Rain and More Rain

Wish I could send some of this rain to my friends in Texas.  Rained last night and most of today.  Hate driving in it, especially when sharing the road with 18-wheelers;  they leave rooster tails of spray for the longest time!

Enjoyed Biltmore Estate in the rain.  That's one big house!  Kind of like an American Downton Abbey.

Now that I'm securely tucked in the deep Southeastern US, there are lots more Civil War sites to visit and one or two surprises are in store.  Stay tuned!

Side Trips and Misbehaving Brakes

I found some lovely side trips that turned my four hour trip from DC to middle Virginia into a seven hour trip.  The first was to Manassas Battlefield.  If I’m not mistaken, one of my ancestors was killed or wounded at the Second Manassas battle.  I’ll have to check on that later. 

After the battlefield I went on my way and took a hard right turn when I came across the Shenandoah National Park.  I just had to take a trip on Skyline Drive!  About ten miles into the drive I discovered I was going the wrong way if I wanted to make it to tonight’s campground before dark.  Sadly, I had to retrace my route and get turned the right way.

That’s when it happened.  I was braking to slow my descent and the RV shook so badly I had to grip the steering wheel to avoid losing control.  I tried again.  Same thing.  I had visions of losing my brakes completely on the winding roads of Skyline Drive.  I drove as slowly as was practical, braking gently to maintain control.  I tried braking harder a few times with the same result – hard, hard shaking.  I was truly frightened.  I came to level roads and thought of pulling over and calling roadside assistance.  I braked again.  No problem.  I sped up and braked again.  Everything was just fine.  So was it only a problem on hills?  Easy enough to find out in Virginia, everything is hills.  Next time I came to a steep hill I braked and there was no shaking at all.  WTH?  Over the next two hours on the way to the campground all brake tests passed with flying colors.  I have no idea what caused the problem, nor do I know what fixed it.  I just know I will be testing the brakes often on the remainder of the trip.

On a lighter note, you know you're a nerd when you look at the freeway exit to Verona, VA and the first thing that crosses your mind is, "Two Gentleman of...".

Stick a Fork in Me

I'm done!  Done playing tourist in DC, that is.  I've seen every site I wanted to, plus many more.  Today was gloomy and rainy so things went at a slower pace.  I revisited the Viet Nam Veterans Memorial and proceeded to the Washington Monument which is closed due to earthquake and hurricane damage.  The road to Arlington Cemetery was closed due to a traffic problem relating to a gathering close by.  But I visited the National Cathedral and was awed by the architecture.  It, too, sustained damage in the earthquake of 2011 and a few of its gargoyles are now housed inside after being toppled by the quake.  Here is a picture of one of the interior walls, still damaged:

And here is part of the inside of the cathedral:

Since it was gloomy outside, I could not get a good picture of the rose window.


Starting tomorrow I will be on my way home, but it will take a few weeks at least.  I plan to stop wherever something looks interesting and stay as long as it takes to satisfy my curiosity.  There will likely be days with no blog posts and other days with lots of news.



Thanks for sharing my journey with me!

A Monument-al Day

Today was spent hunting down all the wonderful monuments in this city.  It was a fast and furious day because I wanted to see as many as possible.  Please enjoy this journey with me:

The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial

He loved his little dog Fala!

The Lincoln Memorial

The World War II Memorial

The Korean War Memorial

The Jefferson Memorial

More meaningful since I just visited his home last week.

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial

The Viet Nam War Memorial

I also went to the White House...

...but of course there was no chance of a tour because of the sequester.  Boo, sequester, boo!

Archives, Art and Air

This is Wednesday's entry.  I guess I was so tired I failed to publish it until Thursday.  Sorry!
 

Easy trip into DC, now that I’ve done it once already.  Made my way to the National Archives first, to see the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.  The museum is more than that, though;  it shows how records are kept and there are displays of fascinating original records including Abraham Lincoln’s telegrams to his generals.  In order to actually access the archives, though, it is necessary to enter through another door.  I did not have any of my genealogical records with me (too heavy to schlep around), but I decided to see if I could find documentation of my adoptive father’s military service in WWI.  In order to search anything in the archives, one must have a Research Card.  So I filled out some forms, handed over my ID, had my picture taken and was the proud owner of my very own Research Card.  After telling the staff the nature of my quest I was informed those records are kept in St. Louis, Missouri.  Yetch!  But the card is good for a year, so if I am so inclined I can return and look for other things.

A few blocks away is the National Museum of Art.  I spent a great deal of time with the Old Masters and wandered through other galleries discovering artists both familiar and new to me.  I especially enjoyed the Degas bronze collection.

Down the street is the Air and Space Museum.  They say this is the most visited museum in the world.  The history of flight is documented from the Wright Brothers to the conquest of space.  I attended a movie about the formation of stars and don’t think I missed a single exhibit.  I enjoyed the history of spy planes and looked closely at the Spirit of St. Louis, the subject of one of my favorite movies.

I had originally intended to visit the Smithsonian Castle, but it was nearly dinner time and I needed to return to the campsite.  The castle will be first on tomorrow’s itinerary, to be followed by monuments, I think.

Hopping Along

Easily found my way from the campground to DC.  Did I mention the campground has bus service to a metro station?  Yes, the bus makes a stop right here.  I think I failed to mention, though, that my campsite is just about as far as you can get from the office – and the bus.  There are hundreds of campsites here and it takes about 12 minutes to walk up to the office.  So I went up there this morning, bought a Metro pass, got on the bus and was delivered to the Metro station several minutes later.   Followed the crowd into the station and loaded some money onto the shiny new Metro card, breezed through the turnstile and boarded the train.

I wanted to take a hop-on, hop-off trolley tour and had planned where to exit the Metro to catch one.  I “hopped on” the next trolley but did not “hop off” until it had made a full circuit.  That gave me time to decide what I wanted to see most and to plan the rest of the day.  One of the more recent museums in the Smithsonian family is the National Museum of the American Indian. Since I have distant Creek heritage I was interested in seeing this one.  There are many exhibits explaining Native history, beliefs, and contemporary Native life.  Artifacts, a film and a Native Foods Café are also part of the museum.  I had lunch in the café, enjoying a meal based on the indigenous foods prepared daily.

I must admit I just wandered around the area for quite a while, trying to decide what to do next.  I decided to look for Ford’s Theater, where President Lincoln was shot.  I hopped back on the trolley until it stopped in the general area of the theater.  A National Parks ranger gave a presentation on the history of the theater and retold the story of the famous actor who changed American history forever.   

The story finished across the street, where we were able to visit the house and the very bedroom where Lincoln drew his last breath.  Many artifacts are on display in this house, including a handle from the coffin that bore the President to his resting place. Eww.

Preferring not to be out by myself after dark, it was time to go back to the campground.  The return trip was a breeze and I was back in time to plan tomorrow’s sightseeing.

To DC

Mostly a travel day today, between Gettysburg and Washington, DC.  Stopped in Frederick, MD to see the National Museum of Civil War Medicine.  Do you see a pattern here?  Many of the ranger-led discussions I chose in Gettysburg and a few special presentations at the reenactment site were regarding Civil War medicine.  Yes, I could almost give a lecture myself by now.  This museum was very well done, with interactive exhibits and lots of instruments from the period.

The campground in the DC area is very large, and has transportation from the campground to the Metro station.  So I will not have to unhook and drive WindDancer daily to get to where I need to be.  There was even an orientation session at the campground to acquaint us with the finer points of traveling the Metro.  I have a long list of things I want to see here, so in a day or so I should be a pro at jumping on and off the subways.

Stay tuned...