Thursday, October 24, 2013

Our Nations Capital............

Washington DC is "AWESOME"

Pictures only show you a small view of the overall size and detail.  This is another place you should put on your bucket list.  We got pretty lucky with the weather, with only a few drops of rain one morning, and then sunshine the rest of the time.  The evenings got down in the low 40's, but the days were perfect.

OK, we are going to let you in on a little secret.  We both have always thought that the Capital and the White House were the same place...........  Boy are we embarrassed.  Pennsylvania Avenue was built to go directly between the White House and the Capitol Building.

So many Museums and only 3 days to see them.  We stayed at an RV Park, about 15 miles out of town, where we were only minutes away from a Subway Station.  The DC subway system is much less complicated than NYC's, and not as many people.  We became Pro's in just a few trips.

We will apologize now, for the length this post is going to become.  I know that I am going to get  wordy.

The National Mall seems to stretch on forever, with Reflection Ponds, Monuments, Administration Buildings, Museums, Trees, Lawn and it is just pretty much "Amazing".  If we come back again, we will bring our bikes to ride, or rent a segway, to get around town.  The city is pretty bike friendly, and it would have saved us lots of miles walking.

We wanted to take a tour of the Capitol, and luck was with us again.  We went to the walk up counter, and they had plenty of tickets.  When we got in line, there were a lot of people, but after the introductory film, we were broke up into small groups. We ended up in a group of only 12 people.  Other groups had 40 or more.

The Capitol is huge and beautiful, unfortunately we were only allowed to see just a small part of it.  Above is the Hall of Presidents.  We could go on and on, but we won't.  If you ever get close, you really need to stop.

At one end of the National Mall is the Capitol, the other end is the Lincoln Memorial, with a reflection pond, the Washington Monument, the World War II Monument and another reflection pond between the two.  On either side of the National Mall are the Vietnam Memorials (both Mens and Womens), Korean War Memorial, Martin Luther King Memorial, the Smithsonian Buildings and who knows what else.  Impressive.

World War II Memorial

Washington Monument

Jefferson Memorial

Martin Luther King Memorial


After two days of subwaying, we surmised that we were now ready for the ultimate challenge, a transfer. Way to easy.  We made our transfer, and we were off to the Pentagon, and the Pentagon 911 Memorial.
The benches, or table looking structures that you see, are Memorial Markers for all the lives lost on September 11th when the airliner hit the Pentagon.  The markers are arranged by date of birth.  You can still see where the damage to the side of the Pentagon was repaired.  Very Moving Afternoon.


Our last day in Washington DC, and we still wanted to see the Arlington Cemetery.  Yippie-yi-yo-ki-yay, another transfer opportunity on the subway.  We are indeed pro's.  Pulled it off flawlessly.  Arlington Cemetery would take you days to walk, so we jumped on a shuttle bus that took us around.
The Flame....????      The Eternal Flame over the grave of President John F. Kennedy

A visit to the Arlington Cemetery would not be complete without paying our respects at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  The large structure is the Arlington Memorial Amphitheatre.  Behind the amphitheatre is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
We arrived, with 10 minutes to spare, to see the Changing of the Guard ritual.


Our time in Washington DC was terrific.  We had super nice weather, the Government was reopened, we saw some amazing sites, made our feet hurt from walking so much, and became DC Area Subway Pro's.
Not bad for a couple of  Old Retirees.


So we hooked up the Old Wheelhouse, pulled out to the highway, and made a left turn, heading for Virginia.
Hope you come back to check on us again soon.

Steve and Roberta

Friday, October 18, 2013

"BURRRRR" It Is Time To Head South.....................

 
Winter Is Coming Soon

We have decided that it is about time to start heading South, before winter gets here.  We have arrived in Morgantown West Virginia and managed to find Tiffany.  Our trip over from Atlantic City was beautiful, with a newly paved interstate, and more fall colors than you could take in.  Since there are very few fir or pine trees, almost every tree you see is deciduous.  When you come over a rise it  looks like a canopy of leaves, and then with the fall colors, "WOW", it is beautiful. 


We were told to stop at Cooper's Rock State Park, and go out to the observation area.  Well, we stopped there yesterday (Top Photos), and it was a bit overcast, but today it was sunny and another Awesome view of the leaves turning colors.  Pictures do not do any of it justice.  You need to come see it for yourself.

We ventured East a bit to Cumberland Maryland.  Yet another Historical town with many old homes and Churches.  We were told that there are underground tunnels running between churches, where the slaves would hide.  Also slaves were hidden in the church steeples.  It must have been a crazy time of history.

