October 17, 2009. Day 90 Kitty Hawk NC.

On October 17th, we left our Virginia Beach campsite and drove to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We were going to drive down to Hatteras but found out there were no available campsites down there. You’ll have to look at a map if you’re not familiar with The Outer Banks. You don’t want to get all the way down there in a big RV without a place to stay. It would be a long way back if you don’t already have Ferry reservations. We wanted to mostly go to see the Wright Brothers National Monument anyway. If you’ve not been down the Outer Banks it is a very narrow stretch of land east of the mainland starting at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina and going south all the way to Hatteras, about 75 miles. There is more south of Hatteras but you can’t drive it. The part we saw had many houses along the water, hotels, businesses and restaurants. It was very overcast and cool, but it is probably beautiful in the summer. We stopped at Kill Devil Hills and toured the Wright Brother’s Memorial. It was interesting to learn about the first airplane flight. Wilbur and Orville Wright first flew over 1,000 glider flights. Then on December 17, 1903, they flew an engine powered plane for 120 feet. The second attempt went 175 feet, the third attempt 200 feet and the last attempt that day went 872 feet. They had markers where you could see exactly where it had happened. We learned a lot and really enjoyed it. We then drove inland for 2 hours and spent the night in Tarboro, North Carolina. We could not find a campsite anywhere close. They were either closed for the season, or they were full. For the first time, we spent the night in a Wal-Mart parking lot. It was a very different night than we had experienced before. We woke up often but had no problems. Kathleen loved being so close to shopping. We really didn’t save any money.

October 15-16, 2009. Days 88-89 Virginia Beach VA.

On October 15th, we left our campsite in Dover and drove down to Virginia Beach. We drove across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge (25 miles) and went through two tunnels (one mile each). The weather was very bad. It was raining heavy and the wind was blowing hard from the North giving us quite a cross wind. Kevin was nervous driving across the bridge being so exposed to the winds. It was still a great sight to see, but we couldn’t see as far as we would have liked. We found a campsite in Virginia Beach and then drove down to the beach. Along the beach, there is a three mile stretch of boardwalk that has many hotels, restaurants and shops everywhere. It is very windy and a little cool. We walked out to the edge of water to see the big waves. If it had been warm it would have been a fun day to play in the waves although it might have been dangerous. We did see some guys surfing though so it may not have been too bad.
On October 16th, we drove to Jamestown – the first English settlement. We toured a re-creation of what their village would have looked like in 1610. They have three replicated ships of the ones the English sailed over on. It’s surprising how small they were and how many people came over on them. We also drove a short distance to the actual place where their fort was by the river. There was so much history there. It was cool to walk the same ground that John Smith and Pocahontas did four hundred years ago. They had an excavation pit where they were finding artifacts and have found many different things from that time like buttons, coins, pots and knives. We didn’t get to go to Williamsburg like we planned because the weather was still pretty bad, raining a lot. We drove back to the RV and just enjoyed an early evening. We had been busy for the last several days so we needed a rest.

October 14, 2009. Day 87 Dover DL.

On October 14th we drove 20 miles from our camp to Dover, Delaware and toured their old state capitol first. It is here where General George Washington resigned his commission as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. It was awesome to know you were standing in the same room that the Father of Our Country had stood in over two hundred years earlier. Kevin really loves history and this was special to him. We then toured the new state capitol across the street. It was our 25th capitol to tour. Delaware is called the First State because they were the first state to ratify the Declaration of Independence. The capitol was not as big as some of the others that we have seen or as grand but it had its own unique character. What made all their buildings special was all the history that went with them. After touring we drove to try to find some post cards and souvenirs. We parked in their downtown area which was basically two cross streets. We looked in all the stores that were there but none had any post cards. This was the first place where we didn’t get any cards. We even stopped at a Walgreens and a Wal-Mart hoping to find some. We decided to just make our own.

October 13, 2009. Day 86 Annapolis Maryland.

On October 13th, we said goodbye to our dear friends Kim and Glenn and their kids in Centreville and drove to Annapolis, Maryland. It was sad saying goodbye to them. The kids had so much fun with Tia, Corinne, Marissa and Austin. We had driven straight to a Sam’s Club to stay the night there. It was going to be our first time doing that. The manager said they allowed it but they didn’t have 24 hour security. After we set up the RV, we drove to downtown Annapolis to tour the state capitol. It was a very interesting Capitol Building. One of the oldest we had seen. It sits on a hill with very small brick streets surrounding it and old buildings all around too. The streets are small because they were built way back before there were cars. It was very quaint. We went in and took the tour. It’s not a big Capitol but it was very interesting because of how old it is. They were refurbishing some rooms so they had fully exposed walls where you could see the original bricks. The Chambers were like others and although it is an old building they still use it for its purpose. After the tour we walked and found a restaurant near the water to have lunch. All of Annapolis is so pretty. We went back to our RV and decided not to stay in the Sam’s parking lot. Kevin found an RV Park near Dover Delaware, our next stop so we drove on over to it.

