had the pleasure of talking with a couple of local ladies I called K and K. They recommended we hike the Brown Creek trail, their favorite, located on the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway in Northern California.  We ended up visiting many of the Redwood forest groves and found the Brown Creek trail to have the densest biomass, thick, lush and spectacularly breathtaking.  Only 5% of the original old growth Redwood forest groves exist today thanks to the many early environmentalists that fought the greedy lumber companies to preserve what little was left of the majestic giants.   From there we made our way south and met a guy by the name of Nickles Millner in Santa Rosa, CA in a Trader Joe’s parking lot.  He strongly recommended we visit the town of Sabastopol, and so we did.  This beautiful little city is filled with unique shops of all sorts.  We found a couple of “gotta have treasures” in a shop called “Many Rivers Books and Tea”.  We also stumbled upon the Guayaki Mate Headquarters and Café. If like me you’re not familiar with Guayaki Mate click here and read about it.  A fascinating and inspiring story of two college students wanting to create a positive impact in the world thru the awareness of sustainable rainforest products.  While educating ourselves about this amazing product Guayaki Mate, we met a couple of very nice young college students, Noah and Kyle.  Noah is originally from Minnesota and Kyle is a local girl from the Sonoma valley region.  They were excited to hear what we’re doing because they too are planning on getting a small camper and traveling after they’re finished with their studies.  Our journey thus far has been nothing short of amazing!  Enjoying meeting interesting people, eating incredibly taste food and of course visiting awe inspiring places of natural beauty.  I’m getting used to this kind of lifestyle and am grateful to be sharing with my life long partner, lover and best friend.  We’ve found ourselves in that magical flow of life I like to call, Serendipity.  Our G.A.S. tanks are filled.

First, I would like to express our gratitude for our dear friends John and Susan.   They’ve been sharing with us many helpful hints about all the do’s and don’ts when it comes to RVing.  Even with all the challenges of the repairs Rosie has needed within the first week, we’ve been having the time of our lives. We’ve spent the last several days camping with them throughout Idaho and Oregon and experienced many extremes in terms of the variety of camping.  We’ve gone boondocking (out in the middle of nowhere), stayed in a National Park forest camp with only a water hook up and primitive toilets and finally a campground run by a native American tribe complete with all the amenities, pool, showers, laundry, WiFi, electric and water hookups and a casino within walking distance.  None of us are much into casino’s but all agreed it might be fun to check it out.  Josie and I dropped five bucks total between us in the dollars slots.  Susan donated a whole dollar in one pull of the handle in a nickel slot machine.  And John was the big winner after slipping a twenty into a slot machine and won $199.00 plus his twenty dollars back.  We celebrated john’s win by having a drink in the bar and listening to a Reggae Band.  This morning we’ll continue North and West making our way towards Seattle, Washington where their daughter Ashley with be getting married next weekend to a fine young man by the name of Mark. I look forward to what today’s adventures have in store for us.  My awareness continues to teach me that each moment is an opportunity for me to take responsibility in the co-creation of my experience, both the good and the bad.  Just remember, shit happens and sometimes it’s totally out of our control like the hurricane that recently hit the coast of Texas.  We send out our thoughts and prayers to all those that are unsure as to whether they still have a home to return to or not.  And last but not least, gratitude to all those that are providing service for those in need.

Our first stop after purchasing Rosie was to fill her up with propane gas.  When we arrived in Durango, I discovered that we had a gas leak.  We decided it would be best if we visited a Roadtrek dealership and the closest one along our route was in Grand Junction, Colorado called Transwest Truck and RV.  Jennifer the Warranty specialist was very helpful and courteous.  Jay the mechanic had us back on the road within the same day after replacing the gas tank regulator.  We had a delicious dinner in Salt Lake City Utah at a place called 1000 degrees Neapolitan Pizzeria.  Mike the owner was surprised to see us as he didn’t know we were in town.  We had a great visit with him and sorry we missed his wife Claire.  The pizza was great, we highly recommend this place if you’re in Salt Lake City.  We spent our best night’s sleep ever in an inter-state road side rest in our queen size been.  The next morning, we headed north into Idaho where we met up with our dear friends John and Susan.  They own the same model 210 roadtrek as ours and is called Wanda.  After Rosie and Wanda where introduced we had lunch together at the Highway 30 drive-in, a Mexican road side restaurant.  It was great reuniting with our friends from Minnesota in Mountain Home, Idaho.  We planned on traveling together to a state park campground in Cascade, Idaho but shortly after leaving the Drive In Rosie over-heated.  John and Susan continued their journey North and we were forced to remain here in Mountain Home awaiting our second repair to Rosie within the past two days.  We anticipated such challenges and chose to purchase the extended warranty.  We were only half a mile from the Mountain Home Auto Ranch Chevy dealership but didn’t want to chance burning up the engine so we called Progressive, our road side assistance insurance and was rescued by Sean Atkins of Diamond S Towing and Recovery.  Sean was extremely professional and had us rolled up on his flatbed truck and in the Chevy dealership in short order.  Thanks Sean!  The Auto Ranch was extremely busy but managed to fit us in at the end of the day and discovered Rosie has a bad water pump.  We spent the night across the street on the side of the road and this morning awaiting a water pump to arrive from Boise as they didn’t have it in stock.  Nathan the garage manager assured us we would be back on the road by this afternoon.  Again, we are so grateful for all the outstanding service we’ve experienced with the repairs Rosie has needed.

