As is my practice, I went back several chapters before the lectionary reading to refresh my memory on the storyline and to put the reading in its proper context.  I will admit that it had been many, many years since I had read extensively from 1 Kings and I had, quite frankly, forgotten how much that historical drama reminded me of the screenplay from the movie, “The Godfather”.  As David lays on his deathbed, he calls his younger son Solomon – borne of Bathsheba who is the star in an R rated story out of the soap operas all by herself – and David basically tells Solomon to whack a bunch of his enemies for him when he is gone.  Literally.  David names off a bunch of folks who had dishonored his throne during the later years of his rule, and he directs Solomon to have them, in Mafia parlance, “sleep with the fishes”,  so to speak.  The actual euphemistic phrase that David uses is, “Now you must act wisely and not permit his grey head to go down to the grave peacefully”.   

And, immediately after David’s death, Solomon obeys.  In rapid succession, Solomon sends his hitman, Benaiah, son of Jehoiada  and whacks Adonijah, his half brother and David’s son with his first wife Haggith…he whacks Joab, the son of Zeruiah… Joab being the priest who had supported Adonijah… he whacks Shimei, the son of Gera simply because he had sworn at his father, King David  once… and then, after all that apparently necessary bloodletting, he went off to Gibeon, a sleepy  little town about five miles north of Jerusalem where there was a great high place…and he made thousands of burnt offerings to God and he spent the night there in prayer… and God appeared to him in his dream and basically gave him carte blanche to ask for whatever it was that he wanted. 

And Solomon…young Solomon, still new to this king business, asked God in his dream simply for an observant mind.  That is how the New Revised Standard Version puts it, in any case.  There are many different translations of that phrase in Hebrew.  Some versions say understanding heart, some say understanding mind, some say discerning heart.  I actually happen to like the ones with “heart” in them more than I do the ones with “mind” primarily because I think it more accurately reflects the Hebrew meaning of “heart” as the center of thought and will.    But whatever version you like better, it really boils down to a synonym for WISDOM .  Solomon asked only for WISDOM.  And what was God’s reply?  “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, now do according to your word. Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you.”And the standard lectionary reading ends there…but the story takes on another twist.  As you heard earlier, God THEN says in the succeeding verses which follow the lectionary text and which I added for your benefit this morning, “I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor all your life; no other king shall compare with you. If you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your life.” Then Solomon awoke; it had been a dream. He came to Jerusalem where he stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. He offered up burnt offerings and offerings of well-being, and provided a feast for all his servants.” 

And God DID give Solomon wisdom along with riches and honor and long life.  And he used it.  The very first story out of the box about Solomon’s wisdom is not part of the lectionary reading this morning… but, even though it is familiar, I want to read it to you now:  Later, two women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. The one woman said, “Please, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house; and I gave birth while she was in the house. Then on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. We were together; there was no one else with us in the house, only the two of us were in the house. Then this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him. She got up in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me while your servant slept. She laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast. When I rose in the morning to nurse my son, I saw that he was dead; but when I looked at him closely in the morning, clearly it was not the son I had borne.” But the other woman said, “No, the living son is mine, and the dead son is yours.” The first said, “No, the dead son is yours, and the living son is mine.” So they argued before the king. Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead’; while the other says, ‘Not so! Your son is dead, and my son is the living one.’” So the king said, “Bring me a sword,” and they brought a sword before the king. The king said, “Divide the living boy in two; then give half to the one, and half to the other.” But the woman whose son was alive said to the king—because compassion for her son burned within her—“Please, my lord, give her the living boy; certainly do not kill him!” The other said, “It shall be neither mine nor yours; divide it.” Then the king responded: “Give the first woman the living boy; do not kill him. She is his mother.” All Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered; and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him, to execute justice.   Solomon used the gift of wisdom given to him by God to brilliantly determine the truth of the matter between these two women.  Solomon used the gifts of God that he had prayed for and received to try to be a good king to his people and to do God’s will.    

I think that this story of Solomon’s dream is an excellent primer that might guide us to learning how to more effectively pray, and a reading we might use as a model for what we should pray for…and how God responds to our prayers.  Remember that Solomon only asked for wisdom but God gave him much more.  It makes me think of those Rolling Stones lyrics:  You can’t always get what you want.  You can’t always get what you want.  You can’t always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, well you just might find… You get what you need.  Solomon did not pray for what he wanted, he prayed for what he truly needed.  And again:  BECAUSE Solomon only asked for the tools he needed, God was so pleased at his humility and his selflessness, God gave him a boatload of other stuff as well.  Why would we think that God will deal with selfless prayers from us any differently?

