Last night we arrived in Silver Spring, a suburb of our Nation's capital, and our new home. Our road trip lasted 8 days, took us through 8 states, and totaled more than 1500 miles.
Along the way we did a couple of fun Urban Adventure Quests (in Memphis and Nashville), toured Graceland and the Country Music Hall of Fame, earned 3 Junior Ranger badges (Hot Springs National Park, Little Rock Central High, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park), and spent a wonderful Shabbat full of Southern hospitality in Nashville. Oh, and we had a tire blow out along the way as well. That was fun.
By the end we were wearing down and as it turns out I came down with strep, so we pushed ahead and arrived a couple of days earlier than planned in order to celebrate Independance Day with family.
Enjoying a family BBQ and watching the fireworks in Washington on TV I just feel thankful to be here. Thankful to not be driving today. Thankful to be on antibiotics. But more importantly thankful to be with family. And thankful to live in this great country. With all its flaws (many of which are right here in DC) America is an amazing place with amazing people (including the very kind mechanic in Arkansas who sincerely offered to call his wife if we needed help to get to a hotel). Democracy and freedom should never be taken for granted. The fact that we can just get in our car and drive from state to state. The fact that we can all vote for the candidates and issues we believe in. The fact that we all have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These are freedoms we should appreciate. We may have many different political views. But we should always feel like one nation with a common foundation.
Driving through the South reminded me again how big and how beautiful America is (special shout out to the Shenendoah Valley in Virginia). If you have not taken a road trip recently go do it. And try to fit a National Park in to your journey. You do not have to fly around the globe to see beautiful places. There is so much to see here at home.
But it is not just the physical beauty. It is also the beauty of our core values. There is no Blue America and Red America. It is everyone's America. And we have to learn to live with one another in harmony. As the song states:
This land is your land
This land is my land
From the California
To the New York island
From the Redwood forest
To the Gulfstream waters
This land was made for you and me
