Washington, DC - Day 2

Well, we can't say we walked as far as yesterday, but we did seem to try.

Today was just a two stopper, Arlington National Cemetery and the Museum of Natural History. We also found out other information regarding getting to tour the White House.  I Googled it, and for a person(s) from a foreign country to get a tour of the White House, you must contact your embassy and have it arranged through them.  We were also told it must be done six-months in advance!  Here is the information link http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/tours-and-events.

Albert Einstien

We started off again from Union Station and rode out to a transfer point, transferred busses and were taken out to Arlington Cemetery.  During the drive we went by a statue of Albert Einstein taking it easy :).

Once at the cemetery we decided to walk to President's Kennedy's grave which also included the graves of Jacqueline, and an infant son.  There was also a place reserved for their daughter.  There were many people there but very quiet and reverent.  I could not believe the number of graves, Arlington Cemetery is the final resting place for over 400,000 active duty service members, veterans and their families.

Rows Upon Rows

We also went to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the tomb is guarded by a soldier that walks slowly back and forth (24 hours a day, 365 days a year) in all kinds of weather.  The guard repeats the process approximately every minute and there is a changing of the guard every hour on the hour.

Walking back to the Arlington Cemetery Visitors Centre was a little easier as it was all down hill.  Arlington Cemetery is built on a hill so any walking takes on a little challenge after a while.

We got back on the bus which then took us past the Pentagon and the 9/11 memorial where the airplane ploughed into the building.  Unfortunately no pictures are allowed to be taken of the Pentagon, even just driving by in a tour bus!  So we didn't.

45.52 Carats

After lunch we arrived at the Museum of Natural History, we had about 3 hours to tour this museum, well that was no where near enough time (see our message about visiting any of the museums at the end of this blog).  The girl in behind the information desk sort of looked at us like "not a chance".  We focused on the human species and where we evolved from, we then saw an area focused on minerals, crystals and gems (including the actual Hope Diamond) and finished the visit with a fairly new exposition on pictures of the animal world - wonderful!

The population of the world at 2:20 PM on October 28th, 2014.

A note about visiting the Museums of Washington, DC, we found that you probably need most of a day for each museum.  They are huge and have so much information there is no way to be able to give them the attention you want in anything less than 4 to 6 hours.  If we come back we would do the museum tours a little differently.  However, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Downtown Washington - Day One

Well, to say we walked our ten thousand steps today is a big understatement!!  (more like 110,000).  We took a shuttle bus downtown to Union Station which is obviously a ground transportation hub for buses and trains, it is a huge building that is undergoing renovations.  We then took the "Red Line" which also known as "The Grand Tour".  The package we purchased gives us on/off privileges for 48 hours. (therefore today and tomorrow).

A couple of people looking out from the observation deck.

We got off near the Washington Monument.  Very impressive structure which has been recently repaired following a 5.1 earthquake a few years ago that created some cracks and concerns.  It was very sunny and the shadow it cast was very impressive.

We did not realize that the reflecting pool and Lincoln memorial is located behind the Washington monument.  So off we walked, and walked, and walked, and walk and yes, walked some more.  By the time we were finished we had been up close and personal to the reflecting pool that included the WWII Memorials (both Atlantic on one side and the Pacific on the other), the Lincoln Memorial which is just bigger than life, then to the Vietnam Memorial and walked up to the

White House (could not get very close) and then finally back to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. And all this before Lunch!!

Following a bite to eat in the Air and Space Museum we took a tour.  The artifacts (the word artifact means everything from the third stage of a Saturn V rocket to a small piece of moon rock that you can touch and everything in between) are unbelievable, we saw the actual Spirit of St. Louis, Apollo 11 command capsule and much too many other items to mention here.  Evidently the Air and Space Museum is continued at an airport outside Washington which also includes a Space Shuttle, the Concorde and other modern aircraft, we probably won't get out there.

One of the things I noticed was the size of all the buildings.  When they were built they included a lot of columns and ornate scroll work with the same or very similar stone.  I would say that about 90% of the buildings museums and tourists spots are free to anyone.  U.S. taxes at work :), thank you.

It was then time to catch the bus back to the campground, good thing too as we were beat.  We need a soft chair and a drink and get rested for tomorrow to do it all over again, yea!

Hershey, PA to Cherry Hill Park near Washington, DC

We are on the road again heading for a park in Maryland just outside of Washington, DC.  We decided to take in Gettysburg, PA since it was nearly on the way.  Good choice, we experienced driving through the heart of Gettysburg with the Ti - hmmm not so good, streets seemed very narrow (or the trailer seemed extra large), not sure which.

We made it to the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitors Centre without getting too lost, to say this place was awesome is an understatement.  After saying hello to Abraham Lincoln at the entrance we had a quick bite to eat and set off on our museum tour.

Our first stop was the film, "A New Birth of Freedom", narrated by award winning actor Morgan Freeman, which was excellent.  Fact: Over 680,000 people lost their lives during the Civil War. Wow!

The film actually set the stage for a trip to the second floor which held the restored Gettysburg Cyclorama, which depicts the final fury of Gettysburg - "Pickett's Charge".  There was a short audio story that explained the cyclorama and the effort that went into it.  Hearing the story and seeing this was very moving.  An explanation is available through this link: Gettysburg Cyclorama.  We had not even heard of this before.  We then toured the museum which held not only artifacts but details of the battle and personal notes from the actual participants.

We burnt up over 3 hours here in a blink of an eye even though we had not been to the actual battlefield.  Unfortunately it was time to leave and we headed off to our next campsite at Cherry Hill Park in College Park, Maryland. We will be back to spend a bit more time here.

The trip to Cherry Hill was uneventful other than it seemed like a lot of traffic for a Saturday, maybe it is this busy all the time?

