The lecture yesterday went well. None of the students fell asleep while I was yammering, anyway.

So I celebrated by riding the MBTA train into Boston's South Station, and looking up Adam at the Gather office in the financial district. He took me for a great street hike, through all the neighborhoods of downtown Boston. We hiked from the towering glass monoliths of the Financial District to the tony shopping of the Back Bay.

Paul Revere is buried in this Back Bay graveyard.

Then through the brick townhomes of the South End, Boston's South Side (being converted from industrial to residential slowly), the elegant waterfront hotels, and finally the Italian-dominated North End with its endless wonderful food.

"World Shaving Headquarters" -- Gillette's downtown offices

Boston is a great city for walking. When we lived in the suburbs I loved coming into the city for a day of hiking all around, seeing the architecture and sampling the edible treats at cafes. The walk was a good way for Adam and I to catch up and regain our personal perspectives on everything, so by the time we ended up back at Gather around 4 pm, we were in a fine mood to sit and chat with Susan for another hour.

Eleanor and Emma spent the day visiting people north of Boston, so they had a nice day too. We're having a great time on the road again, and I only hope we can keep the fun going. This weekend certainly looks good, since we will be meeting some recently-found friends in Connecticut. With a little luck, we might even cross paths with Bert and Janie.

Budget update: We have been cautious about our spending lately because we got whacked with expenses in August and September, including the expensive 30,000 mile service on the Armada and the new tires. I'm trying to get the budget back under control. Fortunately, we've had tremendous success at courtesy parking, mostly thanks to having mooched six weeks from friends, family, and neighbors. Our total expenditure for camping since mid-August has been a measly $100 (which was three nights at the rally last weekend).

Our fuel cost has been a fraction of what it was before as well. Lower gas prices have helped -- we're paying $2.15 per gallon now versus a high of $3.96 when were on the west coast in June! But the biggest relief is coming from traveling more slowly. Our total mileage towing in the past week has been less than 400 miles, and we'll stretch the remaining 1100 miles to Florida over three weeks time.