Think about what YOU pray for.   My guess is that most of us don’t pray for what we need as much as we pray for what we want.  We pray for good health, we pray for the health of our friends and family.  We pray for peace.  We pray for good weather.  We pray for God to miraculously cure our banana slice on the golf course.  We pray for good grades or a new job.  We pray for a raise.  We pray that our children get scholarships.  We pray for a winning megabucks ticket.  We pray for THINGS.  We pray that God will GIVE us THINGS or FIX THINGS or DO THINGS for us and for our friends and family and even for our community and for our nation and for our world, but nonetheless, we pray for God to do it for us…on our behalf.   If WE are hungry, we pray for God to give us a fish.  Conversely… If Solomon had been hungry, he would have prayed that God teach him HOW to fish.  We pray for results.  Solomon prayed for tools so that he could use them to achieve results. We pray that God may cause his will to be done here on earth.  Solomon prayed to God to give him the WISDOM so that HE could be an effective instrument OF God’s will here on earth.    We pray for what we want.  Solomon prayed for what he NEEDED to be a good king and a good servant of the Lord. Do you see the difference? 

I have this sneaking suspicion that, if all of you are anything like me, there is a lot less praying going on each week than there really ought to be.  And if you all are anything like me, there are a lot of prayers for results and not very many prayers for the tools for us to achieve results.  Instead of praying for God to bring about world peace, try praying for COMPASSION so that you can BE an instrument of peace all by yourself.  Instead of praying for God to bring health for you and for others, pray for ENERGY and FOCUS and ASSERTIVENESS so that you might work on your own diet and exercise regimen and then be a strong advocate for healthy living to those around you.  Instead of praying for God to bring social justice to our nation, pray for COURAGE to stand up to social injustice yourself.  Instead of praying for God to end world hunger, pray for COMMITMENT so that you can reprioritize you life a bit and find the time to work on community suppers or  volunteer at soup kitchens and food banks  and actually help to end hunger in our community.  Instead of praying for God to PLEASE make those whiny little brats sitting in the pew behind you be quiet, try praying for PATIENCE so that you can hear their voices as the bubbling streams that are the headwaters of this church’s revival – PATIENCE so that you might even consider serving as a Sunday School teacher to make sure those bubbling streams of youthful energy are channeled in the right direction like you promised you’d do for them when they were baptized. 

Those are just a few examples to whet your appetite and get your own creative juices flowing.  God said to Solomon:  Ask what I should give to you.  Solomon asked for a discerning heart so that he might be a wise king and do God’s will.  Consider what tools YOU are lacking or what tools YOU have that could stand a little “divine sharpening”.  Pray for THOSE tools.  I believe that God will give us the tools we need to be able to better bring about his Kingdom here on earth, and I also believe that God will reward us for our selfless devotion to the tasks those tools should be used for by giving us many other blessings.  He’s been doing just that for a long, long time.  Just as God gave Solomon what HE needed when HE asked for it and much, much more, God will give YOU what YOU need if you ask for it, and your whole life will be richer just for the asking. 

Amen. 

When I read these posts, I can’t help but be shocked at how naive people truly are. So many people are wrapped up in their own cultural perceptions that they don’t allow themselves to see reality as it is. They don’t see their place in this world, nor their true relationship to others.

It’s all about themselves. Reality has to be what they see reality is. And if something happens that they don’t like or if things don’t work out the way they expect, they don’t stop and ask themselves what was wrong with their viewpoint. Instead they whine, and moan, and complain about how life’s not fair. It’s someone elses fault their life sucks. It’s someone elses fault there is so much evil in the world. It’s someone elses fault.

Right now it seems a lot of blame is going to President Bush. The man is far from perfect, but if your life is screwed up, it’s not his fault. If some hurricane destroys your city, it’s not his fault. If some earthquake happens causing a tsunami, it’s not his fault. He is only one man, a man is a position of power, but he isn’t God. He doesnt have more power and control over your life than you do. I am sure if Senator McCain or Obama get elected, people will sit around complaining about them as well.

But no. It’s everyone else’s fault. Everyone else is wrong. The world has to go our way or else someone or something is trying to screw us over. I know truth is such a foreign concept to so many people. We live in a culture that denies the existance of truth. People don’t want to see the world as it really is because they are afraid of it. They are quite comfortable in their little world getting fat, complaining about their family, whining about how their leaders are screwing their lives. But they won’t lift a figure to do something about it.

