We are very fortunate to be in the midst of an unusual October dry spell, and once again the open road was calling this morning when I got up.  Tony was already up and felt like riding as well, so we suited up and headed out. Despite everything that is going on, Tony and I still enjoy our time together on the bike, and it was nice to have him riding in my rear view mirror -- almost like old times.  It was warm enough to not need the heated gear on, but I was glad I brought it nonetheless, and I turned it on as we headed home and the sun started to go down. 

As usual, I'm the one in charge, and I decided to head out east into the Cascade foothills.  Just like yesterday the fall leaves were in technicolor, and the roads quiet.  Just like on our cross country trips Tony was able to take a few photos as well.
Now politically Washington is a pretty "Blue" state, although a number of the national polls show it as a rather fey baby-blue for some strange reason, but it really should be about as indigo as you could get.  However, despite it's political leanings, particularly in the Puget Sound region, the state can be oddly conservative.  We have liquor laws that make Utah look like a wet state for one thing, and in Eastern King County where we were riding, it becomes decidedly Republican.  The further east we got, the more Republican it became.  This year we have a very tightly contested Governor's race between the incumbent Democrat, Christine Gregoire who beat out her Republican challenger four years ago by only 131 votes.  That same Republican challenger, Dino Rossi, is back again, complete with his idiotic clueless grin, and combination used-car dealer/real estate salesman personality along with typical Republican outright false negative ads.  His campaign is even running ads in the conservative parts of the state saying "Don't Let Seattle Steal The Election Again - RE-elect Rossi", and the local Rush Limbaugh zombies all continue to bleat like sheep how the election was stolen.  I got so tired of giving those signs the finger that we finally pulled off the side of the road and took one universal "F-U" picture for posterity.While I'm a bit worried about the Governor's race, I'm excited about the election being over and getting to gloat next week over the nincompoop idiots, including the elderly man in the mini-van with Rossi and McCain stickers who about merged me off into the ditch as we were riding home.  Here we had yet another clueless driver (obvious by his bumper stickers) who damn near runs a motorcycle off the road, no doubt while listening to Shawn Hannity remind him that Obama is a secret muslim and Sarah Palin has an IQ above that of wheat toast (and I don't give a rat's ass if she does ride a Harley).  On the bright spot though, we drove past a Mormon church where the youngsters were probably about to be called into the Bishop's office if not excommunicated, for having an Obama sign waving rally on the street in front after church!  We gave them a honk in support and reved the bikes for good measure.

Meanwhile I get to dig back into the taxes in the morning.  The latest demand from the IRS is that I provide a copy of each item deposited into any of my accounts in 2005 and 2006 so they can match them up with 1099 forms to see if I'm hiding any income.  I guess they need to find more money to pay off those spa treatments for bank executives included in the latest economic bailout.  Lets see, at a cost of $25 an hour plus $2 a copy times four financial institutions, I'm guessing I'll end up with a bill about $800 to $1,000.  I also learned that the costs of complying with an IRS audit are not tax deductible!  Isn't that just special?!?  I just guess I need to find a urinal near an IRS office.