Ricochet: My Vacation from Politics

I was AWOL from Ricochet last week because I finally took the fam on an old-fashioned summer vacation. I dropped off Calvin the Wonderbeagle at the kennel, loaded up the missus and the wee ones in the family truckster, and headed off on a Four Corner tour. Raced through Payson, earned a speeding ticket in Overgaard, ate my weight in enchiladas in Albuquerque, then ate more in Santa Fe. Hiked in Los Alamos, giggled at Taos hippies, hiked more near Pagosa Springs, exposed the lie that is the Four Corners Monument, and was nearly struck by lighting in Monument Valley.
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I drove 1,400 miles, meeting people rich and poor, urban and rural, liberal and conservative (if their Subarus and F-150’s were any guide). We talked about where we were from, where we were headed, kids, work, food, coffee, and the weather. But the subject that consumes much of the internet never seemed to arise.

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Not a single person mentioned politics on any level. Trump, Congress, and political parties seemed far from everyone’s mind. I saw a couple of Trump flags near Colorado’s Weminuche Wilderness and a few Bernie bumper stickers in Santa Fe. But in conversation, all of us were focused on the real world far outside of the Beltway

The few times I did check into Twitter, usually to post graphic pics of Mexican food, politics was all anyone was talking about. McCain is a sinner/savior, Trump is an angel/demon, scaramouche, Scaramucci, Priebus did the fandango.

I honestly hope that my fellow Ricochetti and Twitterati remember there’s a big, wide world out there. Not everything revolves around politics, nor should it in a republic. Candidate Rick Perry famously said that he wanted to make Washington DC as inconsequential in our lives as possible. I’m happy to report that for many in the big, wide west, it is.