It has been some time since I last wrote. And it isn’t for lack of adventure. I have been waiting and compiling the mundane and the exciting. First things first, let’s talk about my time in Montana. In my last post, I was sure that Goose and I would be headed out of Montana within the next two weeks. And that is not how things played out. We ended up being in Montana for a little over a month and a half. Much longer than the anticipated week commencing our California convention. Nonetheless, Goose and I made the most of the adventure, weekending in Bozeman enough times to find the coolest coffee shop and make some new friends. Weekdays were spent with greasy hands, diesel scented hair, and *vegetarian* ramen noodle dinners at Sakura, the best ramen shop I’ve ever had the pleasure of dining at. We put in some work to get the machine ready for the Demo Tour. Well, I did. Goose spent her weekdays napping so she could wake me up at 4am begging for food like she’d never been fed in her life. Too bad she doesn’t eat ramen, because I know a place.
Montana and budding friendships
Spending more time in Montana gave me the pleasure of becoming closer with the team at MRL. Among others, it was Noah and Justin that I became the most acquainted with. Noah, a striper from high mark who had been roped into operating one of the coolest machines to hit the open road in the US. And Justin, the brains tasked with leading us to solutions when things didn’t go quite like we thought they should. The three of us got close, scratching our heads in unison at figurative bumps in the road, discovering the similarities between the scent of freshly baked cookies and hot WD-40, printing well over ten tons of thermoplastic, and spending hours upon hours scraping it up so as to have a clean slate for the next day. I learned so much during my time in Billings. And am happy to have been so thorough in our testing and simultaneous friendship building.
Weekending in Bozeman
Like previously stated, I had the pleasure of weekending in Bozeman, MT, which happens to be a spot that I have visited in the past and really enjoyed. It was nice to be within short driving distance of a place that I had long been eager to explore in more depth. Goose and I went hiking at Drinking Horse Mountain, I spent hours reading my book in various coffee shops, Roly Poly coffee co. being my favorite, I saw my first reggae concert, bottle-fed baby goats, and had some nights out on the town enjoying live music and adding more friends to the ever-growing list. I really enjoyed my time in Montana and made some amazing memories on the weekends, while filling my brain with new knowledge around the traffic printer on the weekdays. I am glad I got to be in Montana long enough to dip my toes into van life before truly hitting the road. I got to experiment with different apps that help me find places to sleep while getting acquainted with my new home and every other day showers at the local Planet Fitness. After a month and a half, I was settled into this new lifestyle and itching to get on the road for real.
Dilly-dallying my way to our first demo
On March 22nd, I started to slowly dilly-dally my way down to Texas for our first demo. With the van, it is easy to do the aforementioned dilly-dallying. I enjoyed pit-stops in Colorado and New Mexico where I made new friends and visited old ones. Between snowboarding, karaoke, intimate concerts, something out of a movie birthday parties, and reconnecting with people I hadn’t seen in too long, I thoroughly enjoyed my ten-day trip to the Lone Star State.
Our first demos went really well, creating giddy excitement amongst the team. Noah and I celebrated each successful symbol via our Sonetics headsets, loudly exclaiming how good it looked each time. I could have cried at the perfection of some of them. Our hard work was paying off before our eyes. My hard work and dedication to this project and job for two years was finally coming to fruition. And the reaction amongst customers was almost universal. Curious, for nearly two years, I asked at least one person per demo what their thoughts were. In uniform southern accents every single one rang the same three words, “I LIKE IT!!” I found it funny and reassuring every time. The TrafficPrinter clearly has a future in the United States, and it is just a matter of time before I will be driving down the road just to see our printer in action. Creating safer roads, boosting efficiency, and surely putting a smile on my face.
Look out, MRL & Trysil RMM coming in hot with groundbreaking technology!! We will be wrapping up testing in the South-East within the next few weeks and then heading back to Montana for this year’s MRL Expo. If you are interested in having us pay you a visit, please reach out to me at marilyn@trysilrmm.com or sign up for the Demo Tour.
Until next time,
Marilyn Saulsbury
Head of Sales and Business Development, Trysil RMM Inc.
