Click here to enlarge imageThe following morning, after a very fulfilling breakfast, we rode across the plateau to Cameron, stopping at a remote Navajo trading post to enjoy the culture of sheepherding artisans of northern Arizona. We crossed the largest Indian reservation in the United States on our return to Flagstaff, then motored down the back road to Lake Mary, Strawberry, and Payson on the Mogollon Rim, where we stopped for lunch.
After a hearty lunch in Payson, we rode down the Beeline Highway to Scottsdale for our third evening, where our CE clinician offered a most dramatic PowerPoint presentation on his work with a new patient coming in for care. He showed us his "Morley Box" package of data-gathering, treatment consultation, and the "before and after" slides of his cosmetic rehabilitations.
We deposited our bikes at Hacienda Harley, then concluded the evening with a dinner celebration. It assured us that we would all join again in seeing the wonders of this magnificent world and at the same time participate in the passion of continuing education.
My observation, made from the privilege of having participated in this superb system of CE and investing quality time with colleagues, is that this is the type of learning that seldom happens in the classroom. It happens interpersonally, enjoyably, moment by moment, during the entire trip. The clinician's presentation of the evening is the topic of discussion the following day.
Each attending dentist, because of his or her point of view and the window through which he or she sees the reality of the profession as shared with colleagues, becomes a form of continuing education as well.
Shoulders back, nostrils in the wind — there's nothing like the rumble of a Harley. Those of us who were on this trip are eternally grateful for the passion and inspiration of Roy and Frances Hammond, the initiators and perpetuators of this superlative idea.
Visit www.Ride&Learn.com and join us in 2004, as I have been lured to another Harley Holiday with the Southern Utah National Park tour next fall. I look forward to the Four C's of the Ride & Learn seminar: cycle, clinician, celebration, and camaraderie.
Isn't it strange how princes and kings,
and clowns that caper in sawdust rings,
and common people, like you and me,
are builders for eternity?Each is given a list of rules;
a shapeless mass; a bag of tools.
And each must fashion, ere life is flown,
A stumbling block, or a Stepping-Stone.
— R. L. Sharpe