On Wednesday with the weather fine and the promise of rain on Thursday we headed into DC for a major walk though the Tidal Basin and down (up?) the Mall. We took the Metro to Smithsonian by the Castle and walked around the Tidal Basin to the Jefferson, FDR and MLK Memorials. We continued on to the WWII Memorial which was mobbed, it was Veteran’s Day! We continued down the Mall to the National Museum of the American Indian where we had lunch with choices of “Indian” food from both American continents. We spent more time than we expected touring the museum. We returned through rush hour to the coach with sore feet and full minds. We had walked over 7 miles and really enjoyed it. Thursday was chill and rainy and we stayed around the coach and caught up with cleaning, laundry and sundry indoor activities.

Friday we drove too far, 405 miles, but we had to in order to get to Leigh and Pat’s place in Charlotte NC before dark. Well it was 7 something and certainly dark by the time we disconnected the car on the street in front of their place. We then backed the coach into the cul de sac they live on and leveled up and planned mostly to sleep  and have breakfast on board. That was how it worked out. We had an easy dinner with them in their lovely home and got to see the garden and play with Molly. Hazel did not make an appearance at all. Saturday we went into Charlotte to visit a couple of galleries and have lunch and eventually dinner. The McColl Center provides residencies for artists for up to a year and also a lovely exhibit space. Part of their obligation is to open their studios from time to time and this was one of those days. From there went to the Harvey Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture. On exhibit was a photo essay from the Selma March, the work of Charlotte Catlett and a large exhibit of work by the AfriCOBRA Now group. We closed the place and went back to the house to put our feet up before going to dinner at Bistro la Bon. I had Beef Samosas with Chili Sauce and a Salmon dish that I really enjoyed. I would be glad to go back to that place.

Sunday we woke up early, said oour farewells, hitched the car to the coach and were on the road by 9. We promised ourselves a short day, but with no reason to stop earlier we made it to St Augustine, 432 miles, St Johns RV Park – Passport America 50% discount. I cannot rate it as they gave us an overflow spot with water and electric and we pulled in as the sun set. It seems nice enough, especially for our purposes. This was the second 400+ mile day we have had and we are not supposed to do this sort of thing. But tomorrow is 80 miles! and we get into La Mesa RV early to get the heat pump looked at. I’m not betting we get it fixed tomorrow, just hoping for this week!

After that is dealt with we are on to St Petersburgh to spend some time with Carol’s brother and s-i-l, We also have some friends to visit with before we begin our westward trek.