Drive to New Jersey

“People don't take trips. Trips take people"

John Steinbeck

We got all loaded up with canoe, toys, and all the things we needed to spend five days at West Point, New York. We left around 6:30 and took off for our next journey. We were rolling down the highway on our merry way and sitting comfortably in our 2005 conversion van. All went well till we got to the Fayetteville, North Carolina area and noticed our van was getting warm. It was hot outside but with the air conditioner on we figured it shouldn't be hot, should it? The air was on again off again until it just quit. It got quite warm but rolling down the windows made it felt better. It is going to be a long trip without air. Oh boy.

We decided to head away from the DC area on 301 to avoid most of the traffic. What a nice drive on a beautiful country road that goes through Virginia and Maryland and passes farm after farm and through serene woods. That was a big difference instead of driving on I-95. We passed farms that were thousands of acres of crops with beautiful farm homes, barns and silos. We saw this historic sign about where John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincolns asasign and David E. Herold, his accomplish held up in a barn on the property of Richard Henry Garrett's farm for a night. They got up and Herold gave himself up but Booth didn't and wouldn't. The barn was set on fire and was he was shot. He later died on the porch on that same farm. Now the area is overgrown with woods but it still was interesting to see and imagine them running in this hilly area to find a hiding spot.

Our food stop was a good one right on the Patuxent River called Randolph's on the River at Port Royal, Virginia. We had seen it passing by but we were never in the area when it was open before. We were thrilled to see it was open and there were a lot of cars in the parking lot (a good sign). We were happy to get out of the car and get cooled off. The AC in the restaurant was wonderful and we were thankful. We walked in and loved the setting with nautical décor throughout the restaurant. The view was very pretty and we enjoyed eating while looking out at the river. The food was good and the workers were efficient and very nice. It didn't take long to be in and out which is how we like it when we are doing a long trip. I would recommend this restaurant.

I snapped a picture when were going over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The bay looked great with a lot of boat traffic. It looked like it may be cooler down on the water. It would have felt great to have a dip. At that point we still had three hours left. By then the AC compressor had started making a weird nose. We will have to see if we can get this fixed tomorrow. When we pulled into mom's driveway we felt blessed to have made it. Thank you God for being with us.