Trip Two: Lakeside Beach State Park

For our next adventure, we went back out a long the Lake Ontario State Parkway to what we thought would be a more appropriate camp, given the recent rainstorm; something a bit more open, something that would give us a chance to dry out a little bit. This we found at Lakeside beach state park which is at the western end of the state parkway.

Note in the linked map, that the place we had wanted to stay the night before… Golden Hill… is just a stone’s throw past Lakeside Beach.

We have been hearing for years that we should visit this park. One thing and another, we’ve never had the opportunity before now.

Well, we’re sorry now we hadn’t. The park itself is beautiful, and the camping facilities are first rate. Below is a map of the park. Notice that are camping rings A through G. Of these, F and G our wear pets are allowed. Since we brought the dog with us on this trip we opted to stay in the G loop. On the map it’s the one closest to the lake of the last three loops.

Given the need for something a little drier, this proved to be a good choice. You can see by the picture here, that the site we shows was pretty much treeless. It’s precisely what we wanted given how wet things were. It made for a nice lake breeze in the trailer.

We took our time setting everything up, including the awning this time. It was so wet and windy the night before, we hadn’t bothered. Of course, never having done it before, we nearly pinched a couple fingers. We were fortunate to have a fellow camper stop by in time to see us struggle with the awning. With their help we had it set up in no time. TV and radio antennas up, power cables down the chairs spread around we were ready for the evening. The only surprise in fact of the whole ordeal was bumping into the hornets nest which was positioned directly next to the power outlet at our site. Imagine the look on my face as I got down to hook onto shore power. Oops. Umm… which way is “Bye Bye”? (Never mind, I found it.)

Now that we were set up and running well, it was time I started looking around at some of the other sites and some of the other campers. In general, all the sites are clean, level, and, given a rainstorm just the night before, amazingly dry. Restrooms are acceptable, and there’s even a shower… one, I noted with interest, you didn’t need to pay extra for. Not exactly the most private shower I’ve ever seen but off peak you’ll be OK.

Rings F and G are pretty nigh on treeless, (Odd, given that’s the only place dogs are allowed… dogs… and no trees?)… whereas rings A through E. are older and have more trees. They are also closer to the lake on shoreline as the map above will show you. ( map courtesy of Google). Sad, I would have preferred being closer to the shoreline. I suppose it’s the price you pay for having a dog. We’ll walk down to the shore later, we decided.

Past that minor setback, however, it was an enjoyable nights stay. Campfire wood was cheap and plentiful. $4.00 for a sizable box; enough to keep us going for the entire evening. I got the campfire going, (I wish I could have gotten a picture of it; I ran out of batteries. (Note to self; buy more next trip) and left it in the charge of my older boy, and went back to the galley for some dinner.

Something simple, I reasoned, would do well on this chilly night, since we’d eaten a rather healthful lunch at home… I chopped up a package of hot dogs and fried them up, then tossed some canned pork and beans in with them. A little cheese, a little bread, some milk, and we’ve got our first dinner. There’s this, too; Going simple will also help me get used to the galley. I’m a fair enough cook, but only when I know where everything is, and when we’re fully stocked. It’s going to be a while before either of those situations was true.

I should mention, that we got into the habit, years ago, of using the black plastic dishes that come as a part of those Stoufer’s entres, as camping dishes. The advantages are many;
* They’re light, (in an 1100lb pop-up trailer, this is crucial)
* They don’t break (again, crucual)
* They stack very well… minimal storage space
* They microwave well… and since we have a microwave in the camper now, this is a real plus
* They’re easily replaced if for some reason they do need replacement

For the first time in my camping experience, I didn’t have to run a pot of water, and stick it on the campfire to heat for dishwashing; I used the water heater and the sink. The water heater did it’s thing well, and the chore was done in record time.

Now to make up the beds. Another habit we got into years ago with the pop-up; When we first got it, we tried making sheets for the beds. This proved a real setup hassle, to say nothing of a problem when things got wet. Ever after, we simply tossed out sleeping bags on the camper beds. Two (zipped together) for Donna and myself, and one each for the boys. Donna and I don’t care much either way, and the boys think it adds to the camping experience. Given the pop-out nature of these beds, we saw no reason to change the routine.

