We reluctantly left Vermont after a wonderful two weeks on Lake Champlain. We head south into New York’s Hudson Valley for two nights in Hyde Park, where we will pack in some remarkable history.

Our time will focus on the national park sites connected to the Roosevelt family, as well as the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. After so many weeks of learning our way through American history, one national park site at a time, Hyde Park should be an especially meaningful stop. We will be walking through the places where Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt lived, built their lives and careers, and exerted their enormous influence on the country.

From Hyde Park, we will visit Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site in Pennsylvania, our 26th and final National Park Service site of the trip.   It seemed fitting to finish with yet another place that will teach us something we really have no experience with—early American ironmaking, the communities that grew around it, and the enormous amount of labor that once went into producing something we now take completely for granted. And after that, our National Park pass can finally take a little rest!

Our last night will be in the Washington, D.C., area, before boarding our final leg for this adventure: the Amtrak Auto Train. After driving thousands of miles through 16 states, the idea of putting our car on a train and letting Amtrak carry both us and it south to Florida feels almost luxurious.

But there is always a mixture of feelings at the end of a long journey. We are reluctant to see the adventure end, but another large part is ready for our own bed, our own kitchen, familiar routines, and the comforts of home and our friends. In three days, we will wake up in Florida.  And after 82 days on the road, that sounds pretty wonderful.