I am not sure whether it’s more because they are lazy. Or because they are truly so self centered that the world must evolve around them. They think the world owes them something.

Well, it doesn’t. The world doesn’t owe you anything. In fact, it doesn’t even owe you a single breath after you are born. Every second you live has to be earned. You have to breath each breath. You have to work for sustanance. And yes, sometimes you have to fight and kill to defend yourself. That is the reality of this world. We live in a world governed by force. Whether violent force or just the force it takes for us to move.

Our entire society is an artificial construct. It’s a brilliant construct, but it’s still artificial. This is not our natural state of existance. Our natural state of existance is not order. It’s Chaos/Anarchy. And in our purely natural state, we would completely destroy each other. That is why we create rules, norms, order, etc. The only thing that keeps us from destroying one another is our collective effort.

And if people remain naive of this truth or refuse to accept it. Or act contrary to it, we will see society devolve faster than you can imagine and massive casualties overnight. It’s happened before. It will happen again. Learn from it, or else you are going to die because of your ignorance.

While McCain has been saying, “We can’t drill our way out of this problem…,” the fact is we can drill ourselves from reliance upon other countries, especially regimes like Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Venezuela, while developing alternative sources for quite some time. As recapped here:

…Recent polling data from Gallup show the percentage of voters blaming oil companies for skyrocketing gasoline prices has dropped from 34 percent to 20 percent over the past year. At the same time, support for more drilling in U.S. coastal and wilderness areas has increased to 57 percent from 41 percent.

And the candidates remain blind to these shifts.

Obama continues to lambaste oil companies while congressional Democrats push for cap-and-trade. They’re missing the point, big time. The public wants more energy and more fuel to cut high prices and spur economic growth. But the costly cap-and-trade plan would produce less fuel and less growth. It would only raise gas pump prices while mounting a Gosplan-type taxing, spending, and regulating program that would be the moral equivalent of Hillarycare on nationalized medicine.

Sen. McCain has an opening here. Yet he, like Obama, would have voted for cap-and-trade, which went down to defeat in last week’s Senate vote. And while Mr. McCain favors some off-shore production and has been strong on nuclear development, he is against drilling in ANWR Alaska.

Then there’s the oil nobody is talking about. The Bakken fields beneath North Dakota, Montana, and Canada hold an estimated 400 billion barrels of oil. In comparison, Saudi Arabia’s biggest field, Gahawar, has an estimated 55 billion barrels, while ANWR has an estimated 10.4 billion barrels.

Hat tip to Mark Perry at the Carpe Diem blog site for these figures. Perry also is reporting a Bureau of Land Management study showing 279 million acres under federal management where oil and gas could potentially be extracted. But more than half of this is totally off limits. Off-shore, where another 86 billion barrels lie in wait, is also restricted. Then there’s liquefied natural gas, oil shale, and the various coal-to-liquid carbon-capture and sequestration technologies that would be priced out of the market by cap-and-trade.

The U.S. is the Saudi Arabia of coal, but we can’t produce. We’re still the world’s third-largest oil producer, but we could be the Saudi Arabia of oil if our companies were free to drill. Oil CEOs like Rex Tillerson of ExxonMobil and David O’Reilly of Chevron keep saying this. But politicians aren’t heeding their message…

Obviously with the price of a barrel of gas closing on $138 today, the increase price of shipping costs, production costs, are being added to everything we buy. In Europe the lorry drivers are striking, no longer able to make a profit with the costs there, for their taxes on petrol are significantly higher than in the United States. To think that type of response in the US will take $8 a gallon prices, well our patience isn’t that long. Now Senator McCain hints that he may back a windfall profits tax on the oil company, following the same plan to increase the costs to the consumer, as Senator Obama.

Truth of the matter is if there is punishment to be meted out it should be where the fault lies, which is with Congress which for the past 20 or more years has made it impossible for the oil companies to explore, much less develop our own natural resources.

The inflationary effects of the increased cost of oil has not gone unnoticed by any of us. There isn’t a product that we buy that doesn’t consume energy during production and shipping. The cost of imports will be even higher in the future, considering the cost of maritime fuel added to the cost of diesel to bring the goods from ports to stores. With the falling dollar and no action by Washington to stop it, history says we should be concerned about hyperinflation.

My hope, as pointed out by Kudlow is that the public is becoming concerned as the Gallup poll attests to. Hopefully they will make their feelings clear to their representatives and certainly in November.

