A week of travel.....

 

We arrived to camp today a bit after 5PM.  It is just the 3 of us out here and it is going to get down to 46 degrees tonight. The pilot light on the gas heater... is refusing to start and so I started a fire in the fireplace. It looked good, until the smoke started coming in from outside by the chimney edges. It is really windy out... but I have a feeling where the smoke is coming in by the chimney/roof area it is another issue from the roofer who put the new roof on October 2022. Lots of leaking last year and it is still not fixed. Sigh.  Fire is out and outside into the burn pit. House is aired out. Going to be a 3 quilt night!

We started out Sunday morning from Ocala and headed to Fort Caroline in Jacksonville. 

It was a nice break and we stopped at Publix for subs for lunch. We travelled and got to Buc-ees around dinnertime in SC. It was so crowded, the kids just wanted to grab food and get back to the car. We continued on and got up to Rocky Mount NC at the hotel we like there. 

Monday, it was a short travel day to DC. We tried a Cookout restaurant for lunch - I've seen the billboards for years and decided to give it a try. We went to Arlington National Cemetary, and walked around to see JFK's flame, Arlington House and walked to the Tomb of the Unknown soldier.

I remember watching Challenger in 7th grade with Christa McAuliffe on it. We were in VT and she was a teacher from NH. It was quite a shock to see that happen. This was a nice memorial of that crew.

 We did see a changing of the guard. It was really hot and humid out - near 100 degrees. Lots of steps this day. We got to our hotel and checked in. Turns out, I got a really nice room! It was a suite (instead of the double I was expecting) with 2 double beds in one area, a desk and chair in another corner and then a pull out sofa and chair in another area! Aidan took the couch and we all were happy with our own beds. After guzzling a lot of water, I walked down and ordered a pizza from the place we found last year and loved. Aidan and I watched game 7 of the Stanley Cup. Sadly, his Oilers lost but it was a great series.

Tuesday, we had breakfast and lunch at our favorite deli - 2 Sisters Deli. Between the 2 we went to the Air and Space Museum. A lot is closed for renovations, but it was still pretty neat.

 After lunch, Emily wanted to chill in the room, so we did for an hour or so. Then Aidan and I went to the Native American Museum. It was really interesting. The beadwork and art was stunning. The building design was so interesting and all around the outside was native gardens with living art structures. 

After walking back to the hotel and resting a bit, we walked to the Warf for dinner. We ended up finding a Falafal place that was really good. We got our food and took it back to the hotel. Did I mention it was really, really hot outside and it was a 20 minute walk each way? It was a chill evening in the hotel room after that.

Wednesday morning, we had a last breakfast at the 2 Sisters Deli (egg, bacon and cheese croissant). 

We packed up and headed out of DC. We were off to Maryland and did a quick stop in Arlington to walk around and looked in the capital building. 

Then we headed to Cross Creek, MD to the Hariett Tubman Underground Railroad Museum. It was another great museum and I learned a lot. 

From there we headed north and got up to Belin, CT.

Today, we headed north again and made our way to Deerfield, MA to the Yankee Candle shop. Seems Aidan saw a nutcracker last year and really wanted it! We stopped and he got it.

 Along with a few candles for all of us that were on sale in the clearance area. I mentioned a favorite restaurant of mine in West Lebanon NH - Lui Lui - and they checked out the menu. Well, we hit there just before 1PM. I had forgot the warm rolls and herbed oil they bring to the table. My foodie kids were happy. Aidan got the pizza from the brick pizza oven and was in heaven. There was an LL Bean shop next door, so we browsed while we were there. There had been various texts from my siblings at each stop. My Dad has been retaining water for a few weeks and despite all of us saying he should go to the ER (I told them last Thursday!), he finally went today. We stopped to see him in the hospital this afternoon. They are doing the Lasix and a few other things to see if they can get the retention down. His kidneys are not functioning properly now, but he is in good hands. Hopefully things are looking better in the morning. We saw my Mom and oldest brother Mike at the hospital. Since they had not moved out to camp yet, we did a quick Walmart run for a few things for dinner and breakfast, stopped at home (anyone else call the place you grew up home still?)  to grab a few things to take out and drop off some things. Then it was the last of the route to get out to camp..... and found out where the washed out roads from the Sunday storm were. At least they have it passable now. I am wondering how our favorite waterfall walking trail fared though. It looked like the parking area was closed, and it was right near where the wash out was. I have a feeling that little stream is looking a lot different now. At least the water has gone down at the lake but we have a rainy weekend in the forecast. 

I'm sure I'll have a trip one way for groceries and the other way to visit Dad in the hospital tomorrow. Might see a few siblings or four over the next few days as well. 

That's my update.