Washington DC - Days 8 - 10

Visiting Washington DC has been on our bucket list ever since we got the RV.  We finally made it this trip.  We stayed at Cherry Hill Park Campground.  This is one of the best campgrounds we have stayed at.  Its located in College Park Md.  You can catch a metro bus right from the front of the campground that will take you to a metro train station so you can ride the metro rail into DC.  We bought Smart Trip passes at the campground to use for riding the metro buses and trains.  This is the best way to pay for the rides since you need exact change to ride on the buses.  Its like using a debit card.  At the train station the have ATM type machines where you scan your pass and then using a credit card you add money to the passes.  Each time you use the card at the turnstiles a screen shows you what the balance is on the card.  When you run low just visit one of the machines and add more dollars.  So we took the bus to the metro station and then took the green line metro into DC and got off at the Archives/Navy Memorial station.  From here we walked about two blocks to the National Mall, around which you will find most of the museums to visit.  This is where I got my first look at the Washington Monument.  As with everything else in Washington DC, its almost breathtaking to see everything in person.

The first museum we toured was the Museum of Natural History

 

The first thing you see as you enter is this large elephant

 

 

Here is the Hope Diamond

 

 

There was so much to see, we just took the elevator to the top floor and then began walking thru the exhibits.  Way too much to take in, even in one day.  It was lunch time when we left here and we walked a short distance along the mall to the Museum of American History.  We ate lunch in one of the cafeterias there.  Almost all the museums have cafes and cafeterias in them which makes it nice.  We spent a few hours in the American History museum and then it was time to head back to the campground.  Our two pets, Ginger & Kellee travel with us on our RV trips so we had to keep them in mind whenever we left them.  About six or seven hours is about all we like to leave them in the RV.  Here is a good picture of the Capitol building from the mall.

 

 

 On Day 9 our plan was to visit the Air & Space Museum and the Lincoln Memorial

 

 

After touring the Air & Space Museum it was time for lunch.  We were told that there was a very good restaurant on an upper floor of the Library of Congress.  So we began a long walk toward the Capitol Building, the Library was on the block behind the capitol.  Here is a closer picture of the Capitol.

 

 

We are now walking uphill and were getting a little tired.  We finally made it to the Library of Congress.

 

 

As with all the buildings this was enormous and again breathtaking.  However, after getting thru security and asking for directions to the dining room we found out that we needed to be in the Library of Congress (Madison Building) which was across the street.  Oh well, we should have paid attention to the directions.  Anyway, we made it to the Madison Building and found the dining room and were very glad we did cause it was just about the best place to dine for lunch with reasonable costs.

 

Our next stop was the Lincoln Memorial but it is located on the other end of the national mall.  Not wanting to walk all the way back down the hill we got out the map of the metro rail system and realized there was a blue line stop nearby.  So we got on the metro and rode the blue line a few stops to the Smithsonian stop which is almost in the center of the national mall.  So we exited there and began a long walk toward the Lincoln Memorial.  On the way we walked around the Washington Memorial (which is now closed due to the earthquake damage)

 

 

As we walked around the monument we heard a helocopter and looked up and saw that it was the Presidents chopper.  Here is a picture of it landing at the White House.

 

 

Continuing on our way we walked past the WWII Memorial

 

 

 Getting closer to the Lincoln Memorial

 

 

 

Here is a view of the monument looking from the Lincoln Memorial

 

 

 

After all this we were beat.  It was time to take the long walk back, catch the metro and head back to the campground.

 

Our plan for day 10 was to visit Arlington National Cemetery.  James' Great Grandfather is buried there.  He was killed in action during WWI.  We wanted to find his grave and also see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown soldier.  So we got on the green line metro and rode it to were we could connect with the blue line, then rode the blue line to the Arlington stop.

 Picture of me at the entrance.

 

President Kennedy's grave

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and changing of the Guard

 

 

 

 

 

After the ceremony we took off on foot to find the grave we were looking for.  As we walked I noticed this grave of a WWII Naval Officer awarded the Medal of Honor. 

 

 

We passed a section reserved for Nurses

 

 

 

After finding section 18 and after a short while we found the grave of James' Great Grandfather, who was killed in action in WWI.

 



 

Jim Thorpe Pa.

On Sunday we took a drive to the town of Jim Thorpe.  The town was originally called Mauch Chunk which is the native indian word for "sleeping bear".  The name was given to the area because the indians thought a nearby mountain looked like a sleeping bear.  The town grew and prospered as a result of coal mining and the nearby Lehigh river which gave the coal company a means to transport the coal down river to Philadelphia.

the main street thru town is Broadway.  Its lined on both sides with home, shops and restaurants.

