Saturday, October 24, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009 Troy, IL
We got home a little after 7. This was a LONG day driving. Just ask Karen! We left before it started raining and ran in and out of rain the whole way home. Since we both seemed to be riding fine, I thought we might as well just come on home as to set up in the rain. Since that plan was not vetoed by Karen, that is what we did. We arrived about 12 hours after we left and would have made it in about an hour less time, but we got stopped on the highway for 3 separate backups due to previous accidents (2 trucks ran off the road and 1 car lost a front tire). We both really enjoyed the trip, but were ready to be home. We traveled a total of 2750 miles on the trip and 2020 of that was towing the 5th wheel. So this is the last post until the next trip. Now it is time to clean up the RV and get it ready for winter storage.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009 Madison-Pittsburgh KOA, Ruffs Dale, PA
Larry did great getting out of the city and through the confusing streets with all the traffic to find our route heading west. It really didn’t take long to get out of the congested city and into the country. We hadn’t driven more than a half hour till we saw a wild turkey in the grassy area beside the road. We left New Jersey this morning with beautiful sunshine and it continued most of the day with just some thin clouds at times. We’ve been in Pennsylvania most of the day with lots of farms all along the way. Our drive was nicely uneventful through the Appalachian and Allegheny Mountains where we came through four fairly long tunnels. All along the way the road was lined with beautifully colored trees.
We’re settled into this nice small campground for the evening. According to the weather forecast we will be leaving in the rain tomorrow morning.
We’re settled into this nice small campground for the evening. According to the weather forecast we will be leaving in the rain tomorrow morning.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Tuesday, October 21, 2009 Liberty Harbor Marina & RV Park, Jersey City, NJ
Today we got up and leisurely ate some breakfast, showered and walked the six blocks to the subway to go back to New York City. We got off the subway at 33rd Street and walked down Broadway to 50th Street through Times Square
and to Rockefeller center. We walked and walked, going completely around some blocks and backtracking some others. We went into a few shops just looking around. It is surprising though how many little areas there are to sit and eat or relax near Times Square and all along Broadway. We sat for a while at one such area and watched while a group of about 5 or 6 people were filming a lady singing. We couldn’t hear what was being sung, but after she finished singing, she went through the same (or so it seemed) song with sign language. We would walk some then sit and people watch for a while. We ate some lunch at a soup and sandwich place before heading back to the subway and our trailer about 2:00. After going past several tempting looking bakeries, we did succumb and pick up a few luscious pastries for breakfast tomorrow.
We’ll be leaving this barren little campground tomorrow and should end up somewhere in Pennsylvania. I won’t miss the smelly subways or New York City. It’s been fun, we’ve enjoyed doing all the city activities, but they can have it.
and to Rockefeller center. We walked and walked, going completely around some blocks and backtracking some others. We went into a few shops just looking around. It is surprising though how many little areas there are to sit and eat or relax near Times Square and all along Broadway. We sat for a while at one such area and watched while a group of about 5 or 6 people were filming a lady singing. We couldn’t hear what was being sung, but after she finished singing, she went through the same (or so it seemed) song with sign language. We would walk some then sit and people watch for a while. We ate some lunch at a soup and sandwich place before heading back to the subway and our trailer about 2:00. After going past several tempting looking bakeries, we did succumb and pick up a few luscious pastries for breakfast tomorrow.
We’ll be leaving this barren little campground tomorrow and should end up somewhere in Pennsylvania. I won’t miss the smelly subways or New York City. It’s been fun, we’ve enjoyed doing all the city activities, but they can have it.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009 Liberty Harbor Marina & RV Park, Jersey City, NJ
We had to set the alarm for the first time since we’ve been out in order to get up and be ready for the bus to pick us up for our New York City tour. The bus came right to the campground and picked us up (five couples), then went to 3 or 4 hotels to pick up additional people, then went thought the Lincoln tunnel into New York City and picked up our tour guide, Robert. This tour guide was excellent. With a rich baritone voice, he described each point of interest and pointed out many large apartment buildings where well known people lived. He was extremely knowledgeable and seemed to deeply love this city.
We stopped for a short walk in Central Park,
went past the Empire State Building, Times Square, Trump Tower, and went into St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Rockefeller Center
and Grand Central Terminal. He showed us where the Today show tapes at the NBC studio and we also went by the CBS, ABC and MTV studios. We drove thru some of the Wall St. area and stopped to view the World Trade Center Site (Ground Zero). We then came back to the New Jersey side to catch the ferry to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.
While we were touring through the downtown area, there were several areas where there were many NYC police (probably 50-60 at each area). The President was supposed to be here this afternoon and tonight, so apparently they were preparing for him. Anyway, that caused some delays for our tour. Also at one of the stops, one group of women didn’t show up at the appointed time, so the tour guide had to go back and look for them causing a delay of several minutes. So when we arrived at the Statue of Liberty, we were too late to go inside the Statue or even the museum at the base. We were able to walk around the outside, and of course, go into the gift store, but that was all. By then, most of us were too tired to have walked up all the steps into the Statue anyway. (I guess the delay actually saved me, otherwise Larry would have been headed up all those steps – with me in tow.) We arrived back at the park around 5:00 this evening. Now we’re in for the evening and planning to head back into the city sometime tomorrow morning.
We stopped for a short walk in Central Park,
went past the Empire State Building, Times Square, Trump Tower, and went into St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Rockefeller Center
and Grand Central Terminal. He showed us where the Today show tapes at the NBC studio and we also went by the CBS, ABC and MTV studios. We drove thru some of the Wall St. area and stopped to view the World Trade Center Site (Ground Zero). We then came back to the New Jersey side to catch the ferry to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.