What should be a website catering to liberal opinion in general soon turned into a propaganda machine for—and yes I can call them this—pigs to write pro-Obama blogs (vomit) all over her website. I can honestly say that having read her website pretty much every single day of this primary, I can think of no more then 4 or 5 headlines that were “pro-Hillary”. And the few that were “pro-Hillary” were just AP reports saying that she won a particular primary.

Even when Hillary emerged victorious in places like Pennsylvania and Ohio, The Huffington Post refused to have anything to do with it. They simply turned up the crank on their propaganda machine and treated Hillary, IMO, as bad as they treat John McCain.

The sinper-fire story was re-iterated over and over and over, yet anything to do with Rev. Wright was pure taboo. Despite the fact that Hillary has gained the popular vote and attracted tons of new people to the polls, The Huffington Post has acted as if she’s done nothing besides promote racism against Obama and hurt the party.

I can say that for the first time ever, I experienced that weird conservative “hatred” all of you seem to have towards the type of people that I agree with on the issues. It’s as if the people promoting Hillary have become the conservatives of the Democratic party (keeping tradition with a second Clinton).

I’m only looking in on one specific example. The entire media in general, minus CNN and FOX, were out to make him the next president since 2004. I’m not sure what drove most of the media outlets to promote him and rally against her, but it’s really pissed me off. I would have much rather seen the media stand back and report the facts as they are instead of giving us their opinion on who they feel should be the Democratic nominee.  

YouTube

(sigh)… Signing off, from my NEW home town.

Nope.  No pics

I had a dickens of a time falling asleep last night. About 2:30am - near as I can figure - I ended up falling asleep. When my alarm sounded at 6:35am I was beyond frustrated. I lay in bed and blinked a lot wishing for more time.

Within an hour, I’d SSS’d, and hit up Sonic for a Toaster-sandwhich thing. Ham, layered, with egg and cheese. Was VERY GOOD, IMO. Something I could make myself, and perhaps do a better job by adding bacon (there’s a shock - a fat guy wanting BACON on something eh?) and a few shots of Trader Joe’s brand Pepper sauce.

You’ve got to blame it on something. Blame it on the Rain. Lots of rain.

The whole trip was a mess with spraying water and rain. Driving was horrible. I’m tellin’ ya right here and now I saw more crappy driving in MO than any of the previous 2000? miles. SHOW me state? How about SHOW ME a f’ing TURN SIGNLE eh? How about SHOW ME some consideration by moving BACK over to the right lane? How about SHOW ME you refrain from being a jerk by NOT speeding up, passing me, and cutting me off JUST to exit? How about LET ME MERGE? Show Me state…hrm…if I could substitute TWO letters in that slogan with the letters B and L, it’d accurately reflect how I feel about my stay there.

Saint Louis. Hereby named America’s WORST CITY. I’m tellin’ ya - if STL is the crown Jewel of MO, it must be one of the paper burger-king crowns, because the city sucks. Heros of the city? I drove down Mark McGuire Parkway. I felt my junk shrinkin’ and Roid Rage all at the same time. Traffic lights? Expect to wait 10 minutes for a Red to turn green, then only 2 minutes until back to red. Cobble stone down by the Arch? PRETTY!!! But HORRIBLE. Look, if I wanted to live in 1880, I’d…well…I guess I’d be sorta out of luck. Still - HOLY CRAP STL People…FIX THOSE STREETS. The stones varied in height by as much as half a foot, I’d guess. SCRAPE was the word of the day. My Poor Car. The holes and dips were so bad I started to get sea-sick. Literally. I could show you a pic of the street, but you’d not pick up on how nasty it was. Here’s a dash-cam shot:

AND…who the Frak builds a Fraking BALL PARK right down town (except Seattle and a bunch of other places)???

The ONLY redeeming quality of St Louis - White Castle.

I had a Regular, a Cheese, and a bacon w/ Onion Rings and a large diet coke w/o ice.

A lot more rainy, nasty driving got me to tonite’s bed - Metropolis, IL. If I visit the Superman Statue, I’ll post-pics. Otherwise, I’m exhausted and will go to bed now.

Again, thanks for reading!
Darin

Edit -

I headed into town to view the Superman Statue -

After snapping that pic, I walked into a Superman Store - they sold superman stuff - go figure. Prices were outrageous, imo. More outrageous was the conversation I found myself in with some of the staff.

After I walked in, I heard somebody obviously on the phone telling somebody “You kant goe too jayl for no late payments on a bill!” “Taik them too small klaims kort!”

