On to South Carolina - Day Three

Up early today and another hearty breakfast at the hotel, packing and out the door by nine-ish in the morning...this is good timing for us. The calm voice in the GPS of Carol's car directed us easily

Going down Route 81

out of Arlington and soon we were heading down Route 81 in the mountains of Virginia. This is a beautiful drive and we elected to take this route even though it is about half an hour longer than if we had taken Route 95 South from DC. Our destination is Chapin, South Carolina and our friends Tom and Debbie. We met these wonderful folks while we were cruising back in 1999 and have been good friends since. The weather today is fantastic and the driving long but easy. We have been enjoying an audio book about life on the road in an Airstream, which is our dream. From Virginia to North Carolina and on to South Carolina the road treated us well with not much traffic and good rest stops. The scenery along the way was spectacular. I was amazed at the many colors of blue

Mountains along the road.

that the mountains offered up.  Our country never ceases to amaze me both with the scenery and the great people that live here, although I have been observing that more and more people seem to be involved with their phones while driving, passing me at 80+ MPH and looking solely at their phone. Somewhere along the route we found a Walmart, as there is always a Walmart along the road, and we needed to pick up something so vitally important that I cannot remember just what it was. While we were at the Walmart we found that they had salads to go and picked up a couple for lunch. Later in the Day we found a North Carolina roadside stop in the mountains and had lunch and watched some cattle on a far hillside. Back on the road we listened to our book and chatted, made phone calls which all made the time pass quickly. We arrived in Chapin after dark and the GPS took us right to our destination, but I just could not distinguish just which house was Tom and Debbie's, but Debbie stepped out the door just as I was calling Tom. We had arrived. It was so good to see these two as we just do not have the opportunity to hang out too often and we really enjoy their company. After chatting and carrying luggage we sat down to an absolutely wonderful meal that Debbie and Tom had prepared.

Dinner at Debbie and Tom's house

Did I mention great cooks they are. We chatted late into the night and caught up on all that has happened since we last got together a couple of years ago. We first met these two in Hardin, Illinois while cruising the Great Loop in our boat. We cruised with them from that little town on the Illinois River to Tampa Bay, Florida and met up with them again in Key Largo. We had a lot of adventures together over that four month period cruising Americas waterways in our little boats, and as you can imagine we had lots to reminisce that evening.

Starting Out - Day One

Ah, the first real day of retirement and a new beginning, all starting with a road trip. This trip has been a while in planning and the plans have changed so many times I cannot count, but here it is. The bags are packed and in the car, everything is checked and double checked. Carol filled her car with gas the other day (we are taking her Subaru) and everything is done. All that needs to be done now is stop at Dunkin Donuts for some coffee for the road. We are fortunate that a Dunkin Donuts is right on the corner near our house and this is the way so many trips start. We get our coffee and take the onramp down to route 195 and and start the trip. . . we get about one mile down the road when I remember that the EZPass is still in my car. Our grand start begins with a quick return home to get the EZPass, and we might as well get one more umbrellas too. . . the next time down the onramp was more successful and we begin in earnest. The miles and the hours click by and we soon find ourselves crossing the Hudson River  with the view of New York City on our left and the Palisades on our

Hudson River & the Palisades

right. On to New Jersey. Route 95 South through New Jersey is not the countries most scenic route, but it does have it's areas of interest. Seaports like Bayonne and Elizabeth City come into view and there is always activity at the airport in Newark, right next to the highway. New Jersey also has some of the best rest areas...we stop at the Dolly Madison Service Area and refresh.

At Dolly Madison Service Area

The road was kind to us today as we traveled south and the miles ticked by and we had lots of good conversation about family and friends and life after retirement..there is a lot of unknown about this retirement thing and it does bring some concerns as all unknown things do but we figure that we can work it out. Soon we rolled past Baltimore and made the turn to head to Washington, DC. Our original plans were to attend the inaugural ceremonies on the 20th but it was just getting to close to visit everyone we wanted to visit and see the things we wanted to see, so I let our Senator know I would not be picking up the tickets that were so graciously offered. We made arrangement to stay in Arlington VA at a Clarion, right near Arlington Cemetery. We arrived in the early afternoon, checked in and headed off

Our room had a full kitchen!

to the Metro stop a couple of blocks away. Now as you know, we are old and feeble folks so you can imagine how well we managed the stupid machines that meter out the Metro Passes... but after several attempts we got a couple of passes and made our way on the Silver line into DC proper, an 8 minute ride, three

Me trying to figure out the Metro. . .

stops away. As always DC was amazing, and even more so because of the upcoming Inaugural Ceremonies. Every where we looked there was a flurry of activity as preparations were being made to handle the arriving crowds. There were barricades on every street and many roads were blocked off. Even considering all the activity, it was good to be back in our nations capitol again. We always enjoy visiting here.

Our first stop was at The White House Gift Shop. . . and boy did they have the Donald Trump stuff, hats and shirts and cups towels and stuff that you cannot imagine.

So of course we were obligated to spend way too much on this sort of stuff so we can hand it out to friends... this will gratify some and irritate others. Taking the Metro back to Arlington that evening we stopped at Ireland's Four Courts Pub and had a great evening meal to finish up the day.

Barricades near the White House

Then a short walk back down the hill to the hotel. And this wraps up day one. A long day indeed but a good start to our road trip, and completely without incident, well, except for forgetting the EZPass, but easy time on the road, and an easy time finding our way around Washington DC.