While we were touring through the downtown area, there were several areas where there were many NYC police (probably 50-60 at each area). The President was supposed to be here this afternoon and tonight, so apparently they were preparing for him. Anyway, that caused some delays for our tour. Also at one of the stops, one group of women didn’t show up at the appointed time, so the tour guide had to go back and look for them causing a delay of several minutes. So when we arrived at the Statue of Liberty, we were too late to go inside the Statue or even the museum at the base. We were able to walk around the outside, and of course, go into the gift store, but that was all. By then, most of us were too tired to have walked up all the steps into the Statue anyway. (I guess the delay actually saved me, otherwise Larry would have been headed up all those steps – with me in tow.) We arrived back at the park around 5:00 this evening. Now we’re in for the evening and planning to head back into the city sometime tomorrow morning.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009 Liberty Harbor Marina & RV Park, Jersey City, NJ
We left Timberlane Campground this morning and drove about 2 hours to this campground across the harbor from the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Larry did fantastic with the traffic and confusing routes. We got here about 12:00, and signed up for an all day tour tomorrow. This campground is a parking lot with water and electric hookups spaced around it. The campers are crammed in here like sardines. You can barely walk between some of them with all the large slides jutting out. It’s not easy finding grass for Penny to go on. But we do have a view of the Statue of Liberty! Not from our camper, of course, you can only see another camper from here, but if you step out into the drive between the rows of campers, you can see Her.
Unbelievable!
Since we had arrived so early, we thought we had plenty of time to go out and see a few things on our own, so we walked the 5 or 6 blocks to the subway station where we caught a train into downtown New York City and got off just a couple of blocks from the Empire State Building. We walked there and after buying tickets, walked thru the zigzag line with the hundreds of other people on the way to the requisite metal detectors and x-rays of my purse. When you finally get thru that, the first elevator takes you up to the 80th floor where you have to get off, wade thru the zigzag line and wait for another elevator to go to the 86th floor, a wait of approximately 45 minutes. OR . . . . You could walk up the last six floors. Guess which we did . . . .Oh yeah, we walked up, of course.
We ate some supper in a little restaurant near the subway station before heading back. After a little glitch at the subway station on our return trip, we were able to backtrack our previous route and get back to the camper by about 5:30. (The glitch was that we bought tickets for the subway, when we needed tickets for the Path (another subway). There was no way to get them transferred so we had to just throw them away. Only $4.25 down the drain.) Now we’re settled in for the evening and have a full day planned with an early departure of 7:15.
Unbelievable!
Since we had arrived so early, we thought we had plenty of time to go out and see a few things on our own, so we walked the 5 or 6 blocks to the subway station where we caught a train into downtown New York City and got off just a couple of blocks from the Empire State Building. We walked there and after buying tickets, walked thru the zigzag line with the hundreds of other people on the way to the requisite metal detectors and x-rays of my purse. When you finally get thru that, the first elevator takes you up to the 80th floor where you have to get off, wade thru the zigzag line and wait for another elevator to go to the 86th floor, a wait of approximately 45 minutes. OR . . . . You could walk up the last six floors. Guess which we did . . . .Oh yeah, we walked up, of course.
We ate some supper in a little restaurant near the subway station before heading back. After a little glitch at the subway station on our return trip, we were able to backtrack our previous route and get back to the camper by about 5:30. (The glitch was that we bought tickets for the subway, when we needed tickets for the Path (another subway). There was no way to get them transferred so we had to just throw them away. Only $4.25 down the drain.) Now we’re settled in for the evening and have a full day planned with an early departure of 7:15.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009 Timberland Campground, Clarksboro, NJ
It rained all night last night! I was awake at various times hearing the rain hitting the roof of the trailer. The wind blew pretty strong most of the night too. The weather gal said this is a true “Nor-easter” storm. The temps have reached record lows they haven’t seen since the 1930’s. Lucky us! Last year when we went to Maine, we were hit by a hurricane that uncharacteristically followed the coast that far north. Now, we have record lows and a Nor-easter! The rain did let up this morning and just stayed overcast, damp, cold and windy all day.
We headed into Philadelphia this morning (about 15 minutes away) to take a tour of the city and let them point out all the historic places. We were there a little before 9:30, so we were able to get a pretty good parking spot on the street. On street parking cost 25 cents per 8 minutes which is actually cheaper than the parking lot fees. We bought a card that was good for 3 hours, then went to see the Liberty Bell prior
to taking the trolley tour.
The guide on the trolley pointed out many places such as the Betsy Ross house, Christ Church, Independence Hall and many museums. When the tour was over we took the guided tour of Independence Hall
which had served as our nation’s capitol prior to moving to Washington DC. Then we added time to our parking card so we could walk 9 blocks to the Reading Railroad Terminal which is now a city market place for a lunch of Philly Cheese Steaks (of course). That place was busy! They have hundreds of small shops inside selling practically anything and everything - grocery items, sea food (raw), prepared sea food, spices, candy stores, bakery shops, Italian foods, Japanese foods, Philly Cheese Steaks, etc. and etc. The people were in there practically shoulder to shoulder lined up at all the different counters.
We are now “home” for the evening, trying to warm up after being out in the damp and chilly air most of the day. Tomorrow we will be in the traffic headed to the New York City area.