I walked up and said (what I THOUGHT was obviously tongue in cheek) “Well..if you need a lawyer…”

“Hay! Heers a lawyur rite heer!” he said to the person on the phone. A by-stander said “Can she (person on phone I guessed) go to jail for over-drawing their bank?”

Putting on my best Perry Mason face I said “Indebtedness can’t put somebody in jail - unless it’s child support - as far as I know.”

(back to the person on the phone) “Thair’s a lawyur rite heer he says yoo cant go to jay-ell for no debts but child support!”

Wow. He’s giving her legal advice based on some guy in his superman store!

Down the street I found a local bar - Willy-Jak’s.

typical Bar food - I had Buffalo strips and deep-fried breaded jalapeño and onion strips.

The beer looks pretty watery, doesn’t it? Let me tell you why I had that beer.

After ordering, I walked up to the bar and asked for a “Hefe-vite-zen” (written that way, cuz that’s how I said it).

The very cute, perky bar tender looked at me with the cutest WTH? face I’ve seen on a young lady in some time.

“Heff-a-WHITE-zen?” I tried again, in Illinoiseze.

“Uh…” She said, with her head tilted sideways a bit.

“Forget it - what do you drink with the buffalo strips?” I asked. “What’s your favourite?”

She straightened her head and said “Miller Lite!” as if I should have known.

“That’ll do, love.” I said.

After I ate a waitress, a bit older, but just as cute and southern, walked by.

“Hey hon, I was asking the bartender about a hefeweizen (the waitress’ face went blank, so I paused..)…..and she gave me that same look…” I smiled.

“What is it?” she asked.

“It’s a very well known, so I thought, German wheat beer.”

“Yeah…ya know? We’re VERY close to Kentucky!” she quipped with a smile. I giggled back at her, then headed out.

If it weren’t for the southern chicks, the south wouldn’t have much in the way of entertainment, I fear. hehe

- darin

1. We will lay the foundation for our future capacity to meet America’s energy needs from America’s own resources.

2. We cannot afford continued delays. We cannot afford prolonged vulnerability to foreign producers. We must act.

3. We are the generation that will win the war on the energy problem and in that process, rebuild the unity and confidence of America.

4. Energy independence is the best preparation America can make for the future.

5. The Congress should enact measures to increase domestic energy production and energy conservation in order to reduce dependence on foreign oil.

6. We have it our power to act right here, right now. I propose $6 billion in tax cuts and research and development to encourage innovation, renewable energy, fuel efficient cars, fuel efficient homes.

7. We have got to do something about our dependence on oil, for two reasons. It provides an economic and national security risk and makes it harder to be wise stewards of the environment.

A. Gerald Ford
B. Ronald Reagan
C. Bill Clinton
D. Richard Nixon
E. Jimmy Carter
F. George HW Bush
G. George W. Bush

1-D
2-A
3-E
4-B
5-F
6-C
7-G

Source; USA Today, 5-15-08, page 11A

I awoke about 6:30am, planning to get to Rushmore at 8 - according to the .gov website it ‘opens’ at 8am. More on that later.

About 7:15 I head out and find a starbucks. I asked the barista “how far to Mt Rushmore?”

“Maybe 45 minutes or an hour. Yeah.”

“It’s supposed to be twenty-something miles…” I thought. He has no idea.

So - I roll up to Rushmore about 7:41. twenty-some minutes after leaving Starbucks. It’d been open since 7am. The website told me 8 - but 8 is only for the admin buildings. Who cares?
Mount Rushmore - BEAUTIFUL. Truly awesome. I really ‘felt it’

On the way out, I was playing on the radio, “God Bless the USA”. As I pulled around to the exit, low-and-behold? A freakin Mountain Goat was there to say good-bye.

Forget what I said yesterday, THIS GUY is named Stephen Wilds. What’s a little prairie dog gonna do? He needs a new name.

Hitting the highway eastbound, I read all eleventy-thousand “Wall Drug” roadside signs. Holy Cow. I was powerless to resist.

VERY cool - but I suspect the only reason the town of Wall, South Dakota exists is because of this place. Inside:

LOOK OUT, LADY!!!!

So - yeah…I’m tellin’ ya, the wildlife I’ve seen so far has NOTHING on this guy - Behold…the NEW Stephen Wilds. I mean - what’s a mountain goat going to do? Fight this guy?

T-Rex Stephen Wilds roared to life every 12 minutes. Yes, I stood around looking goofy waiting for a big fake dinosaur Stephen Wilds to animate and roar. I’m 35. Way too old for that stuff.

