I know folks like Obama and all. But is he really THAT skilled as a leader? I don't know anyone who is set to vote for Obama who has stated that they have issues with him at all. This really makes me curious. Most people that I know who are voting for Palin... and McCain have issues. My issue is that McCain says he will create jobs. I don't like that talk. He says that because he feels he has to. IT'S NOT THE GOVERNMENT'S JOB! Most of my friends have some sort of beef with him. So, yes, I'm voting for the guy. I'm not crazy about him. I think he's too liberal for my taste. I'm actually more crazy about his running mate. I enjoy the fact that the press is more concerned with her shoes than her views. Leave it to the bankrupt NY Times to prove that Sexism is alive and well.

If I could just hear, "I'm not comfortable with Obama's "spreading the wealth" philosophy, but I think he would make a great Commander in Chief... If I could just hear, "This election fraud/ACORN connection is terrible, I wish Obama and Biden will call for criminal investigations." But I don't hear that. Is he not too liberal or too conservative for any of his backers?

I hear nothing but praise. I hear how he's going to change things. It all amounts to chants and slogans. Frankly, if you have ever watched footage of Hitler's Youth, this type of devotion should scare you. That may sound offensive, but how often do you hear people ask the question, "How could they let him (Hitler) get away with that?" I can tell you. He promised them National Socialism.

Am I alleging that Obama will take us in the same direction as Hitler? No. Simply stating that most of the "Changelings" that I've heard share the same type of devotion as Adolf's crew.

Tomorrow, on this blog I will talk to the person of faith. What issues are most important to you in an election? Is Marxism a world view that agrees with the Christian world view? Oh, and beware, I might bring up Hitler again. I don't think I can offend many by criticizing him. I'm pretty sure HE would lose an election here... I think.

There is no mail delivery here. I'm proud of that. I have to drop in at the post office and pick up my mail. There is screaming fast internet, 200 channels of cable, and a golf course, but no mail.

I found out I didn't get the garbage out in time for the one day of garbage pick-up. The neighbor (I like to call him, "Neighbor") suggested that I call and ask if they can have someone come out and get it. If I explain that we are from "the city" and we are unaccustomed to the ways of the country, they might just help us out. Neighbor was right. The waste transporter came by with his wife in his personal pickup. He insisted that we leave the trash out and he will come back later. "There's too much trash to wait another week." Around supper time, he came and emptied our trash.

So, neighbor did it. He won me over. I now trust everything he says. That's why his second piece of advice was impactful. "You're going to have to get up in the morning and put the trash out before 7:00. I used to leave it out at night, but the bears got to be too much of a hassle." I replied, " I am glad that you did not say that to Kathleen. I had thoughts of changing the word "bear" to "deer" or of simply adding the word "koala" to it. After all, Moses and the Israelites were required to have two eye witnesses to convict a criminal. How could I alert the spouse on account of one random talebearer?

A couple hours later, I went to THE grocery store to buy wasp spray. The reaction of the cashier was merely, "See." I asked, "So you have wasps too?" She replied, "Between the wasps and the bears, they're driving me crazy." My thought: "I'm going to need a LOT more of this spray." That was two witnesses. Does God want me to keep this a secret? Hmm. Immediately, I had a major CSI kind of flash. I envisioned those scratches on the door posts of the back doors... 'Don't think they're from the wasps.

Have you ever seen the Wilderness Family? Where can I get a gun?

So I told Kathleen about those pesky deer.

"Do you want to have a 'Grape-out' later today?"

Joelle asked me this earlier today. I didn't know at the time what a grape-out is, but I was sure it is good.
Yes, it is good. Taste the quiet moments as you do simple, seemingly insignificant things together.

Yesterday, I decided to step out on the back porch and gaze at the Greenhorn Mountains. I leaned against the railing and the girls (Evelyn and Joelle) peeked out the window as if they needed permission to join me. I motioned to them much like the Carribean traffic officer in the "If We Had Wings" ride at Disney. Think of my daughters as my little flamingos. Evelyn joined me and one minute later Joelle appeared with a huge cluster of red globe grapes. They are worth fishing for the seeds. I had some grapes with me already but she knew that we needed more provisions. The three of us stood and cracked open grapes and spit them out over the deck. "Squish, slosh, spit." I didn't know at the time, but this will forever be known as a "grape-out."

