Op-Ed Contributor - The Dirty War Against Clean Coal - NYTimes.com

Op-Ed Contributor - The Dirty War Against Clean Coal - NYTimes.com

I have not checked the facts in this opinion piece, but if Easterbrook is correct that much more effective and efficient coal burning technology currently exists and plants that would use it are not allowed to be built, that's foolish . Worse, if the reasons are those embraced by Sen. Reid he is plain wrong and guilty of pandering to extreme environmentalists.

"FutureGen [blog note: a carbon-free coal burning research project (boondoggle?)] is politically appealing: contractors get subsidies, politicians get to hand out money in their districts and astonishing breakthroughs are promised at unspecified future dates. Why aren’t progressives fighting for an immediate embrace of gasification power? Much of the environmental movement clings to a fairyland notion that coal combustion can soon be eliminated, and therefore no coal-fired power plant of any kind, even an advanced plant, should be built.

Reflecting this mindset, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said he opposes integrated gasification plants — only new solar, wind and geothermal facilities should be allowed. Environmentalists who correctly point out there can never be absolutely “clean coal” thus end up in the position of opposing coal that’s far cleaner than what we are using."

Nuclear Power Gets a Boost from The U.S. Government

The Wall Street Journal published a story today about the recent approval of loan guarantees to build next generation nuclear plants. Equally beneficial would be TeamObama's vocal public support for nuclear energy as an increasing future source of clean electricity generation in the United States. Nuclear has far better potential than wind or solar.

The WSJ chart above shows our dismal ranking among world producers of electricity from nuclear energy. We can and should focus on nuclear as a reliable base load source of electricity which solar and wind cannot now provide.

"...The likely launch of the next generation of nuclear reactors -- a move in the making for at least a decade -- has big implications for the economy and the environment. Expanding the use of nuclear power has the potential to make a significant dent in emissions of carbon dioxide, the most commonly produced greenhouse gas. And Energy Secretary Stephen Chu has made nuclear power an agency priority. [Good news!]

The first round of building would add about seven new reactors to the U.S.'s existing fleet of 104 at a likely cost of more than $40 billion. But the new plants cost so much -- estimates range from $5 billion to $12 billion -- that power companies could have trouble coming up with the equity they must put into the projects, typically 20% to 50% of the total. In addition, technical or regulatory problems could arise, and it isn't certain the plants can be run profitably..."

The "Cloud" and its Compting Infrastructure

The Architecture Issue - Data Center Overload - NYTimes.com

This story about the rapid increase in cloud computing and the need for massive server capacity and the electricity to run them is fascinating. A bit of a long read, but worth it. One scientist estimates that data/computing centers already consume 1-2% of the world's demand for electricity.

"Data centers worldwide now consume more energy annually than Sweden. And the amount of energy required is growing, says Jonathan Koomey, a scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. From 2000 to 2005, the aggregate electricity use by data centers doubled. The cloud, he calculates, consumes 1 to 2 percent of the world’s electricity."

The story contains a fascinating example of spin. Was the author spun by the people he interviewed or did he purposely spin the story? The spin involves a discussion near the end of the piece where he discusses Microsft's use of containerized servers, implying, but not saying that MS may have invented the concept. The fact is that this idea originated with Google a few years ago and has been their practice for a long time. In fact, they have patents on this technology. I would think the author would have used a Google rather than a Microsoft example to illustrate the trend.

Canadian Maritimes Travel

Day 25-26 (June 11-12, 2009)

Today we will visit Vieux Quebec City. Our RV park is on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River only about 20 minutes from Levis, where a ferry crosses directly to the old city. Rather than take the RV into the city, we left it in a parking lot near the ferry. The day was cool so we were comfortable leaving the dogs in it for 4-5 hours while we visited the city. Boarding the ferry which runs every 30 minutes with both autos and foot passengers, we were across the swiftly flowing river in 15 minutes. There are two ferries that cross from alternate sides simultaneously. The ferries and facilities were clean and in good condition. The view of the city is dominated, of course, by Chateau Frontenac, one of several 'chateau style' hotels built by the Canadian Pacific Railway in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Vieux Quebec on the lower level is very beautiful and fully restored to the 1600s period with stone buildings and streets. This is a tourist and photographer's mecca with a photo, no... a dozen, around every corner. We strolled around the lower part before taking the funicular up to the city proper.

