Today marked the official beginning of the rally, with coffee and homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast; coffee only for us.

We carpooled to the George Washington Carver National Monument where we took in a hour-long guided tour of the farm where he lived as a child.  The son of a slave mother who was kidnapped and disappeared, he was raised on this farm by a white family.  We remembered his work in developing uses for peanuts, but had forgotten his research on soybeans, and invention of synthetics, including a substitute for rubber during World War II.  A deeply devout man of God, Carver was quite a philosopher and exhorted others to make the most of their God-given talents and gifts.  As part of the tour, we strolled by a large pond with several active bream
beds and one bass bed.  The tour was well worth the time.  The photos below show Kay and our tour guide, a seasonal ranger whose regular job is teaching English as a second language, and the house where Carver’s adopted parents lived after he left home.

The afternoon was spent attempting to repair the water pump, to no avail.

Dinner included beef brisket, mashed potatoes, green beans, salad, rolls, and several deserts.  We took a banana nut rum cake cooked via the microwave oven.  Once again, we restricted ourselves to meat, green beans, and salad—the price for trying to lose weight.

A lively game of 31 ensued with lots of fun and laughter.  We’re both immensely enjoying the rally.
As an aside, we’re accessing the internet via tethered Verizon Droid phone, and it’s working great.