Thinking Back To Our Time In Washington DC

We are behind in our blogging, so even though we are now in Ohio, we are going to tell you about what we did the last few days in College Park, MD.

After Dad finished his meetings on Thursday night, they went out to dinner.  There was a coupon on the campground map and Dad thought the place looked good. Mama told him that the tour guide had said it was her favorite restaurant in College Park.  When they arrived, Daddy said "I think we might be too YOUNG to eat here."  LOL   Mama said they were definitely the youngest people there. The tour guide is a senior citizen, so I guess she fit right in.  The name of the place is TJ's of Calverton.  Mama ordered a chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and cole slaw.

It was good and yes, we did get a bite of it.

Dad's meal - Shrimp Alfredo with Garlic Bread

The cost of the meal after the coupon was $30, so not a cheap meal.   Mama said it was good, but she would try other places before going back.

The next day, they took the metro train into Washington DC.  They visited the National Museum of American History.   They had visited it the last time they were there and Mama said it seemed smaller.  It was very crowded and Mama doesn't like crowds.

Dumbo from Disneyland ride

Hat that Lincoln was wearing the night he was shot.

Flag that was flown on Lincoln's funeral train.

Kermit!

Muhammad Ali's boxing gloves

Archie Bunker's (All In The Family) Chair

Old computer - this is what they had when I was in high school.

George Washington's Uniform

This was written by someone who was passing through Villa Ridge, MO in 1950.  What is great about this?  Mama grew up in Villa Ridge, MO.  It is a very small town.  It is just amazing to see something from her hometown in the museum.

Travel trailer

Cars and train in automotive part of museum

Greyhound bus

More automobiles

Mama said she felt old because she heard kids asking; "Who is Muhammad Ali?" Who is Archie Bunker?" "What are records?"  The saddest question she heard was from an 11 year old.  He asked "Was George Washington our first President?" and he was serious. What is he learning in school?

The first time she was there, they were cleaning the first flag.  It is now complete and restored, but no photos are allowed. There were a lot of other things that they saw, but she didn't take photos of such as dresses that the First Ladies have worn and things like that.  It is a very interesting museum.

Unfortunately, they did not eat dinner in DC.  They ended up leaving DC around 3 p.m.  Mama thought they would see another museum, but Dad was ready to leave. They ate dinner at a Chinese buffet near the campground.   Mama said the food was really good.  She was a little scared because the floors were sticky and so was the soy sauce jar, but she didn't get sick after eating there.  There was a sign that said if you wasted food, you would be charged a surcharge.  If you wanted a knife, you had to ask for it.  We are not sure what is up with the lack of knives.  Mama said it was the best Chinese buffet that they have had since being on the road.  She can't remember the name of the place though.

I think I still have more photos from the campground to show you, but we will save that for another day.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Finds It Confusing To Blog About DC When He Is In Ohio

Weather Is Great In Ohio!

We have our windows and door open today!  The high  is expected to be 79.  The low tonight will be around 59. We may need to turn the heat on.  LOL  The hottest day this week will be 84 according to the weather people.

I told you we were in the woods!

Mama put our Greyhound flag out and also put the tablecloth on the picnic table. She said it makes it look more homey.

That tree with the ribbon is the tree that gave us so much trouble getting int our site.

I'm just chilling with the door open today.

We have our hummingbird feeder out, but so far no visitors.  Mama thought about getting some bird feeders but the raccoons would probably raid them.  She still may do it to give her something to worry about.

The only real downside to our site is that it is really far from the laundry room.  It is too far to walk and even if Mama got the cart that she wants for the laundry, it will be hard to push along the gravel road. She will have to do it at night when she has a car. She is concerned that the machines will be all tied up, so she may just go to town to do it.  They only have the laundry room open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. here. 

We didn't have storms here after all.  We were walking with Mama yesterday and she felt a drop of rain and told us we needed to head back.  We wanted to sniff more and within a minute, we were under a big downpour. We were drenched!  Mama looked really funny with here hair so wet. She said "I was having a good hair day, too!"  She doesn't have many good hair days these days, so it was pretty sad.

Grandma sent us a photo to show us that a tree in our yard at home was hit by a storm on Saturday night.  Poor tree!  Grandpa is going to cut the limb out for us.  I bet the tree is going to look pretty bare when the limb is removed.

A tree at our house.  Our grass looks pretty dead.  They are having a drought there.

Grandma and Grandpa are coming to visit us here in Ohio!  Mama said that she and Daddy are checking out all the restaurants so that they know where to take them. Both places they ate this weekend were good.  Mama will tell you more about the restaurants later.

