The Drive Back

We had a wonderful visit with Erin and Al on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning but after we left Bloomington, the trip became a challenge. What was normally a 50 minute drive to Indianapolis turned into a 4-hour drive trying to avoid flooding. Many roads were closed or washed out by Saturday rains. Thank goodness we had a detailed atlas on Ack's Palm Pilot. We eventually made it to Illinois by taking county roads in relatively high terrain. Here are some photos of the flooding.

Once we got out of Indiana, we spent a relaxing night with old friend from Fort Collins days, Alison Bailey, in Bloomington IL. On Sunday, we raced to Madison, making it between two big storms - just in time to empty the gutters and see another storm roll into town in from the NW.

Leaving Town

After cleaning the house and packing the car, we finally left DC around noon. We traveled to Monticello. Unlike Mount Vernon, Monticello is was worth the visit. An interesting house. We then drove into West Virginia and stayed overnight just outside Charleston. On Friday afternoon we made it to Erin and Al's in Bloomington, Indiana. We had a wonderful lunch downtown and some rich chocolate ice cream from Blu Boy chocolate shop. Then visited the very nice Art Museum at the IU campus.

Last Blog from DC...

Well, we are heading out and back to Madison. With stops at Monticello, and Bloomington, IN (Erin and Al's) and Bloomington, IL (Alison's). We should be home by Sunday. We enjoyed DC tremendously and encourage all to visit this great capitol city of ours (and to have as many wonderful family and friends in the area too -- they certainly helped make our stay so great).

We'd add a picture but Anne's camera is packed and Ack's accidentally got washed.

Now, on to a new blog...

Great Talk!

Anne gave a great talk at the Library of Congress. About 90 people showed up, more than previous lectures - they had to get extra chairs for the room! The audience was engaged in the captivating presentation. We will post the link to the talk when it is available from the LoC.

Visitors

Mimi and Joe came to visit to hear Anne's talk at the Library of Congress. They arrived via Amtrak from New York. Here they relax with tea and reading!