Matt went out tonight and bought a new hot water heater. It's not exactly what he wanted to do, but it seemed like our only option.
He brought it home and then thought I could help him get it downstairs! HA! That didn't work! He ended up getting it down there on his own!
We have a plan though until this new one gets installed:
Take showers in camper!
Wash clothes on cold- oh wait, I tried that and the water went back through the water heater and spilled out onto the basement- Hmmm. don't wash clothes. Make do with what you have.
Hopefully this won't take too long!
Monday, September 30, 2013
No Hot Water :(
We were having trouble with our hot water heater before we left on our trip. The pilot light would always go out, so before anybody took a shower, Matt had to go re-light it.
We got home Saturday and everybody went to go take showers Sunday morning before church and Matt realized it was still broken. He went the basement three times sunday morning to re-light it!
Sunday afternoon he was determined to fix it. He knew what was wrong and knew what part he needed, so we stopped at Menard's and got the part. Once Matt got home, he went downstairs and started tearing the hot water heater apart. He got the old part out and realized that there was just a lot of sediment on the old part, so he cleaned it off and put it back on. He thought that would work and then we could take the new part back to Menard's.
When he went to fill the water heater back up, something happened to the pressure valve and it was now broke, so he went back to Menard's last night to get a new one. Once he got home, he put it on and something happened somewhere else on the water heater and yet he needed ANOTHER new part!
Knowing that he had to work this morning, he went back to Menard's at 6 am, so he could get it all put back together before work.
Guess what? Menard's didn't carry the piece he needed! He called me at 6:45 so I could get him the serial number because Menard's recommended that he should go to a plumbing store.
He went to a plumbing store and yet again, they did not have the part, so they sent him to another plumbing store. They again did not have the part! They said they would check and see if they had anything compatible and give him a call later. They haven't called all morning!
Matt's conclusion: Just buy a new water heater!!!
So since we have gotten home, I have washed NO laundry, washed NO dishes, and we got showers yesterday morning, but none since!
If all else fails, we can always take showers in the camper. The water heater in there works great, but showers don't do us any good if we don't have clean clothes to wear! And to remind you, the last time I did laundry on our trip was over a week ago! We're going to run out of clothes fast!
We got home Saturday and everybody went to go take showers Sunday morning before church and Matt realized it was still broken. He went the basement three times sunday morning to re-light it!
Sunday afternoon he was determined to fix it. He knew what was wrong and knew what part he needed, so we stopped at Menard's and got the part. Once Matt got home, he went downstairs and started tearing the hot water heater apart. He got the old part out and realized that there was just a lot of sediment on the old part, so he cleaned it off and put it back on. He thought that would work and then we could take the new part back to Menard's.
When he went to fill the water heater back up, something happened to the pressure valve and it was now broke, so he went back to Menard's last night to get a new one. Once he got home, he put it on and something happened somewhere else on the water heater and yet he needed ANOTHER new part!
Knowing that he had to work this morning, he went back to Menard's at 6 am, so he could get it all put back together before work.
Guess what? Menard's didn't carry the piece he needed! He called me at 6:45 so I could get him the serial number because Menard's recommended that he should go to a plumbing store.
He went to a plumbing store and yet again, they did not have the part, so they sent him to another plumbing store. They again did not have the part! They said they would check and see if they had anything compatible and give him a call later. They haven't called all morning!
Matt's conclusion: Just buy a new water heater!!!
So since we have gotten home, I have washed NO laundry, washed NO dishes, and we got showers yesterday morning, but none since!
If all else fails, we can always take showers in the camper. The water heater in there works great, but showers don't do us any good if we don't have clean clothes to wear! And to remind you, the last time I did laundry on our trip was over a week ago! We're going to run out of clothes fast!
School is back in session. :)
We got right back to school this morning and I think things went well!
I decided to just have school for half days this week. We still need to get the camper cleaned out plus the house cleaned up so I have somewhere to put everything out of the camper!
We started at 9 and did Bible class. I then went over Megan's math lesson and then Courtney's math lesson. It was weird checking assignments that the girls did six weeks ago! Megan also had to think twice about some of her multiplication and addition facts!
After these were done, I went over Megan's English lesson. I looked at her paper and didn't quite know what she was supposed to do, so we just went over the lesson again outloud, I didn't make her do her lesson as an assignment She knows what subjects and predicates are. :) We will move on tomorrow.
I then sat down with Courtney again and went over phonics and worked a little on reading. We also learned about nouns.
Then we were done!
I don't have time this week to do all our Sonlight curriculum, so that will just wait until next week. I also decided that I want to keep all our Sonlight curriculum on the same week. This involves Megan's history/ geography and LA, Courtney's LA, and science. Hopefully we will be ready to pick this up next wek.
I also know that we hadn't finished our read-aloud from when we quit school in August and Megan hadn't finished her reading assignment, so we need to get those done before we go on!
I decided to just have school for half days this week. We still need to get the camper cleaned out plus the house cleaned up so I have somewhere to put everything out of the camper!
We started at 9 and did Bible class. I then went over Megan's math lesson and then Courtney's math lesson. It was weird checking assignments that the girls did six weeks ago! Megan also had to think twice about some of her multiplication and addition facts!
After these were done, I went over Megan's English lesson. I looked at her paper and didn't quite know what she was supposed to do, so we just went over the lesson again outloud, I didn't make her do her lesson as an assignment She knows what subjects and predicates are. :) We will move on tomorrow.
I then sat down with Courtney again and went over phonics and worked a little on reading. We also learned about nouns.
Then we were done!
I don't have time this week to do all our Sonlight curriculum, so that will just wait until next week. I also decided that I want to keep all our Sonlight curriculum on the same week. This involves Megan's history/ geography and LA, Courtney's LA, and science. Hopefully we will be ready to pick this up next wek.
I also know that we hadn't finished our read-aloud from when we quit school in August and Megan hadn't finished her reading assignment, so we need to get those done before we go on!
Government shut-down??
Wow, aren't things exciting in our nations capital right now?? I kind of wish I was there again, but then again, not!
I would love to sit in the House or Senate galleries and watch them debate these bills! I still have my Senate passes that Lee Terry gave us while we were there. :)
On the other hand, if I had travelled 1300 miles and found that the Smithsonian museums were closed, I would be one upset tourist! It was bad enough for us that the White House and the Washington Monument were closed!
Plus all the national parks are slated to closed! Do you know how many national parks we went to??
1. Boston Freedom Trail
2. State of Liberty
3. Philadelphia and Independence Hall
4. Gettysburg National Battlefield
5. Smithsonian Museums in DC
6. Famous Monuments in DC (Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, etc.)
7. Ford's Theatre
8. St. Louis arch
There would be nothing left to do!
(Well, there would be, but you would be paying quite a bit on entrance fees and you wouldn't get to see so much cool stuff!)
Anyway, I always enjoyed watching what was going on in politics, but now that I have been there and have seen everything first hand, it intrigues me even more!!
What is going to happen today???
(In the end, I am VERY happy we went when we did!)
I would love to sit in the House or Senate galleries and watch them debate these bills! I still have my Senate passes that Lee Terry gave us while we were there. :)
On the other hand, if I had travelled 1300 miles and found that the Smithsonian museums were closed, I would be one upset tourist! It was bad enough for us that the White House and the Washington Monument were closed!
Plus all the national parks are slated to closed! Do you know how many national parks we went to??
1. Boston Freedom Trail
2. State of Liberty
3. Philadelphia and Independence Hall
4. Gettysburg National Battlefield
5. Smithsonian Museums in DC
6. Famous Monuments in DC (Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, etc.)
7. Ford's Theatre
8. St. Louis arch
There would be nothing left to do!
(Well, there would be, but you would be paying quite a bit on entrance fees and you wouldn't get to see so much cool stuff!)
Anyway, I always enjoyed watching what was going on in politics, but now that I have been there and have seen everything first hand, it intrigues me even more!!
What is going to happen today???
(In the end, I am VERY happy we went when we did!)
Sunday, September 29, 2013
We mde it HOME!!!! Saturday 9-28-2013
Wow, it was so much fun driving into Omaha last night. It was like we were coming home to a long-lost friend!
We left Arrow Rock yesterday morning around 10 am. We pulled out just as it was starting to sprinkle. We knew there was a storm coming and we knew we were going to hit it somewhere, but weren't quite sure where. We soon found out!
We drove the 13 miles on the highway to the interstate and it started to rain pretty hard. By the time we got to the interstate, it was raining and blowing so hard that Matt could barely see! Being the great husband and father he is, he pulled over and waited it out a little bit! He said the camper was swaying in the wind and it was a little scary!
About 10 minutes later, the wind and rain had calmed down and we were on the interstate heading west towards Kansas City! The kids watched "Dragon Tales" and all was well in the truck.
We drove for almost 3 hours without stopping. Eventually we found a rest stop north of Kansas City and pulled over. (It was sure fun driving by the Royals stadium and Worlds of Fun! Familiar territory!!) We had a short lunch, went to the bathroom, and piled back in the truck for the rest of the trip home.
On and on and we drove, I took a little nap, the girls listened to "Adventures in Odyssey," Christian colored, life was good.
About Nebraska City, Matt decided to stop for gas again. It was also about 3:30 and snack time. I looked at Matt and said, "Are you thinking what I am thinking?" It was ice cream time!
You know we have seen McDonalds at every gas station and around every corner on this trip, but do you know where there is NOT a McDonalds?? At the turnoff by Nebraska City!!
Instead of a McDonalds, there was a Wendy's. :( Now, if you know me, you know I can't have milk. At McDonalds, I always get their banana-strawberry smoothie without the yogurt and it is an excellent treat! But at Wendy's, there was nothing without milk. I could have cried....It was even my birthday!
So, we walked out with four chocolate frosties for everybody else and none for me. :(
I was not going to settle for everybody else to have a fun snack and not myself, so I got into the camper and got a couple of freeze pops! HA! Not exactly what I wanted, but it will do. Darn milk allergies!
From here, we continued our way home. We kept seeing the sign on how many miles it was until Council Bluffs, we knew we had to add another 20 miles to drive through Omaha and get to our house.
Somewhere along I-29, Christian told us he had to go potty again. He had just went at Wendy's and Matt and I just wanted to get home. Eventually he was dancing in his seat, so Matt pulled off on an exit ramp and I took him potty and he didn't go and then Matt took him potty and still had no success, so he got back in the car and we continued on our way. (I really think he had to go #2 and we weren't giving him enough time! We are almost home!!!)
We pulled off of I-29 and onto I-80 and drove through Omaha. The zoo! The trains on the hill! Wow, it's like we haven't seen these things in so long...wait, we haven't! We were almost giddy!
We pulled onto Dodge street and kept on moving! Along this way, Matt said, "I think I can turn my GPS off now!"
