More Around Washington and Annapolis

After wearing ourselves out in Washington proper Kate's husband Lucas arrived on Thursday and we branched out to find other adventures.  From the airport we drove to Great Falls and walked around the old B&O canal and over to look at the falls on the river themselves.   The falls marked the change from the coastal lands to the mountains to the west and explained why Washington was established where it was on the river down in the swampy coastal area.

A picture of the tavern and lodge along the canal, now used as a museum.

Some of the locks are still functioning and some were not.  Because of the rapid rise in the land (thus the falls) there were frequent locks to be navigated.

Again it was a warm day and the shade along the canal was appreciated.

And walking over to the falls.  This river is huge and the falls are in sections divided by rocks and an island.  

Lucas and Kate on the right walking across the boardwalk on the island to look at the Virginia shore of the falls.

What you can't hear is Lucas' and Kate's discussion of which of the kayaking routes might actually be survivable.  Kate looked up the falls and found that sections were rated either 5 or 5 plus depending upon which part of the water you were observing.   They figured which of their friends would actually run it.   Walking down the tow path along the canal before we reached the path to the fall's overlook, we had passed several kayakers carrying their kayaks back towards the parking lot and the top of the fall.  After seeing the falls I would have been so tempted to ask them questions about how and where they went down the run.

I couldn't really tell if this kayaker had already made the run of the fall or was just playing around in the fast water coming out of the last slot....   Too much current for this flat water paddler.

A glance to the sides of the walkway gives you a vision of the trees that get pulled down the current during high water flooding.

A quiet back pool with a lot of signage warning you not to get carried away and think you should actually get in the water.   We noticed a helicopter flying overhead and Kate the quick "google" checker announced that the park service use the helicopter to patrol the falls.  Sounded like a good idea to me...an ability to protect people from their own poor choices.

Decided this is an example of a mule pen near the tow path.  Need a fresh mule just park them along the path and change them out as necessary!

The back of the tavern.

We got back to the tavern just in time to see two mules heading out pulling the canal barge up the canal.  The traces behind the mules are very very long.   And I wouldn't want to be the walkers in period costumes walking along with the mules.

Here is the barge with the mules far out in front to the right.

After spending the 4th of July at the falls Lucas, Kate and I met up on Friday to head over to Annapolis harbor and a two hour sail.   It was warm enough out that I didn't think I wanted to be the one paddling the kayak and the two kids through the harbor.  Looks like work!   Notice her feet. This is one of the kayaks that have a foot operated paddle.

And on to the sail boat after plenty of sunscreen.

Lucas on the right helping raise one of the sails.

If you look carefully you can pick out the small sail boats with numbers. They were manned by youth and appeared to be from the a local club.  They seeme to be practicing their sailing maneuvers around a slightly larger boat.  They were circling and tacking back and forth. It all looked like fun.

The captain had several of the youngsters try their hand at the helm. This young man had the most focus and definitely took his role seriously.  He didn't need a lot of corrections. That couldn't be said for all the volunteers.

Back at my new campsite located in the front lawn area of my cousin's property the dogs enjoyed AC during the heat of the day thanks to the generator and the tank of gas I filled right before arriving.  My research was not tightly controlled but it seems I used about 12 gallons of gas over three days running the AC 10-12 hours per day.   Not bad for a site in the trees.  

Looking from my patio area you can't even see the front of the house.  The generator couldn't be heard from the house...especially not from the back patio.

The back patio.

Son, Ben, and his friend Taryn headed down to the dock along with Kate and Luca for a swim in the bay back waters.  The thought of hauling the kayak down for a paddle was not followed through because of the heat.

The afternoon included lawn games.....

The evening included seafood dinner out.  Lucas has mallet in hand to demonstrate technique.

Just a picture of some of my favorite real estate which just happens to be up for sale down the road.  It is being handled by Sothebys.  Comes with a huge barn with living quarters for the help above.

Ben and Taryn and Lucas and Kate had left by the time everyone got herded out to the porch for the traditional reunion picture on Saturday.  It was so hot that folks found it hard to mingle, mostly we were trying to stay cool.

I thought that we had all missed the evening fireworks when I heading out about 8 to meet the kids for  dinner.   Later while sitting out on the water eating our food there appeared a series of fireworks across the water above the  point directly across from us.   Quite professional quality fireworks I might add.  I found out Sunday that we hadn't missed my cousin's fireworks at all, I just didn't realize where their property was in relationship to where we were eating.   We watched the show even noticed the long pauses between displays....something about very long fuses for safety I was told later. 

So here is the official Reunion 2013 picture..... minus those that left earlier in the afternoon.  (There were several groups that stopped by and had to leave earlier not just mine.)

Adventures around Washington, DC.

