My Upcoming Summer Vacation

Call me nuts - and you may be right - but I'm looking forward to my approximately 3-week solo vacation on my motorcycle.  I'll explain how this trip came to be, but let me just say right away that I plan to ride from my home in Michigan to Miami, FL and back.  That'll be a LOT of riding.

A few years ago I was pondering where I might go for an extended motorcycle adventure.  The destination wasn't really important, as any motorcyclist will tell you that the ride itself is what it's all about.  I decided that the easiest way to not get lost would be to follow a single road till it ends; that led to the idea of tracking the full length of a road from one end to the other.  There are highways that cross the country and then there are roads that can be traveled in a couple of hours.  I could probably find a road to fit any schedule.  As I looked at the US highway system, I discovered there are several major roadways that begin in Michigan and go west or south.  An obvious trip would be to go west, as our children all live on the west coast.  However, we will likely fly there sometime during the year.  Then I thought of our time share membership which allows us to stay at any of our resorts around the country.  By using a time share resort I could reduce my financial cost of lodging.  Thus the combination of finding a resort with availability and a city where the highway ends led me to Miami.

US 27 - Fort Wayne to Miami

My trip south will be via US27, which actually begins in Fort Wayne, IN, so I'll begin my trip by riding to Fort Wayne.  Driving 300 miles a day I expect to reach Miami in six days.  I do have a hotel reservation in Miami so I need to stick to this schedule.  That could be a problem if I encounter any serious weather conditions or, God forbid, any other difficulties.  Assuming I reach Miami as planned, I will have three nights and two days to relax on the beach (and off the motorcycle) before starting the return trip.  I'll try to recount my daily journal here in this Blog for anyone who may be interested, like the IRS or the NSA.

I don't know yet just what these roads will be like, but the idea is to avoid the interstates.  I hope to have a lot of 2-lanes and to see quite a bit of small-town America.  What I fear is that these highways have been improved to divided highways that now bypass many towns.  We'll see.

US 41 - Miami to Copper Harbor

After two days of rest, I'll begin the much longer trip home.  Without any reservations or deadlines, this part could be much more leisurely done.  As I said, it's a much longer trip.  US41 runs from Miami all the way to the northernmost tip of Upper Michigan, way further than just driving back home.  In fact, if I make it to the end of this road at Copper Harbor, MI, it will still take me 2 or 3 days to get back home from there.  

Now regarding the length of this insane trip, I know I may very well not be able to complete it.  US41 runs through Chicago and up the left side of Lake Michigan.  If I'm not inclined to finish that road, I can turn right before Chicago and just come home.  Even on the ride south, I may get tired and turn around at any time.  I do realize a ride like this will be very strenuous and tiring due to seat fatigue, heat, possible rain and wind, traffic, mountain riding and always listening for 'banjo music.'  On the other hand, people have been making trips like this for a hundred years, from when roads were much more rustic and facilities fewer and more far between.  I think their cell phones and GPS trackers were more primitive as well.  Plus their machines were not as awesome as mine.

I drive a 1998 'retro' Honda Shadow ACE Tourer 1100 cc V-twin motorcycle that is running great.  I get about 40 mpg and can go 120 miles between fill-ups.  It currently has 41000 miles on the odometer.  I've had this bike for 11 years and I still receive compliments wherever I go.  

Departing on July 4th, I'll spend my birthday
somewhere in Mid-America with this beauty.

As always, thanks for reading my thoughts.  If you're interested in my trip, you can follow it here.  God bless you, and God bless the good old USA.

Voter Registration

There are so many social and political issues I want to discuss here that I decided to just address them as they pop up in the news.  So this week the Supreme Court struck down an Arizona law requiring voters to show proper identification when registering to vote.  I don't understand the problem with such a law; this has been made into a purely political issue.

Let's look at the arguments and counter-arguments.  Identity programs are conceived to prevent voter fraud in order to protect the sanctity of the vote.  Opponents claim that documented cases of actual voter fraud are rare.  Actual cases may be rare, but the potential for much greater fraud will always exist if the system is not protected.  Furthermore opponents claim that voter ID laws discriminate against certain classes of people who may not have picture IDs or be able to register in person.  The counter-argument here is that this also is most likely a rare occurrence. I suspect that anyone who wants to be able to vote anywhere in America in the 21st century can get to the local municipal clerk one time to get registered and to obtain a proper photo ID.  

It certainly seems that we need a way to prove who is a citizen of the USA.  One of the most precious rights of a citizen is the right to vote.  Without voter ID laws, voters would be on the honor system to vote properly.  Even if the occurrence of fraud is low, some election results are too close to tolerate any fraud, especially local elections that are often decided by a margin of only a few hundred votes or less.

Conclusion:  All voters should be required to show proof of citizenship to become registered. At the poll every voter should show a valid picture ID to ensure the person voting is in fact the one previously registered. I will go one step further in saying this should be a federal law, uniformly applied throughout the states.  These are my thoughts - thanks for reading. 

We Do Have issues

It's been a while since my last post and I promised to get back to some of our raging national concerns. For most of my life I've never thought much about social issues; I was just busy living my own life and trying to get along. However, since I retired in 2008, and since we finally got cable TV, I really began following the issues during the 2008 campaign season. With no incumbent running, both parties were flush with aspiring candidates; I found the campaign season fascinating and tried to follow what each candidate was actually saying. I started watching the news shows in the late evenings and that's when I discovered Fox News and MSNBC with their inevitable opposing views on everything. For a while it can be rather entertaining to listen to the views expressed by these networks. However, eventually one realizes that they are simply unofficial, or semi-official, mouthpieces for their respective parties and that they will never waver from their entrenched positions. Hence, you will not hear the "issues" actually discussed or debated there. Nevertheless, watching these evening political entertainment shows can be a starting point in understanding what the main issues are as well as the most extreme positions on each.

Don't confuse the idea of holding a position on any major issue with political party affiliation. There are, after all, 'Conservative Democrats' and 'Liberal Republicans' (at least there used to be.) There are also Christians in both parties. The major parties though often take opposite sides on issues simply to offer voters a choice. If you choose to affiliate with a political party, you do not need to agree with all their positions; and if your personal positions align somewhat with a party platform, it doesn't make you a democrat or a republican. It's your choice! That all being said, and before I even mention an issue, let me set the background from which I try to form my positions on the parade of issues we face. I am a Follower of Jesus (otherwise known as a Christian), male, college educated, married, 61 yrs old, retired yet working a 2nd career, father, lifelong Michigan resident and a born U.S. citizen and voter.

Well, I already shared a post here on gun control. I am for much more gun control than we will ever achieve for a host of reasons shared in the prior post.  I applaud the president for taking a stand in this matter and I believe that all the scary noise from gun rights advocates will eventually yield to the will of the people to get guns off our streets and out of our cities and schools.

Now on to the next issue -- Let's start by discussing so-called "Big Government," as this will lead into more specific issues that depend upon or are run by Big Gov.

I've shared before how our nation has matured from a collection of frontier colonies to the greatest nation on earth. Over the past two centuries the entire world has changed and much of this progress has been led by the USA.  It is simply inevitable that a strong nation requires a strong central government.  Many of the advantages and privileges we enjoy and often take for granted as Americans can only be provided efficiently by the federal government, such as good roads and highways, national defense and security, controlled immigration, support for advanced research and education, care for our least advantaged citizens, and more. 

Big government in itself is nothing to be feared; in fact it becomes a necessary component of a nation's progress. A strong government that usurps its power is another matter, and we must always keep a vigilant watch against it.  We already have strong mechanisms in place to prevent a takeover of power: regular elections, freedom of press and speech and religion, balanced representation in congress.  

So don't let those who rail against "Big Government" cause you to fear. Question the alternatives they offer; ask exactly what it is they don't like, and then test their claims for validity. As I said, there are certain services only a federal government can efficiently provide.  We need to ask ourselves whether, and how much, we want those services.

Thanks for reading my thoughts.