Utah

Our last set of parks were Arches and Canyonlands National Parks in Utah.  Although both parks are worthy of at least a whole days visit, we only spent half a day at each.  We went to Arches first, checking out the visitor center and driving part way into the park so we could hike out to delicate arch. After eating lunch in the RV, we headed out of the park, stopping so the kids could get their Junior Ranger badges and drove to Canyonlands. The two parks are close to each other. 

Canyonlands is divided into three areas, two of which are accessible by car and have visitors centers. We went to the northern one, Island in the Sky.  After touring the visitor center we attended a ranger presentation, then hiked out to the overlook of the park.  Once the kids earned their Junior Ranger badge we headed north.

Tuesday we stopped near Salt Lake City to visit friends, and yesterday we drove back to Oregon.

Colorado

On Saturday, we drove up to Rocky Mountain NP.  We stopped at the Estes Park and Fall River visitor centers so the kids could earn their Junior Ranger badges, then headed south to Golden Gate Canyon State Park, where we stayed the night.

Sunday we headed west toward Grand Junction, and stopped at Colorado National Monument.  We drove up Rimrock Drive to the visitor center, admiring the views of the canyon and rock formations, then hiked on a trail.

 

From there we drove into Utah, and stayed the night at a campground in Moab.

Nebraska/Wyoming

Thursday morning we turned north into Nebraska.  Our first stop was Scotts Bluff National Monument.  This natural landmark was used as a reference by wagon trains on the Oregon Trail as well as the Pony Express. It marked the end of the long trek across the plains, and the beginning of the ascent over the Rocky Mountains. The visitor center contained exhibits on the Oregon Trail, as well as the geology and animal life of the Butte area.

 

In the afternoon we visited Agate Fossil Beds National Monument. Formerly part of the Agate Ranch, these fossil beds contain remains of early mammals who flourished during the ice ages. The visitor center contains many Native American artifacts, given to James Cook, who once owned the Ranch, because of their friendship with him. Besides those and some fossils, there's not a whole lot here.  After completing the Junior Ranger program, we turned west into Wyoming, where we stayed the night.

This morning we visited Fort Laramie NHS in Wyoming, located at the confluence of the Laramie and North Platte Rivers. Originally a trading post used by trappers and native Americans, this fort was the largest and best known military post on the Northern Plains until it was abandoned in 1890.  Like Fort Scott, the grounds contain many buildings that have been preserved or reconstructed.

 

We then drove south, stopping to camp for the night in Loveland north of Denver.

Kansas

In the afternoon we drove west to Fort Scott in Kansas, which was pretty interesting.  This fort served as a military base for the US Army, providing security to the surrounding areas during the middle of the 19th century, a period which included Bleeding Kansas and the Civil War.

Lastly, we hit Harry S Truman's house in Independence, MO.  We were in the last tour of the day. Since I knew Truman served as Grand Master of Masons in Missouri, I tried to see if there were any Masonic books in his library but couldn’t get close enough. It was a very long day, but we managed to finish four Jr Ranger programs.

We stayed the night in Lawrence KS, and in the morning hit the Brown vs Board of Education site in Topeka, and then drove across Kansas into a thunder storm. By the time we got to western Kansas it was dark but the lightning looked really cool.

Missouri

From St Louis, we headed southwest to Mansfield, to see the house where Laura Wilder lived while she wrote the "Little House" books.  She was a pretty short woman, so her husband made all the cabinets shorter than normal to accommodate her.

The next morning, we visited Wilson's Creek National Battlefield, which had a very nice visitor's center for a fairly minor civil war battle.

Then we hit the George Washington Carver National Monument, which similar to Grant's House will be better soon, as they are currently constructing a new visitor's center.  Over the course of his lifetime, Carver rose from slavery to become a renowned educator and research scientist.  He created 325 uses for peanuts.

Saint Louis

Following a night in a Tennessee State Park, we drove to St Louis to visit friends for the weekend.  On Saturday, we visited the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (the Arch).  The arch was more impressive than I expected. The museum there was very nice, and the movie about how they build the arch really drove home what an engineering feat it was.

 

While claustrophobic, the elevator system used to take visitors up to the top of the arch was really interesting, and the views of St Louis and the Mississippi River were pretty great.

Today we visited the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site.  US Grant's house was a bit of a disappointed after how much we liked Eisenhower's. To be fair, however, they are a fairly new park, and had just moved the visitor's center into a new building, so not all the exhibits were set up. It should get better in the next few years.

We also took a tour of the Anheuser Busch factory. It was interesting, and the kids enjoyed seeing the stables of the Clydesdales. I enjoyed the free beer in the tasting room.

Finally, we stopped for some frozen custard.

Great Smokys

Thursday we drove through the Great Smokys, and weren't too impressed. It was pretty enough, but it's no Yellowstone or Yosemite. Maybe if we had taken the road to Cades Cove. Anyway, they claim it's the most visited park in the nation, but we were a little skeptical, since they don't have admission booths like some parks. That said it was pretty crowded, especially considering it was a weekday in October.

Most of the turnouts contained at least a couple of cars, so I was unable to pull the motor home in. I imagine it's close to unbearable in the summer. We stopped at the Oconaluftee visitor center in North Carolina on the way into the park, and the Sugarlands Visitor Center in Tennessee on the way out. 

After leaving the Smokys, we drove through Pigeon Forge, TN, and stopped at another Boyd's Bear shop. Pigeon Forge reminded us a lot of Kissimmee - lots of mini-golf courses and touristy shops and restaurants.

