Before rumors commence to fly and everyone comes to agreement that the old man and mother have totally went off the deep end, let me assure you that we are fine and are in full control of our faculties. We just got the bug to go on the "road" again. If all goes as planned within the next seventy two hours, we will be going on a little road trip in very early October. Our destination point will be the Little Village By the Slough (Homer), however to get there we will take the long way around after spending a couple of days in LA to visit little ones and to take on supplies.
From LA, we will cut south to Idaho to visit Glacier National Park, into Montana to visit historic sites such as the Little Big Horn. Montana to North Dakota and South Dakota to visit the Black Hills and Mt. Rushmore. Cutting southeast across Nebraska to visit "old" family homestead sites and possibly meet some "cousins prior to going into Kansas and Missouri, where we have to spend the night at Branson just to see Dolly Parton! From Branson, into Lakeview, Arkansas to visit my brother, Lanny with a side trip to visit my grandparents grave sites and old homesite.

From Arkansas, we will then turn Southwest passing through Oklahoma and Texas into New Mexico. Turning north, we will spend a few days in Western Colorado visiting family before heading into the Utah country and the Canyon Lands National Monument. Continuing south, we will visit the Grand Canyon before dropping further south into the Redrocks of Arizona on our way into Phoenix to once again visit family and friends. While in this area we will also visit Baghdad to visit family on our way to Laughlin, Nevada where we will have the opportunity to spend a couple of days trying to re-coup our costs at the casinos. If we do not prevail in Laughlin, we will still have a day or so in Las Vegas and if all else fails, we can hit Reno, Nevada on our way out of the state. Crossing northern California, we will once again see the Pacific Ocean at Ft Bragg and follow Highway 101 up the coastline to Portland. Will possibly visit Whidbey Island prior to crossing the Canadian border and up the Frazer River Canyon to meet up with the Alcan Highway at Dawson Creek to commence our final leg into Homer.

Lot's of details to handle prior to departing, I think I should change the oil in the old F-150 that way I will not have to check it the entire trip. The Little Lady and I do not have to get any shots, but poor Dutch has to go to the vet to get shots and even a health certificate to get into Canada. Why don't humans need health certificates? We are also going to get a GPS Chip inserted into him, not that we are concerned about loosing him, but if we should happen to get lost, you can always call the "hotline" and get a fix on "Dutch", we should not be far away. Although not a primary mission for this trip, he and I will be doing a little "bitch" looking - however, he maybe making a trip to Florida for that. "No time frame, just point it south and head down the road with no destination for the day".

The U.S.S. Ronald Reagan has joined the fleet, in this picture her crew is "manning the rail" to pay honors to the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. It is a great size comparison to give you a idea of just how large this modern vessel is. Her displacement is 100,000 tons with full compliment with speeds exceeding 30 knots. She will operate with two nuclear reactors with no need to refuel for 20 years. She stands 20 stories above the waterline with a flight deck that consists of 4.5 acres. Her bronze propellers are each 21 feet across and weighs 66,200 pounds. Fully loaded, she carries a complement of 6,000 personnel. Her distillation plants produce 400,000 gallons of fresh water per day from sea water. Her air wing compliment is in excess of 200 aircraft of various types.





The Clinton set sail from her homeport of Vancouver, British Columbia enroute to Seattle, Washington. She is the first of it's kind and is standing legacy to President Clinton for his foresight in military budget cuts and conduct while President. The ship is constructed entirely from recycled aluminum and is completely solar powered with top speeds exceeding five knots. It boasts an arsenal comprised one one (1) unarmed F14 Tomcat or one (1) unarmed F18 Hornet although they cannot be launched or recovered from the 100 foot flight deck.

No firearms are allowed onboard, the 20 man crew is completely diversified including members of all races, creeds, sex, and sexual orientation. This crew, like the crew onboard the U.S.S Jimmy Carter is specially trained to avoid conflicts and appease any and all enemies of the United States at all costs.

The ships mission is not defined as a unit of national defence, but in times of conflict the Clinton has orders to seek refuge in Canada. The ship was renamed and commissioned the U.S.S. William Jefferson Clinton when someone realized the original name was already used by a Navy Submarine, the U.S.S. Blowfish.

Today, as I watched the Denver Broncos win their seasonal opener in the National Football League, my thoughts wandered to my telephone as to why it was not ringing. I checked it a couple of times "to make sure it had not lost it's fluxxy" (On Golden Pond) but all seemed to be in working order. Following the game, I carried the phone outside with me as I went about my yard work, knowing that the phone would ring very soon, but it did not. At dinner, I sat the phone next to my plate of food, knowing that I would surely be interrupted by the phone call I had been anxiously awaiting all day. Nothing happened. Following dinner, I watch the Cowboys beat up the Giants in my second football game, feeling drowsy, I placed the phone next to my recliner so I surely would not miss the important call, once again I was disappointed. The day is now ending and my phone has still not uttered a single note.


In my lifetime, I have been very fortunate by having four wonderful children, twelve grandchildren and two great grandchildren, however my phone still did not ring. You may be wondering why he is placing so much emphasis on a telephone call. The answer is simple. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter issued a Presidential Proclamation, most likely the only thing he accomplished in office, declaring that the Sunday following Labor Day (September 9, 2007) would be the official Grand Parents Day in the United States.

If you are now feeling very guilty, you can make amends by calling your grandparents and sing them a little song that you will find at this link. Just click the bar titled "A Song for Grandma and Grandpaon" under this picture at the web site and you will be as instantly happy as I when you listen to the words. I surely wish I had my grandparents, I would call them - but at least my thoughts are with them.