I suggested we have a naming ceremony for our new camper van and thought it might be fun to have it coincide with our Son Eric’s’ birthday on Saturday the 19th while van camping with Eric, Lauren and their friends.  Josie had a name in mind but didn’t share it with me until Sunday.  So, the naming ceremony didn’t happen on Saturday as I had suggested, instead it happened on Monday when we went into town for coffee. At approximately 11:11 am Monday morning during the Solar Eclipse in downtown Durango, Co. Josie and I walked into a local Art shop called Sticks & Stones Handmade and was met by a very gracious owner by the name of Micki. While browsing the fine pieces of art made of wood and stone, I spotted a stained-glass Paw print with the name Rosie on the bottom hand written with a magic marker, the same name Josie had told me the day before. I pointed it out to Josie and we both agreed that the Universe was clearly telling us Rosie is our new camper van’s name. Showing up with the stained-glass paw print was also in alignment with my own thoughts for a name, Silver Wolf. And so we’re calling her ”Rosie the Silver Wolf”, Rosie for short. I also shared with Micki about the G.A.S. Station concept and it was clearly obvious that she immediately understood the power of this intention. We agreed to get together when we return to Durango after our trip to the Northwest coast so she can share her story with us about the birth of the Sticks & Stones Handmade. I also look forward to meeting Janet Kenna, glass artist of Quilted Glass responsible for this serendipitous moment with the stained glass paw print. This is just another example of the Universe aligning with your thoughts to create little surprises when you are inspired or In Spirit.

Much time has passed since I’ve written anything in my blog about our G.A.S. Adventure.  I’ll just say that it has been, and continues to be a roller-coaster ride.  Lots of closer and lots of new beginnings.  Over the past several weeks and months we’ve prepared our home for sale, packed up, sold, or given away some more of our stuff and are feeling lighter within each passing moment. We boxed up our remaining worldly possessions, stuffed them in a moving truck, hitched our Prius to the back of it (canoe on top) and hit the road.  Tuesday the 15^th of August we made our first stop signing\closing\selling our home we near Orchard Lake, in Lakeville Minnesota.  Wednesday morning we checked out a Roadtrek Adventurous near Ft. Collins that was for sale, then that afternoon I test drove a Roadtrek 210 in Colorado Springs.  Thursday morning we met with Karen, owner of Hickman RV and made an offer on the Roadtrek 210.  We reached an agreement, did the paperwork and we are now the proud owners of our first class B motorhome.  Her right-hand man Kyle, (originally from Duluth, Mn) showed us all the amenities of our new RV and how to use them.  Karen and her staff where very professional and we’re extremely pleased with the service we experienced.  Thursday late evening we arrived at the home of our Son Eric and our awesome  daughter-in-law Lauren in Durango, Co.  Friday morning, we unpacked our Rental truck and filled a 10 x 10 storage unit with our stuff.  Saturday was Eric’s birthday and he was planning on going Van camping with some friends.  Great timing for us.  After a short 27 minute drive from Eric and Lauren’s house to Transfer Park Campground in the San Juan National Forest, we packed three VW camper vans and our Roadtrek into a beautiful site next to a mountain stream.  What a perfect way to break in our new home on wheels, spending time in the great outdoors with friends and family.  We spent Saturday and Sunday rock climbing, swimming, cooking, hiking, mushroom hunting, napping or just hanging around the camp fire sharing stories, laughing and dancing.  Not bad for our first week on our G.A.S. Adventure.

