The Great American History tour

The trip is winding down now. All the planning for the next day and where to spend the next night is over. So, now it's time to look back and think about all the things we saw.

This vacation started with the desire to see Philadelphia. Then, because Collin just studied all this stuff in the 5th grade, and had become so taken with the Ranger programs, it expanded to include as many national historical sites as we could pack into a 6-7 week trip. And did we see 'em. Jim's knowledge of the D.C. area from his business trips enabled us to share the national capital with kids and grandkids. The two boys couldn't wait to see the White House and were able to recognize the major monuments and buildings before we left. The Smithsonian was their favorite haunt and both of them would go back there in a minute.

I would go back to Philly for a longer stay in the city (especially during their flower show.) There was still a lot there that we didn't get to see and I would love to see Longwood Gardens in the spring.

The flowers came in a close second to the monuments and I would subtitle this trip as "Daylilies growing Wild." Those of you who haven't spent your whole life in central Texas are probably chuckling right now, but I had never thought of daylilies in the wild. For me, they had to be cultivated and watered and fertilized and given lots of care. I never thought I'd see them growing alongside roads and ditches. As I do with every trip, I'm coming home with lots of new garden ideas which I'm sure will be dried up by the heat before they ever come to fruition.

My biggest regret is that we didn't have as much time to explore the Chesapeake as I had hoped we would. Lack of time wasn't the only problem. That area also was experiencing record setting cold and rain for mid-summer. Oh, well, just have to plan a return trip with the theme of "how many crabs can Carol eat?"

Anxious now to make plans to see everybody. Hope you have had fun summers too.

tuesday

We were in four states today. When we crossed the Ohio River, we crossed from Kentucky to Illinois. We were in Illinois for about 2 minutes before we crossed the Mississippi River into Missouri. We are staying tonight in Arkansas, just a little west of Little Rock. We intend to stay in southern Oklahoma tomorrow night, either in Ardmore or Durant. Then Thursday, we will make the last jaunt home.

We've still got the rain at our heels, hoping to bring it on in. We saw some really flooded conditions in eastern Arkansas. I'm sure they would love to share some of it.

shanghaied to Kentucky

Two days ago we were just winding our way through northern Tennessee, making our way home by a new route. We decided to stop for the night in Nashville. That night as we were looking at the map, trying to decide if we wanted to get on I-40 or not, we saw an area in western Kentucky that we had never heard of before. It's name ---The Land Between the Lakes-- sounded so enticing that we had to check it out. It turns out that one of the lakes is the Tennesse river and the other is the Cumberland River. There is a KOA on the shore of the lake fed by the Cumberland. The campground is part of a marina. We are sitting at our campsite this morning watching cardinals, squirrels and a speed boat or two pass by. (Just a typical morning at the Conant resort, huh?) It is really a beautiful place. Apparently, a lot of groups and families must reunion here, because they have lots of lodging facilities. Now, unlike the Conant place, we also see an occasional barge pass just along the shoreline--this is the Intracoastal Waterway. I can't get over how slick the lake is. Doesn't look anything like our Intercoastal.

We will be staying here tonight so that we can do some exploring in the van. Once again we are within an hours drive of 4 different states. Not like central Texas where it takes two days to reach another state. We will return to the homeward route tomorrow.

home

We are on our way home now. We are now in eastern Tennessee. Our last stop was in the Shenandoah Valley, where we said goodbye to Todd and his family as they left to go home too. Monticello has a new visitor center with lots of hands-on stuff for kids. The adults had to make the kids leave. Why didn't they make museums like that when we were kids? Incredible to see how intelligent Jefferson was.

I just published my 7/13 blog because I wanted to attach a photo that Suzy had taken of Collin and William posed after a Civil War reenactment at Frederickburg. However, we stayed too busy to ever have a spare moment to connect her camera with my computer. (Our camera is not working properly.)

We have had rain the last two days. We are trying to bring it home with us.

We probably won't make it all the way through Tennessee today. We are all too tired to drive 400 miles.

virginia

Manassas....Fredericksburg....Chancellorsville.. I think I've been on as many battlefields as Robert E. Lee. We returned to Virginia two days ago, staying in Reston , just outside the Beltway. Never thought we would take the road monster that close to D.C., but there was a very nice county park that was close to the part of the C& O Canal where the Park Service gives mule-driven canal boat rides. Just like it was in the 1800's. Way cool.

Kept looking for Clarence Thomas in the park, but since court is not in session now, I guess he's touring the West.

We are now in Fredericksburg where we have been joined by our oldest son and his family. They will be camping with us for the rest of this week. After seeing a little more of VA, including the Shenandoah Valley, we will start our cross-country trek back home.

Back to the battlefields

The National Park Service has done a fantastic job here at Gettysburg. What an impressive museum. Overwhelming, actually. Rather than just focusing on the battle here, it tells the whole story of the Civil War, and I thought it did a very fair representation of both sides of the conflict. But, as always, "us old folks" learned as much from the junior ranger program as we did from the adult-oriented exhibits. Collin was involved in an hour-long program with a ranger entitled "Join the Army" that enabled the kids to feel what it must have been like to be a soldier then. They got to lift the actual equipment and see the uniforms that would have been worn. And the ranger conducting the program was so good with kids (kind of a kid himself) and had so much personality, the hour flew by. My advice: If you really want to see one of the National Parks, go with someone aged 6-12.

