I've been traveling Montana for 15 years and it seems that the Big Sky country has a little adventure in store for me every spring. There was the time I had a 102 degree fever for multiple days in Missoula MT. Too broke to spring for a hotel so I shivered in the back of my pick up truck for several nights. The fever, and the shop I stayed at both were defeated. I would take that fever back in a second if it would bring back The Canoe Rack.
There was the time I worked a demo day and then had planned to haul 550 miles all the way to Bellingham WA right afterward For anoyhe demo yhe next day. Unfortunately, the bbq elk meat I ate after the demo had different plans for me. I became well acquainted with the road side ditches of I90 in Washington in the wee hours of the morning.
The time that a shop owner promised 20 friends from his event a night on the town. Free burgers and beers. I happened to be standing next to him when the bartender said "cash only". Guess who had the cash and who had the credit card? I had to respect that hustle! A $300 lesson that you should never be standing near someone who says they will pay the bill.
Snow storms in March and April. A layer of dirt that digs right into your vehicles and fingernails. Long and mountainous drives that eat up the life of your vehicle. Strong winds that rip across the plains and suck the spirit right out of you.
This year's trip features some snowy weather and a dislocated/broken/totally f'd rib cage. A hard fall on the ski hill back home started the injury and then I was loading for this trip the next day when my rib popped out of its place and sent me to my knees. I'll nurse this wound all season I'm sure. Some planned events will now be impossible.
Funny enough...it sometimes takes an injury to remind myself how tight of a community I've come to know out here. Several of the shops I have visited have taken a very sympathetic and helpful attitude when I showed up injured. Unloading the samples and sharing their own remedies to a common boater injury. All too often, the repping biz can come down to shop vs manufacturer. I'm honored to have personally witnessed that several of the people I have visited on this trip are not only business partners but also my friends. It is cold out here so we can just focus on our relationship and how we can help eachother long term.
I wonder how I must appear to them? Every few months breezing through town with my wares, staying briefly and then moving on. For these folks to be so kind to a quarterly (at best) visitor is a big reminder that the Paddlesports community is still core. Still cool and still a family. Thanks friends.
