I Don’t Mean To Brag – But Maybe I Do

I WAS GOING TO WRITE MORE ABOUT THE IRANIAN DEBACLE – BUT . . .

Instead Of Making Myself Even More Aggravated Writing About The Sickness Of Iran . . . I Decided Instead to Write About Something I Know Quite a Bit About Firsthand, Given How America is Setting Itself Up to Celebrate . . . 250-Years Of America’s Constitutional Republic.

HERE IS WHERE THE BRAGGING COMES-IN:

Outside Of Hawaii, Alaska And A Few Other States . . . Anne & I Have Literally Traveled to Every State in the Union. We Have Flown Over the Entire Country from Coast to Coast. We’ve  Driven Across America from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of America.

We’ve Even Motorcycled Across America with Anne More or Less Acting as our “Sweep” in our SUV, With Bottled Drinking Water For All The Riders & First Aid Safety Paraphernalia.

We’ve Been To Major American Cities Including . . . Washington, Boston, New York, Pittsburgh, Miami, Atlanta, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Nashville, Houston, Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Chicago, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Portland, Seattle, Oklahoma City, Little Rock . . . And Mostly Every-Where Else In Between.

We’ve  Crossed The Rocky Mountains, Drove through the Great Plains, Sweltered in the Northern Nevada Desert, Dipped our Toes in the Atlantic & Pacific Oceans.

We’ve Eaten Seafood from Both Seas, Ate Texas Brisket, Ribs & Whataburger’s. We Dined-On Louisiana Gumbo, Ate Chi-Town Hot Dogs & New York City Little Italy Pizzas.

We Sat Center Stage at the Grand Old Opry, Touched the Shuttle & Walked in the Famous Control Room of Mission Control at the Houston Space Center. We all but Touched the Hallowed Artifacts of Davy Crocket & James Bowie at the Alamo . . . And we Walked Miles in the Footprints of the Yankee & Rebel Warriors throughout Many of the Battle Sites of the Civil War.

We Stood At The Grave-Site Of JFK & Gave Reverence At The  Funeral Of A Veteran At Arlington.

We Drove By SUV & Rode By Motorcycle Through The 17.6 Mile Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. I Received the Key to the City of Wytheville Virginia. And we Toured Harper’s Ferry Made Famous by Abolitionist John Brown.

Our Countless Miles Traveled Through America Reminds Me Of Johnny Cash’s Famous Song . . . I’ve Been Everywhere Man – I’ve Been Everywhere . . . And We’re Not Yet Done Exploring America.

NO ONE NEEDS TELL ANNE OR MYSELF OF THE GREATNESS OF AMERICA:

America Has Always Been Great. America was Great Long Before Trump Said it Wasn’t . . . And America will Continue to be Great Long After Trump & Whomever Else Becomes President in the Future.

Anne & I Knew Long Ago Of America’s Greatness . . . Before the Visiting Tourists from Around the World Discovered America Up-Close-And-Personal.

What Surprises Me, are the Many American Pundits who are Speaking & Writing About America as if they Just Discovered America’s Greatness for the First Time.

Please Understand This . . . In My Most Humble Opinion – What Makes America Great is Not American Wealth. It is Not the Geography. It is Not the Military Power. And Believe It Or Not . . . It is Not Even the US Constitution – Even Though the Things I Just Listed are Huge Contributors to the Greatness of America . . . What Makes America Truly Great Are The People.

After A Lifetime Of Travel South Of The Canadian Border, with Thousands of American People Encounters . . . Anne & I Would be Hard Pressed to Name any Relationship with Americans who we Have Met to be Anything Other than Great, Especially Rural Americans From Flyover Country.

If There Is Anything That Upsets Me About The 250th Celebration Of American Independence . . . It is that Anne, the Boys and I Are Not in Places Like the Washington Mall Celebrating Alongside all of our Dear American Friends.

But Make No Mistake About-It . . . Come this November, we will Catch-Up with the Celebrations at Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. And We Might Just Cross The Border Next Week To Do Some Hooting & Hollering.

FOR MY CO-CANADIAN CITIZENS WHO MIGHT WANT TO KNOW . . .

Anne & I Have Been Across Canada From Newfoundland To Vancouver Island.

We Traveled Across The Canadian Rockies Several Times. We’ve Been to Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta & British Columbia.

We Have Eaten Fresh Lobsters, Cod & Salmon Directly from the Atlantic. We Eat Montreal Bagels (The Best In The World), Montreal Smoked Meat Unrivaled by Pastrami or Corned Beef, and we Eat Real Poutine . . . Not the Phony Stuff Offered Outside Quebec.

In The Rest Of Canada, we Salivate with Beavertails, the Overly Sweet Taste of Fried Dough Smothered with Cinnamon & Brown Sugar.

Anne & I Have Rough Camped (Under The Stars) and Fished in the Far Northern Bush of Quebec. We Have Seen the Massive Potash Deposits of Saskatchewan, and the Oil Rigs of Alberta. And in Vancouver, we Ate Breakfast on the Snow-Covered Ski Slopes within the City Limits and then Had Lunch Later-On . . . Watching the Sail Boaters Work their Magic Just Off Vancouver City’s Shoreline.

And Like The United States Of America . . . There is Always a Kind Word, Warm Smile, and a Helping Hand Amongst the People of Canada.

WE ARE TRULY BLESSED TO LIVE IN SUCH GLORIOUS COUNTRIES:

I Haven’t Even Scratched The Surface To The Greatness Of American & Canadian People.

On July First . . . Canada Will Celebrate Our One Hundred & Fifty-Ninth Anniversary Of Confederation . . . And Even Though we Have a Cockamamie Federal Government that is Bringing Canada Too Far to the LEFT, there is Still Plenty of Reasons to Celebrate . . . All Of Which Makes Canada Unique In A Great Way.

On July Fourth . . . America Tips its Hat to a Quarter Century of Building the Freest Country on the Planet, With The Most Diverse People To Be Found Anywhere.

The People Of Both Countries Have A Great Deal For Which To Celebrate.

Best Regards . . . Howard Galganov