Adventures have continued after the WomenRV get together in Pennsylvania. I travel down to the Cherry Hill RV Park that is located right outside the DC Beltway.  It definitely is designed to make visits to the Washington area easier for travelers with recreational vehicles.  They have a Metro stop right there near the front office that takes you right down to the Subway system and from there the whole of Washington is available by transferring at the appropriate stations.  

You will have to ask my daughter Kate about the pool, but it looked way too full of children for me.  Then again maybe the adults liked the idea of wearing the children out even further before taking them back into the RVs.   They have specific tenting areas for groups camping. The groups reminded me of the groups that we observed in Denali. They looked as if they were professional services provided to church or scout groups.  

The dogs survived some very long days sitting in the AC waiting for Kate and I to wander back to the rig in the evening.  Reminder to those not used to sight seeing with 30 somethings (used to hiking up and down mountains): be prepared to walk long distances.  She had faith in me being able to keep up but then she has never watched me go down with heat exhaustion....yet.

Kate having just finished up two days of museum viewing chose a trip to Mount Vernon on Monday afternoon after I picked her up at her Washington hotel.   After arrival we walked down to look at the barns and a replication of one of the tenant farm houses while waiting for our assigned house tour time.

From the front of the cabin you can look across to the barn complex. I liked the barn. It also was a rebuild of the original.  

The chicken coop.... complete with resident chickens.

Walking up to view inside the eight sided barn. 

This view looks familiar from historic pictures and paintings.  All it was missing was the clip clop of the carriage horses.

The women's slave quarters .

It was hot out and guests were asked to wait in the sun at several spots along the tour of the house.  The "guides/volunteers" were less than polite and welcoming. Maybe the heat made them crabby, too?

Te following day Kate was recovered enough to take the trip back into the city.  It was only my second time using the subway system. I think that I am sufficiently trained to manage on my own at this point but Kate had doubts at several earlier junctures.  These pictures are just enough to prove that I was there.   The city was gearing up for the parades, fireworks and celebrations to come on the 4th.  Somehow I was not tempted to try to come back down on Thursday to participate.

Our Tuesday itinerary included the Native American Museum, the Spy Museum, lunch and a trip down to the Vietnam Memorial and a walk back past the White House.  Considering that Kate has been to Washington three times now and had covered many of the museums we went to two that she had not seen and I was interested in.  The Native American Museum is so full of information. It involves a lot of reading and makes your mind go on its own to connect with all the previous "history" that you might have been exposed to.   Having been to Alaska prepared me for the diversity and the sense of history exposed for the first time.  The Spy Museum was interesting. Well the first half was. It did talk about actual history of spying and had examples of the technology used in the past.  Those of us who have lived through some of the spy drama of the 60's and 70's and the cold war years, saw it from another light.  At least half of the museum was dedicated to the Bond movies, gadgets and plots.  Neither of us were all that interested in reliving our James Bond experiences. Besides we were hungry!

From all her visits to Washington, Kate had never made it to the Vietnam Memorial.  There is a uniqueness to the Memorial experience.  Kate had also missed that the Memorial chosen had been designed by a 19 year old student with a pretty special creative vision.

On Wednesday we were ready to leave the city heat and congestions behind once again and made the drive to Monticello.   We both agreed that Jefferson's gardens were much better attended than Mount Vernon. We also found out that the guides were much nicer with smiles and polite directions.  The also have nice shady spots to line up for your scheduled tour times. 

Trees...no explanation needed.

There are definitely creatures of the imagination in there.

The ground crew were busy setting up for visitors who were expected the next day as about 100 individuals were expected to take their oath of citizenship.   The next day the local TV stations were showing the group that took their oaths at Mont Vernon but I was thinking that taking your oath at Jefferson's home has even more meaning.   And besides the volunteers are nicer!  (Word on the grounds was that Dave Matthews was expected to entertain the new Americans and their family and friends. Sigh, tickets were not readily available.)

More adventures for another post to come.

Back on the Road Again

As of as of last Sunday I headed back on the road and have made as far as Pennsylvania.  After an overnight stop at a small Ohio state park in eastern Ohio the dogs and I made it to Ferryboat Campground north of Harrisburg, Pa, sitting quietly on the quiet but broad Susquahannah River.  Anyone how has followed my journeys by now has figured out that if the trip includes a gathering of other members of the WomenRV traveling group there will be groups of folks talking and eating and sharing occasional adult beverages.

Lori was the organizer of the gathering. Here she is sitting with her doggy co-host, Mr Spinner.

Some of the other visitors to the gathering seem more interested in catching up on there sleep than following the conversations.

Camping next to a river just invites use of kayaks.   Paulette and her friend Barb, agreed to head out onto the water Thursday morning.

A nice private bungalow build on a small island in the middle of the river....

A few more pictures are still in the camera. One shows the water flood levels in past years. Those water front RV sites don't look so sweet when thinking of high water.