Great pics, glad you enjoyed your vacation!!

:iagree:

Good to have you back, Wag. It wasn't the same without you manner of stirring the pot! :)

So just how many pit stops were made during the trip? Did you break last years record?

:rofl:

Well here is MO of what is going down:

The US was getting a little tired of taking the brunt of the action in the middle east when we have stood by Israel for so long. So, once Israel had a cause they could through on the table (troop capture) they then went with it. The whole enterance to Gaza deal was small scale enough and nobody in the ME thought Israel and Gaza were going to get through it after Sharon left power. Now what a lot of nations like Syria and Iran are attempting to do is tell Israel its response to Hezbullah attacking and killing/capturing Israel soldiers is 'your response is too aggressive'. How about if the Taliban had told the US in 2001 'your response is too aggressive', what would the concensus have been?

The fact is Hezbullah attackes Israel consistently but this time Israel is really fighting back. Now I'm the first to say 'why the hell do we bother offering any kind of assistance to Israel?' well now I guess Israel was aksed the same question and is trying to be the sidekick, taking out the forces that the US didn't want to get tangled with.

What seems to be missed in all the rhetoric is the fact that Israel is viewing Lebanon as a WAR, not a conflict not a crisis a WAR. News media and some people in the Middle East seem to think this is a conflict that will go away, a series of bombings of your capital is not just going to 'go away'.

I was waiting for some part of this to be blamed on the US and last night I got it. I watched the Syrian ambassador to the US live say "the United States has to get involved and not simply watch this happen". Oh, now the US has to help out in the ME, thanks for letting us know Syria. What about Russia, China, Japan, India, Australia, Canada or a ton of other countries with military forces?

At the end of the day here is the fact, Hezbullah (a terrorist organization holding seats in the Lebanoese parlimant) attacked Israel on Israel's land. They have then proceeded to continue attacking Israel with the grace of the government of Lebanon. Also, it is rumored 100 Iranian troops were seen aiding Hezbullah in setting up rocket sites in south Lebanon, along with selling Lebanon the missle used to sink an Israel naval vessel. How did the weapons get to Hezbullah, via Syria.

Side note: Kim Jong Ill said that any sanctions by the UN would be disregarded and any attacks on possible ICBM sites would be met with a second Korean war. Also Russia took out the head of Chechen militant acts over the last few days, so WWIII while looking visible in the near future, is still a matter of much lesser forces attempting to play with much greater ones IMO.

Welcome back, Wanger! :p

Squeezing in 5 trips to the 9 hole river course during vacation = 45 holes = priceless :thumbup:

Thanks for the Mid East synopsis too!

Haha...it was sweet.

Laura - only had to stop once on the way up (amazing) averaged 77mph and got from MD to VT in about 7 hours. On the way back though we had to stop like 9 times, making it a 9 hour ride home :(

Welcome back, Ryan. Wish I was in VT today- 110 heat index here:mad:

Actually VT was supposed to hit near 109 today... OUCH.

Where in VT?

I have family that lives up in Northern VT, and many years ago when I was younger, I used to spend summers up there. My parents used to rent a cottage on Lake Eden, which is about an hour outside of Burlington. Very relaxing!

Welcome back. Wagner you look about 18 in that pic with your cousin! Lets see some id sir for that beverage!