Venting about the U.S. Presidential election

Photo from my Instagram Story last night:  My Jeep at the polls

America voted yesterday.  Despite Hillary Clinton winning more popular votes, Donald Trump won the electoral college... And on January 20, 2017, Trump will be inaugurated as our next President of the United States.

Photo credit: https://psmag.com/trump-vs-clinton-fighting-the-national-debt-ef127b9f5be6#.icgwa3p49

While I won't explicitly share on Garth's Blog how I voted, it's easy math: I voted for the Presidential candidate whom I thought had the best chance of stopping the LEAST MORAL/ MOST UNQUALIFIED candidate from winning (though none of the major candidates could claim much of a moral high ground).


Specifically, my conscience wouldn't allow me to vote for a man who...

...Is endorsed by the KKK, degrades women and graphically boasts about sexually assault, makes fun of disabled people, categorizes Mexicans as drug dealers and rapists, pushes for a ban on Muslims, racially stereotypes POCs and inner city residents interchangeably, threatens to abolish relationships with our international allies, disregards the validity of the democratic voting process/ peaceful transfer of Presidential power, changes his position on abortion out of political convenience, wants to deport every undocumented alien without offering any hope for a path to citizenship, cited "Eye for an eye" as a favorite Bible verse, and doesn't even read books.

Note: I have sources for each of the above.  But the list goes on and on.

Continued below, after a couple of my tweets...

Scripture was quoted by both Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine in their concession speeches.

Trump's Scripture quote?  "Eye for an eye."

— Garth Hamilton (@garth_hamilton) November 9, 2016

@kathleenRose70 Ha! Funny that the only Scripture which Trump could quote was the verse Jesus refuted.

— Garth Hamilton (@garth_hamilton) November 9, 2016

For me personally, last night seemed like a nightmare that I couldn't wake up from (or fall asleep to escape). I was shocked, discouraged, and depressed as the results of each state's votes were gradually reported live by the equally stunned cable news anchors. I wept for this country. I barely slept. And I continued to feel ill today, throughout my work shift at Delta Airlines.

Photo from my Instagram Story:  This morning's Delta breakroom was a mix of tears and cheers.

How could this have happened? My own loved ones may be direly affected by Trump's worldview and proposed policies. Woman and minorities may continue to be dismissed as second class citizens. And the United States may cut ourselves off from the nations that we should be reaching out to in cooperation for ending war, genocide, human trafficking, environmental neglect, hunger, and poverty.


Yet I do not look down upon nor judge any of my family and friends who voted differently than I did. We are all Americans.  Countless veterans have fought and died for our liberties, including choosing who will represent us in government.  And I am thankful for these freedoms.

Tonight in my youth group teaching, I challenged my students to support candidates whose lives look the most like Jesus Christ (Without even hinting about which Presidential candidate I voted for last night). I will be lifting up President-elect Trump in my prayers. I have hope for the future of this country, and for our world. And I am encouraged by the assurance that God still reigns on His throne.

Regardless of any election results, love and peace will ultimately win!

Flying home from hiking in Switzerland

Written last weekend, from Switzerland’s Zurich airport:

Ice climbing in Iceland (to prep for my Mont Blanc climb in France this June with Aaron, Fleur, and Manu and my Mount Hood climbs in March) got pushed back a bit.

The reason:  It turns out Delta’s inaugural New York-Reykjavik flight wasn’t scheduled to launch until last Thursday… Not enough time to make it home for my work shift tomorrow.  Another family visit to South Africa was ruled out, as well.

Zurich:  Me and Bo, after climbing the stairs up to the south steeple of Grossmunster cathedral

Rather than hang around the house for 6 ½ days, my dad and I flew to Switzerland for a few days.  Apologies to my buddies in Italy and Switzerland who have been asking about getting together while I’m in the region.  Next time!

Bo and I flew standby and got Delta's Business Elite cabin seats on the overseas flight from New York to Switzerland, hiked and toured the snowy Zurich area, and are now about to fly back home to the U.S. in Business Elite seats again!

My dad and I take a train from Zurich up to the Swiss hiking trails last weekend.

A photo posted by Garth Hamilton (@garth_hamilton) on Mar 13, 2016 at 6:11pm PDT

I’ll Instagram some Switzerland photos and share some stories on Garth’s Blog when we get back to the States.  I also penned a few upcoming adventure blog posts while we‘ve been overseas, with pics to be added.