We headed into Philadelphia this morning (about 15 minutes away) to take a tour of the city and let them point out all the historic places. We were there a little before 9:30, so we were able to get a pretty good parking spot on the street. On street parking cost 25 cents per 8 minutes which is actually cheaper than the parking lot fees. We bought a card that was good for 3 hours, then went to see the Liberty Bell prior
to taking the trolley tour.
The guide on the trolley pointed out many places such as the Betsy Ross house, Christ Church, Independence Hall and many museums. When the tour was over we took the guided tour of Independence Hall
which had served as our nation’s capitol prior to moving to Washington DC. Then we added time to our parking card so we could walk 9 blocks to the Reading Railroad Terminal which is now a city market place for a lunch of Philly Cheese Steaks (of course). That place was busy! They have hundreds of small shops inside selling practically anything and everything - grocery items, sea food (raw), prepared sea food, spices, candy stores, bakery shops, Italian foods, Japanese foods, Philly Cheese Steaks, etc. and etc. The people were in there practically shoulder to shoulder lined up at all the different counters.
We are now “home” for the evening, trying to warm up after being out in the damp and chilly air most of the day. Tomorrow we will be in the traffic headed to the New York City area.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009 Timberlane Campground, Clarksboro, NJ
We are now camped about 15 minutes from downtown Philadelphia. We had about a two and half hour drive today. Left in the rain and arrived with rain. Other than the $43 we spent on tolls today, the drive was uneventful. One of the Maryland tolls was $5 for cars and $23 for us. They did not even wear a mask when they ask for the money. After arriving and getting set up, we drove into Philadelphia and just looked around. Parking is at a premium and they are very proud of it (based on 25 cents for 8 minutes on the street, if you can find a space. Or, $4.50 for a half hour in a garage). Since it was late in the day, we figured we would come back tomorrow and look at everything.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Thursday & Friday, October 15 & 16, 2009 Cherry Hill Campground, College Park, MD
Thursday we left the camper a little before 9:00 in order to take a tour on the Old Town Trolley thru Georgetown and past the National Cathedral and down Embassy Row where the driver pointed out all the different countries’ embassies, one after another. He warned us to limber up our neck and shoulders, as he pointed out the left side was one country, right side another, back and forth, back and forth. After the tour we met up with Lora’s family on a different trolley and rode to Union Station where we got off to walk to the Capitol where we were scheduled for a tour of the Capitol. (We had two day tickets for the Old Town Trolley which we could ride to any of their drop-off sites and get off to see the various attractions, get back on another trolley and ride to another stop.)
After a l-o-n-g walk to the Capitol building, we went to the Minnesota Representative’s office, who had arranged our tour, to meet with our tour guide. There were 6 of us and we met up with another seven traveling from Minnesota for the tour with our guide.
There were hundreds of others touring as well, being led by the various guides from their own respective state’s Representative’s office. We were taken through some of the older rooms where the Senate and House of Representatives had met years ago and to the rotunda with its huge dome.
The rooms were very ornate with marble columns supporting the ceilings and upper floors; the rotunda was beautiful with huge historical paintings lining the walls, sparkling crystal chandeliers and beautiful marble floors with various inlaid patterns. We also saw where the original Supreme Court had met before they had their own building.
This was lined with rich mahogany wood and was beautiful. We were taken into the meeting chamber of the House of Representatives where they were supposedly in session. I say supposedly because there may have been a couple of them in there, and some one from California was petitioning for a water shed issue, but there was hardly anyone there except for the audience in the balcony (us and the other tours). We were later told that is the norm. Most of them only show up if there is something directly concerning them or to vote. After we left there, we went to the U.S. Botanical Garden which was beautiful and a welcome break from the cold and rain we had been experiencing all day. They house over 60,000 plants ranging from gorgeous orchids to cactus and everything in between. We then rode the trolley again through more historical areas, and then went to eat at the Hard Rock Café. After that we parted from Lora and Darrell and headed to the Metro. By the time we rode the Metro and bus, it was about 9:00 when we got back to the campground. We were both too exhausted to write this blog.
Today, Friday, we left the campground about 8:00 to meet with Lora’s family at their hotel prior to our White House tour. We arrived for the tour about 11:00 – we were supposed to be there by 11:15 for our 11:30 tour. The line was out the drive and curved along the fence down the street. We waited in the chilly drizzling rain with restless and tired boys till a little after 12:00 when our group (probably 100 or so scheduled for 11:30) was finally allowed to go in. Once inside, it was a self guided tour where everyone was allowed to proceed at their own pace. We were allowed to go through the east wing area which had each room roped off for a walkway. We went through a long glassed in hallway, called the Colonnade, with numerous photo displays of various former Presidents and of course the current President and his family. We saw the Green Room, the Blue Room and the Red Room. We also saw the State Dining Room and various other impressive rooms with historical antiques on display. As we were exiting the White House, Kyle (age 9) expressed his view, “We waited all that time for this?”
After lunch we finished up the day at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. The Air & Space Museum is the most visited museum in the complex. They had displays of all kinds of planes and space craft. We spent about 2 hours looking at the various displays, and really only scratched the surface. Kyle and Alec (and us) really enjoyed looking at all the aircraft up close. With the museum closing at 5:30, we made one last stop at the gift shop before it closed and headed our separate ways. We had a good time with Lora and family, and considered it a real treat to meet them in DC.
We had a question on the posting times listed on our blog. The server is located in California and the time posted will always be Pacific time. In this case, the time is listed as 3 hours earlier than the Eastern time we are posting the blog. Also, I know the photos are small, but if you double click on a photo you should pull up a larger size on your computer.
