(With a nod to Esphyr Slobodkina [1908-2002], author of the 1940 children’s book, Caps for Sale)

While the humans loaded the car, I took my turn behind the wheel.

We posed before sappy Jeffrey did the huggy-kissy thing with Nancy, his favorite in the world.  He misses her already.  The sap.After a K turn, away we went!We crossed the Hudson River, drove through New Jersey, and stopped to recharge the car in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.  We have no photos from the drive; unlike cycling, driving allows one to see very little, and photograph even less.  The, um, highlight of Harrisburg was the state capitol in the distance.We stopped for the night in Bentleyville, PA, south of Pittsburgh, halfway to Louisville, at a motel with a statue and a car charger.  By morning the battery will be full.

At dinner, Jeffrey noticed that virtually all the men in the restaurant wore gimme caps, feed caps, whatever term you prefer.He mentioned this to friendly Alina (who in deference to restaurant policy declined to be photographed).  Alina said in her home, the rule at the table is no phones, no caps, but that what I saw in the restaurant was common in the area.

No mistake:  we are far from the Upper West Side.

Could Jeffrey pass?  “Illinois Pork.  Generations of Commitment.”

Kim, the motel manager, told Jeffrey that this part of Pennsylvania is a slice of Alabama.  That gives us an idea of what lies ahead.Kim and Jeffrey had a long talk about the state of the world.  Shaped by their respective natures and nurtures, they disagree on the details of many hot topics, among them autism and vaccines, the state of medical care, the effectiveness of border walls, and the risks of admitting refugees.  Jeffrey was reminded of the limited value of marshaling facts (e.g., the Danish study debunking the vaccine-autism allegations, other countries’ better medical outcomes at lower cost, security experts’ disdain for walls in uninhabited areas, that not a single American terror death has been caused by the over 800 thousand refugees admitted since 9/11).  The notion of “alternative facts”, facilitated by the Internet’s unedited flood, seems to have taken hold.

But in principle, Kim and Jeffrey agree that there is an objective reality.  And they agree that we want the same things:  a safe country that rewards personal responsibility, that extends a hand to people in need, refugees included.  A country where incentives encourage, and the law allows, all of us to live and let live, and to do the right thing.

Kim for Congress!  If only she didn’t despair of The System.

We have a lot to think about as we roll west tomorrow.