By the time we arrived at the top the wethaer was clearing from an overcast beginning of the day. We opted for a meal dining outside at one of the many restaurants near the statue of Samuel de Champlain ( the discoverer of the city and also Vermont's famous Lake Champlain celebrating the 400th anniversary of 'our' discovery this year) which dominates the area overlooking the river.

Our meal at Le Pain Beni was much better than we expected in a 'tourist' restaurant and fairly priced for the excellent quality and good service. Carol had veal and I opted for the pork. Both were delicious and the sugar pie for dessert was also excellent The French do know how to cook and their sauces are superb.

Back down the funicular, across the ferry and as always, the 'dales were very pleased to see us. Returning to the quite nice RV Park (Transit) just off Rte. 20, we settled in and watched TV and checked email.

During the night a soaking rain made the dogs walk a bit messy, but they seem to care less...as long as we wipe them down upon entering the RV so they don't shake! After breakfast we headed for the Route de la Nouvelle France, the oldest road in Quebec with several generations of homes dating form the 1600s and at the outer end, away from the city, remain some working farms.

Next we headed south searching for Chemin du Roy, the highway built suitable for vehicles between Montreal and Quebec. It varies from a little more than a one lane section (which we inadvertently found in the RV) and variously follows Rte. 138 along the north shore of the river.

We have a French-Italian friend in Burlington, Denyse, who has a summer home on the river in Batiscan, along the Chemin du Roy. After calling her in Burlington, we found it and have photographs to prove it. She had called ahead and arranged for the flags (Canadian, American, Italian and Quebec's )to be flying when we arrived . As luck would have it, a cargo ship was passing downriver shortly after arriving, so I photographed that, too. Her neighbor came to visit us and we had a nice chat. They are also RVers and had been in the American Southwest last summer.

Since it was only 3:00 pm, we decided to return home and returned uneventfully via Trois Rivieres, Drummondville via Rte 55 and Rte 20 to Rte 133 along the Richlieu River (some very beautiful spots on Rte 133). We arrived home at about 7:15 pm and everything was quite lush. Obviously, Colchester had a plenty of rain.

Three things we did not see in our 4,060 mile journey a moose, a deer, or an auto accident (very unusual not to see an accident with all that time on the road). It was a wonderful trip and neither we or the 'dales are any the worse for wear. I'd recommend all of the trip, although road surfaces on some highways particularly in New Brunswick were in very poor shape with more patches and potholes than pavement!

And we had our fill of lobster and seafood!!

Canadian Maritimes Travel

Day 24 (June 10, 2009)

Just a short distance west on Rte 132 from Metane is Jardins de Metis where we arrived at about 11:00 am in light mist. And it's cold...49 degrees this morning as we walked through the gardens and as I write this it's only 51 and foggy, misty and, well, just plain bone chilling miserable. This is not good weather and the forecast for the next couple of days is also none too good.

The Metis gardens are really quite impressive, mostly perennials with a few spring flowers for additional color. The few tulips were in full bloom. Very interesting that in these gardens we saw no lilacs or forsythia. That's puzzling, but it only dawned on me just now. Lots of primrose types, hosta, peonies, crab apple trees and a host of other perennials we are familiar with in Vermont.

This is a brief description from the website:

"Les Jardins de Métis /Reford Gardens are the extraordinary achievement
of a passionate gardener – Elsie Reford. In the summer of 1926, at the age of 54, she began transforming her fishing camp on the Mitis River into a garden.

Over more than three decades, she created a garden that featured one of the largest collections of plants in its day. Designing the garden herself, she carefully created flowerbeds alongside the stream, realizing by trial and error that the long snowy winters and humid summer air provided the ideal growing conditions for the perennial plants she imported from around the world. Pathways meander through the forest and alongside the brook, providing visitors with moments of discovery and intimacy, where they can enjoy many vistas and fragrances. Where others had failed, she succeeded in cultivating rare plants, like the Himalayan blue poppy, the garden’s emblem. When it blooms from the end of June through the end of July, visitors can admire this extraordinary plant and admire the tenacity of the woman who introduced them to gardeners in eastern North America."