By request, we did enjoy a grape-out today. It was a little less satisfying as we were missing the "spit." All we had left were seedless grapes. Mollie banged on the door. She became the youngest grape-out participant in the history of the event. We, did basically run inside screaming due to the arrival of a couple blood-thirsty wasps. We barely escaped their grasp.

Tonight's bed-time prayer with the girls (I know. There a lot of hyphens in this.) had a little P.S. After the worship and the praises and the intercessions, I threw in a heart-felt "Thank you Lord for the Grape-Out."

As I opened my eyes, I looked at Joelle. She was sporting that still, strong smile that I call the "Safety Smile." It's more than life's little cookie. That smile is the meal that somehow has the sweetness of a dessert. As it is certainly an indicator of joy and true belonging, it is also a carrier pigeon of the same. You can never arrange for a safety smile, but God will bring them. He's good like that. Just step out and grab a cluster.

We are here. Colorado City. As we drove a mile or two away from the interstate, the beauty just started splashing me. I feel like I am in Switzerland. I feel like I should be singing songs while frolicking in the green meadows. I feel like some blond lady with braids and prickly leg hair should walk out from around the corner leading a cow to some place where cows get to go. 

Earlier today stopped and enjoyed a volcanic mountain in New Mexico. Knowing that we were about to go into the crater of a former volcano, Evelyn had a good question. "Do volcanoes ever blow up more than once in the same place." I told her it was unlikely, but it has happened. This gave me a great idea for next time. Bring a huge smoke bomb and set it under some of the rocks down in the crater. Then watch the tour bus ladies sprint uphill.

I did ask the park ranger lady at the store if they had any books among the 30-35 that they were selling which would tell about volcanoes from an intelligent design perspective. She said, "No."

Big blessing today as Mollie turned 1 year old. We visited the volcano, introduced her to our new house, had pizza, went to Target (Yes, that's how lame we are. We bought her presents today.), and had carrot cake.
The pizza place was a big blessing as the manager gave us all kinds of free stuff.
We were blessed to see hundreds of pronghorn sheep. If I start hunting, I know where I'm going.

I've been working on an idea to start a skunk hunt, an annual event to just bust a cap in every smelly little critter we could find. They have basically nothing to worry about. You can't eat them. I could not open the window of our Kampin' Kabin thanks to the smell all night. We must have passed through the "stunk of the skunk" 15 times. I think it's time to thin the herd. However, I might face some opposition from the Bass daughters. I commented today of how stinky it is when we pass a dead skunk. She stated that it was not stinky, "it's sad."

I hate it when they're right.

George Jones used to sing, "He stopped lovin' her today."

I realized today that I was driving with my eyes looking forward. I guess for the last couple days I had been driving while looking backward with my head and my tongue sticking out like the characers in a package of Hot Rod stickers. I never did collect the U-Haul Box truck one. If I did, I probably would have traded it for the purple Chevy Nova with the stickshift sticking all the way out the roof.

It wasn't until today when we passed the half-way mark, the ponte du non returnoise (I know it's not real french, but if you say it outloud you could fool your neighbors... unless you live in Quebec) that I remembered the coolness of the place we are headed.

I learned this tip from a trucker lady. This is a tip on how to keep your kids entertained. - "Give them each a lemmon. That's what my mom used to do. She'd poke a hole in it and give it to us. It would keep us busy for hours." Where was the hidden camera? I happen to know that this is a woman who still uses a CB Radio as a primary form of communication. Does she realize what those lemmons are up against these days? Not only PSP's and iPods. They've got infomercials. You can't take a kid who has just watched the benefits of the Weed Weasel and just hand her a lemon. This thing is ridiculous. It doesn't get your grape stains clean. It doesn't teach you how to make money on e-bay. It doesn't even come with a money back guarantee. However, I guess you could look at it this way, in today's world, if Mom hands you a lemon, grab the Majic Bullet and make lemonade.

Blessings:
- We All are healthy and safe.
- We got in and out of Cracker Barrell faster than we would at fast food.
- The Kampin Kabin is more comfortable (and cleaner) than our Motel room from last night.
- We saw literally hundreds of hawks in the sky at the same time. I think they were trying to work up an economic bail out plan for the buzzards.

