It was more windsurfing than riding as I hurdled through the desert on my motorcycle with an audio recording of, “The Shortest Way Home” faintly heard over the hum of the engine. The 7-day trip would take me from the traffic of Los Angeles, through the deserts of Arizona and New Mexico, across the Texas Panhandle in the dead of night, up to Iowa via Kansas in a freezing windstorm, and finally over to the home of the Fighting Irish- South Bend, Indiana. When I bought the bike in L.A. after living abroad for better part of three years, the owner of the dealership asked me where I was headed. My response, “to meet Pete”.

And so, having never ridden a motorcycle above 20 MPH, I financed the ride and headed off during a spring rainstorm east on I-10 bound for South Bend.

There were many memorable encounters along the way. At a McDonald’s in Liberal, Kansas while taking off my riding gear before breakfast, an older woman approached me and without introduction, grabbed my hand. She said, “I’ll be praying for your safe travels” and asked where I was going. When I told her I was headed to see about a guy running for President it was apparent her political views were at odds with the town name. Nevertheless, as she left she promised to take a look at him and said he must be special to inspire such a trip.

Crossing through Iowa I stayed a few days in Des Moines and attended a “new in town” meetup. Hoping to find some fellow political types, it ended up being a nice time with some young professionals not too keen on politics and there was a solid 5 minutes spent trying to teach people how to pronounce the name of the guy that I was headed to see, which I counted as a win.

I finally made it to South Bend the night before the announcement and Couch-Surfed with a local, welcoming, Republican (as it turned out) who was actually considering supporting Pete. As I was settling in, the campaign announced that it was in need of some volunteers and I signed-up via email.

Front of the line for the announcement

The next day I was up and out the door by 7 am and took my place among the first 10 people in a line that would grow to thousands outside the old Studebaker factory. While the wind and rain picked up and the line grew, the person in charge of volunteer check-in was running late and I noticed a few staffers moving barricades around. I jumped in to help and was soon given a position as volunteer gate keeper. The road around the entrance was blocked until a few hours before the speech except for a collection of churchgoers who’s house of worship was on the other side of the blockade. I was the unofficial “church greeter”, a task which came with some perceived authority as people in line began asking me (the guy with the umbrella as the front) about logistics regarding the announcement.

When the doors opened, the energy of the line boiled over and my job at the front became giving high-fives and leading chants of “Pete, Pete, Pete,” and “Boot-edge-edge”. The 2,000-mile trip of course included the witnessing of the historic announcement, but it was getting to meet fellow supporters and lending a hand that made the experience even more memorable.

So why do I share this story? My message is: Go. Hit the road for the candidate you feel can lead America to a less divisive, more positive place. It all starts by showing up.