Next time we’re in the region, little Lena and Levi are gonna love feasting on the Alps!

Up next…

“Just Read” book reviews of:

“Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” “Star Wars: Aftermath,” and other new canon Star Wars novels!

Belgium, Pt. 1- Australian surfboard upset

Levi took his first international flight to Europe last week, and @delta gave him a front row seat!

A photo posted by Garth Hamilton (@garth_hamilton) on Oct 12, 2015 at 5:59pm PDT

A second round of Australian surfing just wasn't meant to be.  And to make it worse, Australian Surfboard Upset sounds more like a crowdbreaker game I'd devise for my church youth group than a respectable blog post title.  It can be hard for a youth pastor's brain to switch modes.  


Just prior to this month's Hamilton family European vacation, I had sent my parents to Australia for a few weeks.  My plan was to meet them in Sydney for a couple days, fly home to the U.S., and then bring Kathy and the kids to Europe the very next day.

In Sydney, I would do the tourist thing with my folks, visit some Aussie friends while I'm in town, and finally hit Bondi Beach for some surfing.  Australia boasts the BEST surfing I've had in my life, hands down.


Long story short, I screwed up my visa.  Everything got fixed... But after all that hassle, the flight from L.A. to Sydney was oversold anyway.  Ironically, a solid year of scoring a ton of Business Elite seats for my Delta buddy pass riders had lead to me getting stuck in L.A.

Thankfully, one of my favorite buddies Joseph saved me from an overnight stay in LAX airport by letting me crash in one of his rental houses in Hollywood. After a post-midnight nosh at In-N-Out Burger, Joseph set me up in a room so I could write my most recent blog post (see link to that previous "Salt Lake City- Delta Velvet 360" post) and get some sleep.

I'd make one last attempt to fly out to Australia the next evening.

Open air breakfast of paleo coconut pancakes and coffee in Hollywood, courtesy of Candace

None of my photos with Joseph are really worth sharing here, but my Instagram followers may remember this photo collage of my most recent Hollywood visit:

Sunset Blvd, Hollywood last weekend, with my good buddy @joeshoots3d

A photo posted by Garth Hamilton (@garth_hamilton) on Jun 14, 2015 at 3:25pm PDT

The next evening's L.A. flight to Sydney was also oversold, so I flew home to start our family European vacation a few days early.  Sadly, little Lena was ill when I got back.

Rather than flying to Europe early, we spent those extra few days waiting for Lena to get better.  I even stayed home on Sunday to take care of Lena, so Mommy could watch Levi in the church nursery.

Other than getting out to climb or seeing the occasional friend, most of my remaining week of Delta vacation was spent at home.

Climbing intro lesson for my friend Gwen, just to get her belay certified at Stoneworks Climbing Gym

A few days later, Mommy finally gave Lena a clean bill of health.  We scooped up Lena and Levi, hurried to PDX Airport, and loaded those little Ls on the very next departing plane.

Economy Comfort seats for all of us: That's airlinese for Fancy Coach

Coming next, after leading a NW Wilderness climb to the summit of the South Sister volcano and our thrilling scramble/ rappel down the Mystery Trail...

Belgium, Pt. 2- The story finally begins!

The Netherlands: Zuid-Kennemerland hiking and Haarlem biking

This is Part 2 of 2 of my mini-mini-travelogue from Europe last month.  Check out the link to Part 1 of my story.

Stories and photos from other recent overseas trips and hiking/mountain climbing adventures are on the way!

Setting off from Haarlem on my bicycle to Zuid-Kennemerland last month. #travel

A photo posted by Garth Hamilton (@garth_hamilton) on May 19, 2015 at 5:20pm PDT

From my new Instagram page: Bicycling from Haarlem to Zuid-Kennemerland, the nature reserve suggested by my Twitter friends Martijn and Antonette from we12travel travel/outdoor adventure blog.

The title of last month's on-location post (drafted on the plane ride over the ocean and uploaded in the  Amsterdam airport), The Netherlands: Bicycling to Haarlem, was a bit off the mark.  Turns out that "Bicycling FROM Haarlem" would've been more accurate.  Chalk that up to optimism and an unrealistically ambitious itinerary.

