One of the Newer Parks

October 15-17, 2017

So many battlefields in this area that it would be impossible (and draining) to see them all.  Cedar Creek and Belle Grove has only been part of the park system for a few years and there are several historical entities involved in keeping it going.  The Park Service Visitor Center is in a little strip mall in Middleton but they have an amazing CD they've recorded to provide details as you drive through the historic areas.  Be sure to pick up a map as well because there aren't any signs yet and you're driving through so rural areas.  Some wrong turns dead end on small roads that are really tricky to turn around on.  Trust me on this - get a map.

Back at Walmart for the evening I did get to call the fire department on an older RV with a for sale sign that was dripping something caustic from a tank.

Not sure which tank but it smelled like acetone.

Fire department showed up followed by a hazmat truck.  Looked like most of the group is volunteer so I guess this was kind of training for a true hazardous situation without much actual danger.

I think eventually someone called the number on the 'for sale' sign because a car showed up and eventually a tow truck.  See how close that rear end is to the ground?  A minute ago it was on the ground.  I hate to see what the underparts looked like at the end of the tow.

Right next to this area is the undoubtedly phenomenal Shenandoah National Park and Blue Ridge Parkway but I had reached my limit on twisty mountain roads.  I headed south through the valley between two mountain ranges.

Fields of Death

October 10 -13, 2017

Manassas (Bull Run) was the site of the first Civil War Battle.  Both sides figured it would be a quick fight that they'd win and go home.  Spectators sat on the hills to watch. It turned out to be only the first of four years of battle in which more than 600,000 soldiers died (and presumably a large number of civilians as a result of starvation or exposure or stray fire).

Those things that look like giant bullets on the corners really were leftover ammunition when the monument was first erected.  The visitor center has what's left of one that exploded after it was removed and replaced with something less dangerous.

That line of trees was where the rebels stood and fired on the northerners standing right about where I am.  Serious guts involved to stand that close and fire back.

Replica of a civilian house that was pelted with bullets during the first skirmish and dismantled for fuel in the following winter.

The park ranger didn't know if this cannon (or any of the others on the field) were used in the first battle but they are all from the Civil War.  Kind of remarkable to be standing that close to history.

Meetup With Dad

October 3-9, 2017

My dad flew helicopters for the Air Force and is a member of a Pilots' Association that has periodic reunions.  I had never been to one but couldn't pass up the opportunity to go to this one and hang with Dad for a week.  The reunion was in DC, home of boatloads of history and the hotel was nice enough to let my park my rig in their lot for the duration of the reunion.  As I have said previously, I am very introverted and was a bit uneasy about being around 200 people I didn't know, but these were some of the nicest people I've met in a long time.  After the first day I felt comfortable and not at all stressed out about the crowd.

Plus they offer plenty of social lubricant.

I went on three of the daytrips to the Holocaust Museum, Arlington Cemetery and Mount Vernon (a boat trip).  All were super and even though I ditched Dad at the museum so I could take a quick trip through the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, it was great to talk with him.

Dad

Difficult to see but that's the Capitol Building and Washington Monument in the background

Too close to get good shots of the soldiers leaving after the changing of the guard, but I guess their butts look good too.  And you can see the path their shoes have marked in the stone walkway

Not our boat for the journey down the Potomac, but pretty

Our boat and the crowd getting on

Dad

Pirate Cruiser

Sorry about the thumb. Fort Washington

Mount Vernon

View from Mount Vernon.  That's Piscataway National Park, preserved as a view shed (new phrase to me) showing what Washington saw from his porch.

Harpers Ferry

September 29, 2017

The only reason I went to Harpers Ferry was because a guy at Pinchot told me about it.  It wasn't on my list of things I really want to see and I didn't notice it while perusing the National Parks page but I am really glad I went.  It's a mix of lovely scenery, historic buildings and lots of hiking trails.  You can park at the Park office and take a bus down to avoid the limited parking in the steep, old town.

I think this is the Potomac but I guess it could have been the Shenandoah

Hikers are about halfway there, whichever side they started from.

Railroad trestle has collapsed

Downtown street

Dissolving stairs

Downtown from the other direction

The old church from three different viewpoints.

The map shows a trail going back up to the parking area with some ruins along the way.  The rivers have flooded several times and everything near the banks is foundation only

This was a cotton mill that used the power of the river to run the plant. It's on Virginius Island (no longer an island, really, in the Shenandoah River.

Along the Shenandoah

Pond on the way back to the visitor center.

The path back to the visitor center is slightly sloping until you get to the very end, then it's really uphill.  Guess I should have done the hike down and the bus back up.  Got to learn to plan better.

All around a very cool place and with many more hiking trails than I took the time to explore.

I'm meeting my dad in DC in a few days so I'll mosey along, taking short hops between towns.

A Big F***ing Bridge

May 10 -16, 2017

I wanted to see the ponies on Assateague Island and was hoping to connect with a friend in New Jersey, both of which required crossing a really, really long bridge.  To delay the crossing I planned to camp overnight at the boat launch for the Great Dismal Swamp (because how can you pass up visiting a place with that name?) but Mr. Ranger politely asked me if I thought I was planning on camping there, and I just as politely so "No!  Of course not!  This is a parking area!"

Oh well.  At least I got a few pictures.

Just as well, I guess.  People that stayed in the real campgrounds left reviews complaining that it was like sleeping in a swamp.  Gee.

Now for that bridge.  I never quite realized this before, but I seem to have a thing about driving over bridges - and not a good thing.  Even the small ones are a little freaky and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge crosses, well, an entire bay.

It's 23 miles of bridge and tunnel (they made islands in the bay to anchor two tunnels) with a minimum speed (strictly enforced, according to the signs) and a sturdy breeze that all watery places seem to have.  I fell below the 50 mph limit coming up out of the tunnels (well what did they expect?  Stupid steep tunnels) but managed to be reasonably speedy the rest of the way.  There really weren't any gusts of wind but I was so intent on not being blown sideways IF a gust hit that I was pretty tense the whole drive.  Luckily there's a rest stop at the end that allows 48 hour parking.  I stayed one night and met a lovely gentleman who told me he's been rving for 25 years and offered up all kinds of advice. 

Deep breaths.  No bridges for a while.