The United States of America died this week

First the Supreme Court of the US (SCOTUS) shot down Arizona's immigration laws by eviscerating them.  Then the President, by executive order, said that what SCOTUS left of the law is not to be enforced, or the police of Arizona will be held criminally liable. Furthermore, FBI and Homeland Security are not to take calls from Arizona law officers who are trying to do their duty.

That means that, essentially, the US government told Arizona, "You are not a sovereign state. You have no right to defend yourselves against the onslaught of thousands of people pouring across your border, intent on stealing your jobs, your land and your livelihood." Done.  There are no longer any sovereign states to be united. There is just a malevolent dictator and his henchmen, who will now rule with an iron fist from Washington, D. C.

Now, today, SCOTUS has upheld the abomination called, ironically, the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as "Obamacare." The outcome of that decision will be less healthcare at a higher price. In addition, the taxes contained in this massive Federal Government power grab will surely sink the ship of state.  Between the outrageous debt run up by this administration ($5 trillion and counting) and the onerous burden of Obamacare tax increases, there is no way the U.S. economy can recover. We are in for an economic depression that will make the one in the 1930s look like a bad day at the Blackjack table.

Add to those effects the fact that Obamacare doesn't recognize the right of a physician or pharmacist, whose conscience tells him that the taking of a human life through abortion is a crime against humanity, nor does it recognize the right of millions of Citizens, whose consciences and religious beliefs tell them that abortion and birth control are not the business of man but of God to opt out of the culture of death.  The result is that the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights has been eliminated. The other nine will fall like dominoes.

As the result of the decisions SCOTUS has handed down in the past week, the noble experiment in freedom and personal and economic liberty that was these United States of America is dead.  There can be no economic liberty, when the government can tell us we must spend our money on specific goods or services. There can be no personal liberty, when the government can tell us what we must believe. There can be no freedom, where there is no economic and personal liberty.

Who is responsible for the death of The United States of America?  Is it the nine people who comprise SCOTUS? Is it the President? Is it the Congress? No, it is you and I.  Because we have elected fools to powerful offices; because we have seen the Federal Government not as a body with limited power, designed to take on those few tasks that the sovereign states could not (national defense, disputes among the states) but rather as a sugar daddy, who should provide us with all the things we don't want to pay for; because we have allowed control of our schools to be removed from the local school district to ever more remote places (state and federal government bureaucrats); because we have failed to demand that our children be taught truth, instead of the fairy tales that the government has fed them in preparation for the very demise of the nation that we have been treated to this week; because we have placed self-esteem ahead of self-sufficiency, political correctness ahead of reason, the "wisdom" of man ahead of the wisdom of God, the responsibility for this death belongs to you and me.

I suppose that this post is a little like closing the barn door after the horse is gone, but I believe that reasonable people can reverse these mortal wounds to our nation.  The iron curtain fell, because people of courage stood up to the dictators in the Soviet Bloc.  Let us not wait 70 years to stand up and say, "No, we will not cede our freedom to tyrants." It is not too late to revive our beloved country, if we will pledge our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor, as the Founding Fathers did in the first American Revolution. For the sake of America; for the sake of your children; for the sake of your grandchildren, stand up and be counted in the new American Revolutionary Army.

Ta-li-hoe

Click the photo for a slide show.

Another terrible day in paradise today as we traveled from Lone Pine, CA to Incline Village, NV at the north end of Lake Tahoe.  The weather was beautiful, and the driving was pleasant.  Jill, in her usual inimitable manner, acted as ship's photographer as we traveled along our way. 

We noticed over the last two days that as we passed from the Mojave desert to the northern Sierra Nevada mountains, the landscape and plant life changed dramatically.  You will notice in the slide show that we started out with some pretty barren looking mountains, but the further north we drove, the more we encountered trees, and especially lodgepole pine.

We also encountered three lakes of note along our route. First we came to Mono lake, which is a large and by the looks rather shallow lake in California.  Then just as we were approaching the Nevada state line, we came upon the deep blue of Topaz lake.  This lake appears to be much deeper, and there was a lot more recreational activity along its shores and out on the lake itself (think water skiers).

Finally, we came to our destination, which was the incomparable Lake Tahoe.  I say incomparable, but for us Oregonians, it is impossible not to compare this beautiful lake with our own Crater Lake.  They are different in size and nature, but the color of the water and the surrounding mountainous terrain at both venues is remarkable similar.

We arrived early enough to do some exploring along the lake shore, before we settled in at the Parkside Motel. This facility is an older motel that obviously caters to skiers during the winter.  It is cozy and comfortable, but it is not spectacular. Nevertheless, off of our private deck, we have a view into the pine forest that surrounds the area.  It is quite lovely.

We went to Azzara's for dinner. It is a modest Italian restaurant with a quaint ambiance.  We ordered a pizza that included caramelized onions, sweet sausage and fresh tomatoes.  It was wonderful... and I believe we can reproduce it!  For dessert we shared a cannoli filled with a creamy riccota and chocolate chips. Molto bene!

