The seat of power!

Is the seat of power the seat of my Harley or the seat of government, finance or US history? Today I blasted through all of them: government - Washington, finance - New York and US history - Philadelphia. You'll have to decide.

But I can sumerize today in one technical word...YUCK! It was such a frustrating day.

I started off in the western most part of West Virginia. When I left, it was freezing cold and I couldn't get enough cloths on to get warm. I froze until about noon. That's because I spent the entire morning driving through the mountains of West Virginia and Virginia. It was beautiful, but it took me until after 1:00 to cross into Washington DC. Then, what a zoo. There were events going on everywhere for the 4th of July. To top it off, there are no "welcome to the District of Columbia" signs to be found. I went in and out of the place 3 times looking for signs and couldn't find one to get a picture in front of. So, my only picture to prove I was there is in front of the White House...that would be ok if I were happier with the current tenants. But what can you do about public housing?

Then I moved on to Maryland. No welcome sign again. Fortunately, when I crossed into Delaware there was a Maryland sign across the highway. It's a little way's away, but I wasn't going to cut across that road, the traffic was nuts. My luck continued, with Pennsylvinia. No sign at all. I crossed in and out of PA three times at different spots, all with no "welcome to PA" sign. And, I got no picture there. New York, same deal. There was a sign on the George Washington bridge. But I don't think they'd have been too happy if I stopped in the middle of the bridge to take a picture. To top it off, Connecticut did have a sign, but no place to stop to get a picture. So, out of all my travels today, I got pictures for Delaware and New Jersey.

Anyway, here's a happier recap. I did have a beautiful drive through West Virginia. Very long, but the road and views were spectacular. Going through Virginia was cool, when I got close to Washington. It brought back some really happy memories of when my mom and dad lived there in Tysons Corner. I drove through Arlington, VA and then into Washington. It's amazing how fast you can drive past all the major monuments. I saw Washington's, Jefferson's, the White House, Smithsonian and the Capital. Things moved pretty quick after the long haul through the Virginia's. I shot through Maryland, Delaware is only about a 10 minute drive across and then I crossed the Del Memorial bridge into New Jersey. I had some strange emotions when I was going into New Jersey. This is where I graduated high school and one the places I was happiest in all my life. I love south Jersey and count the friends I made there as some of the best friends I've ever had. I guess I should again express my apologies to Tim, Donny and Mr. Steinmetz (the best teacher ever!) for not having stopped to say hi. Anyway, I drove on 295 to Camden and then crossed the Ben Franklin bridge into Philadelphia. I couldn't help but think of the years my dad spent in that city dealing with the Teamsters while he was the District Manager there for UPS. I headed up 95 through Pensylvania and back into New Jersey where it turned into the New Jersey Turnpike. Things got pretty ugly when I got close to New York. The traffic at the toll booths to get off the turnpike and then to cross the George Washington bridge was unreal. I waited in line for an hour at the GW bridge alone. I was in the sun and my bike kept dying because it was getting overheated. Once I got through that toll booth things got much better. I didn't hit any traffic moving through New York and when I got into Connecticut I decided to drive through Greenwhich, the most expensive place in the US to live. I stopped for the night in Stamford, just 6 miles across the CT boarder. In total I drove 701 miles in about 15 hours. So in the past 3 day's I've driven almost 2300 miles and covered 20 states.

Thanks for reading my blog, it feels like I'm talking to you as I type...so it helps me feel connected. Blessings to you.


Yes, the White House is back there...it's just really small.


It say's "Welcome to Maryland", at least they did have a sign.


It took me longer to take this picture than it did to drive across this state!


I do LOVE New Jersey...such happy memories.


This is the best I could do for New York, the beautiful George Washington bridge.


I wonder what it takes to be a member of the Greenwich Water Club?