The one thing we still haven’t gotten over… the sheer size of these beds in the Kiwi… they’re actually a bit longer than our bed at home. Quite a relief after years of, at 6’2″, worrying about sticking a foot out the bed end in the pop-up.

The moon gave a bright light, that night as myself and my beautiful wife went moonlight walking. The cool night air, the sound of the waves on the lake, and so on.. well, it was something. We walked down to the lakeshore, she and I, and watched lights of the boats out on the lake passing by in a silent parade, listened to the waves and the kingfishers.

We came back and sent the boys, who had been watching the campfire, to bed. Donna and I sat up for over an hour, watching the fire until the last of the logs had burned out. We dumped a couple gallons of water on the embers and went to bed ourselves, getting there around Midnight, with the sound of the lake waves drifing in the windows… and pretty much slept through until about 8:30 the next morning. Something we NEVER did in the popper. Perhaps it was the size of the beds. I do know for the first time in years my back wasn’t stiff when I got up.

Bacon and Eggs with coffee for my wife and myself, Cheerios for the kids. A clear crisp morning, with more than a hint of dew…(Note to myself… buy a brush or a squeegee to deal with morning Dew… it’s the only way you’re going to get out of camp if you have to leave early for some reason)

We checked out at 5 minutes of 11am, which was checkout time.

We’ll be back. It’s just a short hop from home, but it’s an economical adventure and a pleasant time.

If you’re traveling the Niagara Region, and are looking for a place to stay that’s a bit away from the hustle and bustle of the falls and the surrounding campsites, this is a great choice.

On my 1-10 scale, it’s an 8.

Next planned trip is Columbus day weekend. And no, we don’t know where we’re going, yet.

It was really rather a whim that we bought this trailer when we did. We were just looking around to see what was available for the next season. But as I said earlier, we’ve been looking at this particular design for several years. When it became available for the right price at the dealer we’d really wanted to deal with any way, I knew it was time to sign.

Once we got the trailer in our grubby little paws, we had to wait. A full week. The waiting as Tom Petty says, is the hardest part. We planned to make the initial shakedown trip To a local park some 40 miles west of Rochester.

Trouble, right off the bat. The day we were to leave we got a rainstorm in the Rochester area the likes of which I have perhaps seen ten of in my 50 years. To say that it rained would be something like saying the Beatles turned out a few hit records. By the time Donna and I that home from work it had, more or less, stopped raining. We decided we’d waited five years, and we weren’t waiting any longer. Forget it, we’re going.

We headed west out the Lake Ontario State Parkway, to Lakeside Beach, and picked up SR18 there, and went the 20 or so miles further to Golden Hill State Park. It’s a beautiful little park and would’ve made of beautiful first night in our new camper. Trouble was, by the time we get out there, the wind and rain had picked up again. With the 35 mile an hour winds, combined with the rain, We decided discretion was the better part of valor.

We went back east along the parkway until we came back to Hamlin Beach State Park. This is a place that we camped many times before. It has a good deal more tree component to it than does Golden Hill, and is set a little further back from the shore of Lake Ontario. It was at this point that I was confronted with the campers worst nightmare; setting up a rig you’re unfamiliar with, in the dark, and the rain.

Well, perhaps it’s unfair to say we were unfamiliar with the trailer. After all, we had an entire week with it in the driveway setting up and tearing it down. This proved to be enough to get us by.

By the time we get fully set up, the weather lessened somewhat. It stopped raining and the wind lessened. The water, however, continued to fall off the trees an end to the trailer all night, giving one the impression it was still raining. Add to that the sound of the rolling lake, and you still had a real experience.

Next morning, here’s what the camp looked like.

Drill the frames for the bigger version of each pic. You may note how close we ended up to the power pole in the middle of the camp site.