Tomorrow, we are off to K Falls, but more about that later.

Lepus californicus

Today, we left San Diego, bidding a tearful good bye to our daughter, Laura, her husband, Tim, and their boys, Josiah (6) and Judah (2).  Surprisingly, they didn't throw us out sooner. We had been with them for 13 days!  We always enjoy each others' company, and it never feels uncomfortable or as if we are in the way, while we are with them.

We drove up I-15 to the junction with US 395 and then continued on through the Mojave desert, finally arriving in Lone Pine, CA.  This little town is the first one of any real size we encountered since Victorville.  It is done up as an old western town and has the main drag along US 395.  We toured some of the residential area. There are some lovely homes.

We are staying in the Comfort Inn at the south end of town, although I turned in here:

My better half, nixed that one, so here we are at the Comfort Inn, enjoying a tall cool drink on the private balcony that looks out on this:

 Below us on the lawn, I can count about 18 black-tailed jackrabbits (Lepus californicus...Ahh, so that's where you got that cryptic title for your blog!) who are just nibbling at the grass and having a splendid supper.

Lepus californicus

Anyway, those wascally wabbits are not having any more fun than we are, even if the temperature is 94 degrees at 6:38 PM.  Below you will find a photo, and if you click on it, you will be treated to a slide show. So, enjoy, and stay tuned for more fun along the way with the old pilgarlic. 

By the way, the odd looking trees are Joshua trees, and that Red Mountain, I presume, is the source of the name for the town of (you guessed it) Red Mountain, CA.  The map shows a portion of the road we drove today.  These pictures were mainly taken along that stretch.

It could be worse; it could be raining!

We stopped in Walnut Creek on Thursday and had a lovely visit with Bob and Sandi and Tess. The evening was warm enough that we dined al fresco on flank steak, grilled corn on the cob and a salad. There was bread, too, and a lovely cabernet sauvignon called Earthquake.  I don't know that it was earth shaking, but it was very good and made an exquisite accompaniment to the dinner.

We got on the road, next day, about 8 AM.  Traffic was a good deal lighter than I had expected in the bay area, and we whizzed along in our new car, making better time than anticipated.  At Grapevine, we stopped for lunch and to check fuel economy. That leg (Walnut Creek to Grapevine) netted us 32 mpg! Not bad for a car that is still in the break in stage.

And then there was Los Angeles.  We arrived in the greater L.A. area at 1:50 PM, where we came to a stop. Traffic was worse than I have ever seen in the big city, and it didn't improve.  Oh, yes. Occasionally, we were able to get up to the speed limit, but never for very long.

The drive through Camp Pendleton was trouble free, but then we hit Oceanside and the Friday afternoon-going-to-opening-day-of-the-county-fair traffic.  Stop and go, stop and go all the way to the fairgrounds' turn off at Via de la Valle.  At last, traffic thinned out and we toutled along at 65...until, that is, about a mile north of the I805 junction. From there it was stop and go all the way into San Diego.

At last we arrived at the Sagawa residence, a mere four hours after we came to a stop on the freeway in L.A. And to think we had covered 100 miles in such a short time! I told the kids, we are planning our next road trip to visit them, to commence the day after they move north of Grapevine, CA!

[Note to self: DO NOT drive in SoCal on a Friday afternoon, if you want to get any where!]

It is good to be with the family again. The boys are big enough that they get excited to see us, without having to go through a "warming up" period.  We look forward to a pleasant visit.

On the road...no dogs...no kids!!

We are on a getaway, nestled in at Callahan's Lodge in Ashland, OR.  It is so strange not to have to worry about a dog. She is home with Auntie Tara, while we make a road trip to San Diego to visit Tim and Laura and the boys.

We had a leisurely lunch in Roseburg at Brudke's, a funky little restaurant with tired decor and tired waitresses (who, nonetheless, were pleasant and as attentive as they could be, given that they were short-handed today).  The patty melt that we split was quite good, and the onion rings and bleu cheese salad dressing were above average.

The weather has been glorious; sunny and mild.  The highest temperature reported by our new Mazda 6 Sport Sedan was 70 degrees Fahrenheit.  It made for a pleasant drive from Dallas.  And we have been more than pleased with our new car.

So, here we are at Callahan's. The setting is lovely; the room is large and well appointed, with wood burning fireplace, jacuzzi tub and a nice king bed.  Our room is on the ground floor, looking out on a grassy yard with a waterfall fountain and a wonderful variety of trees.  I can see pines, cedars, oaks and a couple of varieties that I don't recognize.

After settling into our temporary diggings, we took a walk around the property. The grounds are mainly natural, except for the big backyard. If there is a downside to this place, it would be that the highway is nearby and on about a 5% grade; many a truck has gone by using its exhaust brakes. With luck, that won't disturb our sleep.

Click the photo for a slideshow

We are happy splurging on this rather spendy lodging and look forward to dinner in the beautiful dining room.  In the meantime...perhaps a soak in the jacuzzi...who knows??