After a l-o-n-g walk to the Capitol building, we went to the Minnesota Representative’s office, who had arranged our tour, to meet with our tour guide. There were 6 of us and we met up with another seven traveling from Minnesota for the tour with our guide.
There were hundreds of others touring as well, being led by the various guides from their own respective state’s Representative’s office. We were taken through some of the older rooms where the Senate and House of Representatives had met years ago and to the rotunda with its huge dome.
The rooms were very ornate with marble columns supporting the ceilings and upper floors; the rotunda was beautiful with huge historical paintings lining the walls, sparkling crystal chandeliers and beautiful marble floors with various inlaid patterns. We also saw where the original Supreme Court had met before they had their own building.
This was lined with rich mahogany wood and was beautiful. We were taken into the meeting chamber of the House of Representatives where they were supposedly in session. I say supposedly because there may have been a couple of them in there, and some one from California was petitioning for a water shed issue, but there was hardly anyone there except for the audience in the balcony (us and the other tours). We were later told that is the norm. Most of them only show up if there is something directly concerning them or to vote. After we left there, we went to the U.S. Botanical Garden which was beautiful and a welcome break from the cold and rain we had been experiencing all day. They house over 60,000 plants ranging from gorgeous orchids to cactus and everything in between. We then rode the trolley again through more historical areas, and then went to eat at the Hard Rock Café. After that we parted from Lora and Darrell and headed to the Metro. By the time we rode the Metro and bus, it was about 9:00 when we got back to the campground. We were both too exhausted to write this blog.
Today, Friday, we left the campground about 8:00 to meet with Lora’s family at their hotel prior to our White House tour. We arrived for the tour about 11:00 – we were supposed to be there by 11:15 for our 11:30 tour. The line was out the drive and curved along the fence down the street. We waited in the chilly drizzling rain with restless and tired boys till a little after 12:00 when our group (probably 100 or so scheduled for 11:30) was finally allowed to go in. Once inside, it was a self guided tour where everyone was allowed to proceed at their own pace. We were allowed to go through the east wing area which had each room roped off for a walkway. We went through a long glassed in hallway, called the Colonnade, with numerous photo displays of various former Presidents and of course the current President and his family. We saw the Green Room, the Blue Room and the Red Room. We also saw the State Dining Room and various other impressive rooms with historical antiques on display. As we were exiting the White House, Kyle (age 9) expressed his view, “We waited all that time for this?”
After lunch we finished up the day at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. The Air & Space Museum is the most visited museum in the complex. They had displays of all kinds of planes and space craft. We spent about 2 hours looking at the various displays, and really only scratched the surface. Kyle and Alec (and us) really enjoyed looking at all the aircraft up close. With the museum closing at 5:30, we made one last stop at the gift shop before it closed and headed our separate ways. We had a good time with Lora and family, and considered it a real treat to meet them in DC.
We had a question on the posting times listed on our blog. The server is located in California and the time posted will always be Pacific time. In this case, the time is listed as 3 hours earlier than the Eastern time we are posting the blog. Also, I know the photos are small, but if you double click on a photo you should pull up a larger size on your computer.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009 Cherry Hill Campground, College Park, Maryland
Today was kind of a down day for our activity. Lora and her family were to be arriving this afternoon, so since we didn’t want to do anything that we would be repeating with them, we stayed around the trailer till noon. Actually, I took the laundry up to the laundromat provided here at the park. We could have waited on that another several days, but I thought this might be the best opportunity I would have, so I went ahead and got it over with. Now we should be able to wait till we get home before we run out of clothes. While I was out with that, Larry vacuumed, so now we’re set with some of the housekeeping things for a while.
We left the campground around noon and went to Union Station to wait for Lora’s family.
Besides it being a working train station with Amtrak and the several Metro trains that meet there, there are also numerous restaurants located there (I think one driver said 40 restaurants) as well as several stores and boutiques. They had a display in the lobby called The Art of Can sponsored by Red Bull soda. Each entry had to feature the Red Bull logo. Most of them used the aluminum can, cut up or used in some way.
I think all but one used the aluminum can, as a sculpture, or collage or covering another object.
The only one not using a can was one that created the logo in a field by mowing or plowing areas till he had the replica of the can (like a crop circle) over several acres. This entry was in the form of a photo from the air.
Lora’s family arrived about 3:00. We had a good visit and a mid-afternoon meal together, then tried to find a bus to do some touring. After walking from one end of Union Station to the other and back again, we tried to get tickets for a tour. No luck, so we started walking – in the drizzling rain. We walked probably three or four blocks, the kids were getting tired and we couldn’t find the bus stop. We finally decided they could go to a nearby museum to get in out of the rain for a while and figure out where they needed to go, and we would head the other direction to the Metro station. We’ll meet up with them again tomorrow.
We left the campground around noon and went to Union Station to wait for Lora’s family.
Besides it being a working train station with Amtrak and the several Metro trains that meet there, there are also numerous restaurants located there (I think one driver said 40 restaurants) as well as several stores and boutiques. They had a display in the lobby called The Art of Can sponsored by Red Bull soda. Each entry had to feature the Red Bull logo. Most of them used the aluminum can, cut up or used in some way.
I think all but one used the aluminum can, as a sculpture, or collage or covering another object.
The only one not using a can was one that created the logo in a field by mowing or plowing areas till he had the replica of the can (like a crop circle) over several acres. This entry was in the form of a photo from the air.
