2018 03 26 - 03-30 - Washington DC and Alexandria, Virginia

Washington, DC - March 26, 2018

Walking along the Tidal Basin under the not yet flowering cherry trees.
We are planning on returning in a couple of weeks for the full display. 

Wait. Bob found one. Apparently there are certain trees among the 3800 that are indicator trees and bloom sooner than the other ones. 

Jefferson Memorial backgrounded by the Declaration of Independence.

Franklin D Roosevelt with Fala. His right index finger and Fala's ears are very shiny as the patina has been rubbed off by people holding them for pictures.

The Martin Luther King Jr Memorial was dedicated in 2011.
A nearby inscription wall embraces the Mountain of Despair and Stone of Hope featuring quotations from Dr. King.

The Korean War Memorial gave me a very strange feeling...like the soldiers were really out on a patrol. 

The Lincoln Memorial inscribed with his Gettysburg Address and Second Inaugural Address.  

The Vietnam Memorial is always a busy place with people searching for someone they knew, capturing a picture, making a rubbing or leaving a personal memento. 

The Water Taxi we are going to take down the Potomac to Alexandria. I see a safety issue even before we board. There are no stairs or railing to assist passengers off the boat. Thankfully the river was calm enough to keep the boat close and level. 

We have seen a lot of cobblestone streets but this section is more like river rocks. It's a short section and that's probably a good thing since the cars going down the street were going less than 10 mph to save their suspension. 

Stopped by the gelato shop for a coffee and apple fritter while we checked out the map of the local area attractions. 

Hopped on the trolley to avoid having to walk the 25 minutes uphill to the end of King Street.

Our destination was the George Washington Masonic National Memorial. 

It gave us a wonderful view of Alexandria. 

After returning to the city we found Vola's for a late afternoon, early evening meal and cooling beverage. 

They had quite a selection of oysters with real interesting names. The last time we were only told where they were dug. These have names - Green torpedo, Twin hook and Cannon Cove. All local and delicious.

A dozen - 6 torpedos, 3 cannons and 3 twin hooks. So good we ordered another half dozen. Guess we were actually having dinner. 

Just off the bank of the Potomac a beautiful specimen in almost full bloom.

The blooms look so much like apple blossoms but they have very little scent.

Good for the bees.

Freedom Wall with 4048 gold stars, each representing 100 Americans who died in the war "Here we mark the price of freedom."

Part of the World War II Memorial. We didn't know where to look for the two "Kilroy Was Here" inscriptions which were included to acknowledge the "significance of the symbol to American soldiers" during the war representing their presence and protection wherever it was inscribed. 

Granite pillars arranged in a semicircle around the plaza inscribed with a name of one of the 48 states as well as DC, territories of Alaska and Hawaii, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa and Virgin Islands. Bob is in front of the Missouri pillars and had his father and several uncles in the Army or Navy.

This tower shows all the armed forces that participated in the war including the Army Air Forces where my dad served. 

John Paul Jones also has a small memorial and is considered the "Father of the American Navy". One of his quotes is "I have not yet begun to fight!"

Bob found an over-sized chess board at the Prince William Forest RV campground. 

We covered a lot of ground and still did not get to many of the things we wanted to see. After our next trip, we will return for a few days and see if we can be more efficient with our time. And hope we don't miss the cherry blossoms.

2018 03-24 Manassas National Battle Park

Manassas National Battlefield Park, Virginia - March 24, 2018

We like to visit National Parks because it gets us outside and we can take the dogs with us. They like National Parks because it's new experiences and they are not left behind in the RV. 

Standing on the battlefield gives us a better perspective of the extent acres involved with lines of cannon and fields of soldiers maneuvering. The rolling hills allow visualization of the entire battle. On the top of this hill is the Henry House which was used by Confederate sharpshooters to fire on the Union soldiers manning the cannons. The home's owner was Judith Henry, a widow, was bedridden and still residing in the house. She was mortally wounded by Union artillery fire trying to dislodge the sharpshooters and was the only civilian killed during the first battle.  

