Our first day of driving together started off with a quick succession of new states, all of which needed pictures with jorts. We dipped into Delaware quickly, then Maryland and finally DC. We first stopped at Bob and Sharon's, Steph's great uncle and aunt with whom we'd be staying for the night. They had a lunch spread ready for us and it was great to meet them. We eventually took the subway into town and stopped first at the Air and Space Museum. It was really amazing to see all the aircraft and spacecraft, especially the Wright Brothers exhibit.
A couple ridiculous, and by that I mean awesome, pictures were taken on the Mall and we headed to Dupont Circle to meet a friend for dinner. We killed time walking down Embassy Row which was really interesting to see so many countries represented and their flags. We had some good sushi then headed over to Hank's Oyster Bar for oyster happy hour where they were 50 cents each! Another drink and we caught the last subway back to Bob and Sharon's.
The next morning we made them breakfast in appreciation of their hospitality and headed back to the Mall for some more sightseeing. We were decked out in all patriotic gear and it was humbling and inspiring to see the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, WWII Memorial, and the sculpture garden. I wasn't surprised when the car with no plates that we were driving around the country's center of power was pulled over. The first officer gave me a bit of a hard time about driving an unregistered vehicle, but while he ran some checks his partner got the story of my trip and we had a great conversation including the story of his dad riding a fixed gear bike from Boston to Pennsylvania when he was 11 1/2. This cop understood the journey and was excited for me. I'm not sure if that had any bearing on the outcome but the first officer came back with only a warning ticket and told me to expect to get pulled over again before I got home. I said thanks and we moved on, amused because it was obvious that he thought it had to be illegal somehow but hadn't gotten any clarity from dispatch and really wasn't sure what to do so the warning sufficed.
After having our fill of monument and police, Ariel and I drove past the ominously massive Pentagon on the way out of town and entered Virginia. Our destination was the Outer Banks in North Carolina and we made it just barely before dark. The whole area was really pretty and we enjoyed a good meal and beers at the local brewery. On the way back to our campsite we came across one of the coolest stores I've seen all trip, the Brew Thru. It's a gas station and market but you drive through the building and place your order from the car. The beer and wine are lined up against the driveway so you can see your choices and tell the cashier what you want, then they'll get it for you. Sure it's lazy but the idea of buying beer while still in the car is great and we got some fun souvenirs too.
Back at camp we settled down for what would be the first and last night camping with Ariel on the trip, and he was a little surprised at how small my tent was that we were sharing but we were roommates in college for four years so it was no big deal. We made the mistake of opening the tent flaps for a little bit too long to adjust the fly, and spent the next 30 minutes finding and killing the dozen or so mosquitoes that made their way into the tent before finally getting some sleep.
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