Lora’s family arrived about 3:00. We had a good visit and a mid-afternoon meal together, then tried to find a bus to do some touring. After walking from one end of Union Station to the other and back again, we tried to get tickets for a tour. No luck, so we started walking – in the drizzling rain. We walked probably three or four blocks, the kids were getting tired and we couldn’t find the bus stop. We finally decided they could go to a nearby museum to get in out of the rain for a while and figure out where they needed to go, and we would head the other direction to the Metro station. We’ll meet up with them again tomorrow.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009 Cherry Hill Campground, College Park, MD
We got going early this morning and left the campground a little after 8:00. The Metro Bus picks up right here at the campground, so we caught the bus here to the Metro Rail (subway). We had to make one transfer on the subway, which eventually dropped us off near Arlington Cemetery.
We bought tickets for a tour bus which travels through the cemetery and through the city, going by all the places of interest. There was a tour director on board who narrated things we were going by and they would stop to let you off at various places, then you could catch another one to continue on to another site.
At Arlington, we saw President Kennedy’s grave site with the eternal flame. Jackie Kennedy is buried beside him, as well as the two infants they had lost. Robert Kennedy was buried nearby, and Edward (Teddy) was beyond that. We visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and watched the changing of the guard there.
We saw a funeral taking place, with the Honor Guard marching along with the horse drawn coffin and the accompanying cars following. They said there are approximately 25 to 27 funerals daily taking place there. It was all solemn, dignified and thought provoking.
We left Arlington and went back by the Lincoln Memorial to see it in the daytime. We also walked by the Vietnam Memorial Wall which is very impressive with all the names of those who died inscribed dating from 1959 thru 1975.
Since they are still adding names of veterans who have died from traumas related to their service there, I guess they get added into the year in which they served in Vietnam. There are over 58,000 names on the wall.
We then walked to the WWII memorial.
As we approached, we could see it was quite crowded, and as we got closer, we saw there were lots of people in yellow shirts or jackets. The yellow shirts and jackets were worn by WWII veterans from Iowa who had gathered there. Most of them were accompanied by wives, children or grandchildren. Many were accompanied by or being helped by men and women in uniform who had apparently volunteered to help welcome the veterans. The whole morning had been very solemn and thought provoking, but these guys just seemed to be enjoying seeing lots of old friends. It was a good lift for the spirit.
We walked to the White House area. The back of the White House had a large tent set up on the lawn so we couldn’t see it very well from there. We did eventually get around to the front side which had a better view.
While we were there, a siren sounded and a group of big black cars came out of the White House gates, but we had no way of knowing who was in any of the cars. I guess we’ll just assume it was the President.
Have you noticed how often I said “we walked”? Believe me, we walked and walked. We finally got back on the tour bus and finally rode to the Smithsonian Museum of American History. We will probably be going to some of the other Smithsonian Museums when Lora and her family are here. They will be arriving on Wednesday (tomorrow).
We left the Smithsonian and headed back to find the Metro Station to come back to the campground when we went past the National Archives where they had the original Declaration of Independence on a special display. So we stopped there for a little while and now we can say we did see it.
We finally got to the Metro train and then to the bus stop and back to the campground about 6:30. We were exhausted! We had BBQ left over from eating out yesterday, so now we have eaten and are resting up to do some of it all over again tomorrow.
We bought tickets for a tour bus which travels through the cemetery and through the city, going by all the places of interest. There was a tour director on board who narrated things we were going by and they would stop to let you off at various places, then you could catch another one to continue on to another site.
At Arlington, we saw President Kennedy’s grave site with the eternal flame. Jackie Kennedy is buried beside him, as well as the two infants they had lost. Robert Kennedy was buried nearby, and Edward (Teddy) was beyond that. We visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and watched the changing of the guard there.
We saw a funeral taking place, with the Honor Guard marching along with the horse drawn coffin and the accompanying cars following. They said there are approximately 25 to 27 funerals daily taking place there. It was all solemn, dignified and thought provoking.
We left Arlington and went back by the Lincoln Memorial to see it in the daytime. We also walked by the Vietnam Memorial Wall which is very impressive with all the names of those who died inscribed dating from 1959 thru 1975.
Since they are still adding names of veterans who have died from traumas related to their service there, I guess they get added into the year in which they served in Vietnam. There are over 58,000 names on the wall.
We then walked to the WWII memorial.
As we approached, we could see it was quite crowded, and as we got closer, we saw there were lots of people in yellow shirts or jackets. The yellow shirts and jackets were worn by WWII veterans from Iowa who had gathered there. Most of them were accompanied by wives, children or grandchildren. Many were accompanied by or being helped by men and women in uniform who had apparently volunteered to help welcome the veterans. The whole morning had been very solemn and thought provoking, but these guys just seemed to be enjoying seeing lots of old friends. It was a good lift for the spirit.
We walked to the White House area. The back of the White House had a large tent set up on the lawn so we couldn’t see it very well from there. We did eventually get around to the front side which had a better view.
While we were there, a siren sounded and a group of big black cars came out of the White House gates, but we had no way of knowing who was in any of the cars. I guess we’ll just assume it was the President.
Have you noticed how often I said “we walked”? Believe me, we walked and walked. We finally got back on the tour bus and finally rode to the Smithsonian Museum of American History. We will probably be going to some of the other Smithsonian Museums when Lora and her family are here. They will be arriving on Wednesday (tomorrow).
We left the Smithsonian and headed back to find the Metro Station to come back to the campground when we went past the National Archives where they had the original Declaration of Independence on a special display. So we stopped there for a little while and now we can say we did see it.
