DC

We had a really exciting, and really exhausting, visit to DC.  In two days we went to the Natural History Museum, the American History Museum, the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, WWII Memorial, Air and Space Museum (the other one in downtown DC), Arlington National Cemetery, The Women in Military Service Memorial, and the National Zoo - and managed to get to good vantage points to get pictures of the White House and the Capitol building.  I took hundreds of photos, these are just some of the highlights.

Still one of the most reverent places in DC - the Vietnam Memorial -it makes my heart ache.

Luke and Isa really wanted to meet President Obama - I tried to explain it doesn't work that way - but they didn't really understand why, so I ended up just telling them that the Obama Family was out of the country and left it at that.

The usual mass of humanity congregating on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.  In all the times we've been here, this is always the busiest spot.

Had to throw in a picture of the Hope Diamond - after all it is just gorgeous.  Its housed at the Natural History Museum in the gem section.

 A small section of Arlington.  There really are no words. 

Luke and Kermit hanging out at the Museum of American History.

 After going to Kittyhawk, it was mandatory that we go see the actual Wright Brother's plane!  This is housed in the Air and Space Museum downtown.  It was fabulous to see those little minds putting it all together....

 Luke insisted that we get this picture - he learned about the three branches of government and wanted to get a picture with the capitol building.  We had lots of discussions about our national government that day.

The main thing I wanted to do in DC?  Take the kids to see a panda.  Everyone should be able to see a panda!  I just love them! 

The whole experience in DC was great.  We had great opportunities for yummy food up in Chinatown, lots of chances to ride the metro - which the kids LOVED, and so much entertainment my head is still spinning!

DC - Air and Space (Dulles)

We left the wild ponies behind and headed a few hours west to Washington DC. We stayed in Greenbelt Campground, which was only a mile bike ride from the College Park, University of Maryland Metro Station.  The location was awesome - the tick advisory, not so much. 

Before we even set up camp we made the trip to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum out at Dulles.  This was one of Michael's key requests for the entire vacation, so we wanted to make sure it happened first.   




We liked the Cessna - I had never been in one before so that was new for me.  Michael took ground school in high school, so he took the pictures.

Michael was in awe of the SR-71 Blackbird.  See the grin?  I couldn't believe the information that was tumbling out of his mouth as we walked around - he could have been a tour guide.  I had NO IDEA he knew that much about airplanes.  

Michael's favorite plane.  The F-14 Tomcat.  The man was in heaven.

 This was my favorite moment of the day - walking down the corridor into the hanger that houses the Space Shuttle Discovery.  I couldn't believe all the emotion I felt looking at something that for me symbolizes the creativity and determination of the American spirit.  It made me all misty-eyed.


I literally have hundreds of pictures of airplanes from that day - HUNDREDS - but I don't think there is any need to fill this blog with airplane pics.  It was awe inspiring and was my favorite museum of the whole Smithsonian experience.

Assateague Island/Chincoteague

Our Assateague experience was unbelievable!  

 We started at the southern end of the island in the Chincoteague National Refuge with Grandma Chris and Grandpa Don where we looked for ponies – with no luck.  We visited the nature center there though and the kids got to touch a variety of different sea creatures including a horseshoe crab, oysters, clams, and a sea snail.   We also saw the pony corral where the foals are rounded up each year – yes Misty fans, there really is a wooden corral.  

Then we headed up to our campsite on the northern part of Assateague Island.

We headed straight for the beach – I couldn’t believe how much we had all missed it already when we were inland – and plopped down just in time to watch a newly washed up WWII bomb  detonated.  Of course I headed onto the closed part of the beach with the kids as they were prepping the detonation.   We were shooed off the beach immediately, but didn’t figure out what was going on for at least 5 minutes.   About 10 minutes later we watched it explode!

I was concerned that perhaps I had made too much of the whole pony thing – especially after seeing nothing down in the Refuge.  That all ended after dinner.  Four ponies came trotting in to the campground and before I knew it they were at full gallop heading for the beach.  Of course, complete idiot that I am, I gathered the kids and Michael and off we went to get a good picture.  We followed them, at a very good distance and I snapped this great shot of the kids standing on the beach with the horses playing in the surf behind them.
Ah – a perfect moment.  Lasted about 30 seconds.  Turns out that wild horses really like their space – and we retreated as quickly as we could with some other beach goers – but not quickly enough for the ponies’ liking.  Before we knew it, we had four ponies charging our direction in FULL GALLOP!  Of course we were on one of the dune crossovers, so we were bottlenecked in and totally at their mercy.  Ever try to protect your kids from a stampede?  Top ten scariest moments of my life. 