We this visited the kid's joke today:
"Why is 6 afraid of 7?"
Answer: "Because 7, 8, 9."*
I've always struggled with the wisdom of that one. I figured, why profile 7? Why should I assume that 7 was capable of numeric cannibalism just because he was a previous offender? Perhaps he has been reformed. Perhaps 9 provoked the savage actions of the number 7. I guess I figured 8 lives next door to this number. Why can't 6 show faith in the system and continue to live next door without triple locking the door?
Joelle had the answer to that. "6 looks just like 9, just turned upside down." She's right. I now believe that 6 would be the obvious choice for 7 to snack on. If I were 6, I would move. Perhaps to Colorado.
Blessings: More wisdom from conversations with a 9 year-old and a 6 year-old.
We spotted a beautiful fox and it was not squished like the deer.
We met the nicest older couple from Winter Haven. They were fellow members of the Kingdom of God. Mollie gave the man a hug. If you've ever gotten a hug on the leg from a one-year old, you've been blessed.

*I have no idea who to credit with that joke. If you invented it, would you take the credit?
 

Yes, we are truly on the road again. The Bassfam is heading west again. This time we are pointing at Pike's pointyness. Hard to believe, but is it really?

Right now, we are in Troy, Alabama (for those who are playing the Bassfam Travels at home board game).

The two older girls were riding with me in the 17 ft. U-Haul. I decided to create a new game. One of these days I'm coming up with a good one and everyone will play it when they drive places. It will rival punch buggy and... well, that's why I'm working on a new one. It's time. Let the VW game go to pasture. It's lived a good life.

So my game was as follows. "Girls, let's play this," I said, "Ask me three questions. Anything at all." I figured I was setting myself up to show how dumb THIS dad can be, but I wanted to know, what were the most burning questions on their minds.

Joelle's first question: "How many highways are there in all of America?"

Dad's answer: "Wow. I have NO idea. A bunch. A whole lot." Joelle's first question suddenly became the last. The three question game is now a one hit blunder, a collector's item of conversations.

My thought, as I debated myself over whether or not to do the research for the real answer was, "I don't know how many roads, but I would like to drive them all. The thing is, I REALLY like to travel. Is that a hobby or a habit? I have no interest in gambling, boozing it up, or iPhones. OK, perhaps I am a little iCurious about the Apple gadget. But I don't really have those vices for the kids to write in their memoir. Is it possible that my kids will have this memory of their dad? It's me coming home late and stating, "Honey, I moved our family again. I'm sorry, we have no money for diapers."

I look forward to this trip. I look forward to this chapter. I DO have real doubts like a guy the night before his wedding. Oh, not me. I mean, some other guy that I know. Some jerk. Anyway, I will elaborate more on why this move was needed later.

For now, I will list some small miracles that happened already:
On moving day:
- The truck rental people, a nice couple in Jupiter, FL happens to be moving to the exact same place. Nearly the same time, too. They gave us over $1000 off the rental price. They added free miles and gave a total of 10 days.
- The security guard let me into our development with the truck when it was 5:05 pm
- A brother of mine and a friend of his came over and grabbed and lifted and shoved and after almost three hours had a truck packed so tight I will most likely need much WD-40 to get that first item out once I begin to unload.
- As we started our trek, the hungry travelers needed to stop for much beverage and food. The Burger King lady gave 2 free toys, a free box of fries, and a pack of free chicken ink blot looking things.
On First day of official travel:
- The Kids did great.
- We remain safe.
- The two cars that I watched collide, at an intersection in Gainesville, carried passengers who were apparently not hurt.
- We found a very affordable motel and I got to listen to the front desk clerk share Jesus with the customer in front of me.

So Willie get's the credit for singing that song (and making that movie with Dyan Cannon). However, we simply get the credit for living it out the song. As I stated to a friend, we made good on our threat. We moved again.

And, I like to travel? Is that all? No, Im also kind of good at it. Is THAT all? Well, is anything really ever "ALL?"

