As you can see from some of the pictures, we went to Washington, D.C. for a day. Evidently it's Cherry Blossom Festival time, so the roads were blocked and people were everywhere even more than normal, which made it difficult to manuever anywhere down there. It was also hard to take a picture without another person in it.
Exhibit A: Our picture with Abe Lincoln. Ours and that guy's anyway...
It wasn't the only place it was difficult to get pictures without people, so a lot of them just have other people in them. Whatever.
This one turned out pretty neat though. The sun was just in the right spot behind Washington Monument.
We stayed about half an hour from D.C. at a Staybridge Suites. We've been staying in Holiday Inn Expresses, as I believe I've mentioned before, but there were none in the area...at least none that were in our price range (ie. close to $100, preferably less), so we figured we'd give it a try. Were we ever impressed! The rooms were all suites, as stated in the name, so we had a large, but not quite full-sized fridge, microwave, two-range stovetop, dishwasher, toaster, it was amazing! Plus it was clean and comfortable and nicely decorated. They offered free laudry as long as you brought your own soap and the breakfast was incredible. Holiday Inn Express always offers breakfast but this was above and beyond that by far. They had two different kinds of eggs, bacon and sausage, breakfast potatoes, french toast, fresh waffles, biscuits and gravy, fresh fruit (not just bananas and apples) along with all of the cereal, bagels, coffee, etc that is offered with most breakfasts. Needless to say, we had plenty to eat at breakfast! And all of that, in a decent (not scary) area for $87. Can't beat that!
Yesterday we left the D.C area and took the long way to Gettysburg to avoid the nasty traffic the city creates. We ended up driving through some really pretty country areas of Virginia on a two lane highway. Everything was green and picturesque in every way. It was a much more enjoyable ride than sitting in traffic!
We got to Gettysburg later in the afternoon, and by the time we were done with the 24-mile long trail through the different battle sites and memorials and monuments, the sun was starting to set. But it was such an amazing place. Not only did it feel like an important place, it was beautiful. The fields were all green, trees everywhere, including some really pretty purple ones. Any buildings around were perfect. Red barns and stone houses. White fences everywhere there weren't rock walls built by the soldiers during the way. It's sad to think such horrible numbers of death occurred at such a beautiful place.
Looking through the door of the monument we were sitting on
This monument was erected in the spot where Lincoln gave his Gettysburg Address. In a semi cricle all around him are the graves of soldiers who lost their lives in the battle at Gettysburg.
We stayed the night at a KOA just outside of town. It was nice, relatively quite and nowhere near train tracks, so we were able to sleep for the most part. We bought wood at the front office when we got there and it was nice and dry so we were able to have a fire (unlike in Independence our first night when we had wet wood that just wouldn't light). We ate sandwiches for dinner and roasted marshmallows and had s'mores with our Jacuzzi Barbera and cherry tomatoes with ranch dressing. There was only one other tent site occupied and it appeared to be a couple of men...who happened to be completely creepy and one of them sounded like he was going to hack up a lung every so often. It was pretty much the only bad thing about the night.
Jim at camp
Today we drove a couple hours north and went to Reptiland in Allenwood, PA. It was something Jim really wanted to do, and although I had little interest going into it, it was pretty cool. I got to touch a baby alligator! And a boa constrictor. After we watched a short video and touched the animals, the guy took us inside and fed a cobra a mouse. It was a little nasty. The mouse was dead already and he just dangled it in front of the snake and made it dance aruond a little before letting it go, but it wasn't as bloody or nasty as I would have thought.
There were also a lot of cool frogs and turtles and some other snakes...not my favorite, but since they were nicely enclosed, it was okay to look at them.
The female gator...those jaws pack about a thousand pounds of pressure if she were to bite you.
The black mamba. Creepy thing. The guy was trying to take him out to clean his cage and he was not interested in leaving it!
Tonight we're staying a little south of Allenwood, PA and we're heading north east tomorrow. Not exactly sure where we're staying or what we're doing, but we have to hit Delaware on our way out. I think we're going to see the Battleship New Jersey tomorrow too. It's in Camden...highest crime rate in the country for like three years or something. Eek. I think it's going to be a get in, get out and get going and hope the car doesn't get broken into while we're there!
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