The bicycle rental didn't actually happen until Haarlem, where I began my ride.  This was because back in Amsterdam, a couple of delays had forced me to tweak my plans to maximize my daylight.  And nothing would deter me from bicycling to my destination: Nationaal Park de Zuid-Kennemerland.



To make up for lost time, I hopped a train from Amsterdam to Haarlem instead.  This quick European daytrip would be over before I knew it.

Jetlagged train ride from Amsterdam to Haarlem (I changed my mind after telling a friend I wouldn't share this photo-- You know who you are!)

Haarlem train station, inside and out

It didn't take long to spot a bicycle rental shop near the Haarlem train station.  Friendly owner Mustafo only spoke about 20 words of English, but he helpfully walked me through the quirks of his of his prized storefront model.

Mustafo draws up the paperwork

Navigating my bicycle across town to check in at the hostel was pretty easy once I got my bearings.  Learning to keep that fixed gear bike stable while balancing a luggage bag on my back... well, that wasn't exactly among my most graceful moments.

A new set of wheels

Two-wheeled rush hour traffic in Haarlem

The Gravestenbrug over the River Spaarne

The Corrie ten Boom Museum

Vine video of the Gravestenbrug:  Snipe the "unmute" button above to hear the sound of those church bells ringing out over the River Spaarne

The clean and stylish Local Botique Hostel was still, for a few more hours, a ghost town when I rode up and parked my bicycle.  There was already a full house booked for that night, but I had checked in too early in the day to round up new friends (my typical routine when I arrive at an overseas hostel) for the day's adventure.

The Local Botique Hostel-  Love the friendly staff!

After dropping off my bag in my dorm room, I climbed back onto my bicycle for the ride out of town.  Some residential navigation was necessary to locate the highway.  Curse those confusing roundabouts!



Once on the highway, the route to Nationaal Park de Zuid-Kennemerland was an easy ride.  And as Anto had told me the day before, the park itself was wonderful.  The wild animals were out playing, though I missed the "Scottish cattle with the big horns" that she said I should've been watching out for.

From my new Instagram:

Beautiful Dutch #hiking. The Netherlands could use a few more hills, though. #travel

A photo posted by Garth Hamilton (@garth_hamilton) on Apr 18, 2015 at 6:56pm PDT

The Netherlands- Bicycling to the shoreline of Oosterplas last month

A photo posted by Garth Hamilton (@garth_hamilton) on May 18, 2015 at 12:13am PDT

Alarmingly, time quickly got away from me.  I'd been frequently hopping off my bicycle to hike trails that were too rough for my tires.  All of that extra hiking time added up, and I found myself at the far end of Kennemerland park with less than an hour before the bike rental shop closed.

I raced down the highway, back to Haarlem, and returned my rental bicycle just as Mustafo was closing up shop at the dinner hour.  We bid each other "vaarwel" as I walked outside to continue my sightseeing on foot.

Later that evening, I met some friends who were in town at Tapas Bar El Pincho to wind down for the day.  The staff was kind enough to let us enjoy their cushy, open-air patio seating until long after the sun went down.

**********

The following morning's sunrise was beautiful as I checked out of the Local Boutique Hostel.  I took time to enjoy the quiet walk back to the Haarlem train station.  For once, there would be no rushing to catch my mid-morning plane back to the States.

Yesterday's morning run from @helloimlocal Boutique Hostel to catch the train. #travel

A photo posted by Garth Hamilton (@garth_hamilton) on Apr 19, 2015 at 7:12pm PDT

Back at the Amsterdam airport, a single Business Elite seat remained open for the flight home to Portland.  I was flying standby.  Despite a couple of extraordinary circumstances that should've sent me to the back of the plane (but hopefully not stranded in Europe), I was awarded that seat up front.

Variations of "You're extremely lucky" were echoed by several of the flight attendants and one of the gate agents as I was assigned my seat.

Alternately, the head purser serving my side of the cabin walked past my seat and whispered, "It's a miracle,"


I prefer to think that it was the latter.

Beginning next weekend on Garth's Blog...

Recent hikes in the U.S. and abroad...

Visiting family and climbing in Bend this weekend...

...And last month's climbs on Mount Hood!