Pictures from the road trip we took across the country and while we were in Montana, Part 2.  Woo.

12345►

Well, I for one have finished waiting.  As I write this I sit on the balcony of the 1908 Pruett House located in Eureka Montana.  This little town located in the middle of no-where in the northwestern tip of Montana is set just a few miles north of Glacier National Park.  Tucked away between the great western mountains of the United States.  It’s a nice end to a very enjoyable trip.

It all started of course with our round-the-table discussions of “oh wouldn’t it be nice if we took a road trip” that happened oh so often.  Then it just kind of snowballed from there.  Before we knew it Nichole was returning home so we said “why not” and made the call to head out west from Maryland to Montana to spend 2 weeks on the road away from home.

Needless to say, the drive is just beautiful.  There is so much we are missing today because of our busy schedules.  Family trips across the country just don’t seem to happen all that often these days.  So this was the furthest west I had driven to date.  As we cut across the country we drove through the night and day and into a portion of another night.

Taking turns between drivers and resting up we would stop every now and again and stretch our legs.  Get a drink and some food.  Fuel up the Lancer and switch off driving tasks.  It worked out well, as I could drive until I was tired.  Then switch off the driving task and drift to sleep for a few hours.  And when I awoke there was a new view to be seen outside the car windows.

Always interesting to awake to a scene you’ve never seen before except in movies and pictures.  Such was the case of Wyoming.  That is one beautiful state.  Despite having next to no trees at all there were miles and miles and miles of clear open grasslands.  Gentle rolling hills that would slowly drop into yet another rolling hill that seemed to drift past the horizon.

As for Montana, where we spent almost all of our vacation, that is a gorgeous state.  Probably some of the most interesting features as far as a single state goes.  With its high-rise mountain ranges and its low laying valleys that are home to massive lakes that were left over from the glaciers, this is for sure a great place to be.  A view that must be enjoyed in person.

I can not wait until next year as we will again be making our way across the country every year for the foreseeable future as we come to enjoy the small plot of land we have here in Montana.  Yes, land in Montana.  Gifted to the grand kids from Opa (grandfather) is just about 200 acres of this beautiful state.  Made of almost entirely mountain range land the plot offers enough adventure for many many years and generations to come.  This is for sure one of the greatest gifts bestowed onto any grand-kid.  To be able to get lost in the wilderness on the mountain and camp in the cool summer nights of Montana, only to awake the next morning and hike on through the forest for some other adventure.

That is the post for now.  I have many pictures that will need to be uploaded from our trip.  But be warned, I spent almost all my time enjoying the scenes instead of snapping pictures of it.  So I’ll have to write a post of what all we did with our time here and post pictures of at least some of the beauty this country of ours holds.

Today I had a decent run. Tomorrow hopefully it’s better. I’ve decided not enough of my friends play starcraft 2. I’ve also decided that I’m very very bored.

Now, I have had 0 time playing the game, so I have not info to give on the quality of the game. However after a few runs through a campaign and multi-player I’m sure the crew here will post and update soon.

Most are aware that I don’t spend my time in front of my TV to actually watch TV. I use my glorious TV set for viewing movies or playing games. Rarely is there any actual cable program on display. However with Hulu still being a option for the time being I’m able to watch some shows to keep me up with the times. No wait, that is wrong. They aren’t reality shows so I’m still behind. Stuck in a time where acting actually brought something to the show.

With that here is a list of the shows that I am currently watching.
Psych http://www.hulu.com/psych
White Collar http://www.hulu.com/white-collar
Eureka http://www.hulu.com/eureka
Lie to Me http://www.hulu.com/lie-to-me

My grandfather is blatantly racist.

Perhaps “realization” is not entirely accurate. I’ve always known him to have strong opinions, and that these opinions were not always the most charitable nor the most understanding. But this was one of the first summers where he was completely blunt about it. His comments ranged from how the “black referees were out to get the US” during the matches, or how the Muslims were taking over the country in terms of education and population and all the Caucasians were getting screwed.  He even went so far as to call Obama a Muslim communist, and that I was a communist for supporting him. I called him out on it several times, but it didn’t really dissuade him. His opinions were echoed (but in a much milder form) by my grandmother. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised at his stand on things, considering that he’s a hardcore Catholic Republican with a god-complex after being Chief of Staff at several notable hospitals, but still. He’s intelligent, dammit. But he’s also getting up there in age, and set in his ways.

