Smithsonian Stuff

Up 'n' at 'em again today, but we did sleep a bit later than planned after our long day yesterday. Took the blue line in again after breakfast, (see the signs at the entrance to parking, we liked Kiss and Ride!) and went to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Things were fairly quiet early, but as the day continued, waves of middle-schoolers, high-schoolers, and 4H-ers overwhelmed us. Still, there was lots to see, from the famous ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz, to the original Dumbo car and original Kermit. Steam engines, THE golden spike that joined the transcontinental railways, the first commercial telephone, the first US gunboat ever, and, wow, THE star spangled banner that inspired the national anthem. Archie Bunker's chair, Mohammad Ali's gloves, Ono's skates, Bob Dylan's leather jacket. OMG. So much to see, so little time. 


There's more! Todd Baldwin, Nancy's nephew who lives in DC, met us at 4 at the Pentagon. Got a personal tour! Todd works for IBM as a liaison, 2 days a week at the Pentagon, so knew all the cool places to take us. We saw the big wigs offices (you can tell 'cause their corridor is wood paneled, woo hoo!) And, got a look at the memorial to the victims of 9/11. The picture of the exterior has a little pentagon in the wrought iron fence...look thru it to see a blackened stone from the original wall that was destroyed. The rest of the wall has been replaced (stone is of lighter color). Then, Todd took us to the Old Ebbitt Grill, a dark-paneled watering hole a block or so from the White House where one can imagine power brokers wheeling and dealing in a back booth over a glass of bourbon. Cool! Thanks, Todd!

A stroll through DC

Nancy and I got a little earlier start today, and were on the blue line shortly after 9:30, headed this time for Foggy Bottom. Always thought that was just an expression describing murky politicians. Actually, it's a place! We walked (yes, walked!) down 23rd street to the Lincoln Memorial, stopped for a soda, then continued to the Vietnam Wall, WWII Memorial, and Washington Memorial. Next, lunch at the Corner Bakery Cafe, on to the White House (check out our photo of Michelle's veggie garden!) then a Craft exhibit in the Renwick Gallery. On to the Old Post Office, where we got a bird's eye view of the city from the Clock Tower, and had a Ben and Jerry's for our snack. Walked back to the Federal Triangle, hopped on the blue line, and back to the RV. Total walk? About 6 miles. Yes, our dogs are barkin'. Not as tired as those two tykes, though. Tomorrow? More of the Smithsonian, a tour of the Pentagon, and more. Stay tuned!

Exploring DC

After sleeping soundly until almost 10AM, we headed into Springfield-Franconia Metro Station, and caught the blue line to DC, headed for Arlington Cemetery. Our original plan was to take a tour bus, but I couldn't resist checking out Arlington, and looking up Uncle Bryce. We found his marker, shown here. He was a Naval Aviator, a P51 pilot, and served in WWII and in the Korean War. It is a sobering sight to see the National Graveyard with over 320,000 military bodies. We visited JFK's eternal flame, saw the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and learned that Robert E. Lee originally owned the land that is now Arlington National Cemetery. The US Government passed a law that citizens must appear in person to pay their property taxes, or be in default. Since Lee was in the Confederacy, and in the Army, he couldn't appear without risking capture, so forfeited his property. The US promptly snatched it up. Sounds like something the Nazis would do, doesn't it? Or, maybe like what we did with the property of Japanese-Americans on the west coast during WWII. Am I a cynic, or a realist?

Day two, off to the Appalachian Mountains

Imagine you are looking at the back of your hand. Put your thumb on your wrist, and index finger on the tendon that goes toward your wrist from the middle finger knuckle. Now, pinch the skin together with your thumb and index finger. See all those little wrinkles, and how they make ridges and valleys where the skin is pushed together? That's what the Appalachian Mountains look like. Grind up a 5% grade to 2000 feet, then brake down a 4% grade to the next valley. Grind up the next 6% grade, then brake down the other side. Again, and again, and again. Hard on brakes and transmissions, but beautiful scenery! Green, verdant valleys, forested ridges, sparkling blue sky and puffy white clouds. Stopped for lunch in Morgantown, WV. Set the Rhodes address in the Garmin, and took off. Ima (our nickname for the navigator... Ima Garmin, get it?) has a sense of humor. She takes us for a shortcut to I-68 East, thru town. And out of town. Down a tiny blacktop road too narrow for a center line, up and down hills. The sign says "This road not suitable for large trucks." No kidding. Guess that means a motorhome pulling a car is not a great idea either! Duh. Oncoming cars had to squeeze up against the shoulder to let us crawl by. Ah, yes, the life of a wanderer.


Continuing in the mountains, we passed under Pigs Ear Road, climbed Negro Mountain, then Polish Mountain, drove through Germantown, crossed Harmony Boulevard and ended up on I-270. Making good time, no problems, until we started around Washington DC, and traffic piled up just past Democracy Boulevard. (Are you starting to see a theme here?) Things were stop and go for miles until we passed Gallows Road in Tysons Corner. Then, we started moving! OK, I'm not going to touch that one.


