Helaine and I went out to dinner at a nearby bistro and were entertained by one of her friends who sang and played piano for the diners. The following day we spent catching up on things. I told her that I had brought paintings to share with family and friends and she picked out two small pieces to fit into her otherwise art occupied walls.

Another overnight stay and I packed and was off to have a brief visit with my cousin Dani, my Aunt “Jeanneen’s” oldest daughter.

Dani Keating lives in the Alexandria area, not too far from Helaine’s place.

Despite the proximity, due to the sluggish traffic on the infamous Beltway, it took me a good part of the afternoon to get close to our rendezvous spot. Mid-afternoon I found a small city park and grabbed a quick bite to eat from my van stash.

All during the trip I would maintain a supply of fresh fruit, cereal bars, coffee, instant oatmeal, ramen noodles, trail mix, canned soups, yogurt cups, applesauce cups, etc. I also carried several gallons of bottled water for drinking and cooking.

About this time, I was still in the midst of trying to figure out how to use the GPS system built into the van. As I ate, I spent about a half an hour going over the vehicle’s operations manual. I had attempted to use it to find Virginia Beach but it wanted a specific street address and I didn’t have one to enter. It was also of little help to me getting to Helaine’s apartment, as I was too far away when I first entered the exact address. Finally, I realized that it would only be useful if I was in the immediate area or city limits.

I still had some time before our meetup so I decided to test the impact of using the van as an art gallery. In Old Town, Alexandria, I set up shop at Market Square. It was hot, around 90 degrees, as it had been the day before in D.C.. After about four hours I packed it in. My artistic content is definitely unique to the deep south and garnered some looks but no one asked a price. At this point I knew in my heart that the paintings I had brought with me would become gifts to family and friends along the way.

My engagement with Dani would be short and sweet. Our party included her beau and a coworker/friend. The two of us did most of the talking. We talked about our lives, families, and careers. Having only crossed paths briefly sometime in the 1990’s, I must admit that I had missed out on much of her life. I found out that she frequently travels and has seen many places around the world. She proudly proclaims herself as a Life Coach. And, as per seeing her Facebook posts, she has become very involved in painting and remodeling her home, as well. Before we parted ways, I showed off my camping van and gave her my three books and a small painting.

Sometimes it isn’t easy to keep track of all of your relations, as they are scattered and often moving about from place to place, as I also have been known to do. But it was a fun visit and I will try to follow her more closely on Facebook and Instagram in the future.

Later that same evening, I opted to begin driving eastward toward my next destination and found myself traversing state roads 28 and 29 until I finally made my way to Interstate 64. Although twilight faded to dark over the next few hours, I had decided to take this two-lane back road, if for nothing else than to get away from the Washington D.C. area traffic. Although I had to contend with a myriad of stop lights and slow passes through tiny towns along the winding country thoroughfare, it was refreshing, to say the least.

May 12 - 18 -part 2

The next day, as Helaine had previous plans and I was intent on seeing the Capitol and visiting the Smithsonian Institute, we parted ways. Wisely, I had decided not to drive myself to the center of the city but to hire a Lyft, instead. That got me dropped off at the foot of the great congressional hall. The streets that day were crowded with police from all over the region, and perhaps the country, as there was some kind of official ceremony acknowledging the deeds and sacrifices of law enforcement across our nation.

Despite the rising temperature, I had elected to walk around the back of the white domed building to get a quick look at the Supreme Court edifice. A modest group of protesters were urging the jurists in their deliberations to consider the needs of the citizenry.

From there I walked around the far side of the capitol building, and began traversing the National Mall with the Washington Monument marking the limits of my walk-about.

At this point, I had turned my attention to the many buildings comprising the Smithsonian Institute. These museums skirted the western side of the Mall. Due to time constraints and my own walking limitations, I focused on two of the many museums. First, with the help of a friendly staffer I was given a handicapped pass to slip into the otherwise very crowded Air and Space Museum. I had hoped to see the space shuttle Discovery but, unfortunately, that section of the museum was closed off. There were, however, many good exhibits featuring our nation’s foray into the skies and beyond.

From there I hiked down to the two massive art museums of the Smithsonian. As an artist, I was mesmerized by the variety of styles and the opportunity to stand mere inches away from some of the world’s greatest works of art. I took dozens of pictures as I moved through the maze of rooms in two great buildings. Finally, when I had nearly run out of steam I headed back to Helaine’s apartment.

With Helaine Cousin Dani

Staying overnight near Charlottesville, Virginia, I began the run to Louisville, Kentucky, early the following morning. As I made my way across the remainder of Virginia and West Virginia I enjoyed the late spring passage through the Appalachian Mountains. Then, after a long but pleasant drive across the familiar landscape of Kentucky, I opted to stay over in a small motel to freshen up before dropping in on my youngest son, Max and his family in Jeffersonville, Indiana.

That night marked the end of my first week on the road.