R.A.T. Days 29 - 35

Taking advantage of this year's hurricane season to rediscover America. We're calling it the R.A.T. (Rediscover America Tour). While Sanibel sits on dry dock at Safe Cove boatyard in Port Charlotte, Florida, Jimi and I will be traveling 49 of the 50 U.S. States. Along the way we're going to recapture what America's made of, visiting out-of-the-way and well -known places, reconnecting with friends and family and  much more.

Day 29 - August 18th. Jimi drove to Monroe, Michigan. He took these photos of  a swayback barn and the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station.

Total miles driven: 4988

Day 30 - August 19th. Abandoned St. Agnes Church in Detroit, Michigan

Total miles driven: 5118

Day 31 - August 20th. Abandoned Northville Psychiatric Hospital in Detroit, Michigan

Total miles driven: 5152

Day 32 - August 21st. Together again. Jimi picked me up from the Detroit airport. Jimi enjoyed a few days photographing the decayed areas in Detroit. It was good to see Detroit rebuilding in many other places, and if you talk to the residences of the different neighborhoods it is clear that Detroit is far from beaten.

Total miles driven: 5390

Day 33 - August 22nd. We drove to Manchester, Michigan to visit with Jimi's dad. We helped him provide protection for a lone White Pine and then went out for pizza.

Total miles driven: 5509

The road lined with trees on the way to dad's house.

Pulling in to the driveway of dad's house.

Pizza for supper.

Day 34 - August 23rd. We spent the day in Ann Arbor with long time friends, John and Christa. The were gracious enough to have us in their house and include us in their scheduled activities. Lorie went to the Quaker's Friend's Meeting while Jimi worked on our 'trusty' American made Chevy. Then we accompanied the Williams in viewing a potential condo. Finally, we help prepare for a dinner party and then enjoyed meeting many of John's co-workers. Thank you for your hospitality and many blessings.

Total miles driven: 5509

Day 35 - August 24th. On the road again, we stopped in Ford territory and toured the Rouge - Ford's F-150 plant. It's a very enlightening experience. Rest of the day we drove finally landing in South Bend, Indiana.

Total miles driven: 5743

Statue outside the touring entrance of the plant.

I  was flabbergasted by this sign.

Amish country in Indiana. 

Even the Wal-Mart parking lot had reserved areas for the horse and buggies.

R.A.T. Days 22 - 28 on the road

Taking advantage of this year's hurricane season to rediscover America. We're calling it the R.A.T. (Rediscover America Tour). While Sanibel sits on dry dock at Safe Cove boatyard in Port Charlotte, Florida, Jimi and I will be traveling 49 of the 50 U.S. States. Along the way we're going to recapture what America's made of, visiting out-of-the-way and well -known places, reconnecting with friends and family and  much more.

Day 22 - August 11th.  Still driving North-East we stopped in Dover, Maine for a while and then settled for the  night in Brunswick, Maine.

Total miles driven: 3646

This part of the country is a great place for lighthouse photos. Jimi enjoys spending time shooting while I was at the library.

Day 23 - August 12th. Heading up to the Acadia National Forrest, we passed by the Trash Barn and had to stop. Massive amounts of vintage stuff lined the property. Any one person could spend a week going through each item and still not see everything. We poked around for a while, found a couple of things to purchase and headed on our way. 

Total miles driven: 3860

an "American Pickers" dream barn.

Day 24 - August 13th. We mostly drove today making it to Killington, Vermont.

Total miles driven: 4178

Jimi is making good use of this time for photography.

Cairns on the side of the road.

Day 25 - August 14th. We drove to the Green Mountain National Forest, arriving around 3pm, we finally had some down time.

Total miles driven: 4205

Day 26 - August  15th.  We started the day with a hardy breakfast in the Forrest. Going through Sodus Point, New York we found the General Lee.

Total miles driven: 4342

Hardy breakfast

The General Lee

Day 27 - August 16th. Lockport, New York

Great stop in Lockport, NY to visit with our cruiser friends

,Gary and Judy. Thanks for your hospitality guys.

Total miles driven: 4616

Niagra Falls from the Canada side.

Us and Niagra Falls from the U.S. side.