We had a light lunch on the grounds which was very nice with soup, homemade pastries and a smoked salmon, like a lox, but on a type of flatbread...really quite good. The gift shop claims the biggest selection of horticultural books in Quebec. The parking lots can hold several hundred cars. There were 15 this morning. Comparing this to Burchart Gardens in Victoria on Vancouver Island, which I visited last summer, Metis was very much smaller and focused on a different climate than Burchart,but very nice and as well kept as Burchart.

After Metis we traveled to Rimouski for some shopping at Wal-Mart and a super market, then on to to Rte 20, a fast highway headed for Riviere du Loup. All this in a misty, cold heavy overcast day. Very light traffic, as usual.

We arrived at our campground and it is sparely populated also as usual. Carol is doing some laundry and I'm about to start supper.

Canadian Maritimes Travel

Day 23 (June 9, 2009)

A large ship was visible at night in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, but we didn't see another all day as we traveled west on Rte 132. Seaside villages, one after the other dot the coast from Gaspe' to Sainte-Anne-des-Monts. Everyone has seaside property or an ocean view. The area is not too prosperous with quite a bit of property for sale, but the lived-in homes are well kept. Everyone, it seemed, was mowing lawns!

The north coast of Gaspesie is very much hillier with lots of ups and downs (grades up to 14% requiring second gear to climb!) between villages. The road was pretty decent with several spots of construction and repaving. It was windy again and quite cool (in the lower 50s all day). Plenty of nice views of the villages all dominated by a large Catholic Church, sometimes on the sea side of the road with a cemetery that stretched to the edge of the bluff.

We stopped for fuel and lunch at Sainte-Anne-des-Monts. Again, a very nice lunch of soup, choice of three entrees and dessert. As we have found throughout the trip the people are very friendly. In this restaurant the waitresses spoke only a tiny bit of English, so someone came over and helped out.

We continued on to Matane where we shopped at Canadian Tire and Walmart for a few things. We are now at a flat-as-a-table grassy campground lodged between the railroad track in the rear and the highway in front. As usual, only a few rigs here, but the WiFi signal is very strong. We ate light because of the big lunch. It's dark now and the wind is dying (At least the RV has stopped rocking.). The sound of the wind has been replaced by road noise.

Canadian Maritimes Travel

Good night!Stopping only for gas at Gaspe', we headed to the campground and arrived at about 6:00 pm. Carol made a nice antipasto and we had spaghetti and tuna. This is the first location with no cell service and no WiFi, so I am writing this offline for future upload. Watching the DVD Finding Forrester with Sean Connery and Rob Brown filled our evening.

Day 22 (June 8, 2009)

Careleton (pronounced Car el ton) Municipal Campground was one on the best, except for the showers as described below,, totally surrounded by the ocean connected to the mainland by a narrow spit of land. Had it been less windy, we would have ridden our bikes on the new bike path that parallels the road. As usual, only a handful of RVers and a tenter or two in a 400 space campground!

I had a shower in a space obviously not designed by RVers. The water runs only a short time with the press of a button and the shower faces outward and hits the shower curtain with such force that it soaks the changing space as well as the shower stall. The changing space shelf was too narrow to be practical, There was no bench to put clothes on, only one hook for hanging and the shower had no shelves for soap and shampoo. I managed to get clean after pressing the button a dozen times just to obtain hot water to begin the shower. But Carol gave up after soaking some of her clothes just figuring out how to operate the thing and used the RV shower instead. I can say they were clean, but not very practical. I'd have preferred the type that require twenty five cents for six minutes of hot water, nuisance that they are.

Heading east on Rte 132, we stopped at a tourist information center in New Richmond for maps and literature. As has been a pattern, we were the first customers of the season. The gal and her assistant spoke very little English but with my tiny bit of French and our positive attitudes, I got everything needed. Very nice people and helpful. Meanwhile, Carol was online with the laptop in the RV searching for information, too.

We headed for Chandler on the road that hugs the coast so we had continual sea vistas. Stopping briefly at Paspebiac to visit the restored historic site of a very large cod processing facility that was in operation beginning in mid 18the century until the turn of the 20th century. Next to it is a modern fish processing plant. The old site consisting of many buildings was closed, but the buildings are very well restored.

Stopping for lunch at the Marina Restaurant in Chandler, we were among three occupied tables on the second floor of a building shaped like a ship, right on the bay, of course, for a very nice three-course battered fried cod (muero?) lunch. Very little activity in the town, almost as if it were asleep.