It was here I cooked our first breakfast in the new trailer. Bacon eggs, coffee, toast, etc. Just basic camp fare… but wonderful, none the less.

Now we had originally planned to stay two nights, despite the fact that Donna had a hair appintment in town. But with all the rain, the wet site wasn’t very attractive, and we decided we’d take the trailer back home, and re-supply, while Donna went to the Hair Palace, and then go right back out, to Lakeside Beach, which is a little more open and therefore likely to at least be drier.

That’s the next entry.

Before we get into logging trips, I suppose we should examine the rig… the truck and the trailer.

Well, Here’s the truck….
Here’s it’s own website, too…. It’s a 1998 GMC Safari AWD, with the Explorer Vans SE conversion package. At the time of the picture, it had 100,207 miles on it. All the toys. I figured, if I was going to trade in my little red sports car for what amounted to a school bus, I was going to have some FUN with it.

To the conversion, I’ve added quite a bit to it over the last several months in preperation for what I really bought it for; towing a substantial trailer.

Recent additions are;
New heavier brakes,
Updated axles,
New AWD xfer case,
New rear monoleaf composite springs,
(Got lucky, there;… got ’em off a wrecked ’03… darned hard to find, otherwise)
New Toyo tires,
K&N filters in modified air intake
Dynaflow HP muffler and Cat,
Splitfire sparkplugs
Class 4 Reese Rec’r,
Tekonsha Envoy brake controller,
Airdam on the Hood
Upgraded ECM chip
Replaced all axle and xfer case lubes with Royal Purple synthetics

Given I don’t know anyone with a two axle Dyno, I’ve no idea what the new ‘at the axle’ HP levels are, but it does seem to be working better. Also, the gas milage has gone up in rather dramatic fashion; without the trailer, I’m getting 21mpg, up from around 18 when we bought it.. must be breathing easier, at least.

With the trailer, we don’t really have enough miles to give an accurate reading… but in the couple hundred miles we’ve turned we’re getting 13 or 14 in the spot readings. I’m sure that’ll come down a bit as we gain some miles on the chart.

The truck in stock trim is rated to tow 5200lbs. Some of the modifications, such as the wheels themelves, have brought the curb weight down a bit, giving me around 400lbs of advantage, total. That helps with gas and with towcap, too.

Next, we have the trailer… a 2000 Jayco Kiwi 23C. We have actually been looking at this design since the day it came out, over five years ago. It sleeps 7. Has a fridge, A/C, Fridge, heater, water heater, shower, toilet, and a pretty fair amount of storage. Empty, it’s 3200lbs. Fully loaded weight is 4550lbs. It’s heavy enough, but certainly not too heavy for our Safari, particularly given the uprating we’ve been doing.

Per GM specs, we’re using both Reese anti-sway and Reese friction weight dist on the Class4. Rides well, handles without issue. I’ll post some detail pics of this setup in future postings.

So, now you know what we’re using for Equipment.

I’ll be keeping a log of all our travels with this rig, with an eye toward giving other campers ideas of places to see and go (and NOT see and go) as well as ideas I’ve come across for living with and in my trailer.

I hope I’m able to provide some good reading and good ideas for you.

Editor’s note: This was posted over on Bits’Bits. But I thought it appropriate that it be posted here as well, since this blog is designed for campers, who might otherwise never see this one.

There are a lot of milestones in our lives. I suppose that the feelings we get with each are similar in nature. This particular milestone we got, as a used trailer.

It was already 7 years old when we picked it up at a traveling show one of the local RV places had set up. Ironically the place we bought it from went out of business a year later. Sad, really, I would like to have gone back.

Cost: $1,600.00. Not a huge investment by most people’s accounts, I guess. It was however large enough a drain on the finances, for us to have to count every dime twice for three months afterwards. With the exception of the Lumina van I was driving at the time, and the house, it was one of the few major investments my wife and I had made in our married life, up to that point.

Small in price, also meant small in size . It was just a little popup camper within a eight foot box. Inside was a stove, a heater, perhaps fifteen gallons worth of fresh water, Three beds inside, once it was set up, an affair which usually consumed ten to fifteen minutes each time. It was large enough, however, to hold myself my wife two growing young boys, and the dog.

