Our American Adventure

This was a quick trip for us to Disney the last weekend of April. We left Wednesday afternoon with Scott taking the wheel the first couple of hours. I took over for about four hours midway through the trip. We had to stop for a rest in Florida for a few hours. We were supposed to check in at the Port Orleans hotel but found that they had overbooked and we got sent over to the Contemporary on Disney property. We were so exited since this was a monorail resort. We were able to get the same rate that we would have gotten at the Port Orleans resort. It took longer to check in but it was worth the wait. This would be our last trip for a while to Disney so this made it even more enjoyable. We went over to Magic Kingdom, Thursday evening and were able to watch the fireworks and take in a few rides. We went over to EPCOT on Friday morning and were able to get a table at the Garden Grill restaurant. Scott was able to pull some fastpasses for Soarin’ one of the most popular rides at EPCOT. It was somewhat crowded but we weren’t rushing like we have done in the past. We were able to ride test track two times, once with fastpasses. We rode a few other rides and decided to head back to the hotel even though we had just got our extra magic hours bands. We rode in the front of the monorail several times while we were there. We got to Magic Kingdom early on Saturday for park opening. It was a mad dash to get to Space Mountain but we managed to be one of the first to ride it. It really made a difference to get to the park early and we were able to get on peter pan before the crowds and pull some fastpasses to ride later on. We waited on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad after pulling some fastpasses for Splash Mountain. We got soaked on Splash Mountain all four of us. All before lunch at the Crystal Palace restaurant. We headed over to Hollywood Studios that afternoon to ride Allison’s favorite ride there the RocknRoller Coaster. The wait time was pretty long and we decided to get in the single rider line. It would be Allison and Kursten’s first time to ride with someone else. Scott would be waiting at the exit since we wouldn’t be on the same roller coaster. They still loved it. We did the Great Movie ride and the Star Tours. The park was hosting a cheerleading competition and it was full of lots of teens. We drove over to the Studios and decided to hit Downtown Disney before going back to the hotel. We were going to eat there but that was also full of teens. We found the Disney McDonalds and had a late dinner there. We left Sunday morning for a long drive home.

Check out our pictures from our Disney trip.  Click on the gallery link to view them.

December 8-19th at Ft Wilderness
We still wanted to get in our last road trip for the year and what way to do it than to go to Walt Disney World. We invited my mother in law to join us since she has her own travel trailer. She would also be bringing the girls cousin with her as a travel buddy. We got there a few days earlier than she did and stopped at a rest area for the night in Florida. When we arrived the next day we wanted to get to the park for a few hours. We went to Magic Kingdom and that would be a night they would be having a Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. We went to guest relations to see about the Halloween party that was rained out and they gave us tickets to that evenings party. It made for a long day after driving but the parades and fireworks were well worth staying up a little late. We got to get on Spaceship Earth for a sneak peek and found that there were some really good improvements and not so good ones too. The only bad thing is that my mother in law didn’t get to see the new Spaceship Earth since they were limiting certain times that it would be open for a sneak peek. They still have time to get it done before they open it back up in Feburary. They were also going to be closing the Teacup ride at Magic Kingdom for refurbishment on the 15th so we were able to get in one last spin with my mother in law. The girls spun her so much that she wouldn’t get back on the ride with them again. We have that on video too. The first week we were there we took in the parks much like last time we were there and not be in a rush. There were a few times that Scott would take the girls while me and my mother in law would head back to the campers. He was very brave being with three girls at the parks. We made sure that when we went to Epcot with my mother in law that we would go around the world and show her some of the countries. We took the boat across the lake to get to the American Adventure show.

It actually got pretty cold there during the last weekend we were there. We were so used to wearing shorts and we had to bring out the jackets. It started to get crowded as the week progressed closer to Christmas and more schools would be out for vacation. We also decided that we were ready to head home a day earlier than we planned. This would give my mother in law and niece time to take in the parks without us.

This would be our last trip for a while for us. We made the decision to stay in Texas for a while and get back on track to being completely debt free which would allow us to better see America. We were financially set to being on the road for a while but our decision after being on the road for just a few months made it where we didn’t want to be somewhere and not have the ability to travel anymore. We already had some land in Texas and which seemed the logical solution for us in the long term.

December 8th-19th

This year we spent the day at Grammy and PawPaw’s house for Thanksgiving. We had been doing Thanksgiving at Scott’s brothers house but they just moved recently and wanted to make sure that the grandparents would be there. It was a surprise for them to have it at their house. I made peanut butter oatmeal and peanut butter cookies for dessert. I wasn’t sure of what I was going to be making since I have the camper oven. It took a little longer but they turned out just fine. This was a day of just relaxing and giving thanks to the things that mean the most to us.