Eventually we pulled into our neighborhood and turned the corner to our house! What a great site!! But then Matt noticed how long are grass was, but it was very green! As we parked our camper in our driveway, we saw our neighbor boy mowing our lawn! Awesome!!
We got the trailer backed in and the girls took off for the house. Matt had already opened the garage door, so they ran in that way, but they couldn't get into the house! Uh-oh! The door that goes into the house was locked! Who did that???
Matt went to the back of the house and got the key to the front door and FINALLY we got into our house!! Megan said, "Mom, I could almost cry!!" She was pretty excited to be home! And the smell of our house was pretty strong. Our house has always had a smell and when you are gone for awhile, it's the first thing you notice when you walk in the door!
And of course, we had the "mansion effect" when we walked in. We were amazed at all the floor space, how big the bathrooms were, and just how big our house was compared to our camper that we had lived out of for the last five weeks!!
We brought a few things in from the camper and ended up going over to a friend's house for supper, the kids were so anxious to see their friends again!!
We eventually got home about 10. We changed all the sheets on the beds and put everybody to bed. (Of course, we had to find pajamas and we had some drama from Megan!)
Poor Christian though, he just could not seem to settle down. He has slept in a room with his sisters for five weeks and he almost looked scared being in his bedroom by himself. He did not go to sleep until 12:30!!! He played in there, he read books, but was wide awake! Poor thing! We are letting him sleep in this morning.
Once everybody is up, we will go use our REAL dishes for breakfast and take the milk out of our HUGE fridge! We are all going to take showers in our showers with constant running water and where we don't have to worry about running out of water or filling up the tanks!! It was be great!
Then off to church and we will see what the day brings. More cleaning out of the camper, I am sure!
We left Arrow Rock yesterday morning around 10 am. We pulled out just as it was starting to sprinkle. We knew there was a storm coming and we knew we were going to hit it somewhere, but weren't quite sure where. We soon found out!
We drove the 13 miles on the highway to the interstate and it started to rain pretty hard. By the time we got to the interstate, it was raining and blowing so hard that Matt could barely see! Being the great husband and father he is, he pulled over and waited it out a little bit! He said the camper was swaying in the wind and it was a little scary!
About 10 minutes later, the wind and rain had calmed down and we were on the interstate heading west towards Kansas City! The kids watched "Dragon Tales" and all was well in the truck.
We drove for almost 3 hours without stopping. Eventually we found a rest stop north of Kansas City and pulled over. (It was sure fun driving by the Royals stadium and Worlds of Fun! Familiar territory!!) We had a short lunch, went to the bathroom, and piled back in the truck for the rest of the trip home.
On and on and we drove, I took a little nap, the girls listened to "Adventures in Odyssey," Christian colored, life was good.
About Nebraska City, Matt decided to stop for gas again. It was also about 3:30 and snack time. I looked at Matt and said, "Are you thinking what I am thinking?" It was ice cream time!
You know we have seen McDonalds at every gas station and around every corner on this trip, but do you know where there is NOT a McDonalds?? At the turnoff by Nebraska City!!
Instead of a McDonalds, there was a Wendy's. :( Now, if you know me, you know I can't have milk. At McDonalds, I always get their banana-strawberry smoothie without the yogurt and it is an excellent treat! But at Wendy's, there was nothing without milk. I could have cried....It was even my birthday!
So, we walked out with four chocolate frosties for everybody else and none for me. :(
I was not going to settle for everybody else to have a fun snack and not myself, so I got into the camper and got a couple of freeze pops! HA! Not exactly what I wanted, but it will do. Darn milk allergies!
From here, we continued our way home. We kept seeing the sign on how many miles it was until Council Bluffs, we knew we had to add another 20 miles to drive through Omaha and get to our house.
Somewhere along I-29, Christian told us he had to go potty again. He had just went at Wendy's and Matt and I just wanted to get home. Eventually he was dancing in his seat, so Matt pulled off on an exit ramp and I took him potty and he didn't go and then Matt took him potty and still had no success, so he got back in the car and we continued on our way. (I really think he had to go #2 and we weren't giving him enough time! We are almost home!!!)
We pulled off of I-29 and onto I-80 and drove through Omaha. The zoo! The trains on the hill! Wow, it's like we haven't seen these things in so long...wait, we haven't! We were almost giddy!
We pulled onto Dodge street and kept on moving! Along this way, Matt said, "I think I can turn my GPS off now!"
Eventually we pulled into our neighborhood and turned the corner to our house! What a great site!! But then Matt noticed how long are grass was, but it was very green! As we parked our camper in our driveway, we saw our neighbor boy mowing our lawn! Awesome!!
We got the trailer backed in and the girls took off for the house. Matt had already opened the garage door, so they ran in that way, but they couldn't get into the house! Uh-oh! The door that goes into the house was locked! Who did that???
Matt went to the back of the house and got the key to the front door and FINALLY we got into our house!! Megan said, "Mom, I could almost cry!!" She was pretty excited to be home! And the smell of our house was pretty strong. Our house has always had a smell and when you are gone for awhile, it's the first thing you notice when you walk in the door!
And of course, we had the "mansion effect" when we walked in. We were amazed at all the floor space, how big the bathrooms were, and just how big our house was compared to our camper that we had lived out of for the last five weeks!!
We brought a few things in from the camper and ended up going over to a friend's house for supper, the kids were so anxious to see their friends again!!
We eventually got home about 10. We changed all the sheets on the beds and put everybody to bed. (Of course, we had to find pajamas and we had some drama from Megan!)
Poor Christian though, he just could not seem to settle down. He has slept in a room with his sisters for five weeks and he almost looked scared being in his bedroom by himself. He did not go to sleep until 12:30!!! He played in there, he read books, but was wide awake! Poor thing! We are letting him sleep in this morning.
Once everybody is up, we will go use our REAL dishes for breakfast and take the milk out of our HUGE fridge! We are all going to take showers in our showers with constant running water and where we don't have to worry about running out of water or filling up the tanks!! It was be great!
Then off to church and we will see what the day brings. More cleaning out of the camper, I am sure!
Friday, September 27, 2013
Last night away from home!!
Ok, I am a little excited to be going home. I absolutely loved travelling and seeing all the sites, but I am super- excited to be going home!
We drove 450 miles yesterday. We went from Carter Caves Campground east of Lexington, Kentucky until St. Louis, Missouri. We got on the road at 11 am and pulled into St. Louis around 7:30 pm!!
Luckily, we knew of a campground in downtown St. Louis that was close to the arch. It was nothing but a cemented city block, but it served our purposes. It had no picnic tables or no fire rings, but it had electricity and water and it was close to everything. It was really weird to be camping in a big city!
We got up this morning and since we had switched back to the central time zone yesterday, we were all awake by 8 am! (BTW Megan was asleep by 10:30 last night- she was usually up til 11:30 or so when we were in the eastern time zone)
We were told to get to the arch in the morning before the tour buses showed up and we were there by 9:15. We went through the museum, saw the movie, and went to the top of the arch. We were on our way back to our camper by 11:30. We were so glad we went in the morning- the line was super-long when we left!!
When we pulled out of the parking garage, Matt went the wrong way on the interstate and we ended back up in Illinois. We had taken the GPS out of the truck so it wouldn't get stolen by the arch, but we weren't really sure of which way to go! We ended up turning around and getting back to St. Louis. But we did go by a racetrack, which Christian thought was pretty neat!
We got back to our camper, ate lunch, and packed up. By 1 pm, we were on the road! It was 169 to our next destination- Arrow Rock Campground. This campground is about 100 miles east of Kansas City. We had stayed at Arrow Rock before, it was about 5-6 years ago on one of our trips to St. Louis with old camper. It is a great park and has an historical town next to it. Matt has always wanted to come back.
After stopping to get gas a couple of times, a stop to turn a movie back into Redbox and get a few groceries at Walmart, and a stop at OReilly's to see why the check engine light was on in the truck, we pulled into Arrow Rock Campground about 5 pm.
We found a nice open spot and got set up. The kids got the sand toys out right because there are a bunch of rocks, acorns, and a cob of corn by our site. They haven't gotten the sand toys out in a long time! I think maybe since Indiana Dunes State park (our 2nd campground of the trip.)
We are going to grill tonight and make smores. I am not sure if we are going to go into the historical town or not sometime.
It is 298 miles home tomorrow! I can't wait!!
We drove 450 miles yesterday. We went from Carter Caves Campground east of Lexington, Kentucky until St. Louis, Missouri. We got on the road at 11 am and pulled into St. Louis around 7:30 pm!!
Luckily, we knew of a campground in downtown St. Louis that was close to the arch. It was nothing but a cemented city block, but it served our purposes. It had no picnic tables or no fire rings, but it had electricity and water and it was close to everything. It was really weird to be camping in a big city!
We got up this morning and since we had switched back to the central time zone yesterday, we were all awake by 8 am! (BTW Megan was asleep by 10:30 last night- she was usually up til 11:30 or so when we were in the eastern time zone)
We were told to get to the arch in the morning before the tour buses showed up and we were there by 9:15. We went through the museum, saw the movie, and went to the top of the arch. We were on our way back to our camper by 11:30. We were so glad we went in the morning- the line was super-long when we left!!
When we pulled out of the parking garage, Matt went the wrong way on the interstate and we ended back up in Illinois. We had taken the GPS out of the truck so it wouldn't get stolen by the arch, but we weren't really sure of which way to go! We ended up turning around and getting back to St. Louis. But we did go by a racetrack, which Christian thought was pretty neat!
We got back to our camper, ate lunch, and packed up. By 1 pm, we were on the road! It was 169 to our next destination- Arrow Rock Campground. This campground is about 100 miles east of Kansas City. We had stayed at Arrow Rock before, it was about 5-6 years ago on one of our trips to St. Louis with old camper. It is a great park and has an historical town next to it. Matt has always wanted to come back.
After stopping to get gas a couple of times, a stop to turn a movie back into Redbox and get a few groceries at Walmart, and a stop at OReilly's to see why the check engine light was on in the truck, we pulled into Arrow Rock Campground about 5 pm.
We found a nice open spot and got set up. The kids got the sand toys out right because there are a bunch of rocks, acorns, and a cob of corn by our site. They haven't gotten the sand toys out in a long time! I think maybe since Indiana Dunes State park (our 2nd campground of the trip.)
We are going to grill tonight and make smores. I am not sure if we are going to go into the historical town or not sometime.
It is 298 miles home tomorrow! I can't wait!!
Thursday, September 26, 2013
It was a little cold last night...
Last night, I did not sleep good and I usually sleep great.
I didn't sleep good because I was cold!! I got up a couple times to turn the furnace on and it would not turn on. I was very confused!
The problem: we were out of propane!!