The Government Shutdown is now officially over (Can We Get A "Hooray"), so tomorrow we will be heading back East, to Washington DC.  The weather guesser is forecasting light snow in West Virginia next week, and the temperature is getting down right cold at night, so it is almost time to run South.  After our stop in DC, we will be moving South to warmer weather, returning to Nashville, for another visit with Gary and Debi, along the way.  Looking forward to seeing them again.

So, that's it for the time being.  Take another look at us in 3 or 4 days to see how DC works out.

Thanks Again,

Roberta and Steve

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Stupid Government Shutdown.....!!!!!!!!!

After New York City our plan was to head down to Washington DC, by way of Atlantic City and Philadelphia.  Well, since our Government has decided to shutdown, they also managed to close all of  the places we had intended on seeing.  We never made the trip to Philadelphia, since we would not have been able to see the Liberty Bell.  Maybe this Craziness will end soon and we can back track a bit.  We'll See....

We did make it to Atlantic City on Friday afternoon, in the middle of a storm front that lingered for 3 days. When we arrived, the weather seemed to get better.  It was still cloudy, but the wind and rain had stopped, and it was actually a very pleasant afternoon to walk down the Jersey Shores Boardwalk.


It was Friday afternoon,of the long Columbus Day weekend, and as you can see, we pretty much had the entire Boardwalk to ourselves.  There were 3 wheeled carts, like the one in the bottom middle picture, that you could hire, and be transported to your next destination.  We chose to walk, but decided that if it began raining we would hire one for our trip back.


It turned out to be a perfect evening to stroll along the Boardwalk and take in the Atlantic City Lights.

So we pulled out of Atlantic City and decided to head East to West Virginia.  Our friends, Fred and Tina from Sandy Oregon, have a daughter living in Morgantown while working on her Masters Degree.  We  will be there tomorrow and are looking forward to spending some time with her.  Hopefully our Government can resolve this mess in the next few days and reopen DC to visitors.  Keep your fingers crossed for us.....

So, that's all there is for now.  As always, thanks for look at us,

Roberta and Steve

Friday, October 11, 2013

New York City......... "WOW"

Jeff and Sheryl arrived at the State Park, and within minutes they were setup, and then we were off to Boston. We caught the ferry to downtown Boston, and our #1 Bucket List item was to have a cold one at the "Cheer's Bar".  We jumped on a Boston Sightseeing Bus and listened to the tour guide tell us all about his life (Annoying).  With a little bit of luck, the tour bus went right by the "Cheer's Bar", so we were off the bus.

We had a great afternoon, and evening, with our Wheelhouse friends, but all good times come to an end.
We jumped on the subway to get back downtown, to the pier, to catch the last ferry back to the State Park.
In the morning we said our good-byes to Jeff and Sheryl.  We probably won't see them again until summer.

Down the highway we went, heading to Plymouth Rock.  We came across a Cranberry Bog where they were harvesting the Cranberry's.  We have no idea how all of those berries end up in one spot, but it was pretty cool to see.  It appeared that they vacuum the berries into an awaiting semi truck trailer.


We stopped in Plymouth to see this historic town.  We could ramble on forever about Christopher Columbus, the Mayflower, the old Victorian buildings, and lots of history stuff, but we will spare you all those details.                      Google it yourself...  :-))


It was then time to head for New York City.  The RV Park we stayed at was right on the Hudson River, and we could see the Statue of Liberty, way off in to distance.  Let us tell you, driving through New York City, with a 40 foot long box behind us, and also trying to avoid a low clearance tunnel and bridge, is not what we would call fun. Once we arrived, it was perfect.  We didn't drive the truck once, the whole 5 days.  The subway station was just 5 short blocks away.  Our first day out we only got lost how many times???  It was so much fun, except for the rain storm that came through, and soaked us while we were on an open air doubledecker bus.  After our first day, we felt like old pro's getting around on the Subway's.   Well, maybe not pro's....

We have a bazillion pictures of the city, during the day and at night, so we will try not to bore you with to many of them.

1 World Trade Center
Downtown from a tour boat ride on the Hudson River

Very Beautiful Church
 
Rockefeller Center (Ice Skating Rink Was Just Installed)

United Nations Building (When the Flags are flying they are in Session)

Amazing Central Park

Old and New Macy's, and the Empire State Building

We spent a few hours at the 9/11 Memorial, which was quite a moving moment for the both of us.  The 2 fountains are where the original towers once stood, and the victims names are inscribed on the bronze perimeter, as a headstone for all those lost.  The pear tree, in the upper left corner, became known as the Survivor Tree after sustaining extensive damage, but living through the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. In October of 2001, the tree with lifeless limbs, snapped roots and blackened trunk was discovered and freed from the piles of smoldering rubble in the plaza of the World Center.  The tree was originally planted in the 1970's in the vicinity of buildings four and five in the World Trade Center complex near Church Street.
A white rose was place on a few of the names honoring their birthdays.