This is the moment I knew it was all about to go bad....  :)

Michael ended up trying to shield another lady on the other side of the path and I tried to keep our kids safe from harm – one of the ponies actually bumped into Luke, but thankfully didn’t knock him over.   One of the other campers (her name is Sandy) – came out with a broom and stood in front of all of us as we ran frantically away from the horses.  I have never felt like a broom provided much protection (um, any protection, actually) but I have a whole new respect for them now.   The horses ran off one way and we went back to our campsite as fast as our trembling legs could carry us.    



   Isa insisted that I go back and “thank the lady who saved our lives mom.” So I did.  Sandy told me that we scheduled our vacation time on the island smack dab in the middle of mating season and that we just had almost been pulverized by a group of competing stallions and one mare.   The kids really learned a new respect for horses and for their power and speed.

 


 The next day we had two of those same horses docilely grazing next to the RV – if I hadn’t almost been trampled the day before I might have thought these animals were almost tame.  Well, they aren’t – and that makes them all the more beautiful!

Horses or not, there is still sand to be played in!

Dog thoughts - by Sophie

Dog Thoughts on Vacations - by Sophie

Vacation - I still have no idea what that means.  What I do know is that I don't understand where we are, where my house is, or where we will be tomorrow.  We drive and drive some days and when I get out I don't recognize a single smell.  My parents want me to potty every time we stop somewhere, and they are very impatient about the whole business - and then for some reason I get a treat just for going - which is pretty exciting.  I sure hope they keep that up.

I find it very frustrating that my people leave me in this little house while they go to do things - I have eaten a couple things to show my displeasure.  I realize I have air conditioning that keeps the temperature around 70 degrees, but a dog can get lonely.  The only bright side is that they feel guilty enough about it to give me bones to chew.  Again, I would like that to continue after this is over.

I have met a lot of dogs during our travels - one of them was a golden retriever like my friend Daisy back home - I got really excited for a second when I saw that dog, but alas, it was not her.  I also saw a bulldog like my friend Ellie back home - but I knew pretty quickly that it wasn't Ellie either.  None of the dogs I have met like to rough house quite like my friends back home.

I love to kill bugs - which makes my mom very, very thankful.  I am pretty good at snapping bugs out of the air, and then I just prefer to bite their heads off.  I get treats for that sometimes too.  I have also discovered something that Luke calls "frogs."  I only know that there are little jumpy things that I want to catch - desperately - but no one seems to want to let me and since I always have that blasted leash on I can't break free. 

Speaking of the leash, I detest it.  I spend a lot of time making it known that the leash has to go - but they keep putting it on me.  I am very annoyed with them about it and have been trying to show them I can walk myself while holding the leash in my mouth, but they don't believe me.

I have been receiving a great deal of attention from fellow travelers - everyone seems to want to pet me and scratch my tummy.  I don't have any idea why, but there is no downside to it.  I hope very much that I will have a whole day of love and affection today, because today is my birthday - I am one year old today - and I am putting up with a great deal with these crazy people I live with, so I deserve some extra TLC.

Happy Birthday Sophie!

Jamestown and Yorktown

We have spent the last couple days learning about the history of the USA.  We visited the Jamestown ruins, where the first colonists settled, and the Yorktown battlefield - the site of the last major battle of the American Revolution.  (It was at Yorktown that General Cornwallis surrendered which set the stage for the Treaty of Paris.)  I was surprisingly more excited about the battlefield - which is very unlike me.  We all especially liked the firing of the cannon - it was awesome and really, really loud.  It seems a bit nuts that English Colonization both began and ended in the same area of the country. 

Did you know that some British troops wore blue during the Revolutionary War?  I didn't!  This volunteer is wearing a reproduction British uniform!  Boy was I confused!

 Historic Jamestown has a lovely glass making demonstration to highlight some of the traditional occupations in Jamestown. 
 The glass blowers are very talented - we watched them for a while.  The furnace is 2400 degrees.  It was a hot visit.

We really needed some relaxation time today - we've been really pushing ourselves to get stuff done and make the most of this vacation.  We finished at Jamestown in the early afternoon, ate lunch and headed off to play on some of the KOA's amenities.  We all jumped on the jumping pillows (and somehow Michael managed to burn the bottoms of his feet - but none of the rest of us did.....) and spent most of the afternoon in the pool.  Isa is working hard on figuring out how to swim - she's made some good progress already this summer.  

 Tomorrow we head for Chincoteague and Assateague Island - where the wild ponies run and swim.  The girls are going to go bananas when they realize there are ponies where we are camping.  I can't wait to see their faces!

 

North Carolina

We woke up this morning in Pettigrew State Park - in an unassuming little campground that had no amenities save a respectfully clean bathhouse - but what it lacked in power and water hookups it more than made up for in beauty. 






It was located right off the shore of Lake Phelps - which I now know is the second largest lake in North Carolina.  I had to share some photos of the scenery because I was so impressed.  It really was in the middle of nowhere though - we had to drive 5 miles on a road bordered by wheat and corn fields to find it. 

