Yesterday I was blessed with a long road trip from Boise north and west through several small Idaho towns and several in Oregon. Fall is mostly over with, but lots of color remain.

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The scenery was very beautiful.

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Baker City, Oregon was one of my favorite places. This is a simply beautiful town, one with
character and beauty and no lack of excellent coffee shops!

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An old fashion barber shop. Reminds me of Mayberry!

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Along the highways between towns, you have to keep your eyes open for wandering cows, as you are driving through an Open Range area.

In Halfway, Oregon, antique shops make ends meet by also selling liquor.

Somewhere in the wilderness perhaps near North Powder Oregon, we caught this train going by with a windmill farm in the background.

Another photo of the windmill farm generating clean power for Boise.

Tons of more photos, but it will take me time to process them and upload them. I’m still in Idaho, and experiencing the real America. Not an Obama sign in view as far as you can see.

Peace out people.

SCG

I’m traveling via several airlines and numerous airports today to Boise, Idaho. It is almost easier and cheaper to fly to England. Due to numerous situations, I find myself traveling alone, without my very best friend in the entire world – my wife. I am visiting family in Boise, and I very much look forward to that. Plus, I love Boise. It is a fabulous city and the entire treasure valley is wonderful. Yet – I miss my wife.

You see, my first wife was my wife. But she wasn’t my best friend. We had little in common. Not faith, not philosophy, not values and certainly no shared interests.

My wife today though, is my very best friend. We share numerous hobbies, including old used books, books of any kind, history, coffee shops and coffee (We have a French press), classical music, big band music, old black and white movies, photography, nature, drives on dirt roads, birding to name just a few. When we were dating we could never break up for long, as every time we did we couldn’t avoid running into each other because our interests were so aligned.

We also share a very strong faith in Jesus Christ, and our general philosophies of life are in sync.  Such topics as politics and money management are no problem for us. We are both introverts and home bodies, so we can survive for months without seeing anyone else.

Granted, there are things we don’t have in common. I enjoy science fiction and jazz, and she isn’t too keen on either. She enjoys women things like hanging fake towels in the bathroom while I enjoy men things like taking apart my computer and leaving the parts all over the house while I plan on one day rebuilding it.

But we have a bond as lovers and husband and wife and more than that, as best friends.

And I am missing her right now as I sit in the airport having adventures without her.

Let this be a note of encouragement to my fellow bloggers out there, and you know who you are…..who are or have just been through a divorce. Yes, my divorce was as painful as anything I ever remember in my life. But I didn’t settle for just someone to love me the second time around. I married my best friend, and I am happier on any given day with her than my entire marriage with whtshername.  You have to learn and you have to grow as a person after a divorce, and then get it right the second time.

I did.

Peace out people.

SCG

What happened to Thanksgiving? I was alerted by my best pal at A Nest Amid Thorns that Thanksgiving is missing from the car accident that the holidays has turned out to be. She is right! I saw Halloween stuff out in July! Christmas stuff came out in the stores shortly after that. And what has happened to Halloween anyway? When did that become such a huge holiday? As a kid growing up in Miami, this was a kids holiday. Little kids. Adults didn’t get dressed up in costumes and have massive work parties and other stuff. Now it is more an adult holiday than a kid holiday. Even at my Stupid Factory different departments are having Halloween Costume competitions. With judges. Really.

But essentially, we are all in Christmas mode. Except in reality it is Holiday Mode, because Christmas is a bad word these days, right? But what happened to Thanksgiving? Where are the Thanksgiving decorations? There is nothing. Nada. Unless you count those two turkeys running for President.

Thanksgiving is a special holiday. The story of the Pilgrims as they risked their lives to travel to the New World and build a nation is one of the best in all of history. They set the tone for our entire nation.
My own ancestors followed not too long after that in the early 1600s. (We came for the stuffing and cranberries!)

But in our world today, Thanksgiving has dwindled to just a day off work. I think I know why. God is involved. Thanksgiving is a holiday about Christians praying to God to give thanks. Hell, how politically incorrect can you get? It is a wonder they haven’t outlawed the holiday!And of course, our society today doesn’t like to give credit to anyone. Society is filled with a bunch of arrogant entitled people these days, and the thought of pausing for a second and thanking the creator of the planet we walk upon is just absurd to most people.

But not me. I’m in Thanksgiving mode from this moment on and won’t enter Christmas/Holiday mode until after the cranberries are gone, and I’ve scarfed down the last turkey sandwich.
Happy Thanksgiving people!!!
SCG

Links: Suldog-Thanksgiving comes first