And many, many memories.

We traveled all over the northeast… from Fundy to Philly, from Jersey to Western Ohio, and back again, with this little guy trailing along quietly behind us. In bad weather and good even in the snow on one occasion. By my admittedly rough estimates about 30,000 miles in all over the years. For all those years every trip we took had this little guy as a part of it.

After a while it gets to a point where such things become fixtures in your life. They’re there for so long, so permanently, or so you figure… that you tend to take for granted that they’re there and always will be.

But, of course… it wasn’t true. Families grow, people change, times change, and saying goodbye to this fixture in our lives was inevitable even though we didn’t think about it much. My wife and I are around 6ft each, and the boys… well, they’re growing. It got to the point and beyond it, really, where the little guy was TOO little. I don’t regret my decision to trade it in, the new trailer is far and away better for our purposes by any measure I can think of. Still, there is a part of each of us that is sad to see the long depended upon fixtures in our lives go away. This is no different.

Perhaps I’m more sentimental about such things than some. When our family decided it was time to replace our old reliable 95 Chevy Astro,(pictured here at 145,000 miles, with the trailer in tow, at a rest area outside Corning, NY)

There was still pretty much the same feeling at the transition to the new one. Just as with the trailers, our new Safari (Bit’sBox) is far and away a better unit, a better fit for us. But, I would be a liar if I did not admit a fondness for the old one.

Same goes for the little blue and white guy.

In each case those fixtures represented family, togetherness, good times, and so much more. We’ve had truly outstanding meals inside this trailer, many restful night’s with the smell of pine and ocean, wafting through the breezes that came through the windows. Nights spent listening to the light rain cascading off the canvas. Mornings filled with the smell of cooking over the campfire simply because you could. Some of the best coffee I ever had was made on the little stove in this trailer. Or, so it tasted at the time. Perhaps it was just the surroundings. There were mornings spent wondering how the water got into the bedding…, some of the greatest sunsets I’ve ever seen, and the biggest heron I’ve ever seen, and many more such incidents.

And the kids have made their own memories, too, during that time. Which, come to think of it, is exactly why we bought the thing in the first place. It’s kind of a moving memorial to all those important events in our lives… and to our children’s childhood.

So, with the last pictures I’ll ever take of our old freind, (the guy is here to pick him up to go to the dealer) I will remember… and I wanted to share it with you.

Oh, well. We pick up a new one on Tuesday…. And at that point I’ll have something to concentrate on, which will likely take my mind off these thoughts at least temporarily.

After all, there are many new memories to make.

In reading some of the obviously manufactured and ginned up commentary supporting the unwilling American Cindy Sheehan, a pattern is becoming clear…The over the top defense of the woman by every leftist that can draw breath is getting a response they didn’t expect:

Backlash.

Everywhere you turn, both Sheenan and her defenders are being seriously challenged by Joe Everyman. This weekend as an example, there’s a large number of supporters of President Bush, and the war in Iraq, headed to Crawford Texas to counter the ‘peace movement’ camped along the roads there.

This backlash, of course, is exactly the opposite of the intended effect.  However, as time goes on it becomes increasingly clear that rather than raising support for their ostensibly antiwar causes they are instead causing something they didn’t expect; a tidal wave of support for the President and our actions in the middle east.

You can feel the confusion pouring off these people like sweat in the hot Texas sun..  The hundreds of the pro war protesters that showed up down and Crawford has until now gone under reported in the mainstream press.  But clearly they are attracting the attention of Bloggers, Talk shows, and in the ultimate sense the man on the street. And now, this weekend their numbers are set to increase.

This fact alone it seems is understandably causing great concern with Sheenan and her followers. Questions from Mr. Bush’s supporters, such as… “What about gold star mothers who support the war? Shouldn’t they have always has been heard? ” …while seemingly mild and unchallenging questions do in fact, to the heart of the matter for Saint Cindy and company. A lot of other people have lost sons and daughters in this war too. But Ms. Sheehan’s reaction was singularly bad…. at least it was once MOVEON got a hold of her.

