Dolly's Birthday Celebration

Ron 0:03

I would like to dedicate this episode to my fellow Rocky Mountain Tour guide and friend , craig , and I need to tell you why . This past week , the guides for Green Jeep Tours in Estes Park , colorado , up the road from my house we all came together to celebrate Dolly's 15th birthday . We met at a pub there in Estes Park and had wonderful snacks and just such a wonderful time together . Dolly wore a cute little pink dress and she was so excited to see so many of her friends there . Dolly , by the way , is a dog who belongs to Nikki . Nikki owns Green Jeep Tours . It was Dolly's 15th birthday it really was and Nikki she just loves her friends and loves her dog and her dog's friends . So she brought us all together for an evening at the pub and it was just wonderful . You know , this is why I love Rocky Mountain Tour Guides , because they're goofy , they're fun and they're full of love . They're some of my best friends . Anyway , back to why this episode is dedicated to Craig , as several of us guides sat at a table the other night and shared stories about tours that went well , and mostly about tours that didn't go so well . Well , not as expected . Anyway , craig shared a story that topped them all , and for me it demonstrated what kind of person Craig

Craig's Extraordinary Denver Drive

Ron 1:37

really is . So here's the short version .

Ron 1:44

Craig again , fellow tour guide at Green Jeep Tours . He received instructions to pick up a family who wanted to take a tour of Rocky Mountain National Park . It's what we do all the time , nothing strange there . Rather than coming to Green Jeep Tours , to the shop there in downtown Estes Park , though , they asked to be picked up at one of the national park entrances . So they asked to be picked up at one of the national park entrances . Craig was agreeable to that . So Craig met the family there and took them for the standard 3 hour and 15 minute tour through Rocky Mountain National Park . And when they completed the tour and returned to the pickup point , craig was informed by the family that they didn't have a car there . That's strange . They told him that they had taken a rideshare there , like an Uber , all the way from downtown Denver to Estes Park . That's an hour and a half on very twisty mountain roads as they expected to grab another Uber from Estes Park that evening and go back to Denver . Well , craig , being a local , gave them the bad news that there are typically no rideshare services way up here in the mountains , especially not in the evening no Uber , no Lyft and , this time of evening , no bus service either . So they're kind of out of luck .

Ron 3:10

But Craig , knowing that they were in need and assuming that they would be grateful for his efforts , craig offered to drive this family all the way back to Denver , to downtown Denver , to their hotel , in his personal car . When Craig told me that , I said to him . When Craig told me that , I said to him you've got to be kidding . And he said nope , I drove them to Denver an hour and a half one way in my personal car . Wow , you know , I try to be a nice guy but honestly , I wouldn't have done it . I don't , I'm sure . No , I wouldn't have . I wouldn't have done it myself . Anyway , here's the thing . I wouldn't have done it myself . Anyway , here's the thing . We get paid a flat rate for every tour , but the hope is that you'll have very nice tips that definitely supplement the income . So that's always helpful and most of the time people do tip , and some tip very well . So Craig delivered this family to their hotel in downtown Denver , remember now , this is following a three-hour Rocky Mountain National Park tour that he took them on , following another hour and a half drive to Denver in his personal car . So , after all that , they just said thank you and walked away into their hotel . No tip , nothing . Then Craig drove for another hour and a half back up into the mountains to Estes Park to reach his home .

Ron 4:50

A very , very long day and a disappointing day . You know what makes my head explode , though , about this story ? It's what Craig told me and our buddies about his thoughts on that experience . Craig said that , yes , he was disappointed in the lack of gratitude , like in a tip , but he also told us that it was his hope for them , this family , that they had a great day in Rocky Mountain

Kindness as a Motorcycle Rider

Ron 5:23

National Park . He felt like they did , and he was glad to see this family get home , safe , back to their hotel in Denver , and he wished them all to have a wonderful remainder of their vacation . That , my friends , is an example of love for your fellow man , something that we so , so need these days , so so need these days A demonstration of caring for those who have only seen us once and they may never see us again . That's why I say to you , craig , if you're listening , you are a hero and I'm so glad that you are my fellow tour guide and I'm especially glad that you're my friend . So today , as I was inspired by Craig's story and his inspiration , we're going to stay on that topic of kindness and how that relates to our attitudes and our image as motorcycle riders . It's always our hope , right , that other drivers see us for sure for safety , safety but I think most of us also do our best to demonstrate that , yes , we are inside a helmet and underneath protective gear , but we're people , we're your neighbors , we're your friends and a great majority of us have really good hearts . We have a love for our fellow man and I hope that this story that I'll share now , bringing it back , was originally published two and a half years ago , but I hope that it brings new insights if you've not heard it before , about a heightened awareness of kindness from the seat of a motorcycle .

