Clammy? Must be the humidity

Sat 17th: Hung out at the campsite in CT. The kids went swimming in the afternoon. Elizabeth found a clam (we think – shellfish identification was never my strongest subject…). We thought it couldn’t possibly be alive, but we came out Sunday morning to find it crawling out of its shell, trying to find water. So Bliz made a little habitat for it in a tub, with some sand and water, and there it lived, crawled around, opened and closed, dug, and whatever else clams do, until we left Tuesday, when she returned it to the lake. How it ever got there, we do not know…

Sun 18th: More fun with shellfish – if I’d have known they were this much fun, I’d have played with them sooner! Went to Cape Cod, ended up at Woods Hole, absolutely not where I was intending, but that to me is one of the joys of traveling. Anyway, it’s a lovely place. We took a turn around the harbor, and Elizabeth spotted a magnificent scallop sitting there, waiting for adventure. So I lowered her into the water (there was a ~4 foot wall), and she grabbed said scallop out and laid it on a handy stone. The scallop sat for a moment and then gave a hearty clap, much to everyone’s amusement. Then it did it again, and obviously noticed that, since the stone was sloping toward the water, each clap was moving it slightly back toward the precipice, and freedom. They’re not renowned, perhaps, as giants of intellect, but this one sure cottoned on fast. Suddenly it launched into a furious snapping spree, each snap taking it closer and closer to the edge. Amid shrieks, variously, of “stop it!” and “don’t touch it, it’ll take your finger off!” it itself stopped, an inch from the edge. We rescued it for further interrogation, but it decided to play it cool. But with such a will to live, how could we deny it its freedom? So back in the harbor it went.
Later we went to another harbor just up the road, and once again had a wonderful time spotting shoals of fish and crabs.

Mon 19th: Fresh from our trip to Cape Cod, Monday we went to the Statue of Liberty. We drove down, across the George Washington Bridge, and parked up on the NJ side. You embark the ferry from the old railroad station that used to take immigrants, fresh from Ellis Island, off to their new homes. It’s right across the water from Manhattan, the view is excellent. First stop was Ellis Island, where we saw how the immigrants were brought in and processed. The doctors often had only 6 seconds per person to assess their health. Next, the boat took us around the Statue of Liberty, then back. On the way home we went through the Holland Tunnel, and took a quick tour around Manhattan. We went past the WTC site, along Broadway and 5th Avenue a ways, and saw Central Park. I guess what amazed me most was that the traffic was never bad at all, the whole time we were in and around NYC. We resolved to return, when we have maybe 4 fewer kids in tow.

Tues 20th: Packed up and went towards D.C., got just shy and parked for the night at a rest stop.

Wed. 21st: Carried on to the campsite, parked up and hung out. Lael went to the “biggest outlet mall I’ve ever seen”, I homeschoooled 3 kids and looked after a baby in a 300 sq ft travel trailer. You don’t do a trip like this for the rest & relaxation…

Thu 22nd: Took a drive around Washington, saw all the main sights around the mall. Parked right on the mall and saw the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial. Went home, and Lael cooked about the best fajitas I’ve ever had. Must be missing them…

A few statistics: 98 days on the road. Just over 12,000 miles traveled so far. Roughly 800 gallons of diesel consumed. 19 states visited.