Now, if the furnace just ran off of propane, we could probably make it until we got home, BUT our fridge runs off of propane while we are driving. This is a minor emergency.
Once Matt figured out what was wrong this morning, he took the tanks off and headed to the nearest town.
About a half an hour later, he was back, had the propane tanks hooked back up, and the furnace was running!
Thank you Matt!
(Now after that, it is supposed to be 80 degrees today!)
I didn't sleep good because I was cold!! I got up a couple times to turn the furnace on and it would not turn on. I was very confused!
The problem: we were out of propane!!
Now, if the furnace just ran off of propane, we could probably make it until we got home, BUT our fridge runs off of propane while we are driving. This is a minor emergency.
Once Matt figured out what was wrong this morning, he took the tanks off and headed to the nearest town.
About a half an hour later, he was back, had the propane tanks hooked back up, and the furnace was running!
Thank you Matt!
(Now after that, it is supposed to be 80 degrees today!)
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
September 25th, 2013- Change of Plans Again!!
This morning we got up, looked outside and were amazed again at how pretty the Appalachian Mountains were! There was some low fog, so the mountains were half-hidden by the fog, it was very beautiful!
We had camped in a campground that was down by the river. Up from the river a little ways was another little campground, except this was a permanent campground. These campers had decks attached to their campers, fridges on their decks, and a covering over the entire camper and deck! This is something you would NOT see in Nebraska! I definitely need to post pictures!
It was quite the site- campers with coverings and the beautiful mountains!!
Matt was up early because the oil light came on in the truck last night and he wanted to add more oil before we left this morning. He went to AutoZone at 8 am! By about 10, we were hooked up and ready to pull out!
We got everybody situated and on the road. We were having trouble with our GPS though, it was insisting on taking some back mountainous roads and Matt did not want to drive any mountainous roads! We really wanted to take the interstate and could not figure out why the GPS kept telling us to turn around! We were going to the interstate and we didn't care what the GPS said! In the end, we found out that the interstate was a toll road and we had told it to avoid toll roads. We changed that quickly and it finally directed us the way we wanted to go! (By the way, we had to pay a $36 toll in New Jersey and we were only on the interstate for about an hour! Today was only $2.50)
We continued to drive through the mountains. Matt was pretty concerned a couple of times because of the inclines and declines, but we made it. Eventually we stopped for lunch at a rest stop right before we got to Kentucky. We took about a half an hour break and continued on.
About this time, Matt and I were looking at our plan for the day. Our thought was to drive 400 miles and make it to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. There was also a campground there that would be great to stay at for the night. When I had looked at the map earlier in the week, I thought this place was right off the interstate that we were going to be on. I was WRONG!! It was at least 50 miles out of the way! And there was no way we were going to make it 400 miles today.
Like always, we needed a plan B!!
We needed a new place to stop for the night and something to do! Since I was really looking forward to seeing a cave, I looked at a map of Kentucky and looked for a new cave to go through plus a campground close. I found one! It was called Carter Caves State Resort Park and we were only about 50 miles away!
I asked Matt if he wanted to stop driving already and he said that was fine. We only drove about 200 today, we could've went further, but we also thought that if we kept going, we would hit Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky. We have learned through this trip that there are usually no campgrounds near big cities plus it is really hard to pull a 34 foot camper through the streets of a city. It is very ideal to just stay on the interstate and drive right on through. :)
We opted to stop for the night and drive straight through these two major cities tomorrow. We also figured how many miles it is to get home yet and how we could make it work by stopping early today. We figured if we drove about 300 miles each of the next three days, we could still make it home on Saturday.
We pulled into the state park about 3 pm. The cave tour was at 4:30, so we had plenty of time to get setup for the night. Christian saw the playgroup right away, so as Matt went and dumped again (he didn't get all the water out this morning) and I took Christian to the playground. It was here that I found a dead bumble bee for Courtney's bug collection1 The girls finished watching the movie in the truck and by 3:30, the camper was set up and we were ready to explore!
We had the girls put jeans and tennis shoes on and we headed to the welcome center to pick up cave tour tickets. At 4:30, our tour guide met us out front of the building and we headed into a nearby cave. It was pretty neat seeing all the stalagmites and stalactites and hearing about the cave. I am glad we had studied caves last year in school! Christian was not being very good during the tour.
By 5:15, our tour was over and we drove around the park some more. By about 5:45, we were back at our camper because we were hungry! We had a whole evening, so we decided to grill! I don't know the last time we had our grill out! It was a beautiful night out, so we spent the whole night outside!
A baby kitten had wondered up to our campsite and the kids had a great time feeding it and playing with it. Matt also went and found some firewood and we made a campfire and had smores. Too bad the kitten got on the table and ate Megan's chocolate!
Honestly, it was pretty weird not camping within in a grove of trees like we were in the east coast. Every campground we were at, we were within trees. Since we're getting back to the plains, the land has leveled out and there was bright blue sky above us tonight!
By about 8, Christian needed to take a shower, so I brought him in to do that. Around 9, the girls came in and Courtney took a shower. They are all in bed now!
We are going to drive 300 miles tomorrow. I need to find a campground yet. Friday we are going to finish driving to St. Louis and then stop for lunch at St. Louis and see the arch. We are then going to continue onto Arrow Rock State park. From there, we leave Saturday morning for home.
900 miles and 3 more nights until we are home! And Matt says he is already tired of driving...
We had camped in a campground that was down by the river. Up from the river a little ways was another little campground, except this was a permanent campground. These campers had decks attached to their campers, fridges on their decks, and a covering over the entire camper and deck! This is something you would NOT see in Nebraska! I definitely need to post pictures!
It was quite the site- campers with coverings and the beautiful mountains!!
Matt was up early because the oil light came on in the truck last night and he wanted to add more oil before we left this morning. He went to AutoZone at 8 am! By about 10, we were hooked up and ready to pull out!
We got everybody situated and on the road. We were having trouble with our GPS though, it was insisting on taking some back mountainous roads and Matt did not want to drive any mountainous roads! We really wanted to take the interstate and could not figure out why the GPS kept telling us to turn around! We were going to the interstate and we didn't care what the GPS said! In the end, we found out that the interstate was a toll road and we had told it to avoid toll roads. We changed that quickly and it finally directed us the way we wanted to go! (By the way, we had to pay a $36 toll in New Jersey and we were only on the interstate for about an hour! Today was only $2.50)
We continued to drive through the mountains. Matt was pretty concerned a couple of times because of the inclines and declines, but we made it. Eventually we stopped for lunch at a rest stop right before we got to Kentucky. We took about a half an hour break and continued on.
About this time, Matt and I were looking at our plan for the day. Our thought was to drive 400 miles and make it to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. There was also a campground there that would be great to stay at for the night. When I had looked at the map earlier in the week, I thought this place was right off the interstate that we were going to be on. I was WRONG!! It was at least 50 miles out of the way! And there was no way we were going to make it 400 miles today.
Like always, we needed a plan B!!
We needed a new place to stop for the night and something to do! Since I was really looking forward to seeing a cave, I looked at a map of Kentucky and looked for a new cave to go through plus a campground close. I found one! It was called Carter Caves State Resort Park and we were only about 50 miles away!
I asked Matt if he wanted to stop driving already and he said that was fine. We only drove about 200 today, we could've went further, but we also thought that if we kept going, we would hit Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky. We have learned through this trip that there are usually no campgrounds near big cities plus it is really hard to pull a 34 foot camper through the streets of a city. It is very ideal to just stay on the interstate and drive right on through. :)
We opted to stop for the night and drive straight through these two major cities tomorrow. We also figured how many miles it is to get home yet and how we could make it work by stopping early today. We figured if we drove about 300 miles each of the next three days, we could still make it home on Saturday.
We pulled into the state park about 3 pm. The cave tour was at 4:30, so we had plenty of time to get setup for the night. Christian saw the playgroup right away, so as Matt went and dumped again (he didn't get all the water out this morning) and I took Christian to the playground. It was here that I found a dead bumble bee for Courtney's bug collection1 The girls finished watching the movie in the truck and by 3:30, the camper was set up and we were ready to explore!
We had the girls put jeans and tennis shoes on and we headed to the welcome center to pick up cave tour tickets. At 4:30, our tour guide met us out front of the building and we headed into a nearby cave. It was pretty neat seeing all the stalagmites and stalactites and hearing about the cave. I am glad we had studied caves last year in school! Christian was not being very good during the tour.
By 5:15, our tour was over and we drove around the park some more. By about 5:45, we were back at our camper because we were hungry! We had a whole evening, so we decided to grill! I don't know the last time we had our grill out! It was a beautiful night out, so we spent the whole night outside!
A baby kitten had wondered up to our campsite and the kids had a great time feeding it and playing with it. Matt also went and found some firewood and we made a campfire and had smores. Too bad the kitten got on the table and ate Megan's chocolate!
Honestly, it was pretty weird not camping within in a grove of trees like we were in the east coast. Every campground we were at, we were within trees. Since we're getting back to the plains, the land has leveled out and there was bright blue sky above us tonight!
By about 8, Christian needed to take a shower, so I brought him in to do that. Around 9, the girls came in and Courtney took a shower. They are all in bed now!
We are going to drive 300 miles tomorrow. I need to find a campground yet. Friday we are going to finish driving to St. Louis and then stop for lunch at St. Louis and see the arch. We are then going to continue onto Arrow Rock State park. From there, we leave Saturday morning for home.
900 miles and 3 more nights until we are home! And Matt says he is already tired of driving...
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Tuesday, September 24th, 2013 On the Road!
After leaving our "campground on the farm", we headed west!! While Matt was driving, I got online and started to map out some cities that would make for good stopping points. I saw that Beckley, West Virginia looked like a pretty large city and saw that it was around 300 miles away, so I started looking for campsites in that area.
I found one that was located right along a river, right in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains. It sounded very similiar to the one he wanted to stay at the night before. I called them and had a hard time understanding his southern accent. :) I told him that we would be there late in the afternoon.
We drove all morning, stopped for lunch at a rest stop, and kept going.
In the afternoon, we drove through the GORGEOUS Appalachian Mountains! Nebraska is going to look so boring when we get home!! Matt was concerned at times because the road had 7% decline or incline. We would go up 400 feet in about 2 miles. It was almost like we were in the Rocky Mountains again!
Once we got to our exit for our campground, we got off the interstate and stopped at a visitor's center for New River Gorge National Park. Our campground was right in the middle of this national park! They gave us some information and we headed out to find our campground.
As we were driving along this mountain road, they had lookout points on the river. Here was one of them.
Pretty, isn't it?
After some trouble, we found our campsite, which literally was right along the river. Here are the kids exploring their new surroundsings. Yes, that is the river right there and I was standing right next to the camper.