We finally got to the Metro train and then to the bus stop and back to the campground about 6:30. We were exhausted! We had BBQ left over from eating out yesterday, so now we have eaten and are resting up to do some of it all over again tomorrow.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009 Cherry Hill Campground, College Park, Maryland
Today was cloudy and cool, so we decided to do the civil war battlefields. Our plan was to go to Gettysburg and stop at Antietam on the way back. Gettysburg is an hour and a half from here and a very nice drive.
Seeing the amount of land covered during this 3 day engagement was amazing. Shocking was the number of soldiers involved and the number of casualties. Lee’s Confederate army had a 70,000-man army and Meade’s Union army numbered at 93,000 men. During the first day alone, the combined number of casualties was around 16,000 men. These are numbers that are just hard to comprehend. During the two-hour cannon-ade on the third day, 7,000 Union soldiers repulsed the 12,000 man “Pickett’s Charge”. When you see the high ground that the Union Cannon had, you can understand how the outnumbered force could repulse the Confederate charge.
Total casualties (killed, wounded, captured, and missing) during the three days was 51,000 men. We were also amazed at the number of monuments located within the battlefield, there were hundreds.
We think it was well worth the visit, even if we did not spend as much time outside as we would if it was nicer weather. But, after we left Gettysburg we decide we would pass on Antietam for today and just come back and relax. Our plan is to head into DC tomorrow to see Arlington and some of the mall.
Seeing the amount of land covered during this 3 day engagement was amazing. Shocking was the number of soldiers involved and the number of casualties. Lee’s Confederate army had a 70,000-man army and Meade’s Union army numbered at 93,000 men. During the first day alone, the combined number of casualties was around 16,000 men. These are numbers that are just hard to comprehend. During the two-hour cannon-ade on the third day, 7,000 Union soldiers repulsed the 12,000 man “Pickett’s Charge”. When you see the high ground that the Union Cannon had, you can understand how the outnumbered force could repulse the Confederate charge.
Total casualties (killed, wounded, captured, and missing) during the three days was 51,000 men. We were also amazed at the number of monuments located within the battlefield, there were hundreds.
We think it was well worth the visit, even if we did not spend as much time outside as we would if it was nicer weather. But, after we left Gettysburg we decide we would pass on Antietam for today and just come back and relax. Our plan is to head into DC tomorrow to see Arlington and some of the mall.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009 Cherry Hill Campground, College Park, Maryland
Today was a beautiful day, starting out in the upper 40’s, but warming up nicely to about 70, even though it felt warmer with the sunshine and only a very slight breeze. We left the trailer this morning and drove to Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington, located in Mt. Vernon, VA.
We toured the home where George and Martha had lived and died. He had been a fourth generation American; his great-grandfather had originally purchased the land and built the original house. It had passed down thru his family with him buying it from his older brother’s widow when he was only 22 years old. He added onto the house increasing its size by about 3 times what the original had been. It looks like a stone house, but it was made of wood, the boards were each about 2 feet long
and painted with a heavy white paint then sprayed with sand to look like stone.
They had beautiful flower gardens and as well as large vegetable gardens similar to what it was like when the Washington’s had lived there. They stressed how Washington’s favorite occupation had been as a farmer, even his very formal dining room had decorations featuring farming tools formed into the plaster ceiling and over the doors.
In the afternoon we went to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, VA. They had displays of all types of airplanes from some of the very earliest to the spaceships still in use. It was interesting, but I guess I need to let Larry tell about it. I was wearing down by then and just wanting to sit somewhere.
Highlights from the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center are the Lockheed SR-71, B-29 Superfortress (Enola Gay), the Space Shuttle, Concorde, and many more. The pretty well cover everything, Pre-1920 Aviation, Simulators, Military and Civilian aircraft and Space Satellites and Rockets (including Skylab). Except for some of the space hanger displays (a lot tend to only go up and not come back) the displays are the actual items. - Larry
We toured the home where George and Martha had lived and died. He had been a fourth generation American; his great-grandfather had originally purchased the land and built the original house. It had passed down thru his family with him buying it from his older brother’s widow when he was only 22 years old. He added onto the house increasing its size by about 3 times what the original had been. It looks like a stone house, but it was made of wood, the boards were each about 2 feet long
and painted with a heavy white paint then sprayed with sand to look like stone.
They had beautiful flower gardens and as well as large vegetable gardens similar to what it was like when the Washington’s had lived there. They stressed how Washington’s favorite occupation had been as a farmer, even his very formal dining room had decorations featuring farming tools formed into the plaster ceiling and over the doors.
In the afternoon we went to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, VA. They had displays of all types of airplanes from some of the very earliest to the spaceships still in use. It was interesting, but I guess I need to let Larry tell about it. I was wearing down by then and just wanting to sit somewhere.
Highlights from the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center are the Lockheed SR-71, B-29 Superfortress (Enola Gay), the Space Shuttle, Concorde, and many more. The pretty well cover everything, Pre-1920 Aviation, Simulators, Military and Civilian aircraft and Space Satellites and Rockets (including Skylab). Except for some of the space hanger displays (a lot tend to only go up and not come back) the displays are the actual items. - Larry
Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009 Cherry Hill Campground, College Park, Maryland
We left the Shenandoah Valley around 8:30 headed for our next campground outside Washington DC. The highway took us up thru the valley between mountain ranges, so we traveled north, then east to College Park, MD. It was a lovely drive of rolling hills and the tree covered mountains in the background. As we neared Washington, the traffic increased dramatically. Larry did great, maneuvering this big truck and trailer thru 4 and 5 lanes of traffic that was moving at about 60 mph and pretty heavy, even at noon. Believe it or not, those little cars gave way when he started nosing over into their lane!