Appomattox & Blue Ridge Parkway

Yesterday we left Williamsburg and drove east to Appomattox Court House National Historic Park, where Lee surrendered to Grant to end the Civil War.  We spent almost two hours looking through the buildings and the visitor center.  From there we continued east to the Peaks Of Otter Campground, which is part of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

This morning we picked up Junior Ranger packets from the Peaks of Otter visitor center, and the kids completed them as we drove the Parkway to the Folk Art Center near Asheville, North Carolina, where we turned them in.  We then camped nearby.

Yorktown and Jamestown

We spent another day at Busch Gardens.  Each area is themed to a different country in Europe, and it has several fun coasters.

Monday we went to Yorktown, where Washington won his decisive victory over the British gave the Colonies their independence. We visited the visitor’s center as well as driving around the battlefield and the surrender memorial.

In the afternoon we drove the Colonial Parkway through Williamsburg to Historic Jamestown, on the bank of the James River. Jamestown was the first permanent English colony in North America, where John Smith and Pocahontas once walked. Although the original fort is long gone, there are several memorial statues. A brand new visitor center is currently under construction, and the kids found the glass-making area very interesting.

The kids earned Junior Ranger programs at both sites of the Colonial National Historic Park.

Williamsburg

Yesterday, we got up and drove toward Williamsburg, stopping in Richmond to earn Jr Ranger badges for the Richmond Battlefields. We stopped at a couple of battlefield sites, but rain kept us from getting out and walking around. We did spend an hour at Cold Harbor, a small visitor center that had a real nice electric map that detailed two civil war battles, one in 1862 and the other in 1864. Then we spent a few hours at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, but the rain caused us to call it a night.  

Busch Gardens is a nice park.  It doesn't have a lot of large family rides like a Disney park, but the landscaping is pretty, with fairly heavy surrounding woods. Unfortunately it rained pretty hard all day today, so we just sat around the RV. My wife did scrapbooking and I worked and the kids did some school work and played games.

Washington, DC

Wednesday morning we took a bus to the Metro, and took the train into downtown DC. We toured the monuments mostly, including going up to the top of the Washington Monument. 

The kids worked on a Jr Ranger program for the Mall, and completed ones for Ford Theater and the White House/President's Park. We also went up in the old Post Office Tower.

Thursday, I drove the RV into downtown, parking on a street near the Potomac between the Roosevelt and Jefferson Memorials, and the kids finished the Jr Ranger program for the Mall. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to tour the Capitol or any of the Smithsonians.

Then we tried to drive down the George Washington Parkway to Arlington Cemetery, but I couldn't find the signs and ended up passing it, so we just stopped in Alexandria to visit the George Washington Masonic Memorial, which was pretty cool.  After Alexandria, we drove down the George Washington Parkway to Mount Vernon, but it closed just before we got there, so we drove down to Fredericksburg, where we stayed the night.

Harper's Ferry

From Gettysburg, we drove south through Maryland and turned west into West Virginia, where we stayed the night.  The next morning, we visited Harper's Ferry NHP.

Located at the junction of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers in West Virginia, it contains tons of history. Its location made it a natural place for the construction of rifles, so it became a national armory. Just before the start of the Civil War, the armory was raided by John Brown, an abolitionist. Strategically important, several civil war battles were fought there, and afterward, it became home to a black college.

After that, we drove toward DC, stopping at Great Falls National Park on the Potomac. Besides its natural beauty, Great Falls has historical significance. George Washington, while serving as the President of the Patowmack Canal Company, pushed for the construction of a canal around the falls to improve commerce. This park is also part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway.

We stayed at a campground just outside the Beltway, at College Park Maryland. It was pretty expensive, but when we called for a quote, they said wifi internet was available for an extra $3. When we got there, we learned that $3 charge was per hour, which was a little disappointing. Still, we were able to get free cards to use it for 1/2 hour each day, which was enough to check e-mail, but not to post.

Gettysburg

We had a good time in Gettysburg. We looked around the Visitor's Center.

 Then boarded a bus to Eisenhower's farm.

We toured the house and outbuildings and learned more about President Eisenhower.  Unlike other parks were kids can earn Junior Ranger badges, here they are made Jr Secret Service Agents. 

Afterwards we walked through the National Cemetery.

My son and I enjoyed watching the electric map at the Visitor's Center.  We drove around a bit, but didn't do a battlefield tour or see the cyclorama though - maybe next time.

Hershey and Elizabethtown

Last night, we arrived in Hershey PA to visit Chocolate World. The Hershey plant is too small to accommodate all the people who'd like to tour it, so they built a visitor center next to the local amusement park. Unfortunately, there was a Rolling Stones concert at the park last night, so the place was mobbed.

We headed south to nearby Elizabethtown, where we camped at a KOA.  We had planned to stop at Hopewell Furnace today, but then came across the Masonic Village as we were leaving Elizabethtown and decided to take a quick look.  We ended up getting a whole tour and skipping the trip to Hopewell Furnace. 

We're in Gettysburg tonight at another KOA.  Both this one and Elizabethtown's were very nice.  When we arrived in Gettysburg we explored the "humongous" Boyds Bear store, and tomorrow we'll check out the National Battlefield and Eisenhower farm before heading to DC.

Central Pennsylvania

After Cuyahoga, we headed east to central Pennsylvania, to visit the Johnstown Flood and Alleghany Portage Railroad National Historic Sites. Driving over the Alleghany mountains in an RV isn't real fun - up and down all those ridges, but it's pretty country.

The Johnstown Flood was pretty interesting - a dam failed in 1890 and wiped out the city of Johnstown PA, killing over 2000 people. All kinds of groups and individuals came in or sent help, but not one dime of it was federal money.

The Alleghany Portage RR is dedicated to a system used in the early 1800's, when the carried canal boats over the mountains. 

It was pretty interesting, and tied in well with what we learned in Cuyahoga Valley NP.