Tuesday, June 24, 2025

Sunday, June 15: Home

 After a good night's rest we were ready to get this last leg of the trip over.  The motorhome decided to give us a little bit of trouble.  The big slide (the living room slide) decided to stop half way in.  This slide is always the one we worry about.  In the past, a bolt has broken which keeps the slide from moving, so Carol keeps replacement bolts in the motorhome.  He and the boys went under the slide to replace the bolt only to find that the bolt did not need replaced.  He came back inside, said a few prayers, and started the slide again.  After a few starts and stops, it finally made it inside the frame and we were able to drive on.  The motorhome has been complaining this trip.  We have been trying to make a decision about selling it and this trip has clarified that decision.  This will be the last year we camp in it.  Our camping days are over.  We do have reservations for Turkey Run in October and if we can get the slide and refrigerator repaired, we will do that trip before selling it.  

Above and below is the skyline of Columbus, Ohio





As soon as we drove into Indiana, the rough roads began again.  As you look at this picture, you can see the concrete patches where the road has been "fixed."  As you hit the patch, you feel a bump going onto the patch and leaving the patch.  There is hardly a break....it is just bump, bump, bump, shake, rattle and roll!

We made it back home by 4:00 p.m.  Everyone had plans:  Keegan to church camp in Southern Illinois; Hunter to work at Game Stop; Kara home and laundry to be ready for work tomorrow; and us to unpack.  

It was a great trip.  Ten days together seeing our nationals capitol was wonderful.  Carol and I saw some new things but the best part was seeing it through Keegan's eyes because it was all new to him.  The only disappointment was that we were so busy that we didn't have time to play a game of Old Maid, Uno, or Crazy Cards.  Typically, on other trips, we would end each day playing cards but not this one.  The first couple of evenings we played cards but once we arrived at Washington, D.C. there never was a time when it was either too late or we were too tired.

I was asked what was the best thing we saw.  That is hard to answer as it was all great.  Arlington National Cemetery and the changing of the guards is also very moving and memorable.  I also liked seeing the beauty of the buildings...The Supreme Court, Archives, and the Library of Congress.  Washington D.C. is a capitol we, as Americans, can and should be proud of.                         


Headed Home and This and That

 We were packed up and headed home by 8:30 a.m.  I think everyone was ready.  I know that when we finish seeing the places we had planned, and it is time to go home, I am ready to just drive, drive, drive.  We had about 400 miles to go to our next campsite of National Road Campground, Zanesville, Ohio.

I decided that since the picture taking would be considerably less this post, I would post some miscellaneous shots that I want to be included in the blog.

This Saturday, June 14, 2025 is the 250th birthday of the US Army.  There is a big parade scheduled for Pennsylvania Avenue and the National Mall area.  This whole week we saw preparations for the parade like huge concrete barriers and tall fences along the streets.  I heard one worker say that this year the fences would be reinforced by the concete barriers.  This would keep people from crawing under the fences or forcing against them to move them.  In this picture, one side of the street has both the barriers and fences and the other side has only the concrete barriers.  Truck load after truck load of fencing and barriers where in the streets all week.

Another shot of the fences and barriers.


Everyday we drove to the New Carrollton Metro Station and took the Metro into the city.  In the morning, we all were able to find a seat as the train originated from that stop.  However, in the last afternoon, the cars were packed and we would have to stand.  Fortunately for me, the doctor had suggested that I wear my sling when riding the Metro and walking in the city.  People were always thoughtful and would give me their seats when I would gete on the car witeh my sling so I didn't stand.
Kara and Keegan.  Keegan learned how to find the Metro web page and track where we were and what the next stops were.  

New Carrollton  started above ground but when it got to the D.C. area, it would go underground.  There were no Metros seen in the city itself.  Escalators would take you out to above ground.  This is underground.



Can you tell what could be found above ground at this stop?  The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

The round circles are lights that would flash a minute or so before the train would arive.  This was the last train we took from downtown.  You can see its lights in the far top of the picture.

I would highly recommend anyone going to visit Washington, D.C. to take the Metro.  It is safe, quick and easy to use.  I purchased Metro cards for our usage.  I purchased three-day, unlimited cards and a one-day unlimited card.  That way, we had the flexibility to go anywhere on the Metro without having to add money to the ticket.  I think I can say that everyone enjoyed riding the Metro.  The New Carrollton Station has a nice, new seven-story parking garage just a few steps away from the station itself.  It was very convenient.




The secretary in me takes over when I plan a trip.  I love to plan trips and do all the paperwork and charts that go along with it.  This is the schedule I posted on the motorhome frig so we would know the plans for the day.  Nothing changed in this schedule except Day 1 we were not able to get tickets for the Washington Monument so we went to the "People's House" instead.  This may look like overplanning but most of these places required timed-tickets so making this chart helped me know the flow of the day and where I could plug in another museum or stop. All our previous trips to Washington D.C. were different in that we could walk right into any of these places (except the White House).  Times change!

Now that this miscellaneous stuff is out of the way, I will continue with the rest of Saturday, June 14.

I don't know anything about these spirals but they looked interesting so I took a picture.  To me, it looks like a church.

Retracing our steps.  Back in Pennsylvania.

Allegany Tunnel...this time headed west.


Open road headed west.

Our site at the National Road Campground in Zanesville, Ohio.  When I called for reservations, no pull-through spots were available.  The lady on the phone called another camper in a pull-through site to ask if they would be willing to give us their site and they take a back-in.  Thankfully, they agreed so we were able to camp here.  It was a very nice campground.  We were close to the restrooms. showers, and laundry.  There was a local pizza/pasta restaurant that delivered our supper to the site.  We all had something differenet:  Hunter, lasagna; Keegan, cheese pizza; Kara, spaghetti; and Carol and I, Pizza with the works.  All were delicious.


A nice sunset over the campground.


This would be our last night out for this trip.

Monday, June 23, 2025

Day 5: Arlington National Cemetery, Steven Udvar-Hazy Center

This would be our final day in Washington, D.C. and we decided to drive to Arlington and the Udvar-Hazy Center.  We knew we had our trusty GPS expert in Hunter and he would be able to navigate us today.  Our first stop was Arlington.  It was another hot day and the trams were filled.  I didn't get many pictures because of the crowds.

Kara and Hunter were first in line for the tram to take us to the Tomb of Unknown Soldier.

Arlington National Cemetery.  There were 25 burial services scheduled for the Friday that we were there.   We were not able to visit the John Kennedy and family gravesites because of burial services.



There is a small museum which shows the uniform of the guards that guard the tomb.

A soldier from the 3rd Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard).  The tomb is guarded 24-hours a day, 365 days a year.  There is a meticulous routine that the guard must follow when walking "the mat."  Everything he does revolves around the number "21"...steps south and north, steps on the mat, stops on mat, and changing weapon to outside shoulder.



Above and below:  memorial to the seven crew members of the Challenger.


Memorial to the USS Maine.  USS Maine was a Navy battleship that exploded and sank in Havana Harbor, Cuba.  The explosion killed over 250 sailors and was a major reason for the Spanish-American War.  Cause of explosion remains unknown.  This is the original mast from the Maine.

This is the most visited gravesite in the cemetery.  Audie Murphy is known as the most decorated enlisted soldier in U.S. history.  He received every military combat award for valor available from the United States, as well as France and Belgian.  After leaving the military, he became an actor starring as himself in the movie "To Hell and Back."

The Steven Udvar-Hazy Center is part of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum located at Dulles International Airport.  It displays thousands of aviation and space artifacdts in two large hangers.

The SR-71A Blackbird Reconnaissance Aircraft.  It had 24 years of active service.  It was so highly classified that at an air show at Offutt AFB in 1968, it would not land during the show. It flew over the base and after the show was over and visitors were gone, it landed.  That air show was the first time Carol and I saw the airplane.




SST Concorde:  Air France.  It could travel twice the speed of sound.





The Enola Gay carried the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, Japan.  Restoration speialists have spend more than a decade restoring parts of the airplane for this exhibition.








The space shuttle Discovery.  It holds the record for the most missions flown by any shuttle, with a total of 39 missions, 365 days in space.




Mobile Quarantine Facility.  

The orange ring and balls are the originals used in mission floation devices used by Apollo 11 Command Module when they splashed down in the Pacific after their moon landing

Stopwatch used by flight controller in Mission Control.

Thrusters of Discovery.


Papaw resting in the Udvar-Hazy Center.  He would walk a bit, take a picture, and then rest.


By Friday afternoon, I was so tired that the only thing I did was sit, and as this picture 
shows, sleep.  In my defense, I was not feeling well.  This picture also explains why people passing me would be smiling at me.

Thank you, Keegan, for documenting memaw and her visit to the center.

This was the last day we spent in Washington D.C.  It was a great week and we packed every day with monuments, museums, and magnificent buildings.


It was a slow day.  Only 2.2 miles.