There was a couple places of interest along the river, so we headed there. We thought we should do this before the sun went down.
This place was called Sandstone Falls- do you see all the water falls and the guy fishing from the rock? We were there right around sunset, so it was a very pretty sight!
After we were done exploring, we headed out for dinner. Remember I have no meat to eat because Walmart had none to buy the night before? We had asked the people at the office of our campground where we should go eat, thinking they would recommend something "southern." You know what they recommended?? Dairy Queen! Do you know why? Because the building is built on the edge of the river and you can overlook the river as you eat. We took her advice and went to Dairy Queen. I don't know how many times I had heard Courtney mention that she wanted ice cream today!
We went and it was very different! They had a variety of things on their menu that you don't see at home, so it was quite easy to cater to our diets. ( Have I mentioned though that every time I order something on this trip and change it a little, I usually have to send something back? It happened again tonight. I had a salad and said French dressing and they brought me Thousand Island. Send it back!)
Of course, we ended with ice cream. And just because Christian doesn't make a lot of pictures because he is stuck in his stoller, here is a cute one of him! See the window right behind him, the river is right there! It was too dark to see it when I took this picture!
After we were done, we went back to the camper and put the kids to bed! We are hoping to drive 400 miles tomorrow and make it to Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. We want to go through the cave there, it is the longest cave system in the world!
We are going to try to make it there tomorrow and go through the cave on Thursday morning. Thursday afternoon, we are going to start heading towards St. Louis, Missouri. Our goal is to drive 200 miles that afternoon and stay somewhere Thursday night.
According to our figures, we would still need to drive about 100 miles to get to St. Louis. After arriving in St. Louis, we want to stop and see the arch. After we see the arch, we are going to continue onto Arrow Head State Park. We had stayed here about five years ago on one of our trips to Memphis, TN and Matt loved it! He wants to stay there again! This is located about halfway between St. Louis and Kansas City.
We should arrive home in Omaha, Nebraska on Saturday!!!!
I found one that was located right along a river, right in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains. It sounded very similiar to the one he wanted to stay at the night before. I called them and had a hard time understanding his southern accent. :) I told him that we would be there late in the afternoon.
We drove all morning, stopped for lunch at a rest stop, and kept going.
In the afternoon, we drove through the GORGEOUS Appalachian Mountains! Nebraska is going to look so boring when we get home!! Matt was concerned at times because the road had 7% decline or incline. We would go up 400 feet in about 2 miles. It was almost like we were in the Rocky Mountains again!
Once we got to our exit for our campground, we got off the interstate and stopped at a visitor's center for New River Gorge National Park. Our campground was right in the middle of this national park! They gave us some information and we headed out to find our campground.
As we were driving along this mountain road, they had lookout points on the river. Here was one of them.
After some trouble, we found our campsite, which literally was right along the river. Here are the kids exploring their new surroundsings. Yes, that is the river right there and I was standing right next to the camper.
After we got the camper set up, we went exploring in the truck some more. It was so much easier (and less stressful to Matt) to drive around without the camper hooked up!There was a couple places of interest along the river, so we headed there. We thought we should do this before the sun went down.
This place was called Sandstone Falls- do you see all the water falls and the guy fishing from the rock? We were there right around sunset, so it was a very pretty sight!
After we were done exploring, we headed out for dinner. Remember I have no meat to eat because Walmart had none to buy the night before? We had asked the people at the office of our campground where we should go eat, thinking they would recommend something "southern." You know what they recommended?? Dairy Queen! Do you know why? Because the building is built on the edge of the river and you can overlook the river as you eat. We took her advice and went to Dairy Queen. I don't know how many times I had heard Courtney mention that she wanted ice cream today!
We went and it was very different! They had a variety of things on their menu that you don't see at home, so it was quite easy to cater to our diets. ( Have I mentioned though that every time I order something on this trip and change it a little, I usually have to send something back? It happened again tonight. I had a salad and said French dressing and they brought me Thousand Island. Send it back!)
Of course, we ended with ice cream. And just because Christian doesn't make a lot of pictures because he is stuck in his stoller, here is a cute one of him! See the window right behind him, the river is right there! It was too dark to see it when I took this picture!
After we were done, we went back to the camper and put the kids to bed! We are hoping to drive 400 miles tomorrow and make it to Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. We want to go through the cave there, it is the longest cave system in the world!
We are going to try to make it there tomorrow and go through the cave on Thursday morning. Thursday afternoon, we are going to start heading towards St. Louis, Missouri. Our goal is to drive 200 miles that afternoon and stay somewhere Thursday night.
According to our figures, we would still need to drive about 100 miles to get to St. Louis. After arriving in St. Louis, we want to stop and see the arch. After we see the arch, we are going to continue onto Arrow Head State Park. We had stayed here about five years ago on one of our trips to Memphis, TN and Matt loved it! He wants to stay there again! This is located about halfway between St. Louis and Kansas City.
We should arrive home in Omaha, Nebraska on Saturday!!!!
Monday, September 23rd, 2013- Two last stops in DC
I know I didn't blog about yesterday, by the time we got to our campsite and got setup, we realized we had to go get groceries. We left our camper at 8 pm to go to Walmart and got home about 9:30. Needless to say, I was tired and did not feel like blogging!
Here is what we did yesterday.
Our plan was to leave our campsite, which was 23 miles east of DC, and head west. We wanted to get going early in the morning and make it to Arlington National Cemetery, which is just west of DC, and see the Space Shuttle Discovery at a hanger center in Chantilly, VA. This was about 30 miles west of DC. We wanted to be done with these two places by noon. From here, Matt wanted to drive 250 miles to a campsite in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains.
Do you think that happened?? NOPE!
First of all, we didn't get out of our campground until around 12:30. We all took showers and it took awhile to get everything cleaned up and situated. I think we had been there almost a week. Matt also needed grease for the hitch, so he had to make a trip to an auto store and get that fixed up and don't forget it takes awhile to dump. :)
Finally we got out of there and arrived at Arlington National Cemetery around 1- camper and all! We pulled into their parking lot, parked in the bus parking, put out our slide out half way and ate lunch!
Matt was still thinking we could get to his campsite that night, so he didn't want to take a lot of time there. We saw that there was an option to either ride a tram around the cemetery or walk. We paid $32 to ride the tram. This cemetery was huge and we thought this would help us see everything faster. In the end, I am glad we rode the tram!
The tram also gave you some background information on the cemetery and it had three stops.
1.The first stop was the Kennedy graves. This is where JFK and his wife are buried.
2. The next stop was changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Every hour, on the hour, they change guard at this tomb. Everyone had to stand, turn off cell phones, and be silent. It was very inspiring! (Except my 3 year old was playing on my phone and turned the sound on- who knew somebody would text me in the middle of the ceremony!! I'm not naming names. :)
3. The last stop was the house that used to belong to Robert E. Lee. He owned the property that is now Arlington National Cemetery. His wife didn't pay her taxes (it was really her father's house, so she was responsible for the taxes) and the government took it from them. The government needed it because it was located on high ground above DC and the union soldiers needed that hill! This was right around the time of the Civil War. Robert E. Lee gave up his commission as a union soldier and joined the confederate soldiers and never got his house back!
This picture is taken from the back of the property. The main house is on the left and the slave quarters on are the right.
Of course, I cannot blog about Arlington National Cemetery without posting picture of the graves of those men and women who fought for our freedom! This place was amazing!!
By the time we left Arlington National Cemetery, it was around 3 pm and we still wanted to stop and see the space shuttle Discovery. There was no way we were going to be able to drive 250 miles to Matt's campsite in the mountains, so I got online and started looking for spots around Chantilly, Virginia (where the space shuttle was located.) I found a place and called and made reservations.
We started back on the road and headed towards Chantilly, Virginia to the Steven F. Udar-Hazy Center. This center is part of the Smithsonian complex and it holds aircraft that are too large to be displayed in DC. Parking was free after 4 and we pulled in about 4:05. Admission was also free, just like at the Smithsonian museums in DC.
We walked in and the first thing Courtney noticed was the Mcdonalds! (She loves her ice cream!!) I asked the front desk for a map and the lady there started showing me where everything was and I said, "We just came to see the space shuttle!" She pointed in the direction of the shuttle and off we went!
This thing was HUGE!! Words cannot even describe it!
We ended up back at our camper around 9:30 and put kids to bed.
We wanted to leave early this morning because we wanted to drive around 300 miles today. We pulled out about 9:30 am.
Matt and I had to laugh as we left this place this morning. Cattle troughs truly make it a farm, right?
Here is what we did yesterday.
Our plan was to leave our campsite, which was 23 miles east of DC, and head west. We wanted to get going early in the morning and make it to Arlington National Cemetery, which is just west of DC, and see the Space Shuttle Discovery at a hanger center in Chantilly, VA. This was about 30 miles west of DC. We wanted to be done with these two places by noon. From here, Matt wanted to drive 250 miles to a campsite in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains.
Do you think that happened?? NOPE!
First of all, we didn't get out of our campground until around 12:30. We all took showers and it took awhile to get everything cleaned up and situated. I think we had been there almost a week. Matt also needed grease for the hitch, so he had to make a trip to an auto store and get that fixed up and don't forget it takes awhile to dump. :)
Finally we got out of there and arrived at Arlington National Cemetery around 1- camper and all! We pulled into their parking lot, parked in the bus parking, put out our slide out half way and ate lunch!
Matt was still thinking we could get to his campsite that night, so he didn't want to take a lot of time there. We saw that there was an option to either ride a tram around the cemetery or walk. We paid $32 to ride the tram. This cemetery was huge and we thought this would help us see everything faster. In the end, I am glad we rode the tram!
The tram also gave you some background information on the cemetery and it had three stops.
1.The first stop was the Kennedy graves. This is where JFK and his wife are buried.
2. The next stop was changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Every hour, on the hour, they change guard at this tomb. Everyone had to stand, turn off cell phones, and be silent. It was very inspiring! (Except my 3 year old was playing on my phone and turned the sound on- who knew somebody would text me in the middle of the ceremony!! I'm not naming names. :)
3. The last stop was the house that used to belong to Robert E. Lee. He owned the property that is now Arlington National Cemetery. His wife didn't pay her taxes (it was really her father's house, so she was responsible for the taxes) and the government took it from them. The government needed it because it was located on high ground above DC and the union soldiers needed that hill! This was right around the time of the Civil War. Robert E. Lee gave up his commission as a union soldier and joined the confederate soldiers and never got his house back!
This picture is taken from the back of the property. The main house is on the left and the slave quarters on are the right.
Of course, I cannot blog about Arlington National Cemetery without posting picture of the graves of those men and women who fought for our freedom! This place was amazing!!