Our site at this campground is almost as far into the park as you can go, probably ¼ mile or more. Larry had asked for a quiet area, since we seem to usually get a spot that is right where everyone has to go by to get anywhere. There won’t be a lot of campers going by here - but - the campground backs up to a very busy highway. There is a LOT of road noise. After setting up the trailer we had a few hours to relax before our tour of Washington which we had scheduled at the campground office. Since I hadn’t had much sleep the night before, I laid down to relax for a little while. That road noise didn’t bother me at all, I fell right to sleep and had a good nap.
We took a tour with Grayline called “DC after Dark”. They picked us (about a dozen from the campground) up by the entrance to the RV park and then went to Union Station where they picked up additional people. We went to the Washington Mall and made stops at the Vietnam and Korean War Memorials, the Lincoln Memorial,
Jefferson Memorial,
and FDR Memorial. The driver added the Marine’s Monument of raising the flag at Iwo Jima as our first stop.
They were all very impressive with the darkness surrounding the memorials and the lights illuminating them. We saw the Capital, White House, museums, and other buildings from the coach. We do plan to go back to some of them in the daylight, but we enjoyed seeing all the lights of the city and the reflections on the pools separating them.
Our site at this campground is almost as far into the park as you can go, probably ¼ mile or more. Larry had asked for a quiet area, since we seem to usually get a spot that is right where everyone has to go by to get anywhere. There won’t be a lot of campers going by here - but - the campground backs up to a very busy highway. There is a LOT of road noise. After setting up the trailer we had a few hours to relax before our tour of Washington which we had scheduled at the campground office. Since I hadn’t had much sleep the night before, I laid down to relax for a little while. That road noise didn’t bother me at all, I fell right to sleep and had a good nap.
We took a tour with Grayline called “DC after Dark”. They picked us (about a dozen from the campground) up by the entrance to the RV park and then went to Union Station where they picked up additional people. We went to the Washington Mall and made stops at the Vietnam and Korean War Memorials, the Lincoln Memorial,
Jefferson Memorial,
and FDR Memorial. The driver added the Marine’s Monument of raising the flag at Iwo Jima as our first stop.
They were all very impressive with the darkness surrounding the memorials and the lights illuminating them. We saw the Capital, White House, museums, and other buildings from the coach. We do plan to go back to some of them in the daylight, but we enjoyed seeing all the lights of the city and the reflections on the pools separating them.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Friday, Oct. 9, 2009 - Verona, Va
We spent most of the day today traveling south from the beginning of the Blue Ridge Parkway (Skyline drive).
We traveled 65 miles (of the 105 mile long Skyline drive section) before we decided we had seen enough of up and down, winding and twisting roads. At one point we were a little over 3,000 feet in altitude.
It was beautiful, but you really only need so many pictures of tree covered hills. There was a little color in the trees, but it was mostly green.
I (Karen) went thru the Virginia Quilt Museum in Harrisonburg. It was nice, but kind of small. They had some modern artsy type quilts as well as several antique quilts, but no photography was allowed, so I don’t have any pictures to show.
We came back thru Staunton, VA which is just the next town from here, probably 5 miles away. They had signs advertising the Presidential Museum and Library for Woodrow Wilson which is located there. We thought we might find that interesting, after finally finding the place with the help of our GPS and following their signs, down narrow streets, many of which were one way streets, we found a parking place and went inside. A man sitting behind a little counter informed us it would be $12.00 each. We didn’t think we were interested enough for that, he then came down to $10.00 each since we were seniors, but we still weren’t interested enough to part with $20.00. We decided we could find out all we wanted to know about Wilson by looking him up on the internet. Neither of us has done that yet. . . .
We came back to the trailer, ate supper, and then took a walk around the campgrounds. It warmed up quite a bit today. This morning we had the heater on in here, this evening we turned the a/c on as it was nearly 80 degrees in here, plus many of our neighbors had fires going and we were getting smoke inside. We’re settled in for the night now. We have cable TV, so we’ll be able to watch our regular Friday night shows. Just like home!
We traveled 65 miles (of the 105 mile long Skyline drive section) before we decided we had seen enough of up and down, winding and twisting roads. At one point we were a little over 3,000 feet in altitude.
It was beautiful, but you really only need so many pictures of tree covered hills. There was a little color in the trees, but it was mostly green.
I (Karen) went thru the Virginia Quilt Museum in Harrisonburg. It was nice, but kind of small. They had some modern artsy type quilts as well as several antique quilts, but no photography was allowed, so I don’t have any pictures to show.
We came back thru Staunton, VA which is just the next town from here, probably 5 miles away. They had signs advertising the Presidential Museum and Library for Woodrow Wilson which is located there. We thought we might find that interesting, after finally finding the place with the help of our GPS and following their signs, down narrow streets, many of which were one way streets, we found a parking place and went inside. A man sitting behind a little counter informed us it would be $12.00 each. We didn’t think we were interested enough for that, he then came down to $10.00 each since we were seniors, but we still weren’t interested enough to part with $20.00. We decided we could find out all we wanted to know about Wilson by looking him up on the internet. Neither of us has done that yet. . . .
