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.
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.
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
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