Day 23-24 Arriving DC

Montecello vs Mt Vernon:

Jefferson vs Washington.......well, as I said, I really like TJ's house. Very cool design with underground passage (all the support rooms were underground....the stable, the ice house, the house servants quarters, the wine storage, beer storage, kitchen with the line of burners and the clockwork mechanism with weights and pulleys that turns the rotisserie), the inside shudders that come out of the window frameworks, the bedroom with the canopy bed next to his writing desk with the windows overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains, the entrance with the museum-like quality of his keepsakes from Lewis & Clark (as well as other artifacts from around the new country)

GW, on the other hand is situated on the bluff above the Potomac River and therefore has access to cool breezes and FISH! He has grand sloping meadows, vineyards, orchards, and the coolest 16 sided barn. He has a grist mill AND a distillery (and don't think Dan didn't take detailed photos of THAT for recreation in our someday-Montana-ranch), and even though we were too hot and tired to stand in the hour long line to tour his house..........we both picked Mt. Vernon as a place to live.

The day we went to Mt. Vernon was our last day on the road and we needed to get into town in a timely manner to meet the truck and say good-bye to the Victory and the Triumph that had so faithfully transported us across the country. The first hour of our ride out of Portland and the last hour of our ride into Washington, D.C. were the most stressful of the whole journey. (just another reason we are trying to move out of Portland and to Montana where the pace is slower)

Just as the truck pulled away with the bikes, our daughter arrived in the cab from the airport. Our son missed his flight from Dallas, but did join us later in the evening wearing his new cowboy hat. Glenn said "bring your kids" and although they are not "kids" anymore (21 and 22 years old), I am so glad they came to hear Glenn's message and see that there are indeed conservative people out there from their generation and they can go back and spread the word to their peers.......the country needs to be "restored" not "transformed."