Grand Central Station was absolutely incredible, and we were there at a slow time of the day.  There are tunnels going off in all different directions, tracks coming and going on all different levels, people going every direction, and somehow it all works.  Put it on your list of must see's if you are ever in NYC.

We stopped by the David Letterman Show, and wished we would have had tickets.  We wandered around to the side street, and found the famous "HELLO DELI" that David talks about every so often.  The deli is located right next to where David's guests arrive and leave.  We managed to see the Cue Card Guy (in the yellow shorts) and we had the privilege to speak with Paul Shaffer, and Roberta snapped a quick picture of him  (bottom right corner), as he walked to his car.  Then Roberta went across the street, hoping to see David, or his guest Lucy Liu.  I was on the other side of the street also hoping. No such luck.....

We went up to the observation deck, at the top of the Rockefeller Center (Top of the Rock), to see the city at night.  We wish now that we would have got there right before dark to see the city during the day also.

We couldn't visit New York City without seeing Time Square at night.  This city is so amazing.  We can see how people fall in love with it.  There is always something going on.


After 4 days of walking around New York City, we had to move on to our next destination, Atlantic City.  We never did find Waldo in NYC (Like we were even looking), but we will never forget our time here.

Thanks for looking in on us,

Steve and Roberta






Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Boston

We have arrived in Boston
Boston Massachusetts is a very cool town.  We are staying just outside of Boston, at a State Park in Hingham.  This State Park seems to be located right in the middle of town.  Beautiful Park with Lakes for Kayaking, bike trails everywhere, very spacious RV spots and we have even seen deer.

Our Nephew, Zach, lives in Boston, and we were able to hook up with him on our first full day.  We were lucky enough to arrive on a day that he had off from work.  Our first stop was the Sam Adams Brewery. The brewery gives free tours, explaining many details of the brewing process.  At the end of the tour we enjoyed many different tastings of Sam Adams selections.  We were given a free tasting glass, and after the tour we stopped at Doyle's Pub to enjoy yet another brew, and received another very cool Sam Adams glass.  We had a "GREAT TIME" visiting with Zach, and hope to see him back in Portland for Christmas.
Thank You Zach for taking time to show us around.

The State Park where we are staying is only just a few miles from the ferry terminal, where we caught the Ferry into the heart of Boston the next day.
The Ferry ride took about 20 minutes, and the scenery was worth the price of the ticket alone.

We wanted to walk the Freedom Trail, which is located throughout the downtown area.  There is a red brick trail, inlaid into the sidewalk, which makes it easy to find all of the different locations.  We saw where the Boston Massacre took place, Paul Reveres House, the Old South Meeting House, the Old State House and others.  Lots of History going on around this part of the country.  So much to see, and so little time.

After our 2 mile walk along the Freedom Trail, we wandered down along the bay, and made our way back to the dock to catch the ferry back.  We hate to say this, but the weather here has been Perfect.  Sunny everyday and between 70 and 75.  We feel sorry for all of you back home, but we are happy we missed that week of HELL you all went through.  We managed to see many different aspects of Boston, and Boston Harbor is magnificent.  If you are ever in the area, you should definitely spend at least a day exploring.

Today we headed up North to Salem.  We wish we could be here around the end of the month, because we hear that this town, known for witchcraft, gets pretty wild around Halloween. 


If it has anything to do with Witches, you will find it in Salem.  Roberta even found a statue of Elizabeth Montgomery, the actress that played in the TV show Bewitched.

I almost parked in the wrong place, the damn government closed the visitors center and Roberta gave me a time out for being grumpy.  I promised I would be good for the rest of the day, so she released me.

Our friends from Oregon, Jeff and Sheryl, are arriving tomorrow, so it will be fun to hangout with them again. We plan to head back into Boston with them to visit the "Cheers Bar" and hopefully have time to take a tour. We will be leaving Friday, heading a short distance South to the Cape Cod area.  We are planning to visit Martha's Vineyard, Plymouth Rock, Cape Cod and enjoy the coastal scenery of the area.

As Always, Thank You So Much for looking in on us.

Steve and Roberta