The beach at the campground. No dogs allowed!

Me waiting for Dad to get us checked in.

Fire engine rides take place on Saturday nights.

Another view of the lake.

This is the fishing lake.

Scout walking by the lake this morning.  She is not sure about Ohio yet.  She hasn't wanted to walk much here.

Another view of the fishing lake.

The park is nice and most sites are not wooded like ours.  We really like being in the shade although it is so shaded that it is dark inside the motor home.  Scout says it is great for sleeping.

There is a fenced area here for it. It has agility stuff in it though, so it's not good for running.  Mama says she might try to get us to try out the agility equipment. She can try, but we are not interested.

We will tell you more about DC tomorrow. We are so behind on our blogging.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Enjoying The Cooler Temperatures

We Are In Ohio!

We got behind on our blog this week.  Mama was feeling drained and didn't want to help me type.  Then, she was gone most of yesterday.  Today, we left DC and now we are in Streetsboro, OH which is near Cleveland.  We will be here for a month.

I will have to go back and update you on the DC things later this week.  Mama said she is too tired to do her restaurant reviews tonight.  The drive here was fine.  We left at 7 a.m. and arrived at 3 p.m.  We were a little concerned about driving through Pennsylvania because of some of the steep grades in the road.  We haven't really had to worry about that yet.  We avoided going through the Smokey Mountains for that reason. The Smokey Mountains are much worse than what we did today. We had to pay tows on the PA Turnpike and the Ohio Turnpike. Pennsylvania was $26.95 and Ohio was $8.75.  Yikes!

We arrived at the KOA here at 3 p.m.  We did not get setup at camp until 5:30 p.m.  Why? Well, the site we had reserved had been given to someone else. We unhooked the Jeep from the RV and looked at the available sites. We chose one and Dad had a rough time getting the RV into it. Mama told him there is no way he was going to be able to level it. Our step wouldn't come out all the way because it was hitting the patio.  It was a mess. Dad realized our electric cord wouldn't stretch as far as it needed to go, so off we went to find another site.  We looked at several. Finally, Dad found one in the woods that he really liked.  We were not sure he was going to get the RV in because of some trees.  It took a while, but he did it. A neighbor came by to say that her and her husband couldn't believe he was able to get it in there. Then, a guy and his wife came by and told us that it was their site.  WHAT!   He explained that he has been here a while and has been waiting for that site to become available.  He found out the other people were moving out today, so he called the office last night and they said he could have it.  Well, they told us that we could have it, too.  He and his wife were very nice and we said we would move.  Dad then had to get the RV out of the site and moved into the one next to it.  It wasn't easy and Mama is worried about getting it out when it comes time to leave, but I guess we got it in and we will get it out.   We are really in the woods here. It is very shady, so that will keep the camper cooler and help with our electric bill.  The other sites are more what you would expect in a private park. Our site is like what you see at Missouri State Parks.  Mama says we may be bored here because we won't have any people to watch. As far as the other couple goes, they wanted the site because it has a paved patio. None of the other sites have that. They have a baby and they wanted her to have it for her walker, high chair, etc. It looks like they spend a lot of time outside. We don't think they have air conditioning in the trailer.  It wasn't really a big deal to move. It was just aggravating after spending so much time getting moved into it.

On Saturday nights, they have a fire engine that takes the kids on rides. It has driven by our place like six times already. I guess the long term people are not  happy about it because of all the dust it creates.

There is someone who has a pot-bellied pig. We will try and get a photo tomorrow.

This place is nice, but it doesn't compare to our last place. We think that one is going to be hard to beat.  The folks went to town tonight and ate dinner. Mama will talk more about that tomorrow. The town is nice and easy to get around. Mama is happy to be in a smaller place than Houston.

Speaking of Houston, a tropical storm/hurricane might be headed towards them. We are supposed to have severe storms here tomorrow, but Mama says she will take that over a tropical storm. Hopefully, it is not bad here tomorrow.  We are under a lot of trees.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Now In Ohio

Still Kickiing Up My Paws In DC

Scout and I are still exploring the campground here. Dad is attending his conference now, so we are not seeing much of him.  He got home around 10:30 last night and we expect the same tonight.  Today is his birthday and he has to attend meetings all day.  Dad was actually born in Maryland.  His Dad was in the Army. It's strange that he is back in his birthplace on his birthday considering he only lived here for a very short time.

The folks ate at a place called Hard Times Cafe the other night.  It is a place that is just down the road from our campground.  They are known for their chili.  They brought out a sampler of their chili before the folks ordered.

