An Exhilarating Spring Swing
By Dave McGraw
Thursday, November 18, 2004
Our Spring 2004 whirlwind tour of the East coast has now drawn to a conclusion. I am left with many memories, several of which are etched quite deeply into my psyche. Standing before the computer that defeated the world chess champion, watching a magnificent actor bring Thomas Jefferson to life, taking that second big drop while riding the Big Bad Wolf roller-coaster, and being passed by a huge tractor-trailer while I am cruising at 83 mph on a crowded, narrow roadway at night, are moments of seraphic reason and abject terror that stand out against the backdrop of what was a very busy, entertaining, and educational journey.
I was most gratified to have the opportunity to pass some of my own knowledge and 
philosophy on to Kayla, the youngest, and probably last, of my progeny. It is this sharing that I hope is the most lasting aspect of the trip. I endeavored to impress on her the ultimate values of human reason and individual liberty. We shared a remembrance of the giants of reason who came before us and made our liberty a birthright. Giants who brought forth a shining beacon of a new nation that chased the ancient and evil shadows of a hundred tyrannies around the globe into a barely remembered history.
Along our way we were awestruck by grand art and architecture, satiated with epicurean delights, pampered in luxurious hotels, entranced by sublime museums, thrilled on intense amusement rides, roasted by the bright 75 degree sun, and generally exhilarated, embracing both body and mind in a grand style.