Yes, it’s true, there are claims that Sheehan’s “cause” has been taken over by radical elements of the left.  Yet, I don’t see her going to any great lengths to distance herself from their spouting. Indeed, the people who have supposedly taken over her cause at Crawford, and elsewhere, are singing exactly the same song as she herself did, for years, before her son became a statistic.

Perhaps, just perhaps, her desire for this separation is because she’s begun to see the intellectual dishonesty inherent in her position, by virtue of the nature of support she’s picked up.  Not that she’d ever admit it, mind you, but I suspect that the desire for separation of Ms. Sheehan from her supporters is a mere public relations ploy.

Saint Cindy now finds herself in a position where her family and friends are backing off of her like one with a suicide bomber, even her husband divorced her, because of her actions, her mother suffered a stroke just recently… one can easily aver that the cause was the stress brought on by her idiot daughter… she now finds herself in the position of her only supporters are people which she doesn’t like very much.  She’s noted that they’re hurting her (recently) stated cause on the national stage.

The odd part is, and I say recently, because it’s been until very recently she has been very vocal about her positions being directly in line with those radical leftists who she now seeks to separate herself from. She’s been singing their tune for over a decade, now.  One can only surmise that the reason for the recent desire for separation is because Saint Cindy is now finding out just how unpopular those positions have always been.

Do not misunderstand my comments.  The woman has lost a son.  That can never be easy.  However: she games no moral authority from this incident.  Indeed her handling of that lessens her moral stature.  Her mishandling is clearly driven by her misbegotten politics.  In the end, Casey Sheehan but he was doing the right thing, and thought his sacrifice worth it. I will not debate his wisdom here. Put another way I will not call him a dummy, as his mother seems willing to do. That constitutes a flat disrespect not only for her son’s sacrifice, but also what he sacrificed for… namely, this country.  My sympathy for her and her plight ends precisely at the transition. My sympathy disappears further still when it is so blatantly obvious that she is taking cues from animals who were loudly calling her son a murderer just for being in Iraq in uniform before his death. One can only assume given her a long history of fighting for radical leftist causes, that her son’s death is being used to provide her a larger stage from which to preach. This is not a grieving mother being unhinged by sadness and loss. This is a grasping, greedy, opportunistic woman disgracing her son and his sacrifice and in so doing disgracing herself.

Sheenan has since her meeting with the move on people and the DNC reps has been trumpeting loud and long about the sacrifice that she has made. The fact is, the woman has made no sacrifice whatsoever. Consider the meeting of the word “sacrifice”.

sac·ri·fice n.1.1. The act of offering something to a deity in propitiation or homage, especially the ritual slaughter of an animal or a person.2. A victim offered in this way.2.1. Forfeiture of something highly valued for the sake of one considered to have a greater value or claim.

A sacrifice, then, by its very definition, is an offering given willingly, and freely. Clearly, by her post MOVEON changed reaction, what Sheehan did, became nothing of the sort. Was this a willing gift, thanking her would be needful. The current situation, however, is that there is only one person to thank; Her son.And, thinking on it, her son particularly is deserving of thanks… Think; It’s not often that a son, growing up under such a mother will be mature enough to make such a choice. A rare one, this, and worthy of an added level of respect, I think.

I do not question Ms Sheehan’s right to speak as she will. By the same token I and all other Americans have the right to call her a blithering idiot, a trader to her country and to her son’s memory.

I for one, will continue to exercise that right to the fullest.

Update:
Feeds from Crawford from CNS Free Republic Protest Warrior and I’m sure more before this post hits the wire.

One of the problems with long form commentary, is that often as not the subjects that come up are subjects you’ve come across, and written about, before. Today is one such happening. You see, yesterday, I took the boys to the company picnic, which was, as it was last year, at a local Amusment park… a well respected one… and the respect is well deserved.