Friday Mountain Ride Adventure

Ron 7:43

It was a fabulous Friday afternoon . The six of us met up early and rode our motorcycles into the mountains . We rode over to Nederland , surrounded by snow-capped mountains , and we visited the Carousel of Happiness and we took a ride on the classic handmade carousel . It's wonderful , a lot of smiles . We had such a nice coffee visit too a train , car , coffee right next door .

Ron 8:08

Before we hit the peak-to-peak highway to carve the twisties down through the canyons and over the mountaintops , just having a blast , we decided to head on down into the valley . We cruised down Highway 34 following the Big Thompson Canyon . There was very little traffic this time and we followed endlessly curving roads , pushing the speed ? Yeah , a little bit . Hey , we know what we're doing . We've been down this road many , many times . We're careful Enough , I guess . Once we reached Loveland , we took a left on Wilson Avenue and headed north . Our next destination was the Howlin' Cow Cafe for another coffee that we probably didn't need , but oh my goodness , it's just so good and so much fun to be there . Yeah , maybe we were riding a little too tight and a little too close , but it felt great and , more importantly , we looked really good . We're experienced riders , we're all close friends and going fast . We tend to do that sometimes .

Ron 9:17

It was when we reached the intersection At the light that it happened . A very close call . We most certainly had the right of way . How could she just turn right in front of us , causing us to slam on our brakes , narrowly missing each other , and the ditch , for that matter ? She looked right at us . When she turned she looked right at us . Yeah , we were going fast and riding too tight , but surely she must have been paying enough attention to know that she didn't have time to turn in front of us . Then , to top it off , she just kept driving . She didn't stop to see if we were okay , she just kept on going . We pulled off at the next place where we could to check on each other . A few of us were shaken up a little bit , but we just struck this up to idiot drivers . There are just so many idiot drivers out there who just don't give a darn . There was one more right there .

The Other Side of Road Rage

Ron 10:39

She never expected her life to turn out this way . She knew that when she married him he had a mean side . She thought that after the first child he would become a good dad and be kind to her . But when the next child was born three years later , it just got worse . Her hope that day that Friday , that it would be a day when it all would stop and she could get on with her life with her two kids . No one was available to take care of them when she had to go to the court , so she had to take them along and ask someone there at the courts to watch after them . For a few minutes , while she tried to get through this last argument about who would take what , including the children , her world was completely shaken as her attorney escorted her out to the car and someone from the courts helped to bring the babies out into their car seat . She really wasn't sure if she could drive , but she just had to go home . It was near that intersection when , the perfect timing between the time when her children began to cry and then she began to cry too . It was right . Then , when she turned left and heard the sounds of squealing tires and honking horns , she looked right at them and she was so sorry . But she knew she couldn't handle any more hurt that day . She was already so broken up inside she just couldn't face anyone who was going to be angry with her , anyone else . So she just drove on home , hoping that none of those motorcycle riders would follow her .

Choosing Compassion Over Judgment

Ron 12:42

The places that I described , where we ride , we really do and , yeah , sometimes we push the speed limit a little bit .

Ron 12:50

But the story I think , even though it was fictitious , it could be very , very real in a lot of scenarios . You see , we never know what's going on in the life of someone else . Yeah , I very well could be just another idiot driver who pulls in front of us or drifts into our lane , but it also may be someone whose life has been shattered . It may be someone who needs to see a little bit of compassion , like a friendly wave indicating that it's okay , everything's fine , all is forgiven , don't worry . It's really easy for us to get angry at those drivers who don't seem to care , but I think we have to take a bold step and assume that by controlling our emotions better yet , showing forgiveness , showing kindness , maybe , just maybe , that driver will be a little bit more careful and care a little bit more about you and me out on our motorcycles , as always . Thank you so much for listening and I wish you peace . And I wish you peace and I wish you love . Thank you .