WOODWARD - Eight years ago, Susan Foss was an executive
secretary in Boston. In her early 20s, Foss was on her
way up the corporate ladder. But she found that she
spent a lot of time looking out the window at the sky.
"I decided to take a chance on life and I got on
my bike," she said. "It was so thrilling. I
saw so many unbelievable places and there was more stuff
to see that I didn't know was out there. Once I got a
taste of it, I couldn't stop."
The bike, a Honda 750 motorcycle, has taken her 68,000
miles since 1980. She tours the United States, and her
only companion is a 5 1/2 year old dog, Comanche,
who rides in a milk crate strapped to the back of the
motorcycle.
Foss returned to Woodward in October to work on her
dream, "Road Magic," a book that will tell the
story of her adventures based on daily journals she's
kept since the beginning.
This spring, she and Comanche will head for Florida.
"That will complete the lower 48," she said,
tracing the route on a map of the United States
crisscrossed with lines marking completed travels.
Then she'll head for her ultimate adventure.
"I've saved for five years to go to Alaska,
and I'm going to do it."
"I get up in the morning and I don't know what road
I'll take, or who I'll meet, or where I'll spend the
night."
Foss said, "Every day is fresh. The United States
is like my backyard."
"It's so thrilling to be doing something that's
a challenge," she said. "I was determined
to find jobs, to learn skills. Sometimes we've had to
count the change to eat, but when that happens you
pull yourself together and find out what you're made
of.
"I get my energy from the landscape and the new
people I meet along the way."
She's worked as a waitress in Deadwood, S.D.,
driven a truck, and operated a Clark 275 front loader
in the Montana beet harvest.
Foss arrived in Woodward last summer to visit a friend
she met in Deadwood. Originally, she planned to spend
only a few days in Oklahoma. "I extended my visit
to over a month because I like it here."