२९ जुलै, २०१४

"We followed family tradition this year by taking 5 of our 22 grandkids, ages 10 through 13, on a trip through the American West."

"My Mom and Dad began the tradition, showing their grandchildren the majesty of our country and teaching them about the sacrifices and character of the pioneers. We visited Goblin Valley, Spooky Gulch, Peekaboo Slot Canyon, Capitol Reef National Park, Bryce National Park, Zion National Park, Lake Powell, Rainbow Arch, Grand Canyon, and the four falls in the Havasupai Reservation. All totaled, we hiked over 50 miles: quite a feat for the young — and for Ann and me."

Me = Mitt Romney.

५२ टिप्पण्या:

Ignorance is Bliss म्हणाले...

I read the first four words of the post title and knew it was about Romney.

Guildofcannonballs म्हणाले...

Hillary would beat Romney by at least 10 points. If he runs again, Mitt would be like one if the greatest hitters of all time who insisted on pitching, losing every big game he played outside his home state.

Mitt would be an excellent Secretary of HHS, Commerce or Treasury also, but he isn't going to be elected POTUS.

Mark म्हणाले...

Why not the men in shorts tag?

campy म्हणाले...

Why no "Men in shorts" tag?

Michael K म्हणाले...

"he isn't going to be elected POTUS."

Yes, we are so much better off with Zero. When does Susan Rice invade Israel ?

Conserve Liberty म्हणाले...

Exactly yhe type of thing my parents did when my brother and I were young, and my wife and I did when our children were young. Fifteen or so years of family vacations were taken in a conversion van or Suburban, touring everything from Nashville to Gettysburg, Civil War battlefields to Monument Valley.

And every interesting college campus along the way.

Never did Disney - and few of our friends understand.

jacksonjay म्हणाले...

Damn they're White! Go Crack....

PB म्हणाले...

It's a shame Mitt has this much time on his hands.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

LOL, Mark and Campy.

Answer: Obviously, they are hiking in hot weather. They fall within a clear exception. Also, I didn't notice.

I'm more concerned that no one seems to be wearing socks, and that one boy has no backpack. Also the photo is oddly framed. Who took it? His PR person? Was it misframed to seem amateurish?

Deirdre Mundy म्हणाले...

They visited 10 different places, so that's only 5 miles of hiking (on average) at each site. As long as you have a good way to carry water, you don't need a full pack for short hikes.

And perhaps the places they were hiking don't have the tick problem we do out East?

MayBee म्हणाले...

America made a terrible mistake.

Levi Starks म्हणाले...

No socks? Go to a good quality athletic footwear store, and you'll see that most of their 16dollar a pair merino socks are cut so low as to be invisible. I have a pair on right now, as I'm getting ready to go on my 10 mile morning walk. Sadly, I won't be walking in the great American west.

Xmas म्हणाले...

Ann,

Obviously, the camera is sitting on the boy's backpack, which is sitting on a rock. The shot was done with the camera timer.

Also, they're almost all wearing hiking sandals (sandals with closed toes).

Lance म्हणाले...

Who took it?

Probably a complete stranger they met on the trail.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

Wait. The only one without a backpack is wearing socks. He's also the only one with a hat. What's going on with that oddball?

kjbe म्हणाले...

"Wait. The only one without a backpack is wearing socks. He's also the only one with a hat. What's going on with that oddball?"

He's a rule-follower, hates pebbles in his sandals and either set his pack down or lost a bet with his cousin.

bleh म्हणाले...

Wait. The only one without a backpack is wearing socks. He's also the only one with a hat. What's going on with that oddball?

"One of these things is not like the others ..."

The Drill SGT म्हणाले...

Ann Althouse said...
Wait. The only one without a backpack is wearing socks. He's also the only one with a hat. What's going on with that oddball?


look at the other pictures. They may have had a water activity planned or just completed. They are jumping at the falls in shoes, no socks (kept dry for later?)

yet in other non water scenes folks are wearing socks.

Unknown म्हणाले...

The kid without the back pack is the photographer. He ran to pose like this after setting the timer on the camera. People who run into frame often drape their arms on people to make it look natural. The camera was in his backpack which is out of frame just next to the camera tripod.

lgv म्हणाले...

So there are "clear" exceptions to the shorts rule.

Can we see the list of clear exceptions?

Can we see the list of unclear exceptions, too?

Maybe the photo wasn't taken by a photographer hired by a PR person.

Mary Martha म्हणाले...

The use of the term 'pioneers' sets off my Mormon alert.

This is a very Mormon tradition. Looks like they were even traveling over 'pioneer day' a Utah holiday celebrating the Mormon pioneers.

Nonapod म्हणाले...

Goblin Valley, Spooky Gulch, Peekaboo Slot Canyon

You can't fool me Mit! Those are just names from Scooby Doo.

William म्हणाले...