With Gratitude, Awareness and Service

The G.A.S. Man

Everything in the Universe is made up of energy.  The different colors of light are a result of the vibration or speed of a light waves’ length.  Matter or what appears as solid objects are a dense form of energy that create our world.  The denser the matter, the lower energy it creates.  Light matter or light energy is not any better or worse than dark matter or dark energy, it’s just different.  Rocks are of a lower vibration and are of a denser matter.  Human beings also operate at different levels of vibration and our thoughts and feelings determine the level of (light) energy or (dark) energy at which we operate at in life.  Focusing our thoughts and actions on people and events that inspire us, help keep us from sinking deeper into the depths of depression and isolation.  We’ve all experienced being around people that either inspire us, lift our spirits if you will or bring us down a notch or two whenever we’re around them.  Being grateful for the good people and great things we experience in life increases our energy levels.  Constant complaining about how life sucks or being around others that never have anything good to say, decreases your energy level.   Being aware of how these conditions effect your well-being is the beginning of a transformed life.  When you focus your awareness of how you’re feeling and acknowledge the fact that you have the power within to change, you’ll begin to take charge of your life and quite complaining so much and make better and healthier life choices.  Changes can be as simple as spending more time with people that inspire you or spending more time in Nature.  One of the most uplifting and inspiring things you’ll discover is being of service to others or allowing others to be of service to you.  And let us not forget the observer effect.  Just the act of observing someone doing good for another or just sitting in Nature can increase the level of energy within the observer.  Change begins with a thought, is shared with a word, and experienced within action.

 

“You enter the forest at the darkest point, where there is no path.  Where there is a way or path, it is someone else’s path.  You are not on your own path.  If you follow someone else’s way, you are not going to realize your potential.”
― Joseph Campbell, The Hero’s Journey

 

 

We just returned from our trip to Geneva, Switzerland reconnecting with friends and reminiscing the past with our Son Eric and his wife Lauren after having left there 14 years ago.  What an incredible trip it was.  For me, it was a reminder of what’s important in life, Gratitude, Awareness and Service.  The past several weeks and perhaps months have been a whirlwind of emotions and preparations for what Josie and I are about to undertake in our lives together.  Selling our Dream Home, quitting our jobs, leaving our families and friends, traveling the world.  What are we thinking?! My Mom keeps telling me, “you’ll regret selling your home.”  Yes, I’m sure I will.  However, I feel if I didn’t continue this journey we’ve chosen and are currently on, would find myself at the end of my golden years (long into the future I hope), regretting not having taken this leap of fate.   It’s not like we just decided to do this on a whim.   No, we’ve been planning this for several years now. But before I go on a tangent of thought and stories, I first would like to say how lucky I am to have such great family and friends.  When I say this, I include everyone, screw-ups included.  After all, we’re just human and we all have the potential to be the next one that does something or that says something in the middle of an emotional shit-storm and having the choice to regret it for the rest of our lives, or not.  In our latest book together, “Natures G.A.S. Stations” and I include you because everyone has the potential to become part of this journey, we’ll share our stories and inspirations with each other.  Recently I’ve heard myself telling others, “Discovering Peace Within is the easy part of life, it just seems to appear out of nowhere.  The hard part is, maintaining it.”  So, I’ll tell you a little secret, YOU ARE AMAZING!!!  At least you have the potential to be amazing, even if you don’t believe me.  We look forward to meeting you and hearing about all the amazing things you’re doing for Nature, our Planet and yourself.

 

“The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature.”  ~  Joseph Campbell

Below is a note I shared with the “Families of Route 8″

You will all be dearly missed and occupy a special place be in my heart.

 

Dear Parent (s) or Guardian (s), and most importantly, “Kids of Rout  8”

It’s with mixed emotions I say, “Bon Voyage!” This is my last season driving bus for Schmitty and Sons. One of the most special, joyous, challenging and inspiring things to have done besides being a Husband and Father, is to have had the extreme honor and pleasure to have kept you safe.  I’ll leave with you a few words you may have heard on our bus.  “You’re awesome!”  “Have a great weekend!”  “Enjoy your summer!”  “SIT YOUR <*^#X>@..DOWN!”  “O, sorry about my slamming on the brakes while you were standing. I didn’t see you flying across the seats, I was looking at the road, did you hurt anyone?”  “If you can’t say something good about the person sitting next to you, then don’t say anything!”  “Please, no pushing and shoving when I’m pulling up with the bus, even if it’s just in fun, it makes me very nervous.”   “I’ll always do my best to ensure there is no cars endangering you when you’re getting on and off the bus, and I ask you to help me out by taking some responsibility for your awareness and LOOK before you WALK.”  “Get to the front of the Bus, NOW!”  “YEA YOU!”  “Thank you!”  “Your Welcome.”  “He hit me!”  “she kicked me.”  “He bit me.”  “SHUT UP, please.”  “Good morning.”  “Bye”

You get the picture.  It’s been great.  Thank you.

With (Gratitude, Awareness and Service)

Patrick Milan