By the time we left Arlington National Cemetery, it was around 3 pm and we still wanted to stop and see the space shuttle Discovery. There was no way we were going to be able to drive 250 miles to Matt's campsite in the mountains, so I got online and started looking for spots around Chantilly, Virginia (where the space shuttle was located.) I found a place and called and made reservations.
We started back on the road and headed towards Chantilly, Virginia to the Steven F. Udar-Hazy Center. This center is part of the Smithsonian complex and it holds aircraft that are too large to be displayed in DC. Parking was free after 4 and we pulled in about 4:05. Admission was also free, just like at the Smithsonian museums in DC.
We walked in and the first thing Courtney noticed was the Mcdonalds! (She loves her ice cream!!) I asked the front desk for a map and the lady there started showing me where everything was and I said, "We just came to see the space shuttle!" She pointed in the direction of the shuttle and off we went!
This thing was HUGE!! Words cannot even describe it!
Here is a side view:
And to give you a picture about how big this really was, I had the girls stand under the back of it.
This thing was amazing! I loved that you could look closely at it and see the wear and tear from being in space! Towards the end of our time there, we ran into a guy who was a reporter for NASA and he talked to us quite awhile about how the space shuttle works and the future of the space program. Quite fascinating!
At 5:30, we were kicked out! Matt really wished he could've seen more of the museum, but we simply ran out of time.
From here, we went to our campground that was about 30 miles away. This campground was called Greenville Farm Family Camp and it was situated on a farm. That was what their website said and you know what? It really was on a farm! We pulled into somebody's lane, saw their house, tractors, cows, etc!! Matt and I looked at each other...were we at the right place??
Matt went into a door on the house that said "Office" and paid for a night at the campground. But we still didn't see the campground! This was wierd and neat at the same time!
It ended up that the campground was about 1/4 of a mile BEHIND the farm in a grove of trees! Who would've known!! We set up camp and had supper. We also realized we needed a few groceries, so at 8 pm, we took off for Walmart, which was about five miles away.
Side Note: There is a difference in this part of the country of WalMart and WalMart SuperCenter. In Omaha, I always shop at a Walmart SuperCenter because we don't have any Walmart stores nearby. I am spoiled because I always get my groceries there which include fresh fruits, veggies, and meat. Well here, Walmart SuperCenters are not so popular. We have probably seen 2 or 3 on this entire trip. We have mostly seen WalMart stores and they carry groceries, just not fresh fruit, veggies, or meat. Last night we were actually at Walmart SuperCenter, BUT had no fresh meat! I have no idea why- the entire fridge was cleaned out! I think they may have been cleaning. Now, I was very frustrated because I had been waiting for a Walmart Supercenter, so I could get meat! Ugh! I did get fresh fruit and veggies though. :)
We wanted to leave early this morning because we wanted to drive around 300 miles today. We pulled out about 9:30 am.
Matt and I had to laugh as we left this place this morning. Cattle troughs truly make it a farm, right?
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Tired of Walking 9-22-13
Today we hit many sites and I am actually looking forward to riding in the car tomorrow for awhile.
We decided to drive into DC because it was Sunday and we saw a parking garage right beside Ford's Theatre yesterday when we were there. We got there about 9:30.
Today's agenda:
Ford's Theatre
The Petersen House (house where Lincoln died)
Lunch at a little diner
Short subway ride to Smithsonian Museum of Air and Space
Walk to Washington Memorial (but when about a block away from the museum, notice that Courtney does not have her jacket and go back to the museum to find it, which we did!)
Walk around Washington Memorial and see WWII Memorial
Continue along the reflecting pool to Lincoln Memorial
Walk over to see Vietnam Memorial
Walk to the White House
Walk back to Ford's Theatre to get the truck because we drove into DC today
Drive to Jefferson Memorial and see memorial
Get back in truck and come home.
Arrive home at 9:15 Eat supper, go to bed!
(I wish I would've had a pedometer today!)
We are pulling out tomorrow! We are going to stop see Arlington Cemetery and at a hanger (part of the Smithsonian Museum) that houses larger space items, like the spaceship Discovery. After those two stops we are heading west!!!
Our goal is to get home by Saturday. Can we drive 1300 miles in 6 days?? We will see!
We decided to drive into DC because it was Sunday and we saw a parking garage right beside Ford's Theatre yesterday when we were there. We got there about 9:30.
Today's agenda:
Ford's Theatre
The Petersen House (house where Lincoln died)
Lunch at a little diner
Short subway ride to Smithsonian Museum of Air and Space
Walk to Washington Memorial (but when about a block away from the museum, notice that Courtney does not have her jacket and go back to the museum to find it, which we did!)
Walk around Washington Memorial and see WWII Memorial
Continue along the reflecting pool to Lincoln Memorial
Walk over to see Vietnam Memorial
Walk to the White House
Walk back to Ford's Theatre to get the truck because we drove into DC today
Drive to Jefferson Memorial and see memorial
Get back in truck and come home.
Arrive home at 9:15 Eat supper, go to bed!
(I wish I would've had a pedometer today!)
We are pulling out tomorrow! We are going to stop see Arlington Cemetery and at a hanger (part of the Smithsonian Museum) that houses larger space items, like the spaceship Discovery. After those two stops we are heading west!!!
Our goal is to get home by Saturday. Can we drive 1300 miles in 6 days?? We will see!
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Pictures posted on September 13, 2013 blog entry
Pictures from the Today Show are up!
You will need to scroll down to "September 13, 2013- We are going to be on TV" blog entry.
Enjoy!!
You will need to scroll down to "September 13, 2013- We are going to be on TV" blog entry.
Enjoy!!
Rain, Rain, Go Away!! (9-21-13)
We had all Saturday to enjoy DC, but of course, I can't seem to get going in the morning, so we didn't get out of here until around 11. Matt keeps saying if we get up earlier, we can get there earlier and see more, but it's just hard for me. I'm on vacation. :)
We had a big breakfast because we only wanted to eat out once in DC. It's so hard to find a place to eat PLUS a place that Christian and I can eat at with our food sensitivities.
Our first stop today was Ford's Theatre. It took us 2 hours to get there! Between the car ride and then getting on the subway and having 13 stops before ours, it took awhile! Then once we got to that part of town, we couldn't find the place! I can't tell you how many times we turned around because we were on the wrong street!
Finally we found it and guess what? You couldn't get inside to see the theatre!!! What?? (Since being on this trip, we are kind of used to this happening.) The lady said we could still see the museum and the house where Lincoln died, but we could not get into the theatre to see the presidential booth where he was actually shot. She said they were rehearsing for a play right now and they would be open again tomorrow (Sunday) from 9-10:30 am. I really want the girls to see the theatre, so we are going to head back tomorrow morning. (We will see how early I can get going!)
So after that huge disappointment, we headed to our next stop: The National Archives. Here, they have the original copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution. We saw some original copies when we were in Philadelphia, but these were the signed copies! And highly guarded by police men!
We saw these and were not allowed to take any pictures, so no pictures of anything. :(
Our next stop was lunch. Trouble central every single day. Matt wanted to go back to the Air and Space Museum today and we knew that had a little food court in there (McDonalds and a couple others), so we headed over there. Once we went through security and headed to the food court, we realized that there was McDonalds (which we had the night before), Boston Market and they only sold chicken meals, and another store that sold pizza. Total Bust!! I vowed not to eat McDonalds again and I cannot eat chicken or wheat, so that left off those other two. Christian can't eat pizza either (he is sensitive to yeast). We decided that this wasn't working too well and we walked out to the hallway.
There we found a security guard and asked him if there were any other food options nearby. He gave us a couple of suggestions, but then also said that the other Smithsonian museums have cafeterias. We headed next door to the Museum of Native American history and then saw on a sign outside of its building that it only had native food in it's cafeteria. Bust again. Do we have a plan C?
We decided to try the Museum of Natural History. They also had a cafeteria and we wanted to go there anyway, so we took off back across the street. (Just to let you know how much extra we had walked- the Museum of Natural History was right in front of the National Archives!!)
We headed in there and downstairs to the cafeteria. Success! There was food Christian and I could eat! It was about 3 pm by now- we had planned on eating about 2-3 pm- and the kids were starving.
We got food, sat down, and ate. Since it was a little on the expensive side, I had the girls share a meal and Christian and I shared a meal, so we were still a little hungry when we were done, but we could survive. :)
Since we were at the Natural History Museum, we decided to go through it. This was not as enjoyable as it could have been. The place was packed and it was very difficult to read displays and see things. Every display also talked about evolution and how this or that has "evolved" over time. It was a little too much for me. Our kids know about evolution, so they knew what was going on and it always gives us chance to bring up what we believe about creation. :)
After being in the museum for an hour and a half, I was ready to go. We had seen the insect zoo, the mammals, the underwater exhibits, been to the restroom and gift shop. We had also fought all these people and it was busier than any other place we had been in!
When we went to leave, we realized it was pouring rain! It was 5 already and all the Smithsonian museums closed at 5:30, so we had to go somewhere. Our original plan was to go see the Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial and all the other memorials in that part of town. You can't do that while it's raining out!!!
Matt brought up the suggestion of going home, which sounded like the best plan in the rain, and we knew the nearest subway stop was by the Smithsonian castle, so we went over there. We didn't know if the rain would let up or not and we could stay, so went in there for about 10-15 minutes.
After that time, we decided the best thing to do would be to go home. There was nothing inside that was open after 5:30 and we wanted to get a few things done at the camper, so that is what we did! We walked through the rain and got on our subway and headed home. (We weren't the only ones who wanted to catch the subway, they were packed!) We were home by about 6:30, made supper, watched some TV, and now the kids are in bed.
I still need to talk to Matt about what time he wants to head back in the morning. I don't want to miss Ford's Theatre, so we need to be there by 10. Now that we know what we are doing, it should only take 1 1/2 hours to get there tomorrow, of course Matt also mentioned he wanted to drive to DC.
He would still like to go to the Air and Space Museum, we need to get to the Memorials and hopefully even Arlington Cemetery. Do you think we can fit that all in one day? It is our last day in DC.
Can you believe it is 10 pm and it is still raining out?? Do you know how noisy it is inside a camper with rain coming down outside? Do you know how muddy it is here at our campground?? Matt carried the kids to the camper when we got back!
Rain, rain, go away, give me back my sun!! (Side Note: It rained until 1:15 am, it started at 5 pm while were were in DC. Poor Megan had such a hard time getting to sleep with the rain pounding on the top of the camper.)
PS Courtney also let her praying mantis go today. Matt caught it for her in Gettysburg and she said it was too hard to take care of. They eat live bugs, so it was work for her to go find some bugs. She said she would much rather have a grasshopper where all she had to do was feed it grass. :)
We had a big breakfast because we only wanted to eat out once in DC. It's so hard to find a place to eat PLUS a place that Christian and I can eat at with our food sensitivities.
