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Click Here to see all pictures posted so far Saturday, April 17, 2010
Travel Day: Start Mileage: 0 Stop Mileage: 516
Destination: Jones RV Park – Just north of Atlanta, GA
The alarm went off at 5:30 AM! I reluctantly arose and awoke the rest of the family. We slowly gathered steam, ate breakfast and packed last minute items for the trip. We managed to nearly on time at around 7:10 AM. We stopped to top off the gas tank and hit I-10 towards New Orleans at 7:30 AM. The traveling was uneventful all the way to through Atlanta to Jones RV Park, arriving around 6:00 PM. The park is large, spacious and looks like a lot of long term campers – workers from elsewhere like South Dakota and California – plus overnighters traveling through like us. We setup the trailer, ate dinner, played a few games and went to sleep.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Travel Day: Start Mileage: 516; Stop Mileage: 1052; Total for Day: 536
Destination: Chippokes Plantation State Park - Near the Jamestown settlement on the James River
Once again, the alarm went off at 5:30 AM. Everyone knows the routine as it is still fresh from the Yellowstone trip. We ate breakfast, broke camp and headed to Chippokes Plantation. We checked in with Kenny and Brenda (my brother and his wife living in Smithville, Va.) around noon and let them know we were on schedule to arrive around 6:00 PM. We pulled into the park at exactly 6:00 PM after another uneventful (that's good on a travel day!) day of traveling. We were blessed with two good days of travel with perfect weather. Kenny met us at the park after we setup the trailer and we headed over to his home about 16 miles away for dinner they had prepared for us. We had a nice visit with Kenny, Brenda, Chandler and Christopher and headed back to the trailer around 9:30 PM.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Tour Jamestown and Yorktown
Kenny met us at the campground around 8:30 AM and we headed to the Jamestown Ferry. Kenny brought some Wheat Thins and we through them in the air at the rear of the ferry and watched the sea gulls perform aerobatics catching the crackers in mid-air. It was a short trip around the corner to the Colonial National Historic Park, the site of the original Jamestown settlement established in 1607 by 104 men and boys. The story of Jamestown was fascinating and filled with tragedy and triumph. A park ranger with dramatic speaking skills led us on a tour of the Jamestown Island. Jamestown was the capital of the Virginia Colony until 1698 when the capitol was moved to Williamsburg and Jamestown was vacated. Next we visited a glass blowing shop and watched two craftsmen make glass pitchers with a base and handle from molten glass in less than 10 mins. They were making these for the shop to sell and had a certain quota to make per hour. We then went to the Yorktown Battlefield where we spent the rest of the day. We saw a film depicting what occurred there during the revolutionary war and how George Washington defeated Cornwallis in the pivotal battle of the war that led to the British defeat. We then joined a park ranger led tour of the battlefield. Another dramatic speaker with a firm grasp of the history of Yorktown led us on a fascinating tour of the battlefield - history really did seem to come to life.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Travel Half-Day: Start Mileage: 1052; Stop Mileage: 1206; Total for Day: 154
Destination: Phohick Bay Regional Park - about 15 miles south of Washington DC
We slept in on Tuesday because we had a leisurely drive of only 3 hours to our destination at Phohick Bay. We started out around 9:45 AM and arrived at Phohick around 1:00 PM with no travel problems. We quickly setup the trailer and headed to Washing DC via the Metro (subway) for a dry run to learn the system and purchase tickets for the next few days. It was a 20 minute ride from the campground the Metro station where we parked in a garage ($4.50 to exit via credit card only). We were at the Franconia-Springfield station, the end of the BLUE line. The cost for a round trip ticket to most of the stations near the center of Washington DC is $9. We purchased 4 days worth of tickets at $36 each ($180). We would still need to purchase one more day of tickets for $45 for a total of $225 for Metro travel after a 45 minute ride including the transfer to Red Line. This turned out to be one of the bigger ticket items on the trip. We entered the Metro system and popped out at Union Station after a transfer to the Red Line at Metro Center. It was around 3:00 PM when we were waiting for the Red Line and it was extremely crowded. We think this was caused by one or more public schools letting out about that time near that location. We never ran into crowds that thick again, even during rush hour. We hiked over to the Hart Senate Building, found David Vitter's office (after going through security - a theme for this trip) and met the staff that helped us setup the Capitol and White House tours. We spotted an albino squirrel in the park across from Union Station. This squirrel would latter play a role in an interaction with a by-stander (homeless, bum, or mad scientist type) in the park. We headed back to the campground without making any errors getting on the Metro and making the Red to Blue line transfer back to Franconia-Springfield station. We did go the wrong direction when leaving the Metro station in the truck - learned that lesson and didn't repeat it again!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Tour Capital (inside), Supreme Court, Library of Congress