We drove to New Braunfels for the weekend to stay with our friends, Bill and Angela.  We just couldn’t miss going to Wurstfest, the 10 day salute to sausage.  This would be the girls first time to go to the Wurstfest.  There was plenty of German food and music.  Friday we arrived at our friends house to unload our things and then headed over to the Wurstfest for some dinner.  We sat outside the big tent near the Comal River and listened to music from German bands.  Steak on a stick, sausage on a stick, corn on the cob, and Kartoufelpuffers (I hope I spelled that right, Potato Pancakes) was what we had that evening.  For dessert we had Zangos which is fried cheesecake.   Saturday afternoon we went to Landa Park in New Braunfels for a short hike along the Panther Canyon Nature Trail.   The girls got to see the natural springs in Landa Park that feed into the Comal River.  We went back to the Wurstfest that evening.   We headed home on Sunday.

We left Washington DC Sunday morning at about 11, a little later that we anticipated. The drive through Virginia wasn’t as bad as before since we had really clear skies this time. We reached a Walmart in Jackson Tennessee at 1am Monday morning, 13 hours of driving. We just wanted a place to park to rest for the night. Even though there were other RVs in the parking lot I went to see the manager and make sure that it was ok. He was fine with it and even suggested where to park so that the morning crew wouldn’t wake us at 7 am. We left about 8:30 to get on the road which would be about 11 hours on the road to get to our destination. We decided to stop at Sonny’s RV park in Lexington for the night to get some water and hook up for the night. We would be at our land in Thrall which has no water or electricity. We would be on generator for power when we need it and the propane would be for cooking and showers. We will be here for a while until we can really be on the road longer but we will update the adventures we have here since our RV is still home to us.

Thrall Texas is just east of Austin

We wanted to get the most out of our last day in Washington and went to see the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial and Thomas Jefferson Memorial. We had hoped to get on the bus at the campground early after lunch but missed the one that had just come by. We had to wait about another 45 minutes for the bus to arrive. Then we had to get on the subway to get to the Mall. We also had to transfer to another line which took some time. When we finally arrived at the Monument we found out that you had to have tickets to go up the monument. That was something you had to get early again. That was a disappointment for us. We got to at least touch it. It was a long walk to get to the Lincoln Memorial past the reflecting pool. It was amazing to see the Lincoln statue and read the words of the Emancipation Proclamation on the walls. We rested on the steps of the memorial to decide which memorial we would visit last. There are so many there but you really need to drive or take a tour bus to get to them. Walking would take several days to do. We decided to go see the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. It was another long walk along the Potomac River to get to but when we got there it was another amazing sight to see. It still was worth the trip to see them. We headed back to the campground for the evening to get ready to leave back to Texas for a while.

We went to the capitol yesterday and were able to get in the gallery of both the House and Senate. We got tickets to get in the gallery from our representative John Culberson. Then we had to wait in line to get through security. It was an interesting experience and something we will be able to say we did. We didn’t see many House members when we went in and they were still arguing the CHIP program. Found out later that they passed the bill but hopefully Bush will veto it like he said. In the Senate we got in just as they were voting on a amendment (not sure what it was), but they would come in and either vote yes or no on it and then walk back out. We saw our Senators from Texas and most of the others as they were voting. We weren’t allowed to take any electronic devices into the gallery so we don’t have any pictures from the day. We headed over to Tortilla Coast Tex-Mex restaurant for a late lunch and early dinner. They were recommended by the security personnel near the capitol that was close by and not too expensive. After dinner we headed back to the campground via subway then bus.
Today we just relaxed and the girls did some schoolwork. We didn’t do much since it has been raining all day long.

It was chilly and rained some when we left. We wanted to take the tour but went to sit in the gallery of the House and then the Senate. We went through a lot of metal detectors to get inside. We went for mexican food for dinner after visiting the capitol. We rode the subway back to the bus station and then back to the camper.

We went to visit some of the Smithsonian Museums today.  We  covered the Museum of Natural History and the Air and Space Museum.  The Museum of American History is being renovated and will not be open until next year.  Scott was disappointed we didn’t get to go there.  There is so much to see in just this area of Washington.  The capital tour is something we are going to try to get to but we need to be in line at 9 in the morning to get tickets.  They are first come first served.  We went by the White House to finish off the day after quite a bit of walking.  We took the metro subway system to get to the capital area and back to the bus station for our trip back to Cherry Hill campground.  We were pretty exhausted after the day but needed to get a few things from the store.  We tried to go by the Walmart here but they close at 10 and the Safeway was closed at 9.  We ended up at a store called Shoppers which wasn’t too bad of a store and it was close to the campground.

