I just returned home from the Tea Party Express national bus tour VII -- picked up mail from the P.O.  box, petted Sammy, our greyhound, who was excited to see me, and enjoyed listening to Mark Levin rant on the radio. 

Later, relaxing on the sofa, I reflected back to the tour.  Obviously, the highlight was June 5^th, in Wisconsin, when Gov. Scott Walker won the recall. 

But what I found most charming and symbolic of the grassroots spirit of the Tea Party was our whistle stop in a tiny little town called Englewood, Florida. 

A whistle stop is not a full-blown scheduled rally with sound equipment, sound engineers, staging, etc.  Whistle stops usually consist of our tour buses arriving at a decided location.  Our team (speakers, singers, and entertainers) does a brief meet-and-greet with the patriots.  Then we get back on the buses and head to the next city on the schedule for our rally. 

The crowd of 50 or so flag-waving patriots who greeted our buses in Englewood was extremely excited and enthusiastic.  When I stepped off the bus, my eyes focused on a woman jumping up and down in the crowd.  She was excited to see me.  I ran and gave her a big hug.  The crowd cheered.  It felt like a family homecoming. 

Our buses parked by a little storefront, which was the town's Tea Party headquarters.  "Take Back America" was printed in big block letters on the picture window. 

Our Tea Party Express team hung out quite a while, enjoying the fellowship.

Since this was only a whistle stop, the truck hauling our sound equipment did not accompany us to Englewood.  Our sound guys were on their way to the next location, preparing for the rally. 

Sensing the enthusiastic vibe of the crowd, a staff member dug into a storage bay under one of our buses and found a small sound system with a microphone attached.  This allowed our team to take turns addressing the fired-up, grateful crowd. 

My brief speech encouraged Englewood patriots to continue doing what they are doing.  Gov.  Scott Walker taught us a powerful lesson -- one bold, truly committed conservative can make a huge difference.  Gov. Walker's victory will hopefully emboldened governors across America to take on the unions and rein in unsustainable insane spending.  Hopefully, I inspired patriots with the knowledge that their books, songs, phone calls, letters to the editor, etc. all matter.  Keep doing your part, and we will defeat the Obama administration in November!

Hanging out with the small town Englewood patriots reminded me what the Tea Party is all about, and why our dedicated Tea Party Express team does what we do. 

...Oh my gosh, my lawn has grown a foot since I've been away.  Note to self: call lawn guy.