I think this one will be easy as although quite a few years old it was a well known one.
Coming of age with male teen MC travelling from NW via a ranch to California with mother and siblings. Lots of fun things happen at ranch in first part of story then lots of fairly improbable things after.
One particular scene I remember is MC dancing with someone in Mexico / South America.
TIA
Hmm,
First I've no clue what you mean with NW.
With exception of 'with mother and siblings' all other fits with the first books of Banadin's "Richard Jackson Saga".
His family (mother, father, two younger brothers and is kid sister) follow him to California later.
There was dancing in a cantina in Mexico and a dancing in the UK embassy in Buenos Aires.
HM.
He travels from Ohio to Colorado before California, Texas & New York. Later books have Argentina, Liberia, Spain, London, Paris, etc.
Also dancing could refer to learning to dance the tango on a tramp freighter with an all male crew.
For lurkers looking for a good if very implausible coming of age story, the MC starts off as a 14 year old, broke working class kid hoping to see a a bit of the world before school starts. Adventures include hitchhiking, bull riding, scout camps, civil war reenactment,armed robbery, cattle rustling, a bar fight, oil rig roughnecking, movie making with stars of the 50s, singing with stars of the '50s, finding gold, historic artifacts & smugglers loot. To keep him normal and grounded there is lots of achool, golf and house painting. Later books get way out there but still manage to seem as if they could really happen that way up until around book 14.
Banadin is an excellent spinner of tall tales.
Definitely the Richard Jackson Saga. First three "books" can be found here at:
https://storiesonline.net/s/25289/the-richard-jackson-saga
The remaining books (through 16 now) can be found on Amazon if you search The Richard Jackson Saga, or you can go to enelsonauthor.com
Thanks everyone for your suggestions but definitely not Banadin's Richard Jackson Saga. I have actually bought the entire series and the story I am thinking of is not that. (And the improbable things that happen are obviously not as improbable as those in RJS)
1. At the ranch, the MC is seduced by the ranch owner and I think she is MCs mothers best friend. I also think that he ends up sleeping with his mother via some convoluted plot twist.
2. When he gets to California there *might* be something about a furniture or department store *but* I think I may be mixing it up with something else.
3. I am certain that there was a plot element where he helps a business couple with a merger and acquisition by keeping a fax machine going in Mexico.
4. Story was set in 80s 90s or 00s.
Sounds a lot like Pete: A Young Man's Story. https://storiesonline.net/s/39090/pete-a-young-mans-story
By Magi https://storiesonline.net/a/Magi
Interesting story, quite similar to many do overs, just without the do over! Pity the story was unfinished. The MC certainly didn't get the Safe Sex message though!
I started reading that story - on ASSM or AssTr - back when he first started posting it but after a year or so it became tedious to read.
As always, ymmv.
My biggest problem with the story was every women he went with would just shit all over him and he never learned.
Oh and I don't think hockey is that planed.
