Washington D.C.

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Visiting our nation’s capitol, Washington, D.C., had always been something that Bill and I wanted to do. We knew that we did not want to drive our truck around the City, so we found an RV Park that has a bus depot right on the Park grounds. Cherry Hill RV Park, in College Park, Maryland has all of the amenities that we were looking for, such as full hookups, laundry facility, on-site propane refills, and a camp store.

The site assigned to us at the back of the park was at an angle and the road was very narrow, making this space awfully difficult to back into. We were both a little tense and the situation worsened as Bill backed up and pulled forward over and over, not getting any closer to getting our RV parked. At one point, Bill asked me to get in front of the truck and make sure that he cleared a water faucet, and at the same time make sure he did not take out the electrical box in back of him.

AND THE WATER GUSHED

I thought Bill had cleared the water faucet but I didn’t anticipate a turn of the wheel, which unfortunately, caused the fender of the truck to completely take out the water faucet. The water immediately gushed 15 feet or more into the air. We were totally humiliated, and I am sure we were providing the afternoon’s entertainment for our fellow RVers. On top of that, we were still not in our site, AND expected to get a large repair bill from the park for the broken faucet. However, a few minutes later a park attendant fixed the water faucet at no charge to us. Apparently the faucets there get hit a lot by inexperienced RV’ers, and they are easily repaired. We eventually got into our site, but to this day Bill always asks for pull through sites when we travel.

D.C.

OUR trip lasted almost a month and turned out to be wonderful. Our focus was on Washington, D.C. Bill had always wanted to visit the Smithsonian Museums and he went there almost daily. I very much enjoyed taking the tour buses around DC and outlying areas. I had never been to Washington, D.C. and was especially moved as I walked through the memorials that pay tribute to our Armed Forces. At the base of the Lincoln Memorial, and near the Reflecting Pool, you will find the Korean War Veterans Memorial, which is chilling, but quite beautiful. In that same area is the famous Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the “Wall”. On the opposite side of the Reflecting Pool is the Washington Monument. Seeing it in person brought tears to my eyes.

If you are able to find your way around a computer, be sure and check out some of the maps available online for Washington D.C. They are not only helpful in finding your way around, but also list so many things to see that you may not have thought about. Such things as the Botanic Garden, the infamous Watergate, Ford’s Theater and the Jefferson Memorial.

Arlington

I am far from being a morbid person; however, the highlight of this trip for me was visiting Arlington National Cemetery. We, like thousands before us, stood at the grave of John F. Kennedy. I was overwhelmed with emotion remembering that terrible day in November 1963 when he was assassinated. Anyone reading my column today who was an adult then, will undoubtedly remember exactly where they were on that day and will never forget what it felt like when his death was announced on the radio and television. Like John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy was also an assassination victim and is also buried there, next to his Brother.

One interesting note about the Civil War Veterans buried in the sloping hills of Arlington. Of the approximately 5000 Civil War Veterans buried there, about 4000 are unknowns. The graves for these men where placed in neat rows and sections, with separate areas for “colored” troops and Confederate soldiers who had died as prisoners of war.

We walked among the graves of the thousands of Soldiers buried at Arlington, and we spent time reading a lot of the inscriptions on the graves. Our day at Arlington Cemetery was a very somber, very sad, and very proud day.

While we were there we were privileged to see a Funeral Procession complete with soldiers on horses and soldiers marching on foot alongside the horse driven Cason that contained the body of the deceased. It was quite spectacular to watch this event.

Changing of the Guard

We also looked forward to seeing the changing of the Honor Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington, and we were not disappointed. The precision, perfection, discipline and grace with which the soldiers move as one soldier relinquishes his post to another was amazing. The Honor Guard maintains a 24-hour vigil over the Tomb, which contains soldiers from World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam. This very dramatic display is something I will never forget.

I am usually able to give good tips regarding the restaurants in the area we are visiting. Bill and I do enjoy eating out and look forward to experimenting with strange restaurants when we are in a strange city. However, when visiting this City, we ate most of our meals at home because we found the restaurants in and around Washington DC to be both crowded and expensive.

Bill and I love traveling in our RV. It gives us the freedom to see the sites when we want to, stay home and relax when we want to, eat out or eat in, and we can always sleep in the comfort of our own bed at night.

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