planning with ZMM

The difficult part of planning a trip like this is understanding the philosophy behind the intent. Does one want to retrace the exact path of pirsig from Minneapolis to San Fransisco? I already knew that we didn't have the gumption to travel to California so the trip was already going to be a modification of the original route. Besides all the serious fans of Pirsig have already done the route and documented their travels right down to the GPS way points. I have never been a big fan of following the crowd. Another factor is that I was starting this trip in Prince George and already adding almost 3000 km by passing through Winnipeg before heading back west. Here is the first map that I initially envisioned.  Trip # 1

After much thought and some frustartion I decided to try and approach it in a more artistic/romantic direction. You see it is all about living in the moment not reaching a destination and chasing a dream. This place is as good as the next if one is experiencing the quality of the experience. With that new found perspective in mind I re-plotted my route. It would take me three days to make it to Winnipeg where the trip would really begin for River and I. You see he was getting a ride with his grandparents so as to not overwhelm him with the stress of riding on the back of a motorcycle for long days through the praries.

I was also focused on Mennoniting my way through the trip as best as I could and staying with friends or family along the route as to reduce travel costs and extend the experience by connecting with people. You see I had not seen many of these people since I got separated from a 20 year marriage. Many people would want to hear the story even though I had processed the experience and was ready to move forward in my life.

I made a post on facebook confirming my dates and waited to see who would reply to my request. I guess i could go old school and contact people one by one, however for me this was more like begging for interaction. I would seek out a few interactions as I felt they were important and if they did not interact on facebook they would not respond to my request.

Here is the updated trip.
Trip # 2