Our first stop today was Ford's Theatre. It took us 2 hours to get there! Between the car ride and then getting on the subway and having 13 stops before ours, it took awhile! Then once we got to that part of town, we couldn't find the place! I can't tell you how many times we turned around because we were on the wrong street!
Finally we found it and guess what? You couldn't get inside to see the theatre!!! What?? (Since being on this trip, we are kind of used to this happening.) The lady said we could still see the museum and the house where Lincoln died, but we could not get into the theatre to see the presidential booth where he was actually shot. She said they were rehearsing for a play right now and they would be open again tomorrow (Sunday) from 9-10:30 am. I really want the girls to see the theatre, so we are going to head back tomorrow morning. (We will see how early I can get going!)
So after that huge disappointment, we headed to our next stop: The National Archives. Here, they have the original copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution. We saw some original copies when we were in Philadelphia, but these were the signed copies! And highly guarded by police men!
We saw these and were not allowed to take any pictures, so no pictures of anything. :(
Our next stop was lunch. Trouble central every single day. Matt wanted to go back to the Air and Space Museum today and we knew that had a little food court in there (McDonalds and a couple others), so we headed over there. Once we went through security and headed to the food court, we realized that there was McDonalds (which we had the night before), Boston Market and they only sold chicken meals, and another store that sold pizza. Total Bust!! I vowed not to eat McDonalds again and I cannot eat chicken or wheat, so that left off those other two. Christian can't eat pizza either (he is sensitive to yeast). We decided that this wasn't working too well and we walked out to the hallway.
There we found a security guard and asked him if there were any other food options nearby. He gave us a couple of suggestions, but then also said that the other Smithsonian museums have cafeterias. We headed next door to the Museum of Native American history and then saw on a sign outside of its building that it only had native food in it's cafeteria. Bust again. Do we have a plan C?
We decided to try the Museum of Natural History. They also had a cafeteria and we wanted to go there anyway, so we took off back across the street. (Just to let you know how much extra we had walked- the Museum of Natural History was right in front of the National Archives!!)
We headed in there and downstairs to the cafeteria. Success! There was food Christian and I could eat! It was about 3 pm by now- we had planned on eating about 2-3 pm- and the kids were starving.
We got food, sat down, and ate. Since it was a little on the expensive side, I had the girls share a meal and Christian and I shared a meal, so we were still a little hungry when we were done, but we could survive. :)
Since we were at the Natural History Museum, we decided to go through it. This was not as enjoyable as it could have been. The place was packed and it was very difficult to read displays and see things. Every display also talked about evolution and how this or that has "evolved" over time. It was a little too much for me. Our kids know about evolution, so they knew what was going on and it always gives us chance to bring up what we believe about creation. :)
After being in the museum for an hour and a half, I was ready to go. We had seen the insect zoo, the mammals, the underwater exhibits, been to the restroom and gift shop. We had also fought all these people and it was busier than any other place we had been in!
When we went to leave, we realized it was pouring rain! It was 5 already and all the Smithsonian museums closed at 5:30, so we had to go somewhere. Our original plan was to go see the Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial and all the other memorials in that part of town. You can't do that while it's raining out!!!
Matt brought up the suggestion of going home, which sounded like the best plan in the rain, and we knew the nearest subway stop was by the Smithsonian castle, so we went over there. We didn't know if the rain would let up or not and we could stay, so went in there for about 10-15 minutes.
After that time, we decided the best thing to do would be to go home. There was nothing inside that was open after 5:30 and we wanted to get a few things done at the camper, so that is what we did! We walked through the rain and got on our subway and headed home. (We weren't the only ones who wanted to catch the subway, they were packed!) We were home by about 6:30, made supper, watched some TV, and now the kids are in bed.
I still need to talk to Matt about what time he wants to head back in the morning. I don't want to miss Ford's Theatre, so we need to be there by 10. Now that we know what we are doing, it should only take 1 1/2 hours to get there tomorrow, of course Matt also mentioned he wanted to drive to DC.
He would still like to go to the Air and Space Museum, we need to get to the Memorials and hopefully even Arlington Cemetery. Do you think we can fit that all in one day? It is our last day in DC.
Can you believe it is 10 pm and it is still raining out?? Do you know how noisy it is inside a camper with rain coming down outside? Do you know how muddy it is here at our campground?? Matt carried the kids to the camper when we got back!
Rain, rain, go away, give me back my sun!! (Side Note: It rained until 1:15 am, it started at 5 pm while were were in DC. Poor Megan had such a hard time getting to sleep with the rain pounding on the top of the camper.)
PS Courtney also let her praying mantis go today. Matt caught it for her in Gettysburg and she said it was too hard to take care of. They eat live bugs, so it was work for her to go find some bugs. She said she would much rather have a grasshopper where all she had to do was feed it grass. :)
Back to DC today- Friday (9-20-13)
Obviously I haven't had time to add pictures to my NYC post yet. Let alone finish blogging about NYC, then Philadelphia, then Gettysburg, and now Washington DC. It might just have to wait until we get home. We'll see what happens.
Yesterday we headed in about 1 and headed to the Library of Congress and checked that out. We missed the tour, so we did a self-guided tour. :)
Then we headed over to the Supreme Court and got there just in time to get into the courtroom and hear a half hour lecture on the Supreme Court! Wow! What an amazing place!
Then we were getting hungry, so our next stop was food! I cannot believe there aren't more eating establishments in DC! I bet we walked a half a mile and stopped 2-3 different places before we found something! It was exhausting. (
One of those stops was Air and Space Museum along the mall. They have a place to eat, but they were already closing. Our next stop was the Pavillion at the Old Post office, they said they were open until 7:30 and they had a food court, but once we got in there at 5:45, all the food places were closed! Matt kept seeing a Subway, so he was all about that, but Christian, Courtney, and I were not. We ended up at Mcdonalds. Megan and Matt went to get Subway, so we ended up splitting up for supper.
By the time we were done eating, it was getting dark and we were right by the White House, so we went and saw that all lit up! It was beautiful!
On the way back to the subway, we walked by the Washington Monument at night! We took a long way back to the subway and came home.
Back to DC today, I think our goal is the Natural History Museum, the National Archives, and Ford's Theatre.
Sunday will be our last day in DC and I think we are going to see the monuments and Arlington National Cemetery and maybe the Pentagon. I'm sure I am forgetting something.
Then we head home!
Yesterday we headed in about 1 and headed to the Library of Congress and checked that out. We missed the tour, so we did a self-guided tour. :)
Then we headed over to the Supreme Court and got there just in time to get into the courtroom and hear a half hour lecture on the Supreme Court! Wow! What an amazing place!
Then we were getting hungry, so our next stop was food! I cannot believe there aren't more eating establishments in DC! I bet we walked a half a mile and stopped 2-3 different places before we found something! It was exhausting. (
One of those stops was Air and Space Museum along the mall. They have a place to eat, but they were already closing. Our next stop was the Pavillion at the Old Post office, they said they were open until 7:30 and they had a food court, but once we got in there at 5:45, all the food places were closed! Matt kept seeing a Subway, so he was all about that, but Christian, Courtney, and I were not. We ended up at Mcdonalds. Megan and Matt went to get Subway, so we ended up splitting up for supper.
By the time we were done eating, it was getting dark and we were right by the White House, so we went and saw that all lit up! It was beautiful!
On the way back to the subway, we walked by the Washington Monument at night! We took a long way back to the subway and came home.
Back to DC today, I think our goal is the Natural History Museum, the National Archives, and Ford's Theatre.
Sunday will be our last day in DC and I think we are going to see the monuments and Arlington National Cemetery and maybe the Pentagon. I'm sure I am forgetting something.
Then we head home!
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Low-Key Day today
We are currently hanging out by Washington DC.
We headed into the city yesterday and had a great time at the capital. (I will blog more later)
We got to meet our Representative Lee Terry and he invited the girls to go onto the House of Representatives floor to vote with him! How awesome is that!
Unfortunately, they take all electronic devices away before you can go into the gallery of the House, so I didn't get any pictures. BUT we did find them on Cspan later. Our pictures are on Matt's facebook profile, but I can definitely see if I can put them on here too.
Today we were going to head back into DC, but plans changed at the last minute!
Matt got off work on time, but we had to move our camper to a different spot. But before he could move the camper, I had taken his truck to haul my laundry to the laundry room here at our campground. It was too much for me to carry! (4 loads in all)
Once I got my laundry going at TWO different laundry rooms because I had so many loads and the washers were already in use, I got talking to a lady from California. Pretty soon Matt came and found me because he needed the truck!
Eventually he found a new spot and got the camper moved. Laundry was taking longer than expected. My clothes weren't dry and I had to keep putting more money in, and of course the laundry room was quite a ways away (both of them!) I didn't know I needed more quarters until after I got there! I was very frustrated!
My laundry soap also spilled over a load I was hoping to wash tomorrow (so we could leave earlier today), but after it was covered in ALL detergent, I figured I should just wash it now! Ugh!!! Back to the laundry rooms!
By the time laundry was done and the camper set up again, it was already 2:30 in the afternoon!
Most things in DC close around 4:30-5 and it takes an hour to get to DC. Things weren't looking good.
Matt and I decided not to head into DC, but instead head over to Chesapeake Bay, it was only about 15 miles away and Matt is still determined that we are going to swim in the ocean on this trip!
We made it to this cute little town called North Beach. We walked on the boardwalk for awhile, played on a wooden boat, giggled and laughed as the kids went up and down the slide over and over and over, and then headed off to get some groceries. Gotta love Walmart! (not Superwalmart though!)
On the way home, Christian fell asleep and took about an hour nap!
Guess who is still awake at 11 pm?? Yep, Christian!! He just asked me, "Is it waking up time yet?" Poor thing! This is why we don't nap anymore. :)
Anyway, we ARE going to DC tomorrow and Saturday and Sunday. There is much to be seen, but it was nice to have a low-key day and just take a day off from site-seeing!
We headed into the city yesterday and had a great time at the capital. (I will blog more later)
We got to meet our Representative Lee Terry and he invited the girls to go onto the House of Representatives floor to vote with him! How awesome is that!
Unfortunately, they take all electronic devices away before you can go into the gallery of the House, so I didn't get any pictures. BUT we did find them on Cspan later. Our pictures are on Matt's facebook profile, but I can definitely see if I can put them on here too.
Today we were going to head back into DC, but plans changed at the last minute!
Matt got off work on time, but we had to move our camper to a different spot. But before he could move the camper, I had taken his truck to haul my laundry to the laundry room here at our campground. It was too much for me to carry! (4 loads in all)
Once I got my laundry going at TWO different laundry rooms because I had so many loads and the washers were already in use, I got talking to a lady from California. Pretty soon Matt came and found me because he needed the truck!
