I am constantly reminded of the vast beauty that we have in this country, and many of us take it for granted.

Good piece, Dave!!!

I thank Frank Church and Cecil Andrus, Harriman, and a host of others for helping to protect our vast gifts.

Our Gem of the Mountains is exceptional in its beauty, and its offer of solitude, quiet, and its breathtaking vastness.

I recently spent two weeks in the Boulders north of Ketchum. I went many days without seeing bipeds. Five horsemen and women rode three hours to reach where I had backpacked to, over the razorback ridges. Slept at 10,600 ft on the razorback one night, visited by mountain goats.

Listened to herd bulls grunting into the night.

What wonderful gifts we have been given!!

Great photo!!

So:

Thoughts on gas prices? Traveling family member says even including CA (with required additional taxes) most expensive gas per gallon was right here in ID. What did you note?

How many Waffle House restaurants did you pass/eat at?

In Florida, are many of the high rise and vacation condo/hotels closed up for “off season?” My memory is that many FL summer towns are fully ghost-towns now.

Agreed on New Orleans – but I also found it seedy.

Sounds like a great adventure no matter.

EDITOR NOTE–I did forget to mention gas prices. Idaho was by far the highest. Even in Ely, Nevada in the precise middle of Nowhere the gas was about $2.89. In Florida it was as low as $2.69. While it is off season, there are more old folks coming south earlier these days.

Isn’t it amazing that two of the states that allow the 80 mph speed limit has something to do with oil production and the last state has the highest prices AND its Governor is very well invested in Koch Industries.

I am curious to know if any of the other states have the nightmarish overpasses like we do at ten mile, vista, Chubbuck off-ramp, and soon Meridian and Broadway.

Which state had the best roads and which had the least construction. Did anything stand out as a place to avoid? Anything stand out as a place to revisit?

EDITOR NOTE–Your overpasses can actually be sweet dreams once you learn them. They are the “new deal” along with round a bouts in highway design. No really bad roads, Gulf Coast and N. Orleans still recovering from Katrina devastation.

As far as gas prices, it has mostly to do with logistics, economics, and virtually no new refineries in many decades.

No Keystone Pipeline! Lib and Obama ideology.

No refineries? EPA out of control and more Lib failed policies.

Heavy impediments to oil drillers, cracking, and efficient pipeline transport?? Higher prices at the pump, especially in out of the way places such as Idaho.

Lib attempts to dismiss economic principles never work!!!!!

Steve, you are an archetypal short-view Republican – grateful for the natural “gifts” we have, but eager to destroy/harm them by willfully ignoring the environmental impacts of expanding the harvest of natural resources.

I think most base voters, like yourself, fail to see that there really is little difference between both sides. The biggest similarity being the cycle of credit and blame. For example, your claim gas prices are high because “EPA out of control and more Lib failed policies.” You don’t seem to have a problem with the way state republicans are handling things in spite of the fact that Idaho is defying national trends on fuel prices.

I suspect that you would love the ACA if it were a Republican law (as most Republicans did when it actually was a Republican idea).

It’s sad to see someone so closed minded, but as I’ve seen with my parents and others, older people care less about the message and more about who’s delivering it.

Mr. Guardian… I went back and reviewed your observations, and I didn’t note anything that was “political”! Yet alas, some of your readers seem to see everything through their political glasses.

I agree with BoiseB: “… there really is little difference between both sides. The biggest similarity being the cycle of credit and blame.” Or as Michael Savage once said, “Vote for the Demican or Republocrat – it really doesn’t matter.” (And I believe that’s why voter turnout has become low – does it make a difference? It’s hard not to get cynical.)

Since the topic of politics has arisen, I must ask… were you on the road on Election Day? And if so, did you notice America getting measurably better or worse, after the “GOP Mandate”?

EDITOR NOTE–Bikeboy, for the record, I voted early. I was indeed on the road election day and the biggest difference in the country was summed up by a Florida TV station which ran a “moody” commercial of the seashore and gentle waves with sound. The message said, “RELAX! NO MORE POLITICAL ADS.”

Steve,

I hadn’t heard of Saul Alinsky until your post, so I guess I came up with it myself. However, I never would have labeled you as such without the perspective of your rants.

Regarding my background (as if it has a logical bearing on my opinion), I was born and raised in Boise in 1979. I got my undergrad at U of I and my engineering degree at the University of Colorado. Hope that qualifies me.

Interesting aside, in reading Alinsky’s wiki, I found the following, which I find appropriate: When asked during an interview whether he ever considered becoming a Communist party member, he replied:

Not at any time. I’ve never joined any organization—not even the ones I’ve organized myself. I prize my own independence too much. And philosophically, I could never accept any rigid dogma or ideology, whether it’s Christianity or Marxism. One of the most important things in life is what Judge Learned Hand described as ‘that ever-gnawing inner doubt as to whether you’re right.’ If you don’t have that, if you think you’ve got an inside track to absolute truth, you become doctrinaire, humorless and intellectually constipated. The greatest crimes in history have been perpetrated by such religious and political and racial fanatics …

Further, Alinsky’s quote is pointedly self-serving!!