Catch-up--Atlanta

Just thought I'd do a little catch-up work today with some of the photos from earlier in the trip. This is Atlanta. Don't I have cute grand-kids?

Amish

You are now seeing what I am seeing. The boys are still asleep and I am having my coffee while looking out over the Amish countryside. We will be leaving this bucolic farmland today for the battlefields of Gettysburg. Hmm. Ponder this. Some of the bloodiest battlefields are in the midst of the Amish, Mennonite, and Quaker settlements.

Hershey,PA

The Sweetest Place on Earth--at least that's how they advertise it. Didn't do much for Jim , did it? We were decked out in our sterile garb for the lab. Don't worry it's still safe to eat Hershey Bars, they didn't let us touch anything but our own candy.

We went to the Story of Hershey Museum and Hershey's Chocolate World and I'm OD'd on chocolate. We now know everything there is to know about the making of chocolate and the history of the town that Hershey built. Actually, it was some pretty interesting stuff. Got to hold a cacao pod--much bigger than I thought--and make our own candy bar in the Chocolate Lab. Milton Hershey established a home for orphan boys here in the 20's as well as the model industrial town that housed the workers along with the largest chocolate factory in the world. He modeled it after Cadbury's in England. We also learned about the process of "milk" chocolate that made chocolate affordable for the masses. Pretty heady stuff, huh?

It's a very tidy town with streets named Cocoa and Chocolate...Chocolate Ave is lined with street lamps that look like Hershey's Kisses.

More 4th

I'm sorry that our blogs have not been coming regularly but we are having a steep learning curve going here. Hopefully, we are now ready to do something almost daily. So keep your comments coming. Love to hear from all of you.

Happy 4th

Yesterday was a day of firsts for the Fourth. We went to a ball game. A minor league team, the Lancaster Barnstormers were playing the York Revolutions at their local stadium which looks a lot like Dell Diamond. The game was followed by one of the best fireworks displays we have seen. Collin was able to go down on the ballfield with the other kids 12 and younger. He was giddy with excitement. Experiencing the Fourth, hearing the Star-Spangled Banner sung, in the area where the Revolution took place, brought goosebumps to the grown-ups too. I really liked the music selected to synchronize with the pyrotechnics. In addition to the military and patriotic selections that usually accompany the shows, we were also rocking to "Coming to America" by Neil Diamond and James Brown's "Living in America". Hope you all had fun Fourths.

Liberty Bell

Three days ago we rolled into the countryside of southeastern Pennsylvania. Jim & I were both reminded of the English countryside west of London. Too bad it snows here. It is beautiful. Green, rolling hillsides , lots of horse farms; they even have fox hunts. Sunday, we went to Winterthur Gardens and Museum in Delaware (about a 20 minute drive). It's on the 1,000 places list. Owned by the DuPonts--it's on the scale of the Biltmore, except they don't open as much to the public. After walking the beautiful gardens, we took another drive through Chester County and happened upon the Whip Tavern, a true English pub with all the typical ales and lagers as well as Strongbow hard cider served on draught by the pint. Also, shepherd's pie, fish & chips, curry, steak & mushroom pie, etc. England without the jet lag.

From here we can get to Delaware, New Jersey, or Maryland within an hour.

Yesterday we took a tour of Philadelphia. Saw the Liberty Bell, went in Independence Hall and the Betsy Ross house, and marched up the hills of Valley Forge. Collin has now earned two new National Park Junior Ranger patches, and 4 badges. I have been so impressed with the programs in the National Parks.

Today we took a QVC studio tour. It's the largest TV studio in the country. It was quite impressive. Who knew?

Tomorrow we plan to drive amongst the Amish. More later. Jim will add pictures when he gets on.

Traveling Companions

These are some of my traveling companions obviously havine a good time

Stone Mountain & Coca-Cola

Madi on the ropes course at Stone Mountain

Atlanta

So much to do in Stone Mountain.  Could stay busy for a week.  it’s a great camping spot with nice pool and playground for the kids.  Could have gone fishing and biking, and hiking if we had had more time.  Plus we missed the laser show on the Mountain and some other attractions.  But we went to the World of Coca-cola and centennial park , rode MARTA.. and got to spend a lot of time with Jaime & Jesse—the best attraction for us.

DC Area

Toured some of the Capital area and Georgetown today. Carol took the grandkids to the National Zoo while kept guard at the gate for any signs of terrorist. Rode the Metro in and out. Since this is a "shakedown cruise "for our new motor home wehave been keeping a list of warranty items needing attention when we get back to the homestead. We only have 25 items so far but we've only been gone one week. Amy and Madi fly out from Baltimore Wed morning. We will continue on until Carol starts a yellow page search for divorce attorneys.

Saturday June 13 2009

We have finally arrived in Maryland. Tomorrow we will take the train into DC to the Zoo. Carol and kids want to see the Pandas.

Picture test

In this test I am trying to post a picture filed on my computer