This year, my wife didn’t get to some along, due to her recent surgury, but she put sunscreen on her boys and sent them along with a hug, to drag their father from ride to ride again, as in past years. (An aside to those asking about Donna; Shes doing very well. Your support has been most helpful to us both. A heartfelt thanks for all the well-wishes in the mails of late, to all of you. Your kindness will not be forgotten- Bit)

It was a fine day, with both family and freindships reinforced, and one I enjoyed totally.

In thinking on what to write, however, I was forced to re-read what I’d written a year ago… and in the end, decided I couldn’t say it better than I did last year, because what I wrote then still rings true.  And, anyway, I find it strangely in keeping with the spirit of constsancy I found about the place last year, that I should repost what I said then, some 50 weekly columns ago;

—————–>

Living along the southern shore of Lake Ontario, one is presented with a number of unique places to experience. One of them is, to my understanding the only Amusement park of any serious size along the south shore... SeaBreeze Amusement Park, which is just outside Rochester.

What they fail to reckon with, however, is it's our Amusment parks as well, and the emotions we experience inside them, and for that matter, all the places, everywhere we get a sense of our cultures and our families, continuing. Those are an enemy which in my view, they will never understand, much less defeat.

From the road, outside Erie, PA—

There’s a lonesome stretch of road, called SR 955, which is outside of the bedroom community known as Harborcreek, PA. Not much ever happens along this strech, other than people going from one place to another. Along the one side of the street is railroad tracks belonging to three different owners… Norfolk Southern, CSX, and General Electric, who makes locomotives at Erie and which owns a test track there. Along the other side of the street is not much to speak of… It’s an area that could be used for growing food were someone to take the time. But, nobody has, recently.

We happened along this road, in search of a good spot to shoot pictures of the passing parade of trains, and were not disappointed. We did manage to get several photos… but also we got something we hadn’t bargained for. Something to think about on the trip home. You see, we were somewhat taken aback when I noted what looked for all the world a grave stone, along the side of the GE test track.

Well obviously curious, I came up for a closer view. What I saw wasn’t related to railroading at all.
So what was Trooper McMillen doing here?

Just as I started entertaining these thoughts, an older gent driving a battered blue Pickup, with what appeared to be volunteer fireman’s lights all over it, along with communications antennas rolled up, wanting to know if everything was all right. Seeing my camera, he said… “Oh, you’re taking train pictures?” Explaining that yes, that’s all I was after, I asked if we’d done anything wrong. He responded by explaining that no, we were fine, “It’s just that I take care of this place and I was checking to see the lawn wasn’t in need of cutting.” He explained in hushed tones what I already knew… it was a memorial to a State Trooper killed on this spot years ago. Looking closely at the gent, I estimated him to have been retired from the State Police himself. Likely, I thought, someone who knew the Trooper, and was possibly one himself, all those years ago. I thanked him for stopping, and he left, wishing us luck in grabbing pictures. The obvious reverence he held, though, only intensified my curiosity.

What would have caused this obviously respected trooper to lose his life on this deserted stretch of highway? One imagines he lost his life while responding to an accident, or while on scene; Officers get hit by passing cars at accident scenes often enough. Those were my thoughts as we traveled back to Rochester, some 150 miles away. What was the trooper like? Was he a vet of many years with the SP’s? A wife, kids and so on. What was it that caused the trooper to lose his life, a year before I was even born?

The truth, though, proves to be somewhat different than movie-fed imagination makes it. When I went looking, I found a link to the PA Sp website, and dug up among other things, this photo of the trouper, and the following text:

Joseph F. McMillen Joseph F. McMillen was born January 29, 1930, at Conneautville, Crawford County, Pennsylvania.

He served in the United States Navy from January 29, 1947, to January 28, 1952. On May 16, 1952, Private McMillen enlisted in the Pennsylvania State Police from West Springfield and was assigned to Troop E-1. He was 22 years old and 5’10” tall.