October 12, 2009. Day 85 Washington DC.

On Monday, October 12th, we drove to Washington, D.C., just us – the Wood kids had classes they needed to go to. We drove around the Mall first going all the way up Independence Ave the down Constitution. Ave. We drove by The Lincoln Memorial, The Washington Monument, The National Capitol and The WWII Memorial before parking right in front of The White House. We couldn’t see the White House as clearly as we have been able to in the past because they had a big white tent set up on the lawn in front. We walked to the Washington Monument and looked around and then walked to the World War II Memorial and all along the reflecting pool to the Lincoln Memorial. There are a lot of steps to get to the top, but what an amazing view there is from there of the reflecting pool, the World War II Memorial, the Washington Monument and the Capitol. The weather was overcast and a little cool, but we didn’t care. We then walked to the Korean War Memorial and the Vietnam Memorial. The kids are sure learning a lot of history. We walked back toward our vehicle and had hot dogs on the street close to the capitol. Even when we lived here, we loved eating hot dogs on the street when we came down to D.C. We bought a few souvenirs from the roadside shops and then drove to the Capitol and looked around. You just can’t walk up and take a tour of the capitol in D.C. like you can the other capitols we have been visiting, you have to prearrange it but we hadn’t. We then drove to the Jefferson Memorial, parked and walked around. The Jefferson Memorial has always been Kathleen’s favorite place to see in D.C. She loves how beautiful the Memorial looks by the water. Andrew remembered visiting D.C. when we lived here, but Daniel did not remember anything. We just love being in D.C. It is such a great place with so many things to see. It was a fun day.

October 9-11, 2009. Day 82-84 Our time with the Wood Family.

From October 9th to the 11th we visited with the Wood’s. On the 9th we all went and toured the Air and Space Museum at Dulles Airport. Most people know about the Air and Space Museum in DC but the one out at the airport isn’t as well known. It is amazing because it has so many airplanes. It has an SR71, a Boeing 707, many fighter jets, small airplanes and it even has a Space Shuttle. If you haven’t been there you need to go. You’ll be surprised. Our boys really liked it and so did their son, Austin. Their three girls, Tia, Corinne and Marissa weren’t as excited but they still enjoyed themselves. We also went up to the observation deck (7 flights up) where you can see almost the whole Dulles Airport. On the 6th floor they have a mock Air Traffic Control Radar Room. Everyone thought that was interesting except for Kevin. He said “Been there, done that”. Rachel met a hearing impaired man and they became quick friends, signing to each other. We had a good day. On Saturday the 10th Kathleen and Kim took all the kids to swim at an indoor community pool nearby while Kevin and Glenn stayed home and watched College football. When Kim came back from the pool with the kids she whipped right up a wonderful dinner. On Sunday we all went to church. Glenn drove Andrew, Daniel and Tia to church in his 1966 Pontiac Lemans convertible. That was OK except that it was 44 degrees out. We hoped a police officer wasn’t going to see him and charge him with child endangerment. It was nice to be back at Centreville Baptist Church. It was the church we went to for the year we lived in VA. Kim and Glenn had been the ones to invite us there. After church Kevin drove Granma Celine to the Baltimore Airport. She was going home to Albuquerque after having been with us for 3 and one half weeks. We were sad to see her go but she said she was ready to. Later that day Kim and Glenn took us to see this really big grocery store called Wegman’s. It was pretty amazing. You could go there to eat dinner, or any meal, as they cook up all kinds of things and have a really nice area to go sit and eat. Our time with the Wood’s was great as it always is when we go visit them.

October 8, 2009. Day 81 Moving to Centreville VA.

On October 8th, after our final wonderfully cooked meal by Master Chef Jim, we said goodbye to our new friends and made plans to catch up with them sometime in the next month or two on our trip. We really look forward to seeing them again. Being with them added a nice treat to the trip by having people to share it with. You kind of get lonely day after day not knowing anyone else but each other. It’s not that we aren’t really enjoying our time together because we are but this time we all paired up with a friend and that brought an extra element we enjoyed too. We then headed for Centreville, Virginia, where we planned to stay and visit with our dear friends Kim and Glen and their kids. The kids were so happy to each other again. Except for the quick stop we made there the week before, the kids had not seen each other since we had moved away from Virginia five years ago. We decided to try to park right in front of their house on the street and we were glad to see that the RV fit there. As long as no neighbor minded we would try to stay there the 4 nights we planned to visit them.