NAVIGATING EDEN-SMITH MUSIC SOMETIMES FEELS LIKE GOING OUT THE WRONG GATE AT YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

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There are 5 gates within Yellowstone National Park in the United States. Those 5 gates are in 3 different states (2 in Idaho, 2 in Wyoming, 1 in Montana). If you drive out the wrong gate and do not realize it until later, you can add hours to your destination. I did exactly that. By the time I realized my mistake, there was no point in turning around. I added 3 hours to our travel time. I did not think that I would ever live that down. I was sure that my companions were going to tease me for the rest of my life. To my surprise, the exact opposite occurred.

The Northeast exit of Yellowstone National Park connects with the Beartooth Highway (a section of US Route 212) in Montana. This highway does not go around the Beartooth Mountains. It goes up and over the top of the range. It is also only open from Mid-May to Mid-October, weather permitting. We were traveling the highway in late August.

The views of the montane meadows were like nothing that I had ever seen before. The colours of the vegetation at that altitude, time of day, season of the year and weather conditions made me feel as if someone had placed a photographic colour-enhancement filter over my eyes. And yet, everything I saw was real, even the bears!

We stopped at the peak, Beartooth Pass. Beartooth Pass is 10,947 ft. (3,337 m) above sea level. That is where we drank our last 2 soda pops. There was something uniquely special as we sat sharing our ice cold sarsaparilla and huckleberry pops, among 4 people. We were sharing the time. We were sharing the view. We were sharing the journey.

It was at that moment that my 3 companions told me that I did not make a mistake in the exit that I chose. I made an adventure.  I was also welcome to do it again. That response was not what I had expected.

While navigating my business, I sometimes take Eden-Smith Music out the wrong exit at Yellowstone National Park. I add hours to what has to be done because of my error. Those hours always seem to bear fruit. Perhaps, it is because I realize that there is no going back. I am forced to see and experience something that I never would have, had I stayed the course. I also have to be more open, during those times, to multiple perspectives. That way, I can enjoy a sarsaparilla or huckleberry soda at the peak. Teachable moments pop up continually on those journeys, I become the teacher and the learner simultaneously. It is rarely an easy process, but it is always worthwhile. In the end, I  become like my Beartooth Highway companions. I am grateful for the adventure.

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