At 9:45 p.m. on May 12, 1956, Private McMillen and Private Paul F. Dell were patroling on Route 955 in Harborcreek Township, five miles east of Erie. A vehicle traveling in the opposite direction, on the wrong side of the highway, struck their vehicle. Private McMillen was taken to Saint Vincent Hospital in Erie where he died of his injuries a few hours later, at 12:47 a.m. on May 13. Private Paul F. Dell was also injured, but recovered.

Private McMillen is buried in Glenwood Cemetery, Conneaut, Ohio. He was survived by his wife, Mrs. Audrey M. McMillen, of Cheswick, Pennsylvania. At 26, Private McMillen had completed four years of Pennsylvania State Police service.

OK, so maybe it wasn’t as dramatic as all that. Or, at least Trooper McMillen’s passing wasn’t what uninformed imagination made it. Certainly, a sad passing; The trooper had it all ahead of him, did have a wife, and a life I’m willing to bet he held precious as you do yours…but anyone can get killed by a drunk driver, which I assume this case to be. Dirty way to go, though. A raw deal.

(Shrug)
But clearly, the people of the state thought Trooper McMillen’s passing should not be allowed to go unmarked. And people still keep this a hallowed spot.

And I think they’re right. I rather wish I could run into the gent who stopped, so I could tell him that. So he’d understand, that I knew it was far more than simply a nice vantage point for train photos. Barring that happening, however, all I can do is show some respect.

So, here’s to you, Trooper McMillen.
Your service to us is thus noted with the greatest of respect in this blogger’s space.

Today’s going to be a general catch-up day, I think. No one heavy topic, really. The reason behind the lack of focus, is the heat. It’s hot outside.

I’ve written about huge cold in this space in the past.  This time, it’s heat. No, not just heat. HEAT. Bigtime. Pus, humidity in the upper 80’s at least for the last week. That one fact.. the weather… relegates all other activities, purposes and goals to secondary import. Lawn needs mowing? Forget that… too hot outside… give youself sunstroke and anyway, the grass will wither under all this heat. Bits’Box needs washing, and waxing? Well, maybe washing. After all, you get to play with the water a bit while doing it. Waxing? Forget it. House needs repair? No way THAT’s gonna happen, Herman… too freakin’ hot. Picnic? Nah… it’s too…. Well, you get the idea.

So, with this forced redirection of energy, one comes into areas of one’s life that are normally not explored… One tends to curl up with a book, and in my case, an iced coffee, and my MP3 player, for example. I’ve been digging into David McCullough’s fine tome’ on John Adams, for example. (Link in the lower right column-Ed) For all it is, McCullough’s book is long and detailed in a way that most books are not, and requires rather more attention than I’m usually inclined to give such things, on more normally heated days.

To those who have asked, yes, if a book manages to make it into my right column, I’m not only reading it but enjoying it; I will not place a book there unless I I think it worth the bandwidth to place there. If it’s there, consider it a personal reccomendation of a book you need to see. I assume if you’re a regular reader to this blog, that you and I share similar interests… and thereby if I find a book of interest, that telling my readers about it is doing them a favor. I don’t get any money for such mentions. (Though I’m not above the idea; I simply haven’t had any offers, yet)

Another thing I’ve been doing is moving my big desktop back down to the Server room. The boys are getting to the age where they’re getting a bit louder in their day to day. They’re also getting more active on the computer.  Between the two of hem, they tend to make writing and daily system and website upkeep a challange. Recent events have provided me with a good deal of computer hardware, to the point where there’s a computer for the boys, one for Donna and one for me.  Alas, that takes some setup. So I’ve been doing that today. It’s a more involved process than it sounds because the server room has become a catchall in the years it was unused. It’ll take a while to whip it back into shape.

On to other random topics that have come up this week, starting with a couple of perception vs reality bits.

At some point, the Democrats are going to have to admit that their smear campaign against Karl Rove has no basis in fact. They thought they had enough to cripple a hpolitical figure that’s casued the Democrats great damage. That was the perception. The reality is becoming increasingly clear… that they had nothing, except a lot of anger to go on. The facts in the case were not on the side of the Democrats. Joe Wilson even admitted on Thurday’s Wolf Blitzer program that at the time the information came out about his wife, she wasn’t an undercover operative. Now, it seems likely this is an effort to take some of the heat off the people the investigation landed on… Judith Miller, for one. But if that’s true, what validity does the anti-Rove Lynch-mob claim now?

