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Feel free to hang out and lurk as long as you like. However, we would like to encourage you to 
I’m definitely planning to attend, but my reason has nothing to do with motorcycles.
Rusty, if you’ll allow me to share this story, it is the main reason why I want to attend your class. It’s an affirmation of the value of a GPS that I did not realize until this story below happened to me. I have never owned a GPS device.
My 19 year old daughter and her girlfriend drove to Houston from Austin a few weeks ago, at night in bad weather. My daughter is very “directionally challenged”. There’s no use asking her if she’s going north or south. She has no sense of direction. They are confusing terms to her (well l, they can be confusing to me, too….but back to the story…..).
She and her friend took off Friday at ~ 7pm, on an ‘unannounced’ (to me at least) trip from Austin to visit her aunt's home in Pearland. She has never driven to from Austin to Houston before. And now she’s doing it after dark, and her destination is south of Houston. Which is a little scary (for mom and dad) as she usually has trouble finding her way around Austin.
Am I worried about them, or their security? Nah! My daughter is (only) 5'3" tall; her girlfriend is 4'11".
....they can protect themselves!
And she did not ask me for any advance guidance on how to get to Pearland from Austin. That is not typical of her, but I understand, this is part of growing up. I am all in favor of teens growing up. I did it once.
So, she and her girlfriend are on the way to Houston, in the dark (in more ways than one, I am thinking
). But, they are both young adults, and trustworthy. One possible problem: Neither one know how to read maps -- at all!
About 30 mins after she left Austin, my cell phone rings. “Dad, we are on Hwy 290 and just passed Elgin. Are we going the right way? “. I pause. I need to suppress all my incredulous thoughts. “Yes”, I said. “Ok, just wanted to be sure! Thanks!” and she ends the call.
I love her candor and honesty. But I look at my wife and shake my head…”it’s going to be a long drive for them”
. I figure they’ll be stopping every 30 mins for directions, and/ or soon calling us and asking us to read a map for them, and tell them which highway to look for (that happens when she’s in Austin!).
Ok, here’s where I try to get relevant to this thread (I hope).
About 2 hours later, I had not heard from her, so I called. Then she told me that her girlfriend had recently bought a GPS device – and had it with her! yay! She knew enough to input the destination of her aunt’s home in Pearland, and all she had to do was watch the maps and listen for the commands. I felt much better! They arrived in Pearland without any problem.
On her next birthday (if not sooner), my daughter will be getting a GPS device as a gift from me. It would be good if I learned how to use one.
I realize Rusty’s presentation is TWT, older, more mature, (likely gray-hair or no hair) focused. He is not targeting the "teenage, blonde girl, directionally and geographically challenged”. Maybe that will be in Rusty's focus in a different class. There might be a market for it!
So, Rusty, I’m coming to your class next Friday, to teach an old dog some new tricks! (Or, my daughter will teach me, once she gets her unit!).
So, if any of you are like me: you have a loved one who cannot do much more with a map than spell the word (male OR Female!), you may want to attend. Rusty is a very good teacher and really knows his stuff!!
Rusty, if you’ll allow me to share this story, it is the main reason why I want to attend your class. It’s an affirmation of the value of a GPS that I did not realize until this story below happened to me. I have never owned a GPS device.
My 19 year old daughter and her girlfriend drove to Houston from Austin a few weeks ago, at night in bad weather. My daughter is very “directionally challenged”. There’s no use asking her if she’s going north or south. She has no sense of direction. They are confusing terms to her (well l, they can be confusing to me, too….but back to the story…..).
She and her friend took off Friday at ~ 7pm, on an ‘unannounced’ (to me at least) trip from Austin to visit her aunt's home in Pearland. She has never driven to from Austin to Houston before. And now she’s doing it after dark, and her destination is south of Houston. Which is a little scary (for mom and dad) as she usually has trouble finding her way around Austin.
Am I worried about them, or their security? Nah! My daughter is (only) 5'3" tall; her girlfriend is 4'11".
....they can protect themselves! And she did not ask me for any advance guidance on how to get to Pearland from Austin. That is not typical of her, but I understand, this is part of growing up. I am all in favor of teens growing up. I did it once.
So, she and her girlfriend are on the way to Houston, in the dark (in more ways than one, I am thinking
). But, they are both young adults, and trustworthy. One possible problem: Neither one know how to read maps -- at all! About 30 mins after she left Austin, my cell phone rings. “Dad, we are on Hwy 290 and just passed Elgin. Are we going the right way? “. I pause. I need to suppress all my incredulous thoughts. “Yes”, I said. “Ok, just wanted to be sure! Thanks!” and she ends the call.
I love her candor and honesty. But I look at my wife and shake my head…”it’s going to be a long drive for them”
. I figure they’ll be stopping every 30 mins for directions, and/ or soon calling us and asking us to read a map for them, and tell them which highway to look for (that happens when she’s in Austin!).Ok, here’s where I try to get relevant to this thread (I hope
).About 2 hours later, I had not heard from her, so I called. Then she told me that her girlfriend had recently bought a GPS device – and had it with her! yay! She knew enough to input the destination of her aunt’s home in Pearland, and all she had to do was watch the maps and listen for the commands. I felt much better! They arrived in Pearland without any problem.
On her next birthday (if not sooner), my daughter will be getting a GPS device as a gift from me. It would be good if I learned how to use one.
I realize Rusty’s presentation is TWT, older, more mature, (likely gray-hair or no hair) focused. He is not targeting the "teenage, blonde girl, directionally and geographically challenged”. Maybe that will be in Rusty's focus in a different class. There might be a market for it!
So, Rusty, I’m coming to your class next Friday, to teach an old dog some new tricks! (Or, my daughter will teach me, once she gets her unit!).
So, if any of you are like me: you have a loved one who cannot do much more with a map than spell the word (male OR Female!), you may want to attend. Rusty is a very good teacher and really knows his stuff!!
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), I have wanted to learn how to utilize the topo and navigation functions in combination with topo maps and compass. In other words, do some serious orienteering with it. I'm wondering if anyone else might be interested enough to plan a field workshop. 
