Hello!

As I haven't created a blog for quite a while now, this is probably going to be a work in process ... we'll see how it goes!  Creating blogbooks from trips are truly the best souvenirs possible.  (Thank you SO much Katy and Hil!)  They contain so much information -- room numbers, restaurant names, etc. that I've decided to do this short trip (2 weeks, which is REALLY short for us!) just to be able to go back and re-read it.  However, as this trip came up more quickly that either of us realized -- I wasn't able to actually get a blog created until now -- in our DoubleTree Hotel near the Phoenix airport, where we are over-nighting prior to our 6:30 am departure. 

So ... to begin!  We are using up most of our remaining United Airlines miles for free flights to and from Washington Dulles (IAD) airport.  Our plan is to fly into DC and spend five nights there.  We will then take the train to Philadelphia to see a special exhibition at the University of Pennsylvania Museum on King Midas (Gordion, Turkey).  Train back to DC and pick up a car and head to Boone, NC to visit Linda Kennedy.  From there, we will drive to Lawrenceville, GA to visit our good friends the Lowders.  They have all sorts of fun adventures planned, I know, and we are so looking forward to seeing their wonderful daughters, Arden and Dara.  Finally, we will drive back toward DC, staying in Charlottesville VA and spending some time at Monticello, and then back to Dulles and a return home on the 15th September.

Now, I just have to figure out how to add a gadget to this blog, so that people can sign up to receive them automatically.  As we're only gone for two weeks, there shouldn't be the normal "it's 3 weeks and we're not sending any more notifications" problem that we've had in the past!  I hope!

So, please join us as we journey east, and we hope to hear from you along the way!
Lots and lots of love,
m & Robert
xxx