I first went to the National Mall.  I saw the capital today.  We went to see some animals at the Museum of Natural History.  I saw some crystals and diamonds in the gem and mineral gallery in that museum.   After lunch we went to the National Archives to see the Declaration of Independence.   Then we headed over to the Air and Space Museum.   We saw lots of planes and watched Cosmic Collision in the planetarium.  We walked to the capital but the tours were already done for the day.  We then walked the National Mall to get to the White House.  We rode the subway back to the bus stop to get back to the camper.

Here for a week. Oct 22-28

We spent the day relaxing and just hanging out.  We went for a walk around the campground to get a few more pictures of the fall colors.  We decided that we are going to head to Washington D.C. for just a week instead of two and then head back to Texas.

We went to go hike at Kaaterskill Falls, in the Catskill Mountains. We drove for 20 minutes to get to the Kaaterskill Falls. First we took the short trail and looked down the falls. Then we took the long trail to see Kaaterskill Falls. It was my first time to see a waterfall. The trail was rough and bumpy but was worth it to see the falls. Then we went back to the camper. We ate dinner outside because it was cool. Then we went inside for the rest of the evening.

Staying at the KOA in Saugerties New York (near the Catskills) until Oct 22.

Yesterday we spent the day relaxing and went to the pool with the girls. We met another homeschooling family here and they got here the same day we did. They are Stephan, Gina and Wagner and we have their blog listed on our links as Rau Ramblngs. We only seem to meet up with them in the evenings at the pool. They are trying to get in sites as we are so we don’t get much of a chance to get together. We will meet up with them again in Washington D.C. in a few weeks and that will give us another chance to get together.
Today we decided to head over to Plymouth where the Mayflower made it’s first landing in America in 1620. We parked near the Jenney Grist Mill which was built in 1636 and made our way down the Town Brook path to the place where Plymouth Rock would be. We found the rock, which had been moved several times until they placed it where they say the first pilgrims landed the Mayflower. Next we headed over to Plymouth Bay where the Mayflower II, a replica of the original Mayflower built in 1957 would be.  We walked along the the pier of the Mayflower II to see it up close but decided not to go aboard the ship. Plymouth Bay was full of private boats that were also docked there and the city was more of a big tourist stop. We were a little disappointed with the trip and made our way back home to the camper after a few hours there. At least we got to see where the pilgrims landed.

We went to the drive through at McDonalds on our way to Cap Cod. Then we went to see the Atlantic Ocean at Cape Cod National Park. We got really close to the water for a picture with Dad. We went in a lighthouse and up the 44 steps, it had two lights one was red and the other was white. I got to color a picture of the lighthouse as we waited for the tour. This was my first time to see the ocean. It was pretty. We saw some seagulls. We went through Provincetown to see another part of the Cape. Allison

It was such a nice day for a drive that we went to Cape Cod.  We didn’t realize how long it would actually take us and we ended up there around 3:30.  We stopped at the Cape Cod national park visitors center and got information on the light houses and beaches there.   There was a tour for the Nauset Lighthouse still going on and we managed to make it.  It was a short tour and only 44 steps up to the top for a small narration by one of the lighthouse preservation society members.  This was my first time to see the Atlantic  Ocean and also this is the furthest north I have been.   We then headed up the coast to the town of Provincetown, the furthest town on the Cape.  The visitors center there was closed at the park but we were able to go up on the lookout to view the beaches, dunes and Provincetown.  The drive back took us even longer since there is only one road going in and off the island and everyone was trying to get off like us.  It took us about 3 hours to get back to the camper and we still needed to go to the grocery store.  UGH!!  No super Walmarts around here either and the grocery store are all like in Texas where you have to have a card to get the discount.  The clerk was nice enough to give us the discount thank goodness.
Lots of pictures from today at our gallery.  Click under our links under gallery on the right to view them.

We left at 1:30 and had nothing to eat at the camper. So we went to get fastfood. It took us an hour and a half to get to Cape Cod National Park. It was my first time to see the Atlantic Ocean. We took a tour of a light house, it was called Nauset Lighthouse. It was built in 1877, and was taken apart in 1923 and was moved over land. In 1963 it was moved again on land away from the waters edge because there had been 300 feet of beach lost to erosion, it was pretty cool. We drove around the island and got stuck in traffic for an hour. Then we went back to the camper.