Next we drove to Kill Devil Hills, NC to see the Wright Brother's Memorial and the site of the first motorized airplane flight.  We were lucky enough to make the kite flying activity for the day - they have over 100 kites ready and waiting for people to fly.  Unfortunately for the kids, there wasn't a lot of wind - so there was a lot of running - but that was okay with us!

Michael and Luke really got in to the airplane concept.  It was really pretty fascinating. 

We finished our time with the Wright Brothers and headed to the famous Outer Banks beaches!  The water was A LOT colder than it had been in South Carolina, so that took some getting used to.  There was a rip current advisory issued that afternoon, so our kids didn't get in the water past their ankles.  You can see that they were miserable. :)

They took the opportunity to build more sand castles - of course the day that they want to spend a bunch of time building I didn't bring the beach stuff with us - but they managed to entertain themselves.  (Notice the waves tossing people around behind the kids!  Those waves were nuts today!)



Tonight we are staying in a campground on Colington Island - just far enough away from the busy beach for all of us to get a good nights rest!  Tomorrow we head for Virginia!

Fantastic Day - by Luke

This morning Grandma Chris and Grandpa Don came over and we went fishing.  We fished from the pier.  I was fishing for baby sharks – the rangers here let people borrow the poles for free!  

  I didn’t catch anything! 

 

My sisters were taking turns casting on another pole – but they weren’t too lucky either and they got pretty bored.  

But my dad's pole caught the tail of a baby hammerhead shark! A bonnet head shark to be specific.  (Grandma Chris had cast the line that time.)  

Another angler caught it in the mouth, but dad’s line twisted around the body and tail and it got all tangled up.  Because of that, dad got to help reel it in and hold it in his hands while someone else untangled it and took the hook out. 

 

 

After lunch, we went to the beach.  Mom and I walked the beach looking for sand dollars, but we didn’t find one.  We found lots of pretty shells, a crab leg, and a gigantic horseshoe crab.  We don’t know if it was alive or dead.   Then we played in the surf as the tide came in.  It got deeper and deeper by the minute.

  



Sophie was feisty at the beach and was playing in the water too.

Our campsite here is really spacious and beautiful.  It is surrounded by plants and if you are coming off the road you can’t see us until you are in front of us!

We are leaving tomorrow for North Carolina and will be in the Outer Banks up there on Saturday.

Hunting Island 6/19

 

What a day we had today!   Michael and I woke up to pouring rain this morning - and now here we sit in the RV with pouring rain tonight.  Thankfully we managed to have a good day in between the downpours.

Hunting Island beach is eroding - as lots of beaches are - and because of this there are a number of fallen, or partially fallen, trees along the beach.  They are such a beautiful sight, even covered with little barnacles like they are, that I had to take the kids to get some pictures of them with the trees. 




Our kids love doing the Junior Ranger Programs in the National and State Parks, so today at 11 we had an interview with a SC Ranger - Ranger George.   He was great with the kids and talked to them a lot about the park and the animals on the island.  (We had already seen a raccoon - they are aggressive here - one was outside trying to get into our stuff last night and Michael went to scare it away and the thing growled at him instead of running off.  It shocked Michael a bit, and now I prefer to stay indoors after dark.)

Anyway, after our talk with the Ranger, we headed out to climb the Hunting Island lighthouse.  It took some time but it was worth it.  Off in the distance you can see the thunderstorm that was heading our direction - our day of exploring ended pretty quickly after that!








This is the view of the inside of the lighthouse- the stairs remind me of an Escher painting - funny that I didn't take a view from the outside!  Maybe I'll remember to do that tomorrow.

Just before we climbed the lighthouse we stopped for a break at the Visitor's Center nearby.  Ranger George had suggested that we might catch a glimpse of one of the many local alligators if we were lucky - and boy were we lucky.  We caught a glimpse of one - and then saw a baby alligator come chirping for his mama - and then the alligator started coming up out of the water to tend to her baby.  None of us had ever seen an alligator in the wild before, so we were transfixed.  The little green plants that covered this lady were really good at helping her blend in to her environment!

 We then headed to the Nature Center, where one of the Rangers let the kids touch (and Isa hold) a Salt Marsh Turtle named Buddy.  That turtle was awesome - and she was so fast! (Well, she was a lot faster than I expected a turtle would be!)  Tomorrow morning we are going to borrow ocean fishing gear from the Rangers and let the kids fish off the ocean pier - they've been catching and releasing baby sharks all week!

This evening we went out to dinner at a fabulous restaurant named Boondocks and stuffed ourselves silly with local seafood.  After we were done we headed up to the bar to watch a hermit crab race!  Hysterical!

This part of our trip has been seriously fun!  Cross your fingers that one of us catches a shark tomorrow - to see an alligator and a shark in such a short period of time - that would be unreal!