Today was a rather frantic day on the road passing and outskirting some very major cities. We drove out of Maryland and hit the I-95 north passing through several states. Our drive took us past Baltimore, Philidelphia, across the George Washington Bridge through New York and up past Hartford (sounds like an NHL lineup). The highways are busier here than any we have encountered since we left California. So far we have paid $27.05 in bridge fares and turnpike tolls at 11 or 12 pay booths!! The New Englanders are out to get all of our money!

There is not much to report to you all tonight aside from the few points mentioned here. We are safe and sound at the hotel now in Portland, Maine for the night. We will be crossing the border tomorrow with a destination of Dieppe, New Brunswick to visit with friends.

Day ten brought us from the pretty, sleepy countryside of Virginia into the busy and beautiful capital – Washington D.C. Our drive into the city was not a long one as we stopped last night about 2.5 hours out. It did however take us an hour to find a parking place once we got there, but I’ve got to admit, it was worth the wait; D.C. is a beautiful city. The buildings are old and beautifully sculpted, they look as I like to put it, “like wedding cake” in that they are ornate and trimmed up like a fancy cake. We have noticed that that there are more and more buildings made out of brick and stone as we drive east, and D.C. is no exception.

Our parking spot was only two blocks from the White House and central to the Reflection Pool, Obelisk, Lincolin Memorial and WW II Memorial. We toured them all. Another observation that we have made is that the weather is getting cooler and cooler. It was a brisk, crisp, fall afternoon as we walked around and toured the sights. There are less leaves on the trees here than anywhere we have been yet, it is no trouble to tell that we are getting further and further north. It took us several hours to take in all of the monuments, fountains and sights.

Seeing the Lincoln Memorial was pretty impressive, especially since we could stand at Lincolin’s feet and look back across the length of the Reflecting Pool and see the Obelisk in the distance. Washington D.C. is very beautiful and everything that a capital should be. There are trees and planters and wrought iron fenses everywhere…and not a piece of garbage to be seen.

The White House is very well guarded, with fences, secret service guys (including one standing at the front door and one on the roof) police (on foot, bikes, horses and cars) and plenty of measures that we could not see. It is  set on immaculate lawns and was smaller than I thought it would be. We learned from a sign that the White House has been the home of all of the presidents except for George Washington, which makes it well over 300 years old. You cannot help but feel the history here and again are so glad that we chose such an awesome city to visit on our way home.

Well…the packing took much longer than anticipated – plus we couldn’t resist one last trip into our favourite city last night!! As a result, we didn’t get a lot of sleep last night and we didn’t push through the long drive to Salt Lake City today. We have stopped for some much needed rest and are spending the night in Reno, Nevada, the “biggest, little city in the world”. We are writing to you from a lovely Starbucks where there is endless coffee (much needed) and free internet (much appreciated). We are hoping to get some good sleep, good breakfast and an early start on the road in the morning. Salt Lake City is an 8 hour drive from Reno through the Rockies, so we should see some fantastic scenery along the way.