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REST STOP AMERICA 0R PIT STOP

Rest stop America doesn’t get much better than Idaho. With a speed limit of 80 mph, and regular traffic at 90, getting off the road is a relief in more ways than one. Or two.

POWER TRIP PACKING GOLD

A power trip needs a goal. It also needs a good packer. This could be two weeks or two years. But why go at all?

PORTLAND CROSSROADS: SW 3rd AND ALDER

The Portland crossroads are the same at every intersection. North, East, South, and West. It’s the same where you live if you don’t live in Portland. Pick a side and proceed with caution. Why SW 3rd and Alder? Why not. What’s your favorite? Burnside and Broadway? Too easy. Burnside and the Willamette? Here’s the deal: […]

HOLDING GRUDGES TAKES A SPECIAL KIND OF STRENGTH

Holding grudges is a time honored tradition between races, religions, nations, and families. “We don’t like them.” “Why don’t we like them?” “Why would we?” This exchange gets played out between young and old, men and women, brothers and sisters. Eventually holding grudges turns into something completely different than how it started because no one […]

UNDERSTANDING PHOENIX FROM PORTLAND OREGON

Understanding Phoenix is easier if you have some kind of reference. Call it an urban reference. Phoenix is Big City big, but it’s more than that. Phoenix is the focal point of Arizona the way Portland is in Oregon. Not everyone enjoys that status, mostly those who don’t live in Portland or Phoenix. You’re either […]

Five Miles From Tigard Equals Yellowstone?

  Looked for wildlife far and wide from Idaho to Wyoming to Montana and Washington.   Then I looked near Tigard in the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge five miles from home in Oregon.   There was more wildlife in one place than there was in four states.   Go Tigard, Go.

Hitchhiking Idaho With Stewart Abbe

    Forty five years is a long time. Just ask forty five year old men or women who are just getting used to what ‘middle aged’ means.   Right around forty five people either start feeling old, or fighting old. Both are a path to futility and failure, but that’s what feelings and fighting […]

THE REAL GEORGE MARSHALL, AKA GRANDPA

  George Marshall, George Warren Marshall, Grandpa Marshall, a ground breaker for the ages. He was a logger, a tree feller, of a different stripe.   Once I asked him, “What’s the difference between you and the rest of the loggers drunk and fighting in bars after work?” “That’s not the sort of life to […]

Boomer Hits The Road

10 States With The Lowest Overhead According To money.msn.com. Baby Boomers love a good deal. We’ve perfected phrases like, “What do you need to get for that?” It’s embarrassing to others when we go into bargain mode at the Safeway check-out, not so much at a flea market. If everything has a price, then so do […]