Thurs., July 8

Whoo hoo! Off and away from Natick, just a bit later than the 8 a.m. launch we’d planned. Er. . . eight hours later. Turns out to be hard to leave a house for a month or two away. Almost as hard as planning which thousand things to bring and which thousand others to leave home. One thing that made the cut was the little bottle of Atlantic seawater E & H collected a couple days ago in Maine. We're hoping to add lots of representative drops to it before we come home, including a little piece of the Pacific. So, off and away at last, car stuffed wheels to ceiling with fishing rods and ball gloves and sleeping bags and tents and books and books and books and ropes and maps and stoves and tarps and assorted electronic gadgets with their chargers. It’s going to be a trip. Five-plus hours later (and a wrong turn that’s convinced us we need yet another gadget) we're with Sally, Jim, Anna, Caitlyn, Joe, Patty in E. Brunswick, NJ. Great company, and Jim’s birthday to boot -- ice cream cake right before bed. Happy birthday, Jim!

July 9

No time for visiting Clare’s old haunts in New Brunswick as planned, sadly, but nice morning with friends doing things that needed to be done and gearing up again. Late lunch in Philly with Josh and Cindy, who rule for a hundred reasons but added another with their generosity -- they bestowed on us a much-needed roof-box that now holds at least half our stuff. Finally a rear window to look out of! Quick night tour of monuments in DC and pledges to come back and actually get out of the car. Got pulled over at a DC traffic light, seemingly for being from Massachusetts. Good thing charges didn’t stick. Late night move on to motel near Fredericksburgh, VA. Ten states in four days, plus a District of Columbia. Not too shabby. We’ve named the new rooftop box “Carrie” and the car “Wayward Son.” Any groans are understandable. A good night not to be camping -- rains come down.

July 10

With Mike and Colleen and Maggie in Bracey, VA! Too short, but long enough for a golf cart ride to the beach and the tallest slide in the world.

Now in a festival of family with Andy and Lauren in NC just over an hour south. So happy to be here!