Eventually he found a new spot and got the camper moved. Laundry was taking longer than expected. My clothes weren't dry and I had to keep putting more money in, and of course the laundry room was quite a ways away (both of them!) I didn't know I needed more quarters until after I got there! I was very frustrated!
My laundry soap also spilled over a load I was hoping to wash tomorrow (so we could leave earlier today), but after it was covered in ALL detergent, I figured I should just wash it now! Ugh!!! Back to the laundry rooms!
By the time laundry was done and the camper set up again, it was already 2:30 in the afternoon!
Most things in DC close around 4:30-5 and it takes an hour to get to DC. Things weren't looking good.
Matt and I decided not to head into DC, but instead head over to Chesapeake Bay, it was only about 15 miles away and Matt is still determined that we are going to swim in the ocean on this trip!
We made it to this cute little town called North Beach. We walked on the boardwalk for awhile, played on a wooden boat, giggled and laughed as the kids went up and down the slide over and over and over, and then headed off to get some groceries. Gotta love Walmart! (not Superwalmart though!)
On the way home, Christian fell asleep and took about an hour nap!
Guess who is still awake at 11 pm?? Yep, Christian!! He just asked me, "Is it waking up time yet?" Poor thing! This is why we don't nap anymore. :)
Anyway, we ARE going to DC tomorrow and Saturday and Sunday. There is much to be seen, but it was nice to have a low-key day and just take a day off from site-seeing!
Back in Time- September 13, 2013 Get out of Bed, we're going to be on TV!!
*** I am going to write this blog post up and then add pictures tomorrow, so if you read this and there are no pictures, make sure you come back later after I have posted them. :)
Today was going to be an early day. We had told the kids the night before that we
were going to try to be on the Today show, so they were going
to have to get up and get moving- bright and early!
We had a late night the night before because we got home
late from New York City and now we were going to get them out of bed
super-early. Let me remind you that our normal waking time in the Ruwe camper
is about 9 am. On Friday morning, we
woke them up at 6:30 am!! I was awake at 5:30 because I didn’t want to miss my
alarm (and I had to go to the bathroom!) and I could not get back to sleep, so I waited for my alarm to go off at
6:30. As I was watching my clock, it hit 6:31, my
alarm didn’t go off because I didn’t have it set right! I am so glad I was awake!
Matt was already up too and we thought we needed to get the
children going. Courtney and Christian
usually pop out of bed pretty quickly, but Megan is like me, she needs about
15-20 minutes to fully wake up. We got
everybody awake and breakfast started. Our
goal was to leave the camper by 7:10 am.
The train left at 7:40 and this one would get us into New York City
around 8:30, plenty of time to be on the Today Show!
It didn’t exactly work as plan! We had learned a huge lesson the day before
about parking at the train station, so Matt dropped us off and he went and
found and paid for a parking spot for the day.
I went upstairs and bought tickets.
Now the day before we rode “off-peak” time and it was about $21 to get
to NYC. Now, it was “peak” time. Matt and I each had to pay over $9 and the
kids were half the price of our tickets, it cost about $41 this time! (I am so glad I do not do this everyday!)
Aren't our children happy at 7:40 am?? We were waiting for Matt to park the car at the train station.
Aren't our children happy at 7:40 am?? We were waiting for Matt to park the car at the train station.
We also missed the 7:40 train, but since it was early in the
morning, the next train came at 7:45, so we got on that one. Well, barely.
The train was packed!! I think we walked through at least 3 cars trying
to find a place to sit down, but it was super-hard since there were 5 of
us. Matt ended up standing in the back
and I had found two seats by two ladies.
Megan and Courtney squeezed into one seat and I held Christian on my lap
The train ride went super-fast. We talked with one of the ladies we were
riding beside, we found out that she was a nurse and had to work in NYC once in
awhile. She was an RN at a clinic where
they do surgery on kidney stones. She
was interesting to talk to and informative and before we knew it, we were in
NYC around 8:35. That was a great $41 ride! (haha)!
Once we got to NYC, we knew that we needed to head to
Rockefeller Plaza. Before we left, we
had found this on the map and knew it was only about 6 blocks from Grand
Central Station. We didn’t need to take
the subway today, we were walking! After walking for a little bit, we came
around a corner and all of the sudden Matt says, “Look, there it is!” I looked and it was the Today Show!
Do you see the crowd of people underneat the two American flags? That is where I wanted to go!
Do you see the crowd of people underneat the two American flags? That is where I wanted to go!
I saw the very familiar orange barriers and a crowd of
people. As I strained to look further,
you could tell they were taping a segment on cooking. I wasn’t quite sure though as they
wrapped it up as we got over there.
We went around a certain gate and got into the Today Show
area.
by the time we got up to the fence, the segement was over and we saw a few of the main anchors going back into the building. As we made our way into the crowd, there was a page (person who gives information) and he said the next segment outside wasn’t going to be until 9:40 and we were free to stick around or we could leave. I was definitely sticking around! It was only about 9 am at this time, so we had a lot of waiting to do, but I didn’t get up so early not to be on TV!
We took some pictures while we waited. Like ones to prove that I was actully there. :)
by the time we got up to the fence, the segement was over and we saw a few of the main anchors going back into the building. As we made our way into the crowd, there was a page (person who gives information) and he said the next segment outside wasn’t going to be until 9:40 and we were free to stick around or we could leave. I was definitely sticking around! It was only about 9 am at this time, so we had a lot of waiting to do, but I didn’t get up so early not to be on TV!
During this time, the crowd dispersed from the “kitchen
segment” and moved over to where the “home improvement” segment would be at
9:40. Everybody was vying for the best spot to be on TV!
Soon after everybody moved, they all moved again! Matt Lauer
had come outside and sat the news desk and was going to be taping some news
updates. I also moved!
Before Matt did the news updates, people would holler, “Matt,
Matt” and he would come over, shake their hands, talk with them, and take
pictures with them. He seemed really
receptive to the crowd!
Here he is taking a picture with a lady, I wasn't brave enough to try to get his attention. I got close enough!
Here he is taking a picture with a lady, I wasn't brave enough to try to get his attention. I got close enough!
He did his news updates from the desk that was set up outside.
Once he headed back inside, the crowd again made their way back to the “home improvement” set. And so did we! We got in the front row right to the side. I thought it was a great spot and I stayed there! I don’t think the kids quite knew what was going on, they seemed a little bored with it all!
Once he headed back inside, the crowd again made their way back to the “home improvement” set. And so did we! We got in the front row right to the side. I thought it was a great spot and I stayed there! I don’t think the kids quite knew what was going on, they seemed a little bored with it all!
It was at this point too that I was texting people back home
telling them that we were going to be on TV!!! I told them though that we were
going to be on at 9:40, which was 8:40 central time.
Pretty soon Natalie Morales and Willie came out and started
to get ready to do the “home improvement segment.” We saw five different
cameras get ready and before we knew it, they were taping! How exciting it was to finally be on the Today Show set!
Since it was only a 60 second segment, Matt kept saying “They’re
not going to get to us. Watch the guy in the gray shirt, he’s directing them.” We were standing right by the last station
that they would use on the segment.
Sure enough, Matt was right. They did not get to the last
station, but according to everybody back home, they still saw us on TV!
After this segment was over, the crowd moved back by the
news desk because the four anchors were going to be doing news updates at 10. I guess they redo the start of the Today Show
at 10 am for the people on the west coast.
All four anchors came out (Al Roker, Matt Lauer, Natalie
Morales, and Savannah Guthrie). Matt Lauer
even told us all to boo when Savannah came out, just to be funny. J So we did and she grinned.
Here are the four of them at the newsdesk. Al Roker wasn't quite ready yet. He is way on the left with his head down. Matt Lauer was net, then Savannah Guthrie, then Natalie Morales.
They all seemed to be having fun when they were not on the camera, but when the camera came on, they were all business! I noticed that when they were between news stories, they would do their own things. Al Roker had his cell phone out one time, Matt Lauer always turned around and threw some papers away, etc. We were standing right behind them during this time, so I had a nice back shot of all of them! I sure wish I would have known somebody on the west coast because I was almost surely on TV during this time!
Here is the crowd to the side of the news desk during this time, you can see Al Roker towards the right of the picture.
Here are the four of them at the newsdesk. Al Roker wasn't quite ready yet. He is way on the left with his head down. Matt Lauer was net, then Savannah Guthrie, then Natalie Morales.
They all seemed to be having fun when they were not on the camera, but when the camera came on, they were all business! I noticed that when they were between news stories, they would do their own things. Al Roker had his cell phone out one time, Matt Lauer always turned around and threw some papers away, etc. We were standing right behind them during this time, so I had a nice back shot of all of them! I sure wish I would have known somebody on the west coast because I was almost surely on TV during this time!
Here is the crowd to the side of the news desk during this time, you can see Al Roker towards the right of the picture.
By about 10:10, the girls were completely bored with this!
They started messing around, Christian started disobeying (Matt had already
taken him somewhere else once to go potty and to walk around with him.) Finally I said, “Have you guys had enough? Do
you want to go?” And their eyes lit up! They were definitely ready to go, so we
walked away. I am very glad we went
through the effort to get there, it was a great experience!
Does this shot look familiar??
Does this shot look familiar??
I wanted to walk around and explore Rockefeller Plaza some more,
but the girls were anxious to see Radio City Music Hall, which was about three
blocks away. They love watching “America’s
Got Talent” and they were currently filming this show there. I knew they gave tours
and they were kind of expensive, so we walked down there to inquire about tours
and to see if there were even tickets available.
We saw Radio City Music Hall and it was great! Just like on
TV!
We went into this little store and asked about tours. They were $20 per adult and $15 per kid ($70 for everybody). I asked what they showed us and the clerk said it was mostly the history of Radio City Music Hall and a tour of the backstage. Honestly, I just wanted to see the auidtorium! I also noticed a sign that said “Tours will not be allowed in the auditorium, but you may view the auditorium through a private viewing booth.” Matt and I decided not to do the tour. I thought the kids would get bored with all the history (honestly, I wasn’t really interested in the history) plus they didn’t even get to see the stage. Not worth $70!
We went into this little store and asked about tours. They were $20 per adult and $15 per kid ($70 for everybody). I asked what they showed us and the clerk said it was mostly the history of Radio City Music Hall and a tour of the backstage. Honestly, I just wanted to see the auidtorium! I also noticed a sign that said “Tours will not be allowed in the auditorium, but you may view the auditorium through a private viewing booth.” Matt and I decided not to do the tour. I thought the kids would get bored with all the history (honestly, I wasn’t really interested in the history) plus they didn’t even get to see the stage. Not worth $70!