Old Jail near top of Broadway

some history of the area and jail

we had lunch at Antonio's Pizzeria on our way back down the street.  We both ordered small portions of our order.  This is what we got.  Glad we did not ask for large!

At the old train station at the foot of broadway you can take rides on the railroad


After his death in 1953, Jim Thorpe's third wife, in search of a proper tribute to her husband, moved his body to Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania and in return the struggling town changed its name.  While he never lived in Mauch Chunk, it is fitting that he is memorialized here, in the state where he spent his proudest years, in the town that changed its name to his.

Don Laine Campground

Well when we checked out the car friday morning it started right up, was fully charged.  We used this day to relax some and do some shopping.

Saturday morning we drove into New Jersey and spent the day visiting Diane's family.  We had a great time.  It had been two years since Diane had seen her mom.  Unfortunatly we forgot our camera so did not get any pictures to post.  Diane's niece is suppose to send pictures to us.  Here is a picture of our campsite:

Camping in Pennslyania

We departed Greer SC early Wednesday morning ( 7:30 am is early for us ) and drove to the Staunton/Walnut Hills KOA campground in Va.  We were on the road about eight hours which is a long day traveling.   We were able to watch the first half of the Giants/Dallas football game which kicked off the NFL season.  Game was kind of boring, score was 7 - 3 Dallas at the half and we were so tired we went right to bed.  Didn't find out until last night that Dallas won the game.  Needleless to say we are not Dallas fans.  But our Braves won the last two games with the Rockies so thats a good thing.

When we woke up thursday morning to get going on the second leg of our trip it started raining.  Actually it poured.  I was soaked by the time I got the shore power and water line disconnected and stowed.  Had an issue getting the suplemental braking system going on the car (we tow our Honda CRV )  That should have been a worning.  With about a 100 miles to go the remote sensor for the car braking system started to beep and the display said we had a low battery alarm.  Pulled off the road at the first place we could get the rig into and turned around.  Our car battery had died.  So had to disconnect everything and tow the car the rest of the was without the supplemental braking.  Lucky for us the trip from there was relatively flat.  We finally made it to Don Laine Campground about 3:30, another long day.  The owner of the campground gave us a jump start to get the car going so we could unhook from the camper.  After getting the camper set up and the dogs walked we drove 16 miles to the nearest Sears and had the battery checked.  It checked out good and was fully charged we we arrived.  Seems that when we had the car set up in tow mode I did not realize that the car radio was on.  This must have placed too much of a drain on the battery along with the braking system.  Hopefully the car will start with no problem this morning. 

Preparing for Fall 2012 Trip

a few days ago I brought the RV up front.  Took it to get the propane tank topped off and filled up the fuel tank.  Yesterday we washed it and I leveled it up and hooked it up to shore power to get the fridge going.   We will be heading out next week.  Our trip will take us up to Pennsylvania and New Jersey to visit relatives.  Then will will head down to the Washington DC area.  We plan visiting as many of the sites there that we can.  After that, depending on the weather forcast (no storms coming) we would like to head to the outer banks of North Carolina.  We had planned to go there last fall but Hurricane Debbie spoiled those plans.

One of the reasons we did not have a long spring trip this year was due to the mild winter and early spring.  We were able to get our garden in very early this year.  We started it in March and normally do not get it going until Easter. We love to grow a garden every year and one of the reasons we do not travel during the summer months ( othere than the heat ) Here are some pictures:

Overall garden

We have been picking strawberries for about three weeks now.  Diane made a strawberry pie this past weekend

We picked yellow squash yesterday for the first time this season.  Had squash for supper last night.

Tomatoes are growing good.

This is the first year that we have apples growing on one of our dwarf trees

And this is the second year for peaches.  Hopefully they will get a little bigger this year

We went to Walmart today and bought a pressure canner.  We plan on canning as much as we can this summer.  Our green beans will be coming in in a few weeks and the squash is coming in heavy right now.

Still doing catch up on our trip to Charleston last week.  One of the nice amenities of James Island County Park is the large dog park where you can let your pet run free of the leash.  There is also a lake there where the pets can swim.  We took our younger pet Kellee to the park friday afternoon.  She was a little tenetive at first, when she wandered off she would stop and look back at us, just to make sure we were still there I suppose.  She had a great time running and chasing other pets.  Here are a few pictures: