Headed Home

We left Virginia Saturday to head home. In our original plans, we were going to see a couple of places on the way home, but we've been to the southern states many times, so we decided to just drive straight through. We were super excited to see Mommy and Jacob and the kids did not want to stop for anything.

This is our campsite at Chippokes Plantation State Park just before we headed out.

Jamestown

We left Harpers Ferry yesterday and headed to Chippokes Plantation State Park. It is directly across the river from Jamestown. I have to start planning these drives a little better and stop relying solely on the GPS system in the truck. As we approach the bridge that will cross the river, the GPS shows a picture of a little boat, which is, you guessed it, a ferry. RVs don't really fit on ferries.

So, after an hour detour to a bridge across the river, we arrived. It's a great site and park. It's quiet here, as there aren't a lot of campers this time of year and it's a Thursday.

This morning, we crossed that same ferry in the truck and headed to Jamestown.

Harpers Ferry

I've always wanted to visit all 50 states and I think that's probably a pretty typical aspiration. However, when looking at the map of our trip so far and the route we planned on taking home, there was a gaping hole in the center named West Virginia. It also seems like we should have figured out a way to clip Indiana, but I've been there before. We've also all been to Florida many times, so we weren't going to go out of our way to drive through it.

Washington, D.C. - Day 6

Today is our last in DC and the kids have been begging me since day one to go to the zoo, so that's where we head today. It is quite far on the subway with two transfers and then a little walk, so we didn't get there until lunch time. We stopped in a little grocery store on the way to get a picnic lunch and ate at a table just inside the zoo.

Washington, D.C. - Day 5

We took yesterday off as coming into town three days in a row is exhausting, for the kids at least. I thought I was supposed to be the old one.

Today was museum day and the kids most wanted to go to the Natural History Museum and I wanted to go to the Air and Space Museum, so we did both. Here is a barrage of pictures.

Washington, D.C. - Day 4

Today we headed to the National Archives and then Arlington National Cemetery. About six years ago, the National Archives changed their policy from "No Flash Photography" to "No Photography." They estimated that even with their prior policy, the documents were exposed to approximately 50,000 flashes per year.

The National Archives houses tons of stuff, but most famously the "Charters of Freedom," which are the Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. It also has a copy of the 1215 Magna Carta. As I explained in the post from Philly, there really isn't an original Declaration of Independence, but the one here was the one signed by almost all members of the Continental Congress.

Washington, D.C. - Day 3

We got a late start this morning and made our way to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing about lunch time. The line was short, but we realized this was because the next tour didn't start for over an hour, but we decided to wait anyway. It was a cool tour and the guide explained things well. The kids liked the gift shop the best.

I think the most interesting thing was that the bills are all printed from a master engraved plate that several master engravers make, each with a certain area of expertise so no one engraver could recreate the plate in its entirety. The engravers also go through a ten year apprenticeship.

Washington, D.C. - Day 2

I scheduled a U.S. Capitol tour with an intern in the office of our congressman at 2:00. We got into town early enough to go over to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to see if we could do a tour, but the line was an hour and a half long. They only take 40 people every 15 minutes and there were 220 people in line. So, we backtracked all the way to the Capitol. The kids were not thrilled about that. We did walk through this garden though, which the kids thought was really pretty.

Washington, D.C. - Day 1

It rained quite a bit Saturday, so we just hung around the RV. The kids did school work.

Sunday, we left Ronks, PA and headed to our campsite outside Washington, D.C., about a three hour drive. We are staying at Adventure Bound Campground, somewhere between DC and Annapolis. It's a full hookup site with a weekly rate of $374, which is a pretty good deal for being this close to a large city.

I looked up the metro stuff Sunday night and it looks pretty simple compared to NYC. Monday was also a federal holiday, so the train was practically empty and the city seemed the same, to some extent. This is about 10:00 in the morning, but I have a hard time believing that it would be this empty on a normal work day.

The Amish Farm and House

We wanted to do something "Amish" while we were here, but places all seem very touristy and fake. I found this place that seemed less like that and it was pretty inexpensive. We actually learned a lot about the Amish.

The Amish Farm and House is an old house built in 1805, I think, by a Quaker family that was purchased by an Amish family at some point in the 1900s. No lives there now. It is on a 15 acre farm that has now been surrounded by a Target shopping center. There is an Amish schoolhouse on site that isn't a real schoolhouse, but was built by the Amish just for showing tourists what they look like. There was an Amish school teacher (retired, I guess) there to answer questions but we missed her.

I think probably the biggest misconception about the Amish is that they live in the 1800s because most people know they use the horse and buggy and don't use power line electricity, but that's not exactly true. They use gas extensively, for example, they use gas stoves and ovens and use propane refrigerators like we have in the RV. Their houses often look just like ours, but the one in the pictures doesn't because it was built so long ago. The lights and electric items were put there after the Amish family left the house. Also, the Amish, at least here in Lancaster County, use power tools and equipment for farming if they run on gas. They'll also run power tools off inverters that are powered from batteries or gas power. So, they use ovens, stove tops, refrigerators, washing machines, sewing machines, etc. inside the home and power drills, air compressors, etc. outside.

Valley Forge

Valley Forge was the place where the American Continental Army spent the winter of 1777-1778 during the Revolutionary War. There were no battles fought there. Starvation and disease killed more than 2,500 soldiers by the end of February. The weary Army was poorly fed and ill-equipped. Only one-third of them even had shoes.

By January, things started to turn around when Congress sent a group of five Congressmen to examine the conditions. By February, adequate supplies were flowing throughout camp and Congress was fully supporting the supply lines monetarily.

Also, the varied units from the states all had different training which hampered their overall efficiency and made coordinated battle movements awkward and difficult. Continued drilling brought the Army together and improved their technique and cohesiveness greatly. George Washington said that the perseverance gained by the soldiers at Valley Forge was what made the Continental Army bind together even stronger and eventually win the war.

The park ranger asked the kids if they wanted to be "Junior Park Rangers," so they got these booklets they had to fill out. They were actually pretty excited about it. We started out at the visitor center with a 20 minute historical movie.

To Amish Country

We left New Jersey/Philadelphia and made our way to Lancaster County, PA, home of more than 30,000 Amish people. Someone told Stacey that we should visit, so we're staying here for a few days at Flory's Campground. We are backed up to an Amish farm and saw this the first day there.

Philadelphia

Saturday, we stayed home and took it easy. We went to Tim and Judi's house for dinner Saturday night, so I went to the grocery store to buy dessert and I bought this for Brady's birthday tomorrow!