The park is very nice and has arrangement for a bus service that will take you downtown.  You can purchase a pass that allows you unlimited hop on/off privilege for either 24 or 48 hours.  We purchased the 48 hour pass that starts tomorrow (Monday) and we will be off to explore Washington, DC.

Today was a down day with doing grocery shopping and laundry.  Looking forward to exploring tomorrow.

The Slide, Border Crossing, Corning, NY, and Hershey, PA

Well, after an investigation the slide problem we found that somehow the actuator motor twisted right out of it's mounting bracket that is mounted on the actuator tube.  Wow, lots of torque there!

The two pins were pulled from the actuator rod.

Following some assistance from Hitch-N-Go and Clearstream by the way of manufacturing a new bracket and removing and installing new high strength pins on the actuator we were on the road at minimal cost and were able to keep our current schedule.

We left Tillsonburg on Wednesday morning and crossed at Fort Erie/Buffalo.  We cleared US customs with minimal wait time and no issues.

Next stop, Ferenbraugh Campground just outside Corning, NY.  We arrived ahead of schedule and decided to visit the Corning Museum of Glass in town. During our tour we saw several demonstrations including the abilities and manufacturing process of Fibre Optic Cables, Hot Glass Blowing, Flame working, Glass breaking, and Glass Galleries.

To RVER's, it sometimes seems that a prerequisite of developing an RV campground is to locate it next to or very near to railways tracks.  Well, Ferenbraugh took that concept to the next level, the railway track passes through the campground.  One side of the tracks being open field type of camping and the other being developed in a heavy wooded area,  We chose the open area and were treated to two trains, one around dinner time and the other at about 4:00 AM!  Oh well, turn over and back to sleep.

The next morning (Thursday) we left for Hershey, PA (Thousand Trails Hershey Preserve, Lancaster County, Hershey, PA) arriving there about 3:00 PM, it was time to set up and relax for the rest of the day.

Friday morning we started out early and visited Hershey's Chocolate World Factory and took a tour in a Roller-Coaster type car that showed the chocolate making process and ended with a sample - ah, breakfast snack!  We then walked around the largest chocolate store I have ever seen and planned our purchases after the Trolley Tour of Town of Hershey which explained the history of Milton Hershey, the founder of Hershey's Chocolates.

Back to the chocolate store - yah!!

We had been told about a wonderful Smorgasbord Lunch at Dienner's Country Restaurant about an hour east of Hershey, so off we went.  They were right!!  The meal was not exotic but was wonderfully cooked homestyle basic food (roasted chicken, mashed potatoes etc).   We were really full after the meal :)

Our waitress was a Mennonite from Ohio but lived in Sioux Lookout, Ontario in 1991 to help raise a family where she also met her husband - small world. Great place to eat - very full!!

We have been in many unusually named towns in our travels such as "Come-By-Chance" and "Dildo" in Newfoundland.  We decided to continue that tradition by visiting the towns of "Bird In Hand" and "Intercourse", PA, We drove through Bird In Hand, but stopped in Intercourse to walk around the Kitchen Kettle Village sampling jams, relishes, cheeses and meats, etc. Both were really neat little towns.

Where did "Bird In Hand" get its name?

 Bird-in-Hand probably received its name from the sign on an 18^th century inn.  In the 1700’s many travellers and residents in this area spoke different languages. Early inns often took their names from an image they could paint on their sign that would be recognizable in any language, such as a blue ball, a white horse, or a hand holding a bird.  Later, the communities that grew around these inns often took on the name of their local inn, such as the villages of Blue Ball, White Horse, and Bird-in-Hand. 

And now the burning question; How did the town of Intercourse get its name?

Formerly known as “Cross Keys”, this village was founded in 1754. The name was changed to Intercourse in 1814. There are several explanations concerning the origin of the name of Intercourse, but none can really be substantiated. The first centres around an old race track which existed just east of town along the Old Philadelphia Pike. The entrance to the race course was known as “Entercourse”. Some suggest that “Entercourse” gradually evolved into “Intercourse”.

Another theory concerns two major roads that crossed here: the Old King’s Highway, which ran from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh (now called the Old Philadelphia Pike), and the road from Wilmington, Delaware to Erie, Pennsylvania. The intersection of these two roads was thought to be the basis for the town of “Cross Keys” or, eventually, “Intercourse”.

A final idea comes from the “old english” language which was is use in the early 1800′s.  It refers to the “fellowship” or social interaction and friendship which was so much a part of an agricultural village and culture at that time.  These roots mark the community of faith to this day, and the many evidences of it is experienced by those who care to dig a bit more deeply while visiting this area. Because of the town's unusual name, the sign posts for the town are frequently targeted by thieves.

We closed the day by returning to the campground, not much for supper tonight as we are still full from lunch.

Bound for Maryland and a visit to the U.S. Capitol tomorrow.

The Migration Begins

We left Wed. Oct 14th and spent a few days in Barrie. Went to St. Mike's hospital with Bob and got some positive news. Was not the positive we were looking for but one step at a time.

On Thursday we met up with friends and family at Jack Astor's for a very nice meal and some wonderful conversation. Got to do that again!

On Friday, off to Tillsonburg to stay with friends. However while closing up the kitchen slide we heard a loud "Bang" just as the slide finished closing. We installed the slide bar and went on our way. After arriving at Tony and Sharon's I pulled the Coreplast and insulation down to find the actuator had twisted out of its frame mounting and broke! Lots of torque required to do this! Not good 😞. So the next few days will be spent trying to repair or replace. Of course it had to happen on a Friday! 😩. We will get as much done as possible over the weekend and see what Monday brings.

More to follow as the repairs unfold.