I left my house at 8:10 AM on Monday and drove to Montpelier, the home of James Madison. He was the 4th President of the United States. The drive was uneventful. I was able to get there in just an hour and a half. The weather was beautiful and the traffic was light traveling down Route 29 South in Virginia. In Orange Virginia you turn on Route 15 South, then right on Route 20 south and that takes you right to Montpelier. Montpelier is located just south of Orange, Virginia. Orange is just a spot in the road compared to anything I’m used to in Northern Virginia. It’s a very quiet, barely traveled area of Virginia. The Montpelier mansion is just off Route 20. I found the parking, went to the restroom and then found the visitor’s center. I purchased my ticket and then walked up to the house. It’s a guided tour. Myself and the other people who were there (there were only 6) watched a short slideshow telling us what we’d see and the history of the mansion. The Dupont Family owned the house from 1901 until 1983 when the Montpelier Foundation received the house. It was determined that all the renovations and additions that were added to the house over the years would be removed. The house is currently under major restoration. They only had 4 rooms open for the public to see. Luckily they allowed cameras so I took several photos that I’ll add to my photo library when I get home. So we toured the 4 rooms they had open to the public and listened to our docent explain what was going on and the history of each room. I found it very interesting. I’ve always been interested in American history. After the tour, I walked the grounds and saw the gardens and the out buildings. Then I decided to get back on the road and head towards Monticello.

Monticello is just a short drive from Montpelier. Monticello, as you probably know, was the home of Thomas Jefferson. He was the 3rd President of the United States. I just continued south on Route 20, took a left on Route 53 and followed that until I got to Monticello. Monticello is set up very differently then Montpelier. It is much more formal and there are more tourists. The parking lot is far enough away that you have to buy your ticket ($13.00!) at the parking lot and take a shuttle bus up to the house. Once there, you stand in a line to wait until a docent is free to take the next tour. I had to stand in the sun for a good 15 minutes. While it was a nice day yesterday, it was hot in the sun. I think I got a little sun on my face. The tour begins outside the house with a bit of history and information about the architecture. The docent then tells you that you are not allowed to take photos (flash or not) or video inside the house. I was very disappointed. Even though I couldn’t take any photos, I did enjoy the tour. They showed all the inventions Thomas Jefferson came up with to make things simple in his house. They are too numerous to mention here but they were all amazing for the time period. The house was really showing it’s age. I think it needs to be restored. There are cracks in the plaster and paint peeling everywhere. They didn’t say anything about a possible restoration in the future. After the tour I walked around the grounds. I took several pictures and some video. I hope to create a video showing the grounds, the house, and the photos I captured. I really enjoyed the tour and the grounds but there were way too many people there. They kept getting in my photos and my video. Oh well, what can I expect at such a historical place.

By the time I was finished seeing Monticello, it was late enough in the afternoon to head to my father’s house. He lives about 20 minutes from Monticello. I made it to his house around 3:30. After unloading all my stuff and catching up with my dad, we decided to go to dinner. He was actually going to make soup for me but I don’t eat vegetables so I told him I’d take him out. I told him to pick the place he wanted to go and I would treat. He picked Burger King. I couldn’t believe it. My dad is almost 74 and is as simple as I am when it comes to these things. So I took him to Burger King. After dinner we went to McDonalds to have ice cream. We were really living it up! Then back to his house to sit around and talk. I talked more with my father in the 16 hours I was with him then I think I’ve talked to him in the last 16 years. We talked about relationships, boyfriends, my siblings, his life now, what makes us happy, what we regret in life, where we want to go in life, and much more. My father is so wise and so accepting. I had no problem at all telling him all about Shawn and how I feel about him. I told him everything about Shawn and the history of our relationship. He gave me some very interesting advice that I may have to take into consideration in the future. We’ll see. Let’s just say that I really connected with my father. I don’t see him too often and when I do we don’t talk about things of substance. This visit was all about substance. One great thing about my dad is that he is a liberal democrat and is all for John Kerry. He can’t stand Bush. I told him I feel the same way. So we talked politics for awhile. Which was great because most of my siblings are republicans. We also talked about computers. I showed him my camera phone and took his picture. I showed him how I can find a wireless connection from a website on my phone. He thought that was amazing. My dad is also into computers but he’s a PC guy and his computer is a good 4 years old. He does have a new DVD writer that he is using to make “backup” copies of DVDs. Of course I had to get out my 17″ PowerBook and show him all the cool things it can do. I hooked up my new video camera and showed him how I could edit video and make little movies for the internet. He was shocked at what my Apple can do. He won’t switch though. By the end of that conversation it was getting late so we went to bed. He told me to lock my door because his cat can open the door and will jump on my bed and wake me up in the middle of the night. I wanted to leave it unlocked just to see if the cat could open the door! But I didn’t. I slept fine without any interruptions. We got up early, loaded my car, and went to McDonalds for breakfast. We hugged and said our goodbyes and he said he really enjoyed my short visit. I agreed and said I should visit him more often. Then he went home and I got on the road.

So today I drove from Charlottesville, Virginia to Hermitage, Tennessee (just outside of Nashville). It was 544.7 miles. I drove that in about 8 hours. I was really tired by 3:30 Central time. It was cool when I was driving over one of the mountains and saw a sign that said I was now in Central Standard Time. Pretty cool. I instantly realized I had an extra hour to drive. I didn’t have any problems driving that distance. I decided to keep going and get as close to Nashville as I could. Right now I’m sitting in a Holiday Inn Express using the wireless high speed internet connection they have to post this. I’m about 12 miles east of Nashville. I plan to get up early tomorrow and get back on the road. I want to be almost through Arkansas by the time I stop tomorrow afternoon. I hope to find another wireless connection when I stop then so that I can post again. Since I haven’t read anything on the Gay Bloggers Tribe in the last two days I’m sure there will be hundreds of messages to catch up on. I’m not planning on going out so I think I’ll just read blogs and catch up on the tribe. According to AAA.com I have another 694.6 miles to go. Damn, I think I could do that in one day, but I won’t. Look for another update late tomorrow.