For all the talk about inequality, the greatest advantage you can have in life is to come from a happy, intact family. A few hundred million probably is probably just increases the toxicity in a failed marriage. The Romney children look blessed, not because of their parents' and grandparents' affluence but because of their steadfast qualities.......A lot of Mormon beliefs strike me as outlandish, but you can't deny the solidity of their family life.

AustinRoth म्हणाले...

They visited 10 different places, so that's only 5 miles of hiking (on average) at each site.

Sorry, but what a miss use of statistics.

If 5 of them required little to no hiking, say 10 miles between those, then you would have 40 miles for the other 5. And still, one or two of those could have consumed the lion's share of the hiking, or some of them could have been part a single hike.

In any case, nothing can be said about how they should or should not have packed for any given hike without more details.

And anyone who goes hiking in some of those areas knows to bring extra supplies, as you cannot predict what may happen.

MathMom म्हणाले...

I am SO GLAD we were saved from the travesty of having this man as our President. We're doing so much better with our king.

/sarc

Deirdre Mundy म्हणाले...

Ann- he's the geeky, quirky Romney. Every family has one. Well... my family has 6, but... you know... some families only have one!

MathMom म्हणाले...

I say, good on Mitt Romney for giving his grandchildren a chance to sink deep emotional roots in America's soil. I don't think the Obama princesses are getting this same appreciation of our country from their exclusive, gated seclusion at Martha's Vineyard. IMHO.

My dad used to take us on vacations requiring long car rides. My brother called this "mobile incarceration". My memories are of sitting in the back seat of the '55 Oldsmobile, looking out the window, counting train cars, playing that game where you look for license plates from different states with bonus points for Alaska and double bonus points for Hawaii, and in general, watching America roll by.

After we had our family, we lived overseas for years. Everyone there flew everywhere, rented a car at a location, then flew on to their next destination. We decided to continue the tradition of tying the children in the back seat and yelling at them to shut up and stop complaining.

So we bought a used 1987 Ford LandYacht and stored it in my father-in-law's barn when we were out of the country. We put 12K-15K miles on it every year during our 6-week vacay back in the US.

My children saw America from the ground. They had Legos and books (no Gameboys) to occupy them if they got bored. They didn't see just in-flight movies and seat-back tray tables, like all our fellow expats. We had picnics at road side rest areas, camped at the KOA at the base of Devil's Tower in Wyoming and watched Close Encounters of the Third Kind on the big screen (a nightly event there), looking up at Devil's Tower in the background, expecting to see the Mother Ship land before our very eyes.

We have visited Stonehenge on one Friday, and Carhenge in Alliance, Nebraska the next Friday. (Guess which one is more fun?)

You can't do these things if you fly everywhere.

You know what my kids like, now that they are grown? Yup. A good road trip.

Next year: The Al-Can Highway.

PackerBronco म्हणाले...

I always appreciate a politician who pays for his own damn vacation.

Eric the Fruit Bat म्हणाले...

Sometimes when you go to the CrossFit website, and you look at the group photos of those who've just obtained their certification, you'll see guys with their arms around each other. Women sometimes, and sometimes there's something resembling a sort of lateral group hug, like one guy and two women, touching each other.

Doubtless part of the insidious and well-orchestrated implementation of the homosexual agenda.

And now they've got hold of even the Romneys, God help us.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

"No socks? Go to a good quality athletic footwear store, and you'll see that most of their 16dollar a pair merino socks are cut so low as to be invisible..."

Yeah, those are what we used to call "peds." Only women wore them in the old days. Concerns about tan lines. Desire to display one's ankles...

Curious George म्हणाले...

Ann Romney looking good.

dwick म्हणाले...

Wait. The only one without a backpack is wearing socks. He's also the only one with a hat. What's going on with that oddball?

Leave it to Althouse to try to start ginning up The Beatles' Abbey Road album cover photo-type conspiracy stories around a Romney vacation photo.

Once and for all, Paul is NOT dead.

Fred Drinkwater म्हणाले...

If those kids are anything like me, they are going to remember these trips forever. The memories I have of similar family trips (yeah, including being stuffed in the back of the station wagon) are still profoundly affecting.
I am not a religious person, by conventional definitions, but the religious experience I had when I rounded the corner of the trail and saw Rainbow Bridge is still with me today.

Paul म्हणाले...

Contrasting these folks with the arrogant elitists in the White House, and realizing America chose the latter shows unequivocally that we are doomed. We have been so culturally corrupted by Marxist "long march through the institutions' that recovery is nigh impossible.

MadisonMan म्हणाले...

It looks like the kids are having a great time.

madAsHell म्हणाले...

He's not wearing any socks!! In fact, I only see one pair of socks.

That is a tough bunch!!

Birches म्हणाले...

Havasupai Falls by itself is a 10 mile hike in, so the kids are pretty good troopers (of course, you can rent mules to carry your packs).

I've never had a problem with ticks on my AZ hikes. The first time I heard about checking yourself after hiking was in college from one of my roommates from Tennessee.

Birches म्हणाले...

