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.   

Escape to TN

So after working a few weeks and a few projects I was able to escape to TN to meet up with a few friends and recharge my batteries before returning this coming week for the final project.  This was also my first opportunity to try out the new kayak.  

Remi came out with me the first trip.  He noticed right away the sides were lower and better for gazing out at the water. He likes to ride now and trusts that he will not be asked to swim.

You talking about me?

Thistle was very interested in the sounds coming from the island. It sounded like a rookery.

Liz and Thistle checking out the shore line behind the island.

Looking back towards the campground from the front of the island.

Looking up from Sarah's site......from left to right: my rig,  BJ's and Liz's.  We couldn't have picked better sites. The campground host did most of it for us after the high water and shoreline flooding a week earlier caused some initially moving around.  The water went down but several of us ended up with better sites because we were able to move on to sites that had had cancellations after our reservations had been made.

Stuart and Remi visiting down at Sarah's water front site.

BJ trying out the new kayak.

What pressure! The peanut gallery watching BJ's adventures.

Liz took the Sea Eagle out for a short sunset ride.

Stuart finally got his chance to ride.   We took an evening ride to see how he handled the lower sides.  It helps to take long walks during the day before putting him out on the water.

The next morning BJ tried her hand at fishing. What you don't see are the two guys out beyond the small group of willows on their pontoon giving her a hard time.  

 

And while BJ decide to stay back at the camp the rest of us headed over to the dock to get our "ride."
 Sarah, Sandra and Dick.

Liz and Carol tried to stay out of the sun.  Carol seemed a little disappointed when she found out that we weren't taking the pontoon with the play side off the back.....but she got over it. 
 

Looking over towards Peachtree point. Over in those trees are memories of my early camping adventures with family.  

A close up of the old camping haunts.  The water was never this high when we camped here. This photo is for my brother.

The lake water towards Peachtree Point had a lot of drift and logs in it from the recent rains and high water.  It didn't take long to decide to turn around and check out the water in the other direction.  It worked out well. We were able to stop back at the dock for a potty break before we headed down the lake past the campground and the island and towards the larger end of the lake. Again for another 150 dollars we could have rented the pontoon with the bathroom on board. 

Back on the lake, even Sarah and Sandra took to the shade by now.  We drove all the way down to Star Point Dock only to find that it was still pretty small and had no restaurant.   We could have stayed out on the water with the boat until 6 pm, but all of us had had enough sun and lake by about 2 and we headed back to walk dogs and eat lunch.  It was a good thing because later in the afternoon was when the storm front moved through so quickly.  We would have lost more that Carol's awning brackets had we not been back at the rigs when the wind hit.   And I don't think pulling into a cove would have protected us much from the wind and waves.

The next morning both Stuart and Remi headed out in the kayak with me. This was the first time they both road at the same time.  Remi agreed to ride in the back behind me after realizing what riding in front next to Stuart would mean.

Thistle, wait up!  The gray haired lady is just paddling too slow!

"If you don't want me to bark or whine (or try to get in the water) I guess I can rest my head on this neat head rest.  Move your feet lady this is just the right height for me."

Liz and I kayaked back to the island to check out the Great Blue Herons and then went back and toured the large cove where the wind was less and the water calmer.   But we made the dash across the waves and wind to make it back to the shore.

Thursday we decided it wasn't a bad idea that our time at the lake was about up. The Memorial Day folks were heading in..... This is a picture of the teenage girls all in for a day at the lake for birthday party. I don't want to even think how legal or not they were when they got on the water.

Here is a picture of Dick doing the temporary tape job on Carol's rig to make it safe enough to get to the RV Repair Shop.  It took two supervisors.....

Notice the white Duck Tape on the awning supports?

Dick's tool belt.....every tool in its place.....looks well used and well loved...... 

From our visit to Sargent Alvin York's farm . I like the stone work.

The Grist mill.

We drove around to visit the York family plots.  As we were driving out of the cemetery I looked over into the valley and was reminded why York returned to TN to raise his family after WW I when he could have settled most anywhere.

Friday morning here are a couple of the campers getting ready to dump a tank or two.  Either that or Liz is dancing.

Liz almost had to go for tools herself to get the cap loose.  

Ah, the drive across TN was well worth it.  Hospitality at the Blue Marlin Resort.

Even Abby shared her bed with Nicky.