We came back to the trailer, ate supper, and then took a walk around the campgrounds. It warmed up quite a bit today. This morning we had the heater on in here, this evening we turned the a/c on as it was nearly 80 degrees in here, plus many of our neighbors had fires going and we were getting smoke inside. We’re settled in for the night now. We have cable TV, so we’ll be able to watch our regular Friday night shows. Just like home!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Thursday, Oct. 8, 2009 - Verona, Va
Well, today started out with a little learning experience. I was dumping the tanks and when I pulled the gray tank handle, it and the tube extension pulled out of the underbelly. Figuring out how to fix it I got drenched, but got it fixed.
Long travel day today, 8 hours. At least that is the longest drive I have planned for this trip. Trip took us thru the Appalachian Mountains and we are now in the Shenandoah Valley. I don’t know a better way, but the West Virginia Turnpike was a wash board. It was not the whole day though, and the roads had been great up until then and again after we exited the Turnpike. By the time we got as far as West Virginia, there was finally a little color in the trees. The news on the TV said the color peak won’t be for another couple of weeks, so we’ll probably see the most color on the way home thru Pennsylvania and Ohio.
We are staying at the Shenandoah Valley Campground for two nights.
As usual, we are ‘roughing’ it with WIFI and Cable TV. It’s a nice campground and seems to have as many as a dozen tame rabbits that are in the park.
I’m sure they are there just to tantalize Penny. Tomorrow we will take a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway and see some of the local sites.
Long travel day today, 8 hours. At least that is the longest drive I have planned for this trip. Trip took us thru the Appalachian Mountains and we are now in the Shenandoah Valley. I don’t know a better way, but the West Virginia Turnpike was a wash board. It was not the whole day though, and the roads had been great up until then and again after we exited the Turnpike. By the time we got as far as West Virginia, there was finally a little color in the trees. The news on the TV said the color peak won’t be for another couple of weeks, so we’ll probably see the most color on the way home thru Pennsylvania and Ohio.
We are staying at the Shenandoah Valley Campground for two nights.
As usual, we are ‘roughing’ it with WIFI and Cable TV. It’s a nice campground and seems to have as many as a dozen tame rabbits that are in the park.
I’m sure they are there just to tantalize Penny. Tomorrow we will take a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway and see some of the local sites.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009 - Frankfort, KY
Larry called the Toyota plant this morning about a tour they give through their plant. They said they had a large group coming, but if we wanted to come in and be put on their stand-by list, they may have room for us. We decided to go on in and try to get in with the scheduled group. At 10:00 there were about a dozen of us waiting in stand-by, but no scheduled group had showed up. They went ahead and took our bunch and later we saw another tram apparently with the scheduled group. This is a huge Toyota plant with a total of about 7.5 million square feet under roof in the various buildings among the 1300 acres. They have about 7,000 employees plus 2000 temps and said they have never had any layoffs. They manufacture the Camry, Avalon, the Venza and the Camry Hybrid here at this plant with the goal of 2000 vehicles a day. They said the Camry has more American made parts than any other car. No pictures allowed.
We came back to the camper for lunch and to check on Penny, then went for a tour of the Buffalo Trace Distillery. This is a small still.
Their tours were given hourly, so we thought we had a pretty good change of getting in. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it was really much better than I expected. The tour guide really made it all very interesting. I guess about all the information I came away with is that all bourbon is whiskey, but not all whiskey is bourbon. The rest of the information went in one ear and out the other, but it was enjoyable, including the taste test. ;-) Larry have more information, but that’s all for me. –Karen
All I will add is that they said: If we stopped production today, they have enough aging in barrels to continue to bottle for another 20 years. - Larry
We came back to the camper for lunch and to check on Penny, then went for a tour of the Buffalo Trace Distillery. This is a small still.
Their tours were given hourly, so we thought we had a pretty good change of getting in. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it was really much better than I expected. The tour guide really made it all very interesting. I guess about all the information I came away with is that all bourbon is whiskey, but not all whiskey is bourbon. The rest of the information went in one ear and out the other, but it was enjoyable, including the taste test. ;-) Larry have more information, but that’s all for me. –Karen
All I will add is that they said: If we stopped production today, they have enough aging in barrels to continue to bottle for another 20 years. - Larry
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
6 Oct 2009 – Frankfort, Ky
We had an uneventful 6 hour trip for the first day. We are now at the Elkhorn Campground in Frankfort Ky.
We left in rain this morning and had mostly cloudy skies during the trip. Light rain when we arrived, but not enough to bother us. We will be here two nights. Took a walk around the campground and saw this tobacco barn in the field next to the park.
Tomorrow we are planning a tour of the Toyota plant and Buffalo Trace Distillery. Other than looking around the horse farms in the area, which will probably be it for the day. So, maybe something more interesting tomorrow.
We left in rain this morning and had mostly cloudy skies during the trip. Light rain when we arrived, but not enough to bother us. We will be here two nights. Took a walk around the campground and saw this tobacco barn in the field next to the park.
Tomorrow we are planning a tour of the Toyota plant and Buffalo Trace Distillery. Other than looking around the horse farms in the area, which will probably be it for the day. So, maybe something more interesting tomorrow.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Oct 2009 - Ready to head east again.
We are going to head east again this fall. Our plan is to spend a week in Wash DC and than head to Phil and NYC. While in Washington, we will meet up with Lora and family for a few days. It just happened that as we had been planning our trip, Lora had been planning a trip over school break to Washington also, so we will be there at the same time. Funny how things work out, but we are excited to be able to spend time with them in DC. We are finishing up getting the RV ready and plan to leave on Tue, so hopefully Tue night will be the first post for this trip.
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