Day 28 - August 17th. A slight detour in our trip. I had to fly to McAllen, Texas for a few days. In the meantime, Jimi will drive towards Detroit, Michigan. I'll meet back up with him on Friday, day 32. He drove to Willowick, Ohio.

Total miles driven: 4822

Historic Lockport locks where all goods passed to go west.

This 1830's home belongs to our friends, Judy and Gary of S/V Cool Runnings. I'm hoping it will be our future home...fingers crossed.

R.A.T. Days 15 through 21.

Taking advantage of this year's hurricane season to rediscover America. We're calling it the R.A.T. (Rediscover America Tour). While Sanibel sits on dry dock at Safe Cove boatyard in Port Charlotte, Florida, Jimi and I will be traveling 49 of the 50 U.S. States. Along the way we're going to recapture what America's made of, visiting out-of-the-way and well -known places, reconnecting with friends and family and  much more.

Day 15 - August 4th. Our second day in Washington DC, we walked the National Mall, toured a few Smithsonian buildings, the Capitol building and the Library of Congress.  

Total miles driven: 2630

Thomas Jefferson Memorial

One of the many walk ways and gardens behind the Smithsonian buildings.

Inside the Library of Congress.

The Library of Congress and it's thousands of books.

I got a chuckle out of this quote and had to share.

Day 16 - August 5th. We drove to New Castle, Delaware. We took advantage of the library, ate at a little sandwich shop highly rated on Trip Advisor and gawked over the apparent history in the buildings.

Total miles driven: 2743

Day 17 - August 6th. We drove to Glen Rock, PA where my friend of 34 years, Judy Small, lives with her husband, Gary. They wined, dined and housed us for the night.

Total miles driven: 2901

The porch of their beautiful home.

A fabulous dinner with Gary's dad, Judy, Gary, Phillip, Lorie and Jimi.

Judy and I - friends for life!

Gary, Judy and Phillip

Day 18 - August 7th. Three states in one day. On our way out of Pennsylvania we stopped in Easton to eat lunch at 3rd & Ferry Fish Market where Javen, Judy & Gary's son, is the head Chef.. We then went in to New Jersey for a quick stop in to our hotel and was then off to spend the evening in New York City.

Total miles driven: 3075

DUMBO park under the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges. This is always one of Jimi's favorite places to photograph when we visit New York.

Jimi, Lorie & Chef Javen

3rd & Ferry Fish Market

Day 19 - August 8th.  Driving towards Maine,  we stopped along the way to snap several photos.

Total miles driven: 3320

When we told the GPS to avoid tolls, it routed us on a new three week journey.

Day 20 - August 9th. Boston, Massachusetts. We spent s few hours walking the downtown area including four churches. The first church tried to feed us lunch (we should have eaten, but didn't), the second church wouldn't let us in, the third church, we enjoyed coffee and lovely conversation and the last church required we pay to enter. Such a diversity. So, we moved on the to Library.

Total miles driven: 3496

Lorie working in the Boston Library.

Lighthouse

Day 21 - August 10th. No pictures today; our attention was focused on a new problem. Just a few miles on the road our Astro broke down in the midst of lunch hour traffic. Jimi pushed the van a couple hundred yards to a parking lot where we took a few minutes to scratch our heads at 'what to do now'. He was sure the fuel pump had gone out. After a good amount of time talking to his brother, the Master Mechanic, and pondering, he decide the best course of action would be to buy a new pump.
We walked for miles to reach an auto parts store and $300 later we were walking back. The parking lot where the van sat was large with a McDonalds on one side and a Duncan Donuts on the other. We had to find a way to move everything from the van including our mattresses without anyone seeing. . Worried about getting hassled for being on private property and in addition doing mechanical work, we were strategic and incognito. He replaced the fuel pump when we first bought the van and had already cut a hole in the floor of the van to reach it. The operation only took a couple of hours. By now it was close to 7pm. We were hot, hungry, tired and still in the same location we'd  started. The good news is the Astro started right up and we were on our way - now a day behind.