Now what? We looked on our map (that we actually had today!) and
noticed that Times Square was not that far away! Times Square is pretty famous,
so we headed over there! We knew we were there when we saw all these HUGE screens
on every corner! This place was amazing and Matt and I agree that no words
could do this place justice! It was big, busy, and definitely a tourist attraction! We even saw the place where they drop the ball on New Year's Eve!
I knew too that there was a visitor’s center in Times
Square, so we asked somebody on the street where it was and we headed over
there. The visitor's center was an old theatre entrance and had a few neat things, including an old ball from New Year's Eve and some costume displays.
Megan and a ball that they dropped on Times Square.
While we were there, we asked if there was any kid-friendly place to eat. We were all hungry already! The guy working the desk told us about two places. One was a pizza place (remember, Christian and I cannot have pizza) or there was a burger place where the waitresses sang. That sounded good, so we got directions and headed that way.
Megan and a ball that they dropped on Times Square.
While we were there, we asked if there was any kid-friendly place to eat. We were all hungry already! The guy working the desk told us about two places. One was a pizza place (remember, Christian and I cannot have pizza) or there was a burger place where the waitresses sang. That sounded good, so we got directions and headed that way.
Along the way, I got two text messages back to back from two people at home. Both of them said, "I just saw you on TV!" I was a bit confused at first because we had left the set over thirty minutes earlier. They had filmed our segment at 9:40, but it was actually airing at 9:40 back home, not 8:40 like I thought. It was great then that our friends sent us screen shots of us on TV! We did make it on during the "home improving" segment.
We found the place where waitresses sing and then looked at their menu on their
outside window, it was about $15 a person, which is a little more than we
wanted to pay, but we knew this was also NYC.
We walked away from this place and voted for McDonalds. I know, I know,
we were in NYC! But we also had a family of five and we were somewhat on a
budget! So, Mcdonalds it was. We also didn't know if we were going to be eating dinner in NYC, so we wanted to keep it on the cheaper side.
After we were done eating, we wanted to head back to a
couple of stores we had seen along the way.
One was a Hershey Chocolate Store and the other was an M&M
Store; the M&M store was three stories tall! Somebody certain girl in our house named Courtney has a sweet tooth and loves anything to do with candy, so we headed in that direction…
To be continued…
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Present time- We have arrived at our last destination.
We pulled into Washington DC last night, this is our last stop on our tour of the east coast.
We are camping 23 miles east of DC, this was the closest campground available and it was one of the cheapest. We will need to drive 15 miles to the nearest metro stop and then we will be on the furthest out metro stop from DC. In order to get to the Capital, we will need to go through 9 stops.
Today I have a tour set up through Lee Terry's office for a tour of the capital building. I downloaded my pictures from Philadelphia and Gettysburg today, so I have an empty memory card! People keep telling me to take lots of pictures and I usually take 200-300 a day! You know how hard it is to pick out pictures when I go to blog!
After our tour of the capital, I hope to get into the Supreme Court and maybe the Library of Congress too. Our problem is that Matt works in the morning and we probably won't get to DC until 2:00 and I am not sure how long our tour will last. The Supreme Court closes at 4:30 and the last tour at the Library of Congress is at 3:30. I think Matt said he would try to take all day tomorrow off so we can see more things during the day.
We might be seeing a lot of memorials in the evening!
I have a whole list of places I would like us to see before we leave.
I think our plan is to be here until Sunday and then head home.
We are camping 23 miles east of DC, this was the closest campground available and it was one of the cheapest. We will need to drive 15 miles to the nearest metro stop and then we will be on the furthest out metro stop from DC. In order to get to the Capital, we will need to go through 9 stops.
Today I have a tour set up through Lee Terry's office for a tour of the capital building. I downloaded my pictures from Philadelphia and Gettysburg today, so I have an empty memory card! People keep telling me to take lots of pictures and I usually take 200-300 a day! You know how hard it is to pick out pictures when I go to blog!
After our tour of the capital, I hope to get into the Supreme Court and maybe the Library of Congress too. Our problem is that Matt works in the morning and we probably won't get to DC until 2:00 and I am not sure how long our tour will last. The Supreme Court closes at 4:30 and the last tour at the Library of Congress is at 3:30. I think Matt said he would try to take all day tomorrow off so we can see more things during the day.
We might be seeing a lot of memorials in the evening!
I have a whole list of places I would like us to see before we leave.
I think our plan is to be here until Sunday and then head home.
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Continuation of 9-12-13 New York City/ 911 Memorial
After seeing the Statue of Liberty, we were all starving and found a TGI Friday's for our very late lunch. It was so nice to sit down and eat a good meal, Megan and I both had a half rack of ribs and they were sooo good! I think we both could've ate more!
After we got done eating, we didn't really have a plan. We knew we didn't want to catch a train back to our campground until 8:30 because that is when the cheap rates started agian. What were we going to do for 3 1/2 hours? Plus we still didn't have a map!
We were right by Ground Zero and saw the new World Trade Center building that was recently built. This building was now the highest building in the New York skyline (check out earlier pictures and below), so we thought we would walk over there and try to see it closer. The city had the entire Ground Zero sectioned off. I think this was probably 4-6 blocks on each side of Ground Zero.
Here is the picture of the new building in the background and at the bottom is the 10 foot wire fence going around the entire section. We were not quite sure what the crane was doing, but there was definitely still some construction going on.
We walked a few blocks and then turned the corner to walk around it and were met by swarms of people! I wish I had a picture! It was just like on TV! We were between the gates of ground zero and another building and it was filled with people. Pretty soon we found out where all these people were going, they were going to the train station that was under Ground Zero! I guess the subway is still closed in that area.
As I was watching all these people go into the train, I looked to the right and about jumped out of my skin, it was a little tourist booth!!! They had maps!! So happy! I motioned for Matt to go over there and we asked the lady if she had a map and she did! She showed us one of Lower Manhattan and it helped so much!
We also asked her if there was anything that we could do that evening and she mentioned the 9/11 memorial. It sounded good to us, so we headed off to get our tickets. It's was about 6:10 at this point. I remember this because she said they stop giving tickets out at 6:30.
Tickets were free, but they were required to get in and you had to go to a certain store front to get them. Here is where we had to go.
Here you can see the second waterfall at the bottom more clearly and see some more names.
Here we are laughing because we finally made it in from the rain!
After we got done eating, we didn't really have a plan. We knew we didn't want to catch a train back to our campground until 8:30 because that is when the cheap rates started agian. What were we going to do for 3 1/2 hours? Plus we still didn't have a map!
We were right by Ground Zero and saw the new World Trade Center building that was recently built. This building was now the highest building in the New York skyline (check out earlier pictures and below), so we thought we would walk over there and try to see it closer. The city had the entire Ground Zero sectioned off. I think this was probably 4-6 blocks on each side of Ground Zero.
Here is the picture of the new building in the background and at the bottom is the 10 foot wire fence going around the entire section. We were not quite sure what the crane was doing, but there was definitely still some construction going on.
We walked a few blocks and then turned the corner to walk around it and were met by swarms of people! I wish I had a picture! It was just like on TV! We were between the gates of ground zero and another building and it was filled with people. Pretty soon we found out where all these people were going, they were going to the train station that was under Ground Zero! I guess the subway is still closed in that area.
As I was watching all these people go into the train, I looked to the right and about jumped out of my skin, it was a little tourist booth!!! They had maps!! So happy! I motioned for Matt to go over there and we asked the lady if she had a map and she did! She showed us one of Lower Manhattan and it helped so much!
We also asked her if there was anything that we could do that evening and she mentioned the 9/11 memorial. It sounded good to us, so we headed off to get our tickets. It's was about 6:10 at this point. I remember this because she said they stop giving tickets out at 6:30.
Tickets were free, but they were required to get in and you had to go to a certain store front to get them. Here is where we had to go.
After we picked up our tickets and gave a donation, we headed about 6 blocks to the entrance to the 9/11 memorial.
Because it is Ground Zero, we had to present our tickets over and over and go through security numerous times, but we eventually got in to to see the memorial. It took me awhile to figure out, but once I saw the whole picture, it was amazing!
Where each of the twin towers stood, there were waterfall pools with names of each of the victims around the outside. It was so powerful and very hard to describe! I am so glad we stopped! And I am so glad that we have talked about the attack on America with ours girls, so they had some idea what this was all about.
These pools were as big as the original towers and there was a waterfall over the outside and then there was another waterfall in the middle of the memorial. As you can see behind the girls, the names are sketched in granite and people would leave memorials to the people, for example, you can see the flag to the right of Megan stuck in somebody's name.
After seeing both pools, we headed out, but along the way we saw the tree that survived the world trade center attacks! No wonder it has a fence around it!
When we got done at the memorial, we still had some time left, so we thought we would walk over to the Brooklyn Bridge. This wasn't such a good idea! Courtney had to go to the bathroom, so we snuck into a Burger King and found the bathroom, (What? Did you see the "restroom for customers only" sign??) As we were in there, a huge storm blew up! I had left Matt, Megan and Christian outside, so when we came back downstairs from the bathroom, I couldn't find them!
Apparently, they were hanging out under an awning as it poured and the wind blew!! There was a tourist store down the street that had postcards outside and the postcars went blowing all over right in front of Burger King. Eventually Matt came inside and we decided to wait a little bit for the storm to blow over us.
By this time, it was starting to get dark, so Matt suggested that we skip the Brooklyn Bridge and head back to Grand Central station to catch out train home. I agreed! It was another 6-7 blocks to the bridge and it was pouring rain out!
We decided to find the nearest subway stop and head there in the rain for it had slowed down a little bit! As we walked down the street, Matt about got blown off the street because the wind was so hard! We found the nearest stop, but it was shut down! What now? Find the next stop! The next stop was another block and a half, so we found it and got in away from the storm.
We bought more tickets and made our way to Grand Central Station. From there, we had about 45 minutes until our train. We bought our train tickets and then wondered around the station for awhile.
Here is the main hall in Grnad Central Station. This place was gorgeous!!
About 8:10, we went over to see if our train was there and it was, so we went ahead and got on and waited for twenty minutes for our 45 minute trip home.
Do you see those signs hanging from the ceiling in the picture above? I had to laugh at one of them. :)
They were put there by Aetna health insurance, which is our health insurance company.
Here was one of their signs.
If you can't read it, it says, "What's your health? Family camping trip."
Even Aetna thinks camping is good for my health!
We got back to our train station about 9:15, got our truck, and headed back to our camper.
I think we all got a little bit to eat when we got home, remember we had lunch at 5 and nothing for supper, so it took awhile to get everybody calmed down and to sleep.
Matt and I decided that we were going to try to be on the Today Show on Friday morning and Megan and I had determined that we were going to try to catch the 7:40 am train! To catch a train that early meant that I would need to get the kids up around 6:30! It was going to be a short night.
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