Despite all our global traveling, we realized that there is so much of our home country that we have yet to explore. To that end, we have set off in a trek across America. Our route will take us up the east coast, across the northern part of the United States, on an Alaskan cruise, down the West Coast and then, once more, across the southern part of the country. (FYI – This will be our second trip from east to west and our third cross country since August 2023 😮).
Our low budget travels are made possible, by:
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- Thousands of miles driven in a Toyota Rav4 that was generously loaned to us by George’s brother, Frank.
- Many family members and friends who have or will host us along the way.
- Extensive use of the Trusted House Sitters program.
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At present we find ourselves house sitting for Dimitri, an extremely vocal but very lovable, yellow cat. Dimitri and his people live in Franklin Massachusetts, which is about an hour outside of Boston. We know this because earlier this week we traveled into Boston to see our dear friend Fred run the Boston Marathon.
As school children we learned of much of the history of Boston, the “tea party”, “one if by land and two if by sea” and all of that. We had no idea, however, about the amazing history of the small town of Franklin.
The town of Franklin was established in 1860. It was originally planned to be called Exeter, but as was the custom at the time at the last minute they changed the name of honor one of the heroes of the American Revolution. In this case, it was the statesman Benjamin Franklin. This was the first town that had been named after him.
By reading plaques and exhibits around town we learned some of the fascinating details about the town’s history. It seems that a local pastor suggested, that since the town was named after him and all, it might be appropriate for Ben Franklin to contribute a bell for the steeple of the local public meeting house. Meeting houses in those days were often Protestant churches, and or facilities for paying 
subscribers.
Franklin wrote back and advised that he was honored to be the namesake of the town, but that he did not wish to contribute a bell, which would only mean that the townspeople would have to pay to erect a steeple. Instead, he suggested that he provide an endowment of a specific set of (116) books that he and his family had chosen. His logic here was that: “sense is more important than sound”. While there were those who wished to keep the collection private, the townspeople voted to make it public. Thus, the very first public book lending library was established in the USA.
The library now is nothing short of breathtaking and very actively 
used by the proud citizens of Franklin. Among the early users of that library was local lad by the name of Horace Mann. Despite very little formal education in his early years, Mann made extensive use of the library. This enabled his acceptance to Brown University at age 20. 
He got his law degree and later became the Secretary of the newly formed Massachusetts Board of Education. Mann’s work there led him to become widely known as the father of the American public education program.
No doubt we will continue to learn interesting tidbits during our walks around Franklin over the few days.
From here we’re off to see Niagara Falls, Mount Rushmore, Deadwood city and so much more of America…