The tulips are in bloom here and throughout this trip we seem to have followed the tulips and the dandelions (the dandelion could easily be the provincial flower of all that we visited!) The lilacs are coming into bloom here, too.

Perce' is noted for a huge rock just offshore that has a nice round hole in one end. Very peculiar and photogenic. Weather is mostly cloudy and windy (It's always windy!) and temperatures in the 50s.

Canadian Maritimes Travel

Day 21 (June 7, 2009)


After last night's nasty squall, Sunday dawned clear and very breezy. After breakfast and our morning 'disconnecting' (i.e, removing the front wheel leveling blocks [It's amazing how few sites are truly level.], retracting the slider and disconnecting water and electricity then dumping 'black' and 'gray' water), we headed for the Acadian Village about 10 miles from Caraquet that we had located yesterday afternoon.


We spent nearly four hours in the best recreation of early life that we have ever experienced! This is a leap beyond Plimouth Plantation, Old Sturbridge Village or any other recreation of old time living that we have ever visited. Old Acadian farm houses, outbuildings, general store's taverns, schools, churches, a carding and grist mill, carpenter shop, blacksmith shop and forge, a fish packing company, etc., etc. have been relocated to this site, board by board, timber by timber, stone by stone..



The bilingual people on the site explaining life in the 19th century in New Brunswick are dressed in period clothing, cooking real food on hearths and in pots, making furniture, rope, dyeing and spinning wool and flax and all the other needs of rural living in the mid to late 1800s. A horse-drawn wagon circulates throughout the property transporting people who may become tired of walking. The lush fields enclosed by cedar rail fences lashed at the joints with twisted alder saplings are populated with cows and sheep. Turkeys and chickens gobble and cackle in spruce pole pens. Even a large sow is quartered behind one of the barns. Even last year's meadow hay, cut by hand, is stacked on poles in the low ground.


The Village is supported by the provincial government and is a powerful expression of the Acadian culture. A new section of a dozen or so more buildings has been built capturing early 20th century Acadian life and is scheduled for a huge grand opening with Acadians...and Cajuns... from North America and other places on June 28.


The Village opened today for the season and turnout was fairly good, given it's early in the tourist season. All the people are extraordinarily friendly and communicative as we've found the Acadians to be wherever we have met them. We had an Acadian soup for lunch, created from an Acadian recipe, made with potatoes, turnip, onions, barley and a bit of beef. It was clearly a soup, not a stew, and was delicious. The restaurant is as authentic as possible and still able to serve 40-50 people at a sitting. No creit cards accepted, only cash as the bill is tallied by hand.


If you are ever in this area of New Brunswick, Acadian Village is a 'must see.' It has been in existence for ~30 years and is still going strong. We have so many photos that we'll need to do a special Acadian Village slideshow!





We jumped on the road again at mid-afternoon and drove Route 11 straight through to Campbellton, where we shopped for groceries and fuel before continuing into Quebec's Gaspe' Peninsula. We are tonight at Carleton at a beautiful municipally operated campground on a narrow spit of sand stretching into the Chaleur Bay with ocean on all four side this time. Very few people here at this very nice place. It was windy all afternoon and has only now become calm and clear at sunset as a full moon rises. The WiFi signal is strong and connection is speedy.


Carol's needle felting an Airedale and I think she also has a lobster in progress.

Canadian Maritimes Vacation

Day 19 -20 (June 5 & 6)

We ate supper at Captain Dan's Restaurant at Pointe du Cheine wharf, which is the hot spot of Shediac in high tourist season. The restaurant opened on June 5 and we had a great meal of deep fried seafood including scallops, shrimp and whole belly clams. All very delicious out on the upper deck overlooking the harbor as the sun sank lower in the sky. Afterward, we sat and watched the people cruise around the wharf on motorcycles and cars. It's a beautiful night and it was fun to 'people-watch.'

Leaving Shediac on Friday, we continued along the Acadian coast following Rte 11, which is a much better road than we experienced further south on Rte 15. Very little traffic and our first stop was a Bouctouche, the birthplace and hometown of the K.C. Irving, founder and owners of the Irving Oil Company dynasty.