I’ve also noticed another disturbing tendency in our family. None of the other younger, supposedly more enlightened uncles and aunts will call them out on it either (except for some, and only some, who married into the family), either from being in agreement or for wanting to keep the peace.

I’m hoping it’s the latter.

The only other adult there who seemed to be as Oh-God-tell-me-he-didn’t-just-say-that was my gay uncle, who came down for a few days, much to my delight. Gay Uncle holds a special place in my heart among the parts alloted for the multitudes of aunts and uncles I have in this family. He’s always been the one who never treated me as just the quiet bookish kid who’s vastly different from her sociable and fashionable cousins (I say this with the utmost fondness for said cousins). Instead he’d actually sit and talk to me, about real topics, and if I had complex questions, he wouldn’t brush them off with platitudes or empty conversation enders like “You’ll understand when you’re older.” It’s always a delight to get to hang out with him (preferably out of earshot of the grandparents) and just chat about things. While I love all of my family, he is one of the few with whom I feel a true kinship with (and I don’t just mean the gay part). Family is family, but sometimes other bonds are closer.

The time with him this summer was especially good though, since I came out to him about being bisexual. I have to admit, I was imagining making a grand gesture in the heavens would part, rainbow-clad cherubs would play Diana Ross’ “I’m Coming Out” and we would clasp each other in tear-filled hugs.

Hah, no.

It was rather anti-climatic in the end, with my mentioning girlfriends to him in passing and business went on as usual. He did, however, take me out to show me the “gay” area of town, happily within walking distance and containing a gay bookstore that I’ll be visiting again in the future. I also have standing plans with him to visit a restaurant with my mom and little brother in tow called Blue Moon, which is supposed to have good food as well as comedy skit shows hosted by well-reputed drag queens. Squeee. I can’t wait to see the reactions on my little brother’s face. His torment is my happiness.

On a unrelated note: Jason, Edwin, we are doing Otakon this summer, right?

Two that I’ve come across so far for review being that of “The Loop” and “10 Items or Less”.

First up, 10 Items or Less. It’s like arrested development for a grocery store. EXCEPT, bad actors, bad comedy, bad set…. bad everything. Ha ha. No seriously this was a show I tried to give a chance and it just wasn’t happening. I always give a show 3 episodes once I start it in order to pick up. And well, this one didn’t pick up. It was just punishment to try to watch the first 3 episodes. Overall back round of the show as summed up as quickly as possible by me: X Guys dad dies, he goes back to manage a grocery store, X guy is a moron who knows nothing. Supposed situations with comical tension ensue but fall flat of any actual comedy. It’s like the bad skits of SNL, just kinda feels like filler with no thriller.

Next on the radar, The Loop (Season 1). No idea what network this actually aired on originally but this is actually a pretty good little show. EXCEPT, for the main character. Or I should say the main actor. The show has some great moments and I’ve added all the episodes to my queue. I just wish they had a better actor as the main character. Maybe he’s too soft faced, maybe he lacks manliness, I don’t know. He just seems like a cry baby. One of those kids that goes running to his mommy for every little scratch they get acting like it’s some epic ordeal. Perhaps I’m starting to get to hard on my requirements. Maybe I just don’t care. Standards people, we need to maintain standards.

Now why did I specify just season 1 for The Loop? Because the second season does not live up to the first nearly as much. Which I’m sure is why the show didn’t make it past the second season. The biggest issue to cause the second season collapse? Change of characters. They dropped the two hot room mates without replacement. And changed the main characters boss man and boss lady characters attitudes/mannerisms from the original season. Perhaps it was a director change or something for the second season. Either way, second season is only worth a watch on a VERY slow day. Though still much better than 10 Items or Less.

This Kill Switch for the Internets has Kotaku people all pissed off for God knows why. I don’t understand the seriousness of it because I don’t think terrorists have the technology to hack the U.S servers and only countries like China and Russia would stand a chance. The problem is when did gaming become more important than our national security? This would be like not having a kill switch on a terminator imo; the fact that it actually is possible to lets say crash any bank in the country through the internet and not being able to shut down everything before it spreads everywhere is just retarded. Also even though I’m not a fan of Obama, it’s not like he’ll be using it like a light switch, congress would get real, real quick!

To conclude this, Kotaku proves to me how stupid their audience is. How can so many people on a video game site not know shit about our government, and the internet? Really its surprising, the ignorance in this day in age is inexcusable.