Virginia and Washington, DC

Hello from the Georgia Coast,
We powered through the drive from New Jersey to Virginia getting a few winks at a Walmart parking lot in Maryland.  We settled into a KOA campground near Fredericksburg, VA where we called home for the next eleven days, so many things to do and see near our nation’s capitol.  Our wooded campsite was surrounded by Civil War battlefields, the majority that war’s battles were fought in this area. 

Fishing Pond at Fredericksburg KOA

We spent our second day touring Washington, DC.  DC traffic is awful, so we decided to take guided tour that we picked up near our campground.  This was a great choice, the cost was very reasonable and our guide very nice and knowledgeable.  In fact, we shared the day with only one other couple, almost a private tour.  Steve and I had both been to Washington, DC in the past on business, but never got the chance to see many of the sights.  We even got to sit in on a session of the House of Representatives.  Pretty interesting, but only a handful of our representatives were present.  The speaker seemed as if he were talking only to us.   Seeing our representative was not present, Steve was ready to vote by proxy – it was his civic duty.  Representatives meet less than 150 days a year and when the house is in session only a handful show up.  What’s wrong with this picture?

Marine Corp Iwo Jima Memorial

Ford Theater, balcony where Lincoln was shot

**See the web album for many more pictures (link on blog site).

Steve’s good friend John, who he served with in the military lived nearby, so we spent several days with him and his son, Andy.  Steve has been looking forward to this visit for a long time.  Needless to say, I was surrounded by so much testosterone during that visit that I think my voice has dropped a few octaves.  All kidding aside, I enjoyed their company probably as much as Steve did.  John and his son made us feel at home, we had a great time.  I think we found all the weight we had dropped on this trip so far, boy, those boys can eat.

Steve, Andy & John

On one of our last days in Virginia, we visited the Marine Corp Museum near Quantico.  This museum was beautiful and so well done.  As we walked through the various sections, highlighting each war, we were surrounded by life-size planes, vehicles and very realistic figures of soldiers in battle.  The sections were even climate controlled, warm and humid in Vietnam and cold in Korea. The outside architecture of the building was made to represent the shape of the Iwo Jima Memorial statue.

Marine Corp Museum

We spent our last day in town celebrating Andy’s 19th birthday.  I made him a homemade lasagna dinner, complete with brownies and ice cream for dessert.  I think they really appreciated it, John being a single dad and all.  Andy was a very nice young man who is following in his father’s footsteps.  He has joined the Marines and will be going to boot camp soon.  The interaction with him made me miss my family even more.

Goodbye Virginia

Next blog post:  Coastal Savannah

Steve and Kathy

No Bad Days……