While we were in Philadelphia Steph and the kids spent some time in the Ben Franklin museum. I found a shaded bench and took a little time to get some work done. While I was working an older gentleman in a suit came over and asked if I would share the bench. “Of course!” I told him and moved all our backpacks and water bottle out of the way so he could sit. He parked his camera bag and cane down next to himself to “give the legs a little rest”. I could tell Enrique was attending a conference as he had his name badge hanging on a lanyard around his neck.
Author: Huck
Phillie in a day
Our buddy Anthony who we met back in Shenendoah National Park had emailed us a recommendation for Timberlane Campground in New Jersey but just 30 minutes from Philadelphia. So we made a reservation for 2 nights as a basecamp for a full day to explore Phillie. The campground was nice and quiet and Brielle found two girls, Naomi and Kaylin, about her age who she played with every free moment we had at home. These two sisters raced BMX bikes and so Brielle raced around the campground with them on her pretty pink bike and princess helmet.
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87 years ago
I wonder if Abe’s speech would be as well remembered if it started “87 years ago…”. Anyway, we are right here at Gettysburg where the historic 3 day battle took place and Abe delivered that famous address. As usual, I came in knowing a few basic facts I memorized in school but left with a much better understanding of this part of history and a ton of questions.
Three mistakes in Caledonia
I did not have it on my mental itinerary to go to Gettysburg but Dacen wanted to go and we needed to buy a little time before some other reservations we have in a few days. So we packed up home and headed for Pennsylvania. Google took us a crazy, windy way that might have saved time for a passenger car but not for our big rig. We finally arrived at the Caledonia State Park campground where we did not have reservations but there were 2 sites available on line that would fit our rig. So we go in to the office to check in and get the most unfriendly welcome we have ever received. It wasn’t that he was rude or anything…but I’m pretty sure he hated his job. Anyway we got checked in and went on in to find our spot. This site did not have water hookup so we had to fill up the fresh water tank at the community spigot and this is where we made mistake number 1.
DC on a shoestring
Most of our blog posts are just a recount of what we did and its primarily for our own memories….so if you read these, thank you and sorry if we bore you. Today, however, we want to do what good bloggers do and provide some useful information to our readers. In particular those who wants to travel to DC, with a family, in an RV and is a tight wad. Is anyone still reading? No? Well, I’ll write this anyway.
Both Steph and I had been to Washington DC in our youths and we were excited to visit again but this time share it with our kiddos. It seems like it should be the perfect place to visit for the budget traveler as all of the museums, memorials and monuments are free!! But, its the other costs that get you; lodging and transportation being the biggest ticket items. And while you can attempt to get everything in during a short visit we knew that it would probably take a full week to really see and experience things the way that suits us. We had just about thrown in the towel and resigned to the fact that it was going to be an expensive week when I struck gold in the lodging department and Steph struck gold in the transportation/parking department! Will these be real pay dirt, or just fools gold?!
We see DC
Ah, Washington DC. Our nation’s capitol. There is so much to do in this area we knew we wanted to spend about a week in order to fit it all in. We stayed 6 days in all and spent 5 of those in the city. And it was all really really good.
Presidential debates
The night after we visited the capitol in DC one of the kids had the idea that they should all write presidential speeches. I figured they’d go to bed and forget about it but they worked on them in bed and the next morning they wanted to present their speeches. So, ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you to this forum of presidential nominees and invite you to consider the ideas spoken here when you cast your vote.
The casualties of travel
We have lost and broken a few things along our 10,000 miles we’ve traveled…nothing major, but I’ll list them here for posterity.
Mother’s Day
Unfortunately for Steph, Mother’s day was a moving day for us. But, these are getting less eventful and stressful so I think it turned out ok. Back on Ocracoke the kids were finding shells with natural holes in them and they got the idea to make her some jewelry for Mother’s day. Every time Steph would go run an errand or something they’d work on their projects. In addition to the shell jewelry Dacen was doing some origami flowers and Brielle and Caden were making cards. So when Sunday rolled around the kids were able to shower her with gifts. But first, Caden wanted to serve her coffee in bed!
At the AT
Our campground is only 10 minutes from the southern tip of Shenendoah National Park. From the highway you can turn left and go south along the famous Blue Ridge Parkway or turn right and drive the famous Skyline Drive through Shenendoah. The mountains here are nothing like our Colorado mountains but they are no less beautiful. There has been a lot of rain so everything is very green and today the sun was out, which felt really good.