On to Pie. I mean…the ONLY thing I can come up with that tops a Dino, is…Pie. YUM! Blackberry.

No need to salivate - it wasn’t that good. My wife’s pie tastes MUCH better.

Speaking of food. Sioux Falls, SD. Bob’s Cafe Diner. HOLY COW. I’m being as honest as I can when I say I can’t remember eating BETTER where my brother wasn’t cooking.

11 seats inside -

This is the kind of place I DREAM ABOUT when I dream about quitting my job and opening a diner.

The BBQ sauce was spot-on. Sweet without being sugary. A bit of a kick for sure. The ColeSlaw - holy crap - That slaw rocked. I also got a taste of the potato salad. I felt like I’d seen God. Just kidding. But close.

That’s all I’ve got for today. I got into St. Joseph and into my room about 8:45pm. I feel like 700 miles of bad road. Speaking of bad roads. Guys - if anyone lives in Iowa or Missouri. PLEASE call your congressman or woman. IMPLORE them to FIX THE Freakin’ ROADS. I’ve never seen such crap as I29 in my adult life. Bumpy and nasty.

Tomorrow’s a short day for me, with less than 500 miles scheduled. If I get into Metropolis, IL early enough, I might come back and add to this day’s report, in addition to my Day 4 round-up!

Thanks for reading!

Darin

As I was getting into my car i noticed a Freakin- HUGE Virgin Mary atop a peak up from my hotel.  She lights up at night!

After fuel  and about 10 minutes cleaning my car’s wheels of 1100 miles of brake-dust, I headed east.  I LOVE 75mph speed limits. I honestly do.  (sigh).  The cold temps brought slick roads as I crossed the continental divide at nearly 7000 feet.  Surprisingly, the car didn’t feel too-awfully-sluggish up that high.

On the down-side of the pass, I encountered VERY thick Fog.  I used my GPS to give me warnings of pending corners and curves ahead! I wasn’t white-knuckling it, but I did have to slow to a more REASONABLE speed.

My 2nd Fuel stop was in Gillette, WY.  I pulled off the highway and into a Flyin’ J. As I was measuring my 2-cycle oil, I realized I wouldn’t have enough for the whole trip; thankfully there was a Checker Auto Parts nearby.  As I was fiddling in the car, shutting things down, a guy in a beater Cadillac pulled in beside me.  A young man got out - probably late teens, early 20s.  He was looking at my car.  A lot.  When I stepped out, he said “Nice car!”

” Thanks”

“Wanna race?” he offered.  I really think he was serious.

“Uh.  No?  I don’t race people.  The car looks too good to race folk.”

“I’ve got a Mistubishi VR4 with twin terboze, all-wheel-drive and Noss…It’s so fast”

I gave him a ‘wtf’ look as he just got out of a beater Caddy.

“It’s at my mom’s place in Colorado - i just got the caddy.”

“Oh. Aight then. ”

A few hours later I turned off I90 and headed North, towards Devils Tower National Monument.  It took all I had to keep from testing the speed limiter during stretches of road like this:

As I got closer to the tower I was gifted with some of the very best roads I’ve driven.  Absolutely beautiful.  The road has a 65mph speed limit, so it was nice to have ‘head room’ and BLAST corners without/or barely breaking the limits.

THIS IS IMPORTANT.  THIS MEANS SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:-)  I’d stopped at KFC in Gillette and picked up a Large Mashed Taters, sans Gravy.  I think it’s neat.  I laughed.  People looked at me VERY FUNNY/ODD as they saw me carrying a load of mashed taters on a paper sack.  The bus-full of Japanese tourists either laughed or moved to the OTHER side of the trail.  While I was setting up a few pics with the taters on my RX8, an obvious climber walked by.

“NICE Car!”

“Well thank you!” I said

“Man, I’ve always wanted one of those.”

“Invest in an oil company if you do - it uses a lot of oil and gas!”

On the way back down to the highway I stopped for a pic of a buddy.  I’m going to call him Stephen Wilds.   Just fits him, don’t you think?

One final pose with the Rock!

A couple hours later, I FINALLY made it to tonite’s end-of-journey.  Holiday Inn, Rapid City.

After I got unloaded, I went and found dinner:

I had a bacon Cheddar burger w/ hotwings sauce on the side. FANTASTIC! The Honey-Rye beer was good, too!

Now, I’m back at the hotel, exhausted. At check in, I met a licensed massage therapist.  $55 for one hour. Full Body.  Wow.  I can’t tell you how tempted I am to call the girl.