Irving is the most prevalent service station seen in N.B., N.S. and P.E.I. They are becoming more frequent in northern Maine. Bouctouche is also famous for the sand dune that juts into the sea (land owned by Irving family) as one of the finest examples of such a natural formation in North America. The Irving family has built a 10 foot wide, 2 km. long boardwalk out on the spit and it's a very popular place for people to walk or jog. We chatted with folks from Vancouver and also a local gal who was walking for her health, having been in the hospital recently under doctor's orders to exercise. The weather was beautiful and it wasn't windy.

This is Francophone country. French is the school primary language , but most everyone we have connected with also speaks English well, sometimes accented. As we go further up the Acadian Peninsula, French becomes more dominant. Many signs are no longer in both French and English.

Lunch in the RV, then off again stopping only for fuel in Marimichi ( I spilled some diesel on my shoes and the smell was overpowering, so the shoes and socks went into a sealed compartment outside the living space along with a wipe rag that I keep in the door.

We stayed the night at Tracadie-Sheila rather than driving through to Caraquet where we are tonight. Carol was little dismayed because we were in pretty close quarters with several seasonal units, most of which seemed to have dogs that ran free, usually a no-no in an RV park. I put up the dog pen and along with the bark collars, our 'dales did OK.

Off again on Saturday morning further out on the Peninsule acadienne stopping at Shippagan, beautiful town and major fishing port, the largest we've seen on the trip. Most of the boats look to be Grand Banks fishing vessels and this is a spacious working harbor. We went to a very fine acquarium and spent over an hour two-on-one with Gilbert, one of the staff, who was a former scallop, mackerel and lobster fisherman. He told us more about lobstering than we ever knew and showed us the various traps, the life cycle of lobster larvae and the famous rare blue lobster in the acquarium. We now know the difference between male and female lobsters and to ask for males, if dealing with a knowledgeable seller, because they have more meat than females.

He explained how he and his pals years ago reconstructed a lobstering seabed that had been destroyed by scalloperswho had dragged the bottom 'clean' resulting in greatly reduced catches. He and his pals hauled large stones to the lobster grounds and dumped them overboard to provide hiding places for lobsters and after a number of years, the harvest improved substantially. (I have to wonder if the rocks also served to discourage the scallopers, too!). He lso showed us the baby harbor seal born two days ago and described all the care and feeding he provides for the few seals in the acquarium.

We drove a few miles out to Lameque, part of the Acadian Isles, for lunch, decided we'd have lobsters for supper and bought two at $6.00/lb at a harborside fish market then headed toward Caraquet, hoping to visit the large Acadian Village about 10 mile out of town. We arrived to find that it opens for the season tomorrow at 10:00 am. It seems we have advantageously timed several facilities openings. (RV park Louisbourg, N.S., Dan's Restaurant in Shediac, and now the Acadian Village).


Tonight we are one of only 7 rigs in this large seaside RV park (Caraquet Campground opened a week ago) relaxing after those scrumtious lobsters. It has been windy this afternoon, then it grew dark and ominous just before sunset and a nasty thunder storm and squall is in progress. The winds are playing rock and roll with the RV and the downpour is severe. There's a pup tent set up not too far from us and I 'm glad I am not not in it during this squall!

Carol's closing the blinds in the RV, so I know it's close to bed time. The dogs are settled in for the night. So I'll take the laptop back to my bed and work a bit longer. Tomorrow promises to be a great day.

Canadian Maritimes Vacation

Day 17 -18 (June 3 & 4)

Yesterday, June 3, dawned beautifully at our placid RV site, (four nights here), at Vacationland RV park in Brackley Beach, PEI. We decided this was a beach day, so off we headed to the Prince Edward Island National Park, which encompasses a large swath of the north coast just opposite Charlottetown on the south coast. The park is not officially open, so we parked right near the beach with no fee.

Carol headed for the sun and sand while I decided on a bike ride to Robinson Island, about 6 km. directly west on a paved road. All the way out and back without meeting a car, although one arrived at the point-of-land with a dog-walker. She was the only person I saw. The ride was perfectly flat with a bit of a headwind out, thus a slight tailwind on the return. Nice!

Afterward, I joined Carol on the beach for an hour. The beach is not my thing. I love the sea, but I'd rather be on it than in it. Leftover tortellini and cucumber-tomato salad for lunch, and we were headed New Brunswick via the Confederation Bridge.