Have you ever looked at a state and thought, "I wonder if I could afford to live there if the economy went so sour that I had to pick berries and kill horny toads to feed my family?" Oh. Well...I have. There are a few things that a guy needs, even if he wants or doesn't want, really needs in life.
A good pair of boots.
Shoes are good. they might even be a staple, but boots are the only thing we call boots. Even if they sit in the closet until you attend your daughter's hayride harvest hoedown. I'm sorry, but I have no idea how to spell hoedown and I'm real uneasy mentioning the word in the same sentence as daughter, so let's move on. Just believe me, you will look cool in boots. They are more comfortable than you think. Even if they are the pointy kind, they're not the kind of pointy that the women know about when they wear those shoes that stick out about a car-length ahead of their largest, most forward thinking toe.
A worthy pocket knife.
You need to be able to do this: Pick a peach. Whip out your sodbuster pocket knife and cut it up into manageable wedges. Eating a peach without cutting it is like letting it have the last word. It's like being punked by the fruit before it dies. You are on it's bucket list. After you enjoy your peach, you wipe both sides of the knife on your jeans, close the knife, and slip it in your pocket right next to your cell phone which is in the same pocket as your keys and your iPod. I recommend Case brand of pocket knife. They are still made in USA. If you shopped all day, it might be the only thing you could find which was not made in China. Buy one and pretend that you are finished supporting a communist military regime with stuff pointing at our grandmas.
A piece of land to call his Zone.
It's just wrong to feel that you can't pee in the bushes without offending someone or getting arrested. What if you have a son? What's he gonna think? That you just urinate in toilets? You may not believe me, but that boy will need treatment when he gets older.
A dog.
A mans best friend is his dog. This means they get to pee outside together. Plus the pooch gets to do more. If you rent, or live in the city, you are required to pick up the soft steamy remains of his/her bottom art. You have once again been punked. You get to walk around with the prize in a thin plastic publix bag. We are not meant to serve any animal lie this. You wouldn't do that for your... well... even bestest friend. I hope you wouldn't. People who do stuff like that usually end up in a happy house with a male nurse teaching them crafts. Or they get a grant from the National Endowment for The Arts. Man, you need the dog, but the dog needs some land.
I got the boots and the knife. I'm heading to Texas. Does that mean we are moving there? Too early to tell. There are still plots of land that you can buy for less than a grand per acre. Most other places are out of my price range right now. Is there some cowboy in me? You bet. Will I like Texas and decide that we will search for our "Bubbling Crude?" I don't know.
So, that's the journey. I'm following some of my own advice. I don't do that all the time. This time, I have to figure it out for the people who look to me. The three little ones who call me "Daddy" (actually one of them just calls me "Aaaa!") and the other one who calls me... Paul.
Dallas, Abilene, Wichita Falls, San Angelo, Alpine. In search of some land and a dog... and a reasonable sized tree for both of us.

    Yesterday, we went to visit some friends in North Carolina. Joelle asked if we are going to sleep there. I said, "No, we are coming home to sleep." She asked, "Where's home?"
    I was refering to the place where we currently reside (A palace in South Carolina with our favorite generous Grizwald relatives). We have been the Randy Quaid character and his family for three months. We even spent Christmas with them and I was tempted to ask Bill to buy all of our gifts. "Here's a little list I put together. Oh, and get something nice for yourself. Put yourself down for the Jelly of The Month Club. Bill. It's the gift that keeps on giving the whole year long."
    As movie-worthy as our life has been for the past three months, we are in need of a place to call "Home." ...And we can't do that without a job.
Heading to Florida. It feels like home. Three out of four of our Bass family members were born in Florida. Two of us don't like the cold at all. Two of us have a certain joy that only comes out in the water. So, I guess it makes sense. Let's head back.
    At the dinner table, Kathleen spoke of, "when we go home," and it rolled out almost unnoticed. There you have it. I would not have noticed, if it were not pointed out to me.
    As much as I enjoy the idea of finding a hilly country home with a stream, I realize that Florida has not been sufficiently drained out of my blood. The magnetic pull is too close. If we were to make a real break from the sunshine state, it would have to be Montana (Kathleen would mutiny that) or, say, California.
    Oh yeh, we did that.

Today is the day of the TLC show that features our family. The Learning Channel will air the show about Resolutions here on the eve of the New Year. We are in Myrtle Beach at a somewhat fancy hotel which is slightly past it's prime. There is no internet, so I found a Starbucks. I know. How do you have a Hotel without the internet? Plus: Our TV doesn't even work. Now we are on a quest to find a TV to watch it. Do we go into a restaurant and pretend that there is a reason that they should switch their channel to TLC. Hey, I will have my entourage with me. We should have four, maybe five people ready to ask for continual refills of water and maybe a tea. That should make it worth it for them.
Well, in case we miss it, can you tell us how it went? And by 'how it went' I mean: Tell us that it went well until I'm ready to handle it if it did not. Give me a week.