Our Road Trips

7/4/2015

We have been very busy since we left home on June 18. We have also had a lot of fun. I have been writing the dialogue but our poor Wi-Fi has made it hard. We are in Bernardston, Ma dealing with more rain, so this is a great opportunity to catch up on this.

We left home on June 18 after spending the evening before celebrating our son Mark’s 40^th B-day with the family at Mellow Mushroom in Orlando…guess that’s a sign we aren’t really the kids we feel like. It was a fun evening and the pizza was great. We also got a good picture of the 3 generations that participated in the Rolling Stones concert 5 days earlier.

We left around noon and made it as far as Santee, SC and stopped at Palmetto Shores RV Resort on Lake Marion, a reservoir behind the Santee Dam. It is called a Resort for reasons we couldn’t quite figure out, but we guessed that the owners call it that so they can charge big prices, $46 for a pull thru with 50 amps and no cable, on a Thursday night…yikes! We did a walk around, took a few pictures and went back to the camper…not a ‘resort’ in our eyes, just a place to sleep for the night. Moving on!!

The next morning we were back on the road fairly early so we missed morning traffic through Richmond, VA and afternoon traffic in DC. I-95 was not real busy so the drive wasn’t too bad. The GPS took us right through the heart of DC, so we saw all the monuments, The Capitol, Nationals Park & RFK Stadium from the road. Never been that way before so it was sort of fun, given that traffic was pretty light. We arrived in College Park at the Cherry Hill CG, nice park close to everything in DC. We had a pull through, all hook-ups including WI-FI and cable that is actually pretty good. It is only $18/night more than the joint we were the night before…crazy. We got a shower and drove to my cousin’s place 8 miles south into DC. We visited a bit and then John drove us to Bethesda, MD to the Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club and an evening of great food, a few bottles of wine & 2 sets of music by Daryl Davis Band and singing by Angela Hill. Very fun evening and the perfect way to start our trip out. We went back to John & Bev’s after and had some snacks, etc. and talked…we got back to the camper at 1 AM. Very fun evening. John & Bev are such great people to visit with…we really enjoy those folks.

The next morning we drove west to Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles Airport, part of the Smithsonian system. The Space Shuttle Discovery and lots of other cool planes are displayed there. It was a fun visit. We stopped for lunch on our way back to DC via I-66, lots of traffic. We found a parking spot close to the Vietnam Wall and spent an hour or so looking up the names of folks we knew from Red Wing on the wall. There was also a group from west-central Florida as part of an Honor Flight tour. It was a very special time. We also walked over to the Lincoln Memorial next door…lots of kids there on their summer DC visits. It being a very hot afternoon, we decided to get back to John & Bev’s and get out of the heat. We visited a while and decided to head back to the camper because our awning was out and an ugly looking storm was moving in. On the way, traffic got bad and it started raining hard. Luckily, when we got back our awning was OK. We sat outside and watched the clouds and all the lights of the DC area…interesting place. Wish the government worked as good as it looks.

The next morning, we drove back to John & Bev's house and we all drove to Mount Vernon, George Washington’s home on the Potomac River in Virginia south of DC. The drive down is real pretty, along a parkway that follows the Potomac the whole way. We stopped at a sailboat center on the west bank and there were lots of folks out sailing…really pretty with all the colorful sails and the skyline of DC in the background. We finished the drive to Mount Vernon, bought our tickets and made arrangements for a tour through the mansion and then had lunch at an outdoor restaurant at Mt Vernon. It was then time for our tour…much different than I remember from my other visit in 1962. My perspective of this tour was much different as an adult who spent most of his working life as a builder. As soon as the tour was complete, we walked down to the Potomac and just made the final boat tour…an hour north on the river and back to Mt Vernon…pretty day for a river tour. The storm last night lowered the temps by maybe 15-18 degrees and left the skies crystal clear. Very nice day for this adventure. Barb really enjoyed it, as she had never been there. We then walked the grounds and visited the learning center and museum…lots to see & read. They kicked us out at 5 pm so we got back to the car as one of the few still there…we got our money’s worth out of those tickets. Then we drove back to the city and went to John & Bev's for one of John’s famous dinners…slow-cooked beef over fresh pasta, fresh green beans and 2 flavors of red wine…holy cow was it good. I endeavor to be as good a cook as John. I asked him for what was in with the beef & he shared with me…yes! We drove back to the camper, stopped at the store on the way and went back and got some sleep…busy time ahead. It has been a very fun stop in Our Nation’s Capital, and our hosts have been great…time to move north.

Steve & Barb Larson