The journey to New Brunswick was easy with no traffic and bright sunshine. If the wind is too strong, high-sided vehicles like ours are prohibited from crossing the 9 mile span because of danger of tipping in a crosswind. It seems the force of the wind and the 'lift created has tipped a few fully loaded trailer trucks. No problem with our crossing.

Once in New Brunswick on Rte 16 and 15 (the Acadien Trail) the roads are in poor condition with more patches than pavement, frequent potholes and no sign of any patching activity. Not until Cap Pele did the road improve. Nevertheless, the speed limit was 100 km/hr.


We arrived in Shediac, self-proclaimed Lobster Capital of the World, This huge sculpture greets visitors arriving form the southand also claiming the warmest ocean water north of Virginia. It's a tourist mecca, although not until July and August when people flock here from Moncton and other parts of New Brunswick. We are staying two nights at Campground Oceanic, a new facility that opened only a couple of years ago. This small town has 4 or 5 RV parks with mostly seasonal campers and only a few transient hookups. We had no problem because it's still so early in the season.

The lady running the front desk was just learning her new computer system and took forever to check us in. This place even has a card-operated gate to enter! Great WiFi and so-so washroom facilities, especially for a new place. The people are very friendly and the owner came by to tell us the site we had been assigned had no cable TV suggesting we move to one that had service. we did, but only had two channels. I think I'll sort through why tonight.

We had the best meal at a restaurant called L'auberge Gabrielle. We decided, for a change, to not have seafood, so we both had the table d 'hotel. Carol's St. Louis ribs and my braised bison were simply wonderful, with superb appetizers and desserts, too. If you're ever in The Lobster Capital of the World, try this place!

We're sitting in the parking lot of Parlee Beach, which is the town's main attraction. it's a broad and deep beach with very shallow water and no surf. Great for kids. We spent about an hour and a half there . Carol is feeding the 'dales after a short nap and we're all back on the seafood kick. The dogs will have a can of mackerel mixed with their usual fare and we're headed soon to the town pier for... you guessed it...seafood for supper.

Canadian Maritimes Travel

Day 15 -16 (June 1 & 2, 2009)

Yesterday was a wild and very windy day with rain the previous night. We hoped for clearing, but it only stopped raining while the wind continued gusting at 40+ knots. We did some shopping in Charlottetown and then visited the Canadian National Heritage site in Cavendish commemorating the author Lucy Maud Montgomery who wrote Anne of Green Gables, fiction set in an around the Cavendish area. The house of her grandparents and the farm has been preserved and rehabilitated in the fashion of the the turn of the century. Very expertly done and, as we have found throughout the national parks and heritage sites of Canada, nicely maintained.

We then meandered to North Rustico Harbor, a busy lobstering port not far from Cavendish. for a Fisherman's Wharf Lobster supper. We were the first diners of the evening and while we were there another dozen or so came in. This is a 60' all-you-can-eat salad bar, including hot and cold mussels, with dozens of choices of salads along with fish chowder followed by your choice of a hot or cold lobster. The place seats 500 persons, (just slightly fewer than the population of the town!) so we were nearly lost in the enormity of the place, but had a window seat with a harbor view. The food was very good and well worth the price. Don't miss it if you're in PEI.

Today, Tuesday, we waited until noon before setting off, spending the time with laundry and general housekeeping of the RV. Weather was perfect, sunny, 60's, slight breeze. The dogs enjoyed laying in the sun while we were working around the RV.

After lunch we twisted and turned to Summerside (Jill, our Garmin GPS navigator, took us a roundabout way, but we finally arrived.) where we walked the dogs on a boardwalk that follows the shore in the downtown. There are no tourists yet, save us. The shops are just beginning to open, no traffic, easy to park, etc.

From there we followed the coastal route in Acadian country. very flat land with houses, cottages and farms right on the ocean. We stopped at the the Acadian Museum and Center for Acadian Research in Mascouche, a center for Acadians in the Maritimes. Of course, we were the only people in the museum! A well-done place with static displays of the old days in the 1700s and 1800s including tools, furniture, clothing and other artifacts and the story of these people in PEI.

Then back to Vacationland RV Park for dinner of tortellinis and a fourth night.

This marks the halfway point in our planned journey and we have traveled just over 2,500 miles. The weather is predicted to be excellent the remainder of the week. Perhaps a day at the beach and some biking is in store tomorrow.