And they were a little too South to be doing the Mormon Pioneer thing. They'd have been in Wyoming if it had anything to do with the traditional Mormon Pioneers.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent म्हणाले...

The photograph makes me think that Romney regrets the outcome of the 2012 election less than Obama does.

steve म्हणाले...

heteronormative propaganda!

DKWalser म्हणाले...

And they were a little too South to be doing the Mormon Pioneer thing. They'd have been in Wyoming if it had anything to do with the traditional Mormon Pioneers.

There are plenty of LDS church history sites in and around the areas that the Romney's visited. Lee's Ferry (site of the old time Colorado river crossing) was operated by Mormons. Jacob Hamblin, another Mormon, helped to settle the areas in Northern Arizona, Southern Utah.

Lots of sites to visit if they had the desire. I've no idea if they did visit any. However, since Romney's family traveled to Mexico from Utah through Arizona (crossing at Lee's Ferry), I wouldn't be surprised if the Romney's mentioned their ancestor's travels through the areas they were visiting.

Paul म्हणाले...

Looks like they're picking spots based on natural beauty and geological uniqueness to me. Zion is one of the most spectacular places I've ever seen.

The Crack Emcee म्हणाले...

"My Mom and Dad began the tradition, showing their grandchildren the majesty of our country and teaching them about the sacrifices and character of the pioneers."

Which leaves out so much of our real American history they're sure to grow up idiots,...

The Crack Emcee म्हणाले...

I wonder, now that Romney has a black grandkid, will he ever explain slavery, it's ramifications, and the Mormon position on blacks for a century?

Like other whites, he probably calls leaving all that out a "well-rounded education"….

Ben Morris म्हणाले...

Oh, I know this one: Kid has no backback b/c he had to run from setting camera timer.

Any more 2-Minute Mysteries for us?

The Crack Emcee म्हणाले...

jacksonjay,

"Damn they're White! Go Crack…."

Thank you:

Conserve Liberty,

"Exactly yhe type of thing my parents did when my brother and I were young, and my wife and I did when our children were young."

Said by a guy with the avatar of a slaveholding rapist who had children whipped and even disgusted George Washington for it. Did your parents ever tell you that? No? So you just got the propaganda and call it an education.

William,

"For all the talk about inequality, the greatest advantage you can have in life is to come from a happy, intact family."

Said like a member of the race that sold blacks willy-nilly for centuries and now insists we form conventional relationships and pull ourselves up by the bootstraps whites deprived from us.

Man, you guys are so perceptive of America when you speak of it. Actually, no:

There's Reason Whites Don't Want America Understood

Mary Martha,

"The use of the term 'pioneers' sets off my Mormon alert."

Shhh - these "gentile" idiots don't think cult. That's why they want him in the White House. Can you imagine - with the history of the Mormons and their leadership's control over followers - how stupid allowing that would've been?

Looks like the photo's from Moab. It's a cool place if you want to get the willies from a landscape.

DKWalser,

"I wouldn't be surprised if the Romney's mentioned their ancestor's travels through the areas they were visiting."

"Yes, Kids, our cult used to live here but, we were lying perv conartistss then, too, and got chased away."

They'll never forget it,...

Moose म्हणाले...

Hey - since someone else brought it up - is squatting ladylike?

MathMom म्हणाले...

Crack,

I set out to read a lot of books by black authors a while back. These authors could not be Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton.

One book I read, Out of America, by Kieth Richburg, was very interesting to me, because Mr. Richburg, a correspondent for the Washington Post, lived in Africa for three years, and came back to America thankful that his ancestors survived slave ships, rather than living in a hell-hole where his life expectancy would be about 40 years (I'm going from memory, can't put my hands on my copy at the mo).

Might be interesting for you to give it a look. Can get it for $0.01 plus shipping used on Amazon.

Just so you know, I pray for you every day.

Michael K म्हणाले...

"Next year: The Al-Can Highway."

About 20 years ago I took my kids to Alaska where we rented a motor home for two weeks and went all over the state. The kids climbed on glaciers, hiked in Denali, keeping an eye out for bears and moose, and camped every night.

Next year I hope to do the same with my grandchildren.

MathMom म्हणाले...

Michael K -

Good on you! We lived there and really miss it, so we go back every chance we get. My 60th birthday was spent there in February. Got to see aurora for the first time in 20 years.

Go for it!

a psychiatrist who learned from veterans म्हणाले...

It's kind of an ostentatious display for me. It's kind of, 'You may be part of the 47% that doesn't have 22 grand kids.' Makes me glad I have a president who doesn't have any. I admire a guy like Bill Gates: competed, made a clear contribution, has maybe 4 kids, tries to help the most disadvantaged. Vacations? I read he hung out observing a gorilla colony once, maybe that one where the females are renowned for having sex.

veni vidi vici म्हणाले...

One sees this and has the tiny inkling that, perhaps, he was too good a guy for the presidency. Maybe the office didn't deserve him.