I’ve said this before, I’ll likely say it again; The Democrats worst nightmare is actually having the source of the leak exposed…. no matter who it was. Matt Hoy has some comments to all of this, you should read.

* Oil prices are falling again. The perception was they’d go noplace but up, beacuse as well all suppsoedly know, the world is short on oil. That’s the perception. But of course the reality is different; We now have a stockpile of oil 10% larger than we had when these most recent price hikes started happening. That’s got to sink into to the speculation crowd eventually, and thereby into the prices at the pump.

* I find myself a little annoyed that Dodd Harris has decided to pull the plug on his blog for reasons he doesn’t get into. He’ll be missed. PS to Dodd; If you’re looking for a place to chime in once in a while, Dodd, I could be pursuaded.

* Boom, it’s for you.
Has it occurred to anyone that the spectre of a cellphone left on a plane with a little plastic explosive, being called and exploded, becomes far more possible once the FAA starts allowing cellphone use on planes? Rather than allowing cellphones, a cellphone blocker being installed on every plane is the way to go, seems to me.  I guess the obvious gets by people.

Enough. I’ve got computers to move.

I gotta wonder;
Is the reason that Democratic DC city Councilwoman Cropp backed off on her large objections to a new Stadium for the newly minted Washington Nationals baseball team, was she caught wind of George Soros’ plans to buy the team?

I smelled something foul at the time, and said so. Never did quite get a handle on why the sudden shift of Cropp’s posiiton.

But with word of Soros getting involved, her shift suddenly makes a great deal more sense.

Soros, after all, has more money to spend than do the people who were objecting to the stadium… Robert Siegel (the owner of the majority of the red light district on which the new stadium will stand) and ‘friends of the earth” and the local ‘Green Party”, have.

Fred Barnes points out that blaming America first isn’t new for the Democrats… it’s a tradition, for them.

In response to the cat bloggers, I offer a link to: Kitten War! – May The Cutest Kitten Win!

Ace :

Why are liberals incensed by Rove's remarks? Because it forces them to confront an issue they'd been hoping to avoid-- the split between America-hating leftists and America-tolerating liberals.

There’s a lotta truth wrapped up in this one line.
And note, also, what group is not mentioned, because they do not exist: America LOVING leftists. I know of none, and have yet to see one. Oh, I’ve seen several who loudly proclaim they are such but their loyalties always give them away in the end.

Even the moderate liberals are tied, inexorably to the nutcases. Ace addresses this question, on that topic, too:

Let me put it in terms liberals can understand:

Would you ever in a million years allow conservatives to wink-wink nudge-nudge kinda-sorta ally themselves with racists without noting that fact, and without ripping into them for being sympathetic to racists?

Of course you wouldn't. And you don't. You're real bears on ripping conservatives whenever they use "racist code-words" to signal covert support for racism and to curry political favor from racists (whether those racist code-words are real or largely in your imagination).

So please explain to me why we conservatives should just ignore the fact that you are in a political marriage with those who actively root for American casualties and American defeat.

In response to that question, I expect a silence that would make stones envious.

Go ahead liberals… prove me wrong.

Outside The Beltway is reporting (And linking) John T. Walton, the Wal-Mart heir, has died in the crash of his ultra light plane.

What is it about those who have been given life so abundantly, that they tend to treat it’s possible ending in such a manner, so casually?

Your host has taken honors yet again ay Outside The Beltway

George Will has an interesting bit up this morning about yesterday’s USSC 10 Commandments ruling.

Bottom line:

Here is a one-sentence opinion that should suffice in such cases: ``Because the display on public grounds does not do what the Establishment Clause was written to prevent -- does not impose a state-sponsored creed or significantly advantage or disadvantage one sect or sects -- the display is constitutional.''

RTWT