Total miles driven: 3532

R.A.T. Days 8-14; on to the Nation's Capitol

Taking advantage of this year's hurricane season to rediscover America. We're calling it the R.A.T. (Rediscover America Tour). While Sanibel sits on dry dock at Safe Cove boatyard in Port Charlotte, Florida, Jimi and I will be traveling 49 of the 50 U.S. States. Along the way we're going to recapture what America's made of, visiting out-of-the-way and well -known places, reconnecting with friends and family and  much more.

Day 8 - July 28th. After camping the previous night in a National Forest we drove to Vaas, North Carolina. There we spent just a few minutes visiting with a cousin from my mother's side that I hadn't seen in more than 15 years.

                               Along the way we found fuel at it's cheapest and a super cool 'old' sign.

                                                                          Total miles driven: 1408.

Day 9 - July 29th. Now on the Blue Ridge Parkway in the Appalachian Mountains we could take some time to stop and explore whatever we came across. 

Total miles driven: 1669

 A library we stopped at to use the wi-fi. They had a very nice display of things Jimi and I grew up with.

We hiked to this waterfall. It about killed me, but I pushed through. Jimi took this fantastic photo.

 Large mushrooms I found along the side of the road.

Jimi standing in the road, as he's running off to take a photo.

Wild flowers of all colors lined the roads. The bees and butterflies were busy little workers throughout.

Our traveling companion, Squirrel. He sits on the dashboard sometimes watching where we're going and sometimes watching me as Jimi drives.

Day 10 - July 30th. This is the Mabry Mill. It holds a lot of history for the area. We very much enjoyed touring the grounds.

Total miles driven: 1878

Day 11 - July 31st. Still on the Blue Ridge Parkway, Jimi found this old homestead.

Total miles driven: 2086

We camped in this church's parking lot. It was fun to read the history and tour the grounds. Currently the church is only used for Easter services, but locals come here often for a serene place to meditate. 

Day 12 - Aug 1st. Driving along we came across an old homestead. The Ranger was raising the flag just after we drove in.

Total miles driven: 2232

The Appalachian Trail

An old homemade checkerboard set.

The Ranger raising the flag. Jimi asked him if he could take his picture. He said "sure". Afterwards the Ranger giggled and said "you made my day". It was cute.

The butterflies were plentiful and astonishing.

A buck on the side of the road. He paid no never-mind to us as we pulled over to take his picture.

Day 13 - Aug 2nd. We drove to Solomon, Maryland where our friend Heather put us up in a cabin at the Naval Recreation Center. We met her husband, Patrick for the first time, son Jack (3 yrs) and newborn Izzy (1 month). They spoiled us with salad, shrimp wrapped in bacon ca-bobs, steak, potatoes and homemade cheesecake. It was all delicious and their company was long overdue. 

Total miles driven: 2390

Gopher in the side of the road.

The cabin with Jimi, Heather and Pat visiting.

Jack.

Pat grilling; the smells tickle my nose as I remember them.

Heather and Izzy.

I got to hold Izzy - she's so sweet.

Day 14 - Aug 3rd. We didn't get far; we drove to the Smithsonian Air and Space (overflow) Museum and then to Washington DC. The WWII Memorial is so well done, we were a bit choked up. We walked from the Washington Monument, through the WWII Memorial and down the Reflecting Pool to the Lincoln Memorial and finished up with the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial and the Korean War Memorial. After just that little bit, we were wore out and called it a night. 

Total miles driven: 2550 

Discovery

Across the parking area is the Thomas Jefferson Memorial.

The Washington Monument

World War II

On the Pacific side, the bronze in-lays tell a story of the war.

On the Atlantic side, the bronze in-lays tell a story of our men getting ready to go to war.

The fountain of the WWII Memorial. On one side is the Atlantic and the other is the Pacific. Every state is represented with it's own engraved stone. The memorial is very well done.

Yay - this is us in Washing DC.

Standing at the foot of the Lincoln memorial with the Reflection Pool and Washington Monument behind us.

The wall at the Korean War Memorial

The Korean War Memorial

The Lincoln Memorial.

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial

We'll spend Day 15 in DC as well, which will be on next week's post.

We're logging our position a few times a day, so if you're wondering where we're at, follow us on our blog. Here's a link - 

http://www.svsanibel.blogspot.com/p/where-are-we_12.html