Made it to Cheron and Joe Rhodes' house in Springfield, VA at about 5:35. Not bad! Cheron is making a marvelous recovery from hip replacement surgery last week... she's at home, walking, and played hostess for dinner! Joe did most of the fetching and carrying. We spent two hours catching up, talking about places we'd been, were going, or would like to go. They suggested "must see" things in DC, and in Canada, and helped us with the planning here in DC. Cheron and Joe are looking forward to a trip to Auckland, NZ in the fall, starting with a drive to California. Perhaps we can hook up there and enjoy some seafood at the Crab Cooker in Newport Beach. Would that be fun, or what? 


OK, so I got carried away today, sorry. I'll do better tomorrow.

464 miles on day one, stayed at our favorite travel campground, Wally World, in Reynoldsburg, OH. Got off cheap, Nancy only spent $16! See the photo for our lovely campsite. Just got settled, and a semi next to us fired up his engine, and let it rattle rattle rattle until it drove us away to the other end of the parking lot. Humph. Tomorrow, Pohick Bay Regional Park, Virginia! Planning on dinner with Cheron and Joe Rhodes. Yay!

in the Beginning...

Wow, so we've really let this blog stagnate. But now, we're off on a new adventure, and some of your friends have asked for a way to follow our travels. So, we're resuscitating and starting things rolling again!


Tomorrow starts the first day of our 3 month trip to Canada and back. I'm posting here a Google Maps link to the first leg, which is from O'Fallon, MO to Bar Harbor, ME. Copy this link, below, and paste it in the address bar of your browser, then hit enter. It will bring up the map and route.

https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=9018+Harvest+Run+Drive,+O%27Fallon,+MO&daddr=3167+S+State+Road+3,+New+Castle,+IN+47362+(Walmart+Supercenter)+to:61+County+Line+Drive,+Bruceton+Mills,+West+Virginia+to:6501+Pohick+Road,+Lorton,+VA+to:11+Luis+Munoz+Marin+Boulevard,+Jersey+City,+NJ+to:438+Plymouth+Street,+Middleboro,+MA+to:50+Winter+Island+Road,+Salem,+MA+to:300+Latham+Road,+Thetford,+VT+to:1150+Bar+Harbor+Road,+Trenton,+ME&geocode=FYwBTwIdsOiX-indiJap19PehzFjClwDTL02tQ%3BFUigYAIdyBHp-iFlXzxObPJa1imT8Ie3OjMViDFMtBeh4qNxFA%3BFeMrXQIdn6I--ylVqW9FrGc1iDF7C5YFn2zFNg%3BFQ6rTgId1BBm-ynPvbAITVO2iTFB1gv_j_mQPQ%3BFZ43bQIdcSmW-ymhNJNUulDCiTE5laoavmrrSg%3BFXCofwIdSGLH-ylT6ZuB8JXkiTFPNuFPZO3FxQ%3BFdjniAIdQ5_G-ynJpjFQSBTjiTGn-3l2zryYwA%3BFQGUnAIdSiiy-ylTkglRUce0TDG8eDBNXEVxmg%3B&sll=41.22685,-80.701635&sspn=18.98304,39.506836

We have leased our home in O'Fallon to Jennifer and Ryan, who will be moving in this week and next. This frees up our housing budget for a travel budget! Today was a bit frantic, what with them moving furniture in, and us loading the RV, all at the same time. We picked up the Montaj at Byerly's RV Friday afternoon, after 3 weeks at the dealer for repairs to the slides, sink drain, and a service on the generator.
All our household goods are in storage for a year, and we leave in the morning. First, an early Birthday Dinner tonight for Jennifer, with all her family, including brother-in-law Chad. Sunday night we plan on an overnight at Wally World, then Monday night in Virginia, with dinner at Cheron and Joe Rhodes' home.
Enough for today, we want to avoid putting everyone to sleep! Post a comment or question, if you like, and we'll try to answer.

On December , Nancy and I headed out to Florida along with many other snowbirds. We'd had a busy holiday season. Saturday the 27th of December was the neighborhood progressive cocktail and hors d'oeuvres party, and we hosted the first stop. Dec 28. we celebrated with the Baldwin Christmas at our house for 30+, including almost all of Nancy's family and some of Bill's. Then, another party on the 29th that was a reunion of Bill's side, with the Walshes coming from Kentucky, and the Pollocks from Ohio and Kansas, along with Shiko. Whew! The next morning the Walshes helped as we packed Christmas up, enjoyed a delicious breakfast courtesy of Pat Walsh, and headed for Florida! This time, we had 6 in our Roadtrek: the Schusters joined us, as they live in Sarasota, Florida. Our unit was too small to sleep 6, obviously, so we overnighted in a motel. We made it 1100 miles in two days!