I decided to get out yesterday after finally getting nearly everything caught up with my personal business over the weekend. It was nice weather over the weekend, but after living in tourist areas for many years I know to avoid going hiking on weekends. It gave me time to finish the last things on my list and have some much-needed “me time” in the process.

I had all intentions of a road trip today but it was not meant to happen. It is raining around me so I looked for a place to go that had better weather. I found a place but even when I got over an hour away the weather was not good so just I turned around and came back.

It is just how mountain weather is. I lived in the mountains for many years and understand it changes constantly from one end of the scale to the other so you have to just be flexible; either dress accordingly and move forward or do what you were going to do another day.

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It feels so good being back in the mountains & forests…they have a healing power, bringing some much-needed peace to my life and my soul. I can finally feel at ease for the first time in a long while. It is home.

Even though I had to turn around it is always so good to be on a drive in nature. The dogs were enjoying the drive in the back seat, less traffic to deal with, and thick trees with a black ribbon of ashpalt winding through them.

I plan to get out exploring more this week. Tomorrow Rider has a dentist appointment for an e$timate on pulling a few broken teeth that really need to come out. There is still a chance of some precipitation – even talk of a little snow – but the total amounts are much less than recent rainfall we’ve had. Of course, the vet dentist appointment is regardless of all but the worst weather so he won’t get out of it that easy.

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Last night I caught a new TV comedy series I have never heard of called “Friday Night Dinner”. It is one of the funniest shows I have ever seen (right up with the Canadian show “Letterkenny”). I love the Britcoms – strange, edgy, well-written, and so very funny…like all Britcoms. They always seem to be more “real life” than US sitcoms; everyday lives of everday people.

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I have been going over the owner’s manual on my truck a little more now that I have had some time. There is still much to learn about all the settings even though it is not nearly as packed with tech as other models. One really great feature I discovered is if I am towing and the trailer starts to sway (“tail wagging the dog”), the truck brake controller will gently engage the trailer brakes individually to stop the sway. That explains a lot about why even in the crosswinds it barely swayed on my drive up.

There are plenty of other things I have never had in a vehicle; a multi-media screen with CarPlay, internet access, emergency help at the press of a button, and even a portable Bluetooth speaker that pops out of the dash.

So far I really like this truck. It is always nice to have new things, and a new vehicle is something I have not had in fifteen years. It will take anywhere I need to go and will for a long time.

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I caught the last few minutes of one of Rick Steves’ shows called “Why We Travel”. Like most of his shows, I have seen this one several times. This one has a real deep passion for travel in it that I have not seen so obviously in many of his other shows. If you have not seen it and are interested in travel, or perhaps wonder why some of us love to get out of our comfort zones in foreign countries, I suggest you check out this program. After you do, it might answer questions you may have, or perhaps you will want to take off on a trip yourself if you have not been too sure about it.

Rick has extensive knowledge of European history and after his travel shows on various cities and countries, he did several specials on different eras of European art that were all very interesting. He also has done other specials that were all very good. If you have not seen any of these specials you can watch on his website for free.

That is about it for this post. Thanks for stopping by & reading!

Shawn