I was thinking yesterday in the vet’s office (oh, and btw:  Nice job with that revolving door, B-Man) that I’m really glad we were able to pay the vet the $119 we owed, and that we also pay our taxes.  No way I’d want to be part of that 47% who don’t pay income tax and who feel they’re entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it, as Seamus’s dad put it.  But what I’d really like to do is go a step further and get a job. ...

Santa Monica LA/XC-2 DAYS TWELVE AND THIRTEEN:  PACIFIC COAST HIGHWAY; L.A.; SANTA MONICA Day Twelve mileage: 464 [NOTE: While I’ll continue to tally miles during my stay in L.A.-Santa Monica for the next week, I won’t be posting it daily] Total LA/XC-2 mileage: 4,087 Weather leaving San Francisco:  58 and overcast This was not on my itinerary Road Music:  Absolutely nothing but ESPN Radio, the NFL network, and then the Falcons-Broncos game...

San Francisco LA/XC-2 DAYS NINE, TEN, AND ELEVEN:  NEVADA; OAKLAND, CA; PALO ALTO; SAN FRANCISCO Day Nine mileage: 509 Day Ten mileage: 27 Day Eleven mileage:  33 Total LA/XC-2 mileage: 3,622 Road Music:  XM regular stations; LA/XC-2 Playlist (featuring Lucinda Williams; Kings of Leon; Brad Paisley; Ryan Adams & the Cardinals; Best Coast; Carrie Underwood; Eric Church); NFL Football Three-day state tally: 2 (Nevada,...

Elko, Nevada LA/XC-2 DAYS FIVE, SIX, SEVEN, AND EIGHT:  DENVER, THERMOPOLIS (WYOMING), YELLOWSTONE AND GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARKS, IDAHO, AND NEVADA Day Five mileage: 289 Day Six mileage: 420 Day Seven mileage: 298 Day Eight mileage: 406 Total LA/XC-2 mileage: 3,052 Road Music:  XM regular stations; LA/XC-2 Playlist (featuring The Band; Sonia Leigh; Eric Church; Keith Urban; Lynyrd Skynyrd; Trish Murphy; Beatles; Joe Walsh) Four-day state tally: 5 (Nebraska,...

LA/XC-2 DAY FOUR:  IOWA AND NEBRASKA North Platte, Nebraska Yesterday’s mileage:  467 Total LA/XC-2 mileage: 1,639 Road Music:  NFL Football:  Jets game; NFL “Drive Time”; Denver-Pittsburgh game; for a short musical break:  Keith Urban (Get Closer album) Weather leaving Grinnell:  65 under a gorgeous blue Iowa sky Yesterday’s state tally: 2 (Iowa, Nebraska) New states today for Beagle Man: 0 The fields of Iowa (or was this Nebraska?) Gas money to date: ...

So two nights ago we meet Luke and his roommate Hayes for dinner at the Grinnell Steakhouse (now there’s a place that has “Ricky” written all over it), and Hayes starts telling us about seeing Obama speak in Iowa City the day before.  Iowa City — we just finished driving through there, but a day too late!  The candidates — Roof Rack Romney was there, too — are right here in Iowa, and B-Man couldn’t work it out to see them??!!  Remember when I told you...

Grinnell, Iowa LA/XC-2 DAYS TWO AND THREE:  CHICAGO, ILLINOIS AND GRINNELL, IOWA Friday’s mileage:  560 Saturday’s mileage: 322 Total LA/XC-2 mileage: 1,173 Road Music Friday:  XM “regulars” (Fox, CNN, ESPN); XM The Highway (worst song heard: American Beauty by the Lost Trailers; best song heard: American Saturday Night by Brad Paisley); XM ’70s on 7 (how ’bout My Sharona by the Knack?!); iPod singles list (Something About a Truck, Mark...

Yeah, I know it was a week ago, but I still find myself thinking about Clint Eastwood’s speech at the RNC.  Kind of weird.  Kind of creepy. And then I hear on CNN yesterday that Scarlett Johansson would be speaking up for Obama.  Sure, I’m a dog, but I’d take Scarlett over Clint in a heartbeat.  Since Beagle Man and I just happen to be on a major college campus right now — Penn State — I thought:  Perfect opportunity to take the pulse.  So I asked around, but...

State College, PA LA/XC-2 DAY ONE: STATE COLLEGE, PA Today’s mileage:  290.7 Total LA/XC-2 mileage: 290.7 Road Music:  Local news (WCBS); local sports (ESPN); Fox News; CNN news; national sports (ESPN); The Highway (new country music); iPod singles playlist — a motley collection I put together, but I was really pleased to hear “Mockingbird” by Carly Simon and James Taylor.  What great voices on those two! Weather leaving Westport:  80, overcast and muggy ...

* * *  COUNTDOWN:  2 DAYS TO LA/XC-2  * * * Was just reading a headline on The Fiscal Times website:  “Obama on the Defense as Dems Convene in Charlotte.”  Wait.  Isn’t Obama the incumbent? But he’s on the defense? Politics.  Go figure.  Still, I like to keep up.  Just because Beagle Man’s a political ignoramus doesn’t mean I have to be.  In two days B.M. and I hit the road, and you can bet I’ll be sniffing out what my fellow dogs and their...