Washington, DC to Akron, OH
It was a stormy day, a day meant for... No wait, it was sunny :-) Mathew and I started the day fairly slowly, waking up with a race toward the kitchen (I was aiming for the bathroom, but he's a guy, and was racing purely to race). After a week in DC, we had unpacked most of the backseat, and Mathew's cello was sold, so it was time to repack and organize the car a bit, this time keeping more of our accessible things in back seat rather than the trunk.
Even with the additional room from the cello, our beloved dog (the huge stuffed malemute Mathew won for me at a summer carnival while I was in Alaska) was simply not going to fit. So we took some photos with it (to be posted soon!) and pawned it off on a neighbor who was outside with kids. And then, on the road!
The GPS took us out of town via Constitution Avenue, so one last look at the Capitol Building (with scaffolding around the Freedom Statue!), The Washington Monument (Glad we went up in it last Christmas, as it's still closed from earthquake damage), the White House (getting ready for the Easter festivities) and various other landmarks from our time here. Mathew chose to take the George Washington Parkway out, which is one of my favorite places. A great way to say goodbye, as the trees are all leafy now, and we even saw a crew regatta on the Potomac!
We drove a while through familiar areas from our road trips and adventures, and stopped at Cracker Barrel for breakfast in Frederick, a bit of a tradition down here for us. After that, familiar was disappearing and we finally felt like we were leaving!!
Some highlights of the day were: four different states! (and a district :-). District of Columbia, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Ohio; Passing the exit for the William McKinley National Memorial in Ohio; and confusion over strange un-numbered exits in Pennsylvania.
In Akron we saw Effy's apartment and then went to a graduate opera recital of her friend at the University of Akron. Amazing! Effy and Mathew (who has visited there before) pointed out the similarities between Akron and Fairbanks: university buildings from the same time period, both called "U of A," and various others. Akron used to be the "polymer (rubber) capitol of the world," because of all the tire factories, such as Goodyear and Firestone. Effy also pointed out the Goodyear mansion later on! The town also used to be home to a Wonder Bread factory, which until recently made the university campus smell nice every morning!
After the concert we went to have dinner with Effy's parents at their apartment. It was passover, so we got to participate in a brief seder, which was really interesting! That was followed by several courses of food and topped off with an amazing flourless cake. Seriously delicious. And then... Time for bed!
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