A couple of days earlier I got a WhatsApp message from a Swiss country code. The sender asked if I rented motorcycles and whether I could put two of them out for an adventure that coming weekend.
Tobias and his brother Florian were Traveling and Camping from San Francisco to the Oregon coast and then up into Washington State. They had stopped in Bend and wanted to ride. I hooked them up with two Yamaha WR125Rs.
They rolled in Saturday morning. We were a little concerned about the power of these new dual-sports, but they were up for anything and just glad to get out. We started on the OHV trails, then headed toward Black Butte, Three Creeks, and Broken Top. We took the gnarly back roads and the alternative lines so they could feel what the bikes would actually do. Two guys in their twenties had to work for it.
By the time we got back to my place they unloaded their gear and dropped into the grass, spent. A good day on a motorcycle had been accomplished.
I wondered again why I hadn’t been able to stay in Italy and lead tours there the way we’d planned. Instead I was entertaining Europeans right out of the front yard. The last few months the client list has included Israel, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, and New Zealand.
Jeremiah 29:11 still sits there: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
- Anthony Sprando 8/29/26