Texas Chili: Coarse ground beef cooed in its own juice, using an authentic turn of the century family spice blend and recipe.
Cincinnati Chili: Introduced in 1922 by Greek immigrants, it is a fine grind of beef with a tomato base and sweeter spices including cinnamon.
Terlingua Red: A tribute to the Texas ghost town that hosted the first Chili cook-off. A redder color and spicy kick of championship chilies.
Vegetarian Chili: Soy flakes cooked in a tomato base with fresh mushrooms, onions, green peppers, jalapenos & peanuts.

Mama decided to order their Five Way Chili Mac which is spaghetti, chili, cheese, onions & beans.  She chose the Texas chili.  She decided that she should have mixed it with the Terlingua Red since the Texas Chili is a little greasy.  The portion size was huge though and she brought some home and had it for lunch the next day.

Five Way Chili Mac

Dad ordered the Polish Cowboy: Grilled Kielbasa topped with BBQ sauce, Cincy Chili, fresh-cut fries and coleslaw. Serve with a side of onion rings.

Polish Cowboy

 Dad liked it. The onions rings were really good and Mama said the dipping sauce was zesty.

Yesterday, Mama ate at the cafe here.  She said the burger was really good. She will probably go back tonight. She bought a cup from them because they give unlimited refills for your entire stay and if you come back at any time in the future, they say you can get free refills.  Mama says that is a good deal because she loves her Diet Pepsi.  She has already had like four refills and we are here for a few more days. Mama gets excited over the silliest things.

Last night and this morning, we walked on the nature trail.  We still haven't completed the whole thing. We just hop on and off.

This is the Bus Depot at our park.  We watch the buses come and go all day.

Here we go through the woods.

There is a bridge up ahead.

Another bridge

We had been searching for this pond for a few days.

Pretty flowers in front of one of the many bath houses.

Our site.

 We have been visiting the dog park each night.  There are only a few dogs here.  They actually have a dog walker in the park that can be hired. Mama said she would be scared that we would get away from her.  Actually, she is scared that I would get away.  Scout would probably just tell the dog walker to skip the walk and pet her.

Oh, we were asked what is up with all the turtles. We don't know, but we found where they have some in storage. LOL

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Still Finding New Places To Explore Here

A Visit To Mount Vernon

Yesterday, the folks visited Mount Vernon. That is the home of George Washington.  President Washington inherited the home from his father in 1754 and lived there until his death in 1799.  President Washington took it from a one story home and turned it into a mansion.

Mount Vernon Inn - Restaurant

George Washington's Home

Tree that was probably around when George lived here.

Gardens at Mount Vernon

More Gardens

Yes, More Gardens

Outhouse

President Washington used rustication on his house to make it look like stone instead of wood. Fine sand is thrown on the wet paint.

Actor playing Washington's Doctor

Waiting in line to see the inside of the house.

The wood really does look like stone.

 Pictures were not allowed to be taken inside of the house.  The ceiling was elaborate as was the fireplace mantle in the dining room. They really liked dark colors and that is said to demonstrate their wealth. The dining room was a green.

President Washington become ill on a Thursday and died on Saturday. He is thought to have died of  Epiglottis which basically caused his windpipe to close off.  They tried to "bled him" which was a common medical practice at that time. It is opening the veins to release the infection.  He died at the age of 67.  Mrs. Washington died two and half years later.

He had quite the view.

Kitchen - photos were allowed. It was not part of the main house.

Pecan tree

Another view from the mansion.

Original burial vault of President Washington

Pioneer Farm - shows how the grounds looked when President Washington was alive.

Tombs of George and Martha

Vault that holds the tombs - flag raising is held each day here.

 Besides the mansion, gardens and pioneer farm, there was a museum.

Jewelry owned by Martha

Wax sculpture of George.

There was second museum that had items that were not allowed to be photographed.   A set of President Washington's dentures were on display.

There were several gift shops as well as a food court. The folks chose to eat in the food court instead of the Mount Vernon Inn. Mama was not impressed with the menu at the restaurant.  It served duck, ham and turkey among other things.  She regretted not trying it though since they spent $18 at the food court.  She said the food was good, but she hates spending that much on two sandwiches, one order of fries and one drink.

They were there for five an half hours and did not see everything.  They had tickets to see the distillery, but chose not to see it because they did not want to get stuck in rush hour traffic.

Mama said the estate is huge and her feet really hurt from walking all around it. She learned a lot. She did not know what he died from until yesterday.  She also did not know that Martha was a widow with two children when she married George. George was very prompt and if guests were five minutes late for dinner, dinner was served without them.  When he was home, everyone was on his schedule.  I guess that was the commander in him.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Still Exploring New Places At This Campground