The Stone House was used by Union troops as a hospital. This house is just visible in the prior picture in the distance to the right of the sign. 

The statue dedicated to Thomas J. Jackson who earned the moniker "Stonewall" during the first battle. Some liberties were taken in this depiction as he is practically bursting out of his uniform, a la Thor. 

Bull Run and the remade Stone Bridge where 22,000 Southern troops awaited the Union soldiers marching from Washington. Both sides heading for the vital railroad junction of Manassas where the Orange & Alexandria Railroad met the Manassa Gap Railroad leading west to the Shenandoah Valley, the key to the Confederate capital in Richmond.

The original bridge was blown up by Confederate soldiers.

The new (1870) Henry House which was rebuilt after the devastation of the Union shelling. 

The tree near the Henry House is a black walnut tree which had dropped it's fruit. Difficult to open but a sturdy pocket knife broke it open.

I have never had black walnut meat. It has a funny flavor compared to the usual walnuts. We would have to spend a lot of time and energy to get enough for a snack.  

Dinner at the local Mexican restaurant, El Paso Grille with margaritas, salsa, queso and fresh warm chips. 

My dinner was carne asada burrito as long as my forearm and bigger around. Half of that came home for lunch tomorrow. 

Bob had Mar-y-tierra burrito, a surf and turf combination of shrimp and carne asada.  

2018 03 20 Day before Spring. 03 21 Spring is here.

French Creek State Park, near Hopewell Furnace, Elverson, PA - Sunday, March 18, 2018

After our hike, we returned to a pretty deserted camping area. The basic two-man tent across the street (to the right of the signage) and the Airstream next door.  

A tight squeeze since the coach takes up most of the site pad so the truck has to be angled in between the slide out, the boulders and the trees. 

Dogs are happy that we can let them out off leash for a bit. 

4th Nor'easter Arrives - Tuesday, March 20, 2018

And so it begins...starting with some freezing rain then changing over to large, heavy snowflakes. Continued all night with an accumulation of about 8 inches.

Tori may look dejected but she really loves snow. 

Looks like we are snowed in until Spring.  WAIT! It is Spring.  

The lines at the grocery store were several carts deep and stacked over the top. We can hunker down for a couple days and wait for things to improve. 

Stop action of Dakota enjoying the freedom of a good run. We had taken them in to Petsmart for feet trimming yesterday and so glad we did. This stuff gets packed in her fur. 

Tori loves a good run through the snow too. Her coat is better designed for easily removing the snow. 

Thank you, Ranger, for plowing our street. We didn't get service this great at our house. He has been past about 4 times today and always plows away from our site. Our Christmas gift from Kristen smiling through all this wild weather. The awnings are not being deployed any time soon. Watch that first step, it could be a little tricky. 

By 3:30pm we had a foot of snow. For anyone who was worried about the weather worthiness of our coach, I think the days of rain in Kentucky and Ohio plus the 13 degree weather in South Carolina and now the snow in Pennsylvania has proven it can handle extremes. No, that does not mean we are going to venture up the east coast or to Minnesota or Wisconsin. Sitting inside is one thing. Driving in this is a totally different story. 

The guy across the street from us left his folding table and two-man tent under a walled tarp. The tarp has blown over on the right so all his stuff is buried. And we are expecting the snow to continue until 8pm. That means snow coming down for over 29 hours. 

There is a lot of snow up on the roof that must be removed before we can leave. Pennsylvania laws require removal of snow from trailers. If you don't and it slides off in transit causing an accident there will be fines and possibly jail time for the driver.

Working on shoveling the snow off the roof. The slides are especially tricky since leaning over while standing is not an option. Sitting on the roof is safer. I am too short to navigate the ladder so I take the shovel to the mounds around the coach. Have to make sure our path is clear so we can get out. 

The roof is all cleaned off and we are leaving in the morning. Good job, Bob.
Next Stop Prince William Forest Park, run by the National Park Service, about 30 miles south of Washington DC, near Manassas Battlefield. Sounds like a day trip in our future.