We awoke early again to ensure we made it to David Vitter's office by 9:45 for the U.S. Capitol tour. After exiting the Metro at Union station, it started raining lightly as we walked to the Hart Senate building. A light rain stayed with us most of the day and donned our rain coats to stay dry. We were led by a Vitter staffer named Haden who is attending La. Tech University. We were joined by two other families one of which was a home school family like us. Haden led us down to a lower level in the Hart Senate building, through a red brick linked tunnel, through a security checkpoint and onto a small open top Senate subway. We emerged near the public visitor center and waited for Haden to acquire the necessary Capital passes. We started out by watching a short film on the history and workings of Congress. Haden then led us through numerous areas of the Capitol including the George Washington Crypt area (he is not really buried there), old Senate chamber, old Supreme Court chamber, the Capitol rotunda, and eventually to the current Senate chamber in use today. We made our way back to the Hart Senate building via the underground route again taking a different, small enclosed Senate subway passed a few security checkpoints. This route between the Senate offices and the Capitol is only available to the public through Senate staff let tours.
We then went back to Union station and ate the sandwiches we had stored in our backpacks. After lunch, we visited the Supreme Court. The main floor where the court room is located was closed due to some special event in progress. We were able to tour the ground floor level where we watched a film on the history and workings of the Supreme Court and viewed numerous displays. (two days later, we were able to view the main floor and see the actual court room).
Next, we visited the Library of Congress (Thomas Jefferson Building). This was the most beautiful building we visited while in DC. You just have to see with your own eyes to appreciate it. The pictures are nice, but can't capture what you can see with your own eyes. The reading room underneath the main rotunda was amazing and was depicted in a scene in the move National Treasure. Later that night, we watched National Treasure again. The National Archives was also featured in the film, which we toured the next day.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Tour International Spy Museum, National Archives, Washington Monument, WWII Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial
We slept in a little with a plan to arrive at the Archives building at 10:00 AM. When we arrived, we encountered our first very long line. We changed our plan and headed over to the International Spy Museum. There was much shorter line and we were soon in the museum. This turned out to be a fascinating exploration of spy craft from ancient times to the current cyber threats we are experiencing today. We spent about three hours in the museum - right through lunch - it was that good! After we purchased a few items from the souvenir store (including a shirt for our friend Noah that is watering Cynthia's garden), we sat on some shady steps, broke out the sandwiches, chips, moon pies, water and had lunch.
We then headed back to the National Archives building to find the line much smaller, but we still had to wait about 30 minutes to get through security. Once inside, we watched a film on the history and workings of the National Archives. It was amazing to learn what they have stored in that building. We will have to visit the website when we get home to explore this some more. The most fascinating items to view in this building are the ACTUAL Declaration of Independence, US Constitution and Bill of Rights. Part of the film we watched explained how the new protective enclosures were designed and built to contain these documents for the next 100 years or so. It was very similar to how it was depicted in National Treasure. Once the Archive building is closed each day, the documents are lowered into a vault system for safe keeping.
By this time, it was already around 4:30 PM but we decided to soldier on to the Washington Monument and beyond. After a march down the Mall watching various groups setting up for the Earth Day celebration, we arrived at the Washington Monument. It is located at opposite end of the Mall from the Capitol and directly across (perpendicular) to the White House. You can see both the White House and the Capitol from the Washington Monument. While taking in the scene, Nathan came running up all excited and had found a $20 bill rolling along in the grass. I had just purchased him a "Spy" hat, but he wouldn't give me the bill! We took a few pics and marched on to the WWII Memorial where we found the Louisiana section and took more pictures. There were numerous memorials on the Potomac river side of the Washington Monument including the WWII, Vietnam and Korean War Memorials and the Lincoln Memorial. We visited all but the Korean War Memorial. Nathan thought the Lincoln Memorial was the most impressive.
Friday, April 23,2010
Tour White House, Capitol (outside), National Gallary of Art
Bum in the park story.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Tour Smithsonian Air and Space Museum (on Mall), Natural History Museum
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Tour Mount Vernon, Smithsonian Air and Space Museum (Udvar-Hazy) Monday, April 26, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Friday, April 30, 2010 |