What a difference to have this temperature here in October when we were so used to having mid 70’s in Houston. I needed to walk Doogan this morning and I actually had to bundle up. I then went to get some donuts since there seem to be a Dunkin Donuts about every 2 miles here. And every time we see one, “It’s time to make the donuts” is what we say when we head to someplace around this area and see one. We took it easy today and just relaxed. We went for a walk with Doogan around the campground finally and got to see what they had to offer. This place is really big and have alot of sites. They have a baseball field, basketball court, 3 outdoor swimming pools, and 2 playgrounds. This weekend seemed really busy for them and the girls got to play with a few of the kids that are staying here. We went back to the camper and sat outside and read some books while we had a fire going. Later after we ate dinner we went to their indoor pool for the girls and Scott and I took advantage of the hot tub. Nice end to a relaxing day.

After I took Doogan over to the local vet this morning, he needed a check up and we wanted to get him the bordatella vaccine in case we need to board him. We had some lunch before heading out to the Riverside subway station. Scott wanted to see the building used in St Elsewhere, which is an apartment building and was never used as a hospital, so we got on the same subway we took the other day. We were supposed to transfer to another subway to get to the street, but we didn’t know that they had that under construction. We found out that they were using buses for that route and had to get on a pretty packed bus. This was a good experience for the girls. When we got to the building it looked the same except that we weren’t able to get very many pictures because of the trees in the park in front of the building mostly block it. So we decided to get back on the bus back to the subway and see if we could make the Samuel Adams brewery tour. This subway to the brewery was on the orange line to another part of town. We made it, got to tour a the brewery and then we sampled 3 different brews of Samuel Adams, one was a new brew that won’t be out until Feburary. The girls got to have Root Beers which Allison really enjoyed. We also met a couple from New York at the area where we sampled the Samuel Adams. After the tour we needed to get back to the orange subway to take to downtown. Then get to the green subway that would take us back to the Riverside station. Another 40 minutes on the subway plus another 30 to get back home. Whew. Lots of riding today for us and learning the metro system in Boston.

I rode the subway to Boston it had 18 stops before we got there. I looked out the window of the subway. I saw lots of trees and houses along the way. We passed 3 other subways going the other way. We were hungry when we got there so we had McDonalds. Then we walked along the Freedom Trail. We went on a boat called the USS Constitution. I got to shoot the cannon at the museum. We rode on a bus back a stop near the subway station. So we walked back to the subway station We rode the subway back to the parking lot to get back to the campground.

We headed to Boston to the subway station at Riverside since it was recommended by our campground as the best place to park to get into the city. This would be the girls and I very first time on a subway. It was almost like what I had seen on television and the movies. It took us 40 minutes to get into town with a few stops to pick up passengers. Since we were headed around lunch time we thought we would hit something when we got into the city. We had no idea of where something good was at the time so we ended up eating a quick lunch at McDonalds. Oh well. We decided to walk the Freedom Trail which would take us to 16 historical sites in the city.
Our first stop was the Boston Common which is America’s first public park and was used as a common pasture for grazing cattle by the townspeople of Boston. It was later used as a training field for the militia and by the British Army camp during their occupation of Boston. We went by the State House which is the oldest building on Beacon Hill and is the seat of the Massachusetts state government built in 1798. We went by Benjamin Franklin’s statue which is the first portrait statue erected in the U.S. There were times we didn’t know where we were on the map and bypassed a couple of sites along the way. We managed to get to the statue of Samuel Adams a leader of the fight against British colonial rule and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. His statue is in front of Faneuil Hall which was built in 1742. There we stopped to rest for a bit since this trail covers 2.5 miles. We then tried to find Paul Revere House but managed to go off on another street so we missed it. We did get to the Old North Church which displayed two lanterns used to warn Paul Revere and others of the British troop movements igniting the War for Independence. The church is still used today for services. Copp’s Hill Burying ground is along the way to the naval shipyards so we just stopped to take a few pictures. This is the final resting place of over 10,000 people and the gravestones were used for target practice by the British soldiers during the Revolution. Our last stop would be the naval shipyard in Charlestown where we would see the USS Constitution. Nicknamed “Old Ironsides” and is the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world. In the war of 1812 she was undefeated in battle because of cannonballs bouncing off her oak sides. We visited the museum after seeing the ship which was pretty amazing.
We left the naval shipyards to find a bus stop to return to the subway station. We really looked like tourist with our map and me carrying the camera. It was so much better than having to walk back another 2 miles. We got on the green line subway back to Riverside with the end of the day crowds so the girls got to see how it was on a busy subway. It was a long afternoon of walking but many interesting historical sites we saw.