RV and other travels around the World
This is the second part of our family reunion and the exploring of our first nation’s capital, Philadelphia, Pa. Pat and I traveled via Amtrak with our middle son, Ross, and arrived at the massive train station at about 2pm. In this update, I’ll cover the first couple of days in the city.
Continue reading “Philadelphia: Arrival, Liberty Bell, Independence Hall”
Some of Pat’s family planned a mini-reunion and sight seeing trip to the original capital of the USA. This is a large city with much history, many museums, and some very good restaurant choices. The five day trip would begin with a drive to Roanoke, Va, then taking an Amtrak train all the way to Philly, just a mile and a half from our rented condo. A new adventure Exploring Philadelphia Pa!
One of my many hobbies is Amateur (Ham) Radio. And a sub-section of the hobby is setting up a portable radio station in a park and making as many contacts as possible with other ham operators. While I have been a “Hunter” for several months, this was the first time activating a park and have the hunters look for me. I selected a local state park, made reservations for four nights, and had a blast. My radio callsign is KC9LC.
Well, that month sure got away from me. I had planned to complete this post of our short week RV trip within a few days of the first post. But then my project list and all the other normal summer activities have happened. Such is life. Too many hobbies and interests and not enough time! It has been a great summer so far as we are beginning to see the end of the extreme hot spell and some more fall like temps.
We have never spent much time in the far southwest section of Virginia, although we actually live here. It is funny after all the years that we lived here and never took the time to explore very much. I think that is quite common though. When working, a vacation meant going to the beach or some more exotic location, not just in your backyard. So, it was time to hitch up the 5th wheel camper and head down there for a little vacation.
We try to visit the moms and other family at least twice a year in the Hoosier State. It is exactly 500 miles from our place in Virginia. Not exactly a quick drive. After stops for lunch, coffee, and restrooms, and more coffee, we take about 11 hours to get to Greencastle. This trip was something of a special visit…
First of all, the name of this update could be misleading. This update is undoubtedly not about travel to some destination, but coming back to our home in the Virginia mountains. We had a great winter in Florida and also look forward to a summer at home. I’ve also had a bit of a vacation from writing this blog. Completely unintentional I assure you. Just busy getting the house in order and getting back into hobbies. We are already over two months into our summer. So, let’s do a quick recap and go from there.
On my last post, we had left our winter RV park near Tampa and had begun the leisurely trip back to the Virginia mountains. We planned to stop for a few days at Cedar Key Florida and Brunswick, Georgia to explore some favorites. A few more fresh seafood opportunities and enjoying the great weather. And on the second day at Cedar Key a major thunderstorm warning came out just before our trip into town for lunch…
Our Florida winter location at New Port Richey was beginning to get hot. Really hot. I’m talking upper 80’s with humidity. I do enjoy the warm weather and being outside most of the time, but it is a sign that it was time to move on northward. And back to our place in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. But, before getting back we wanted to sneak in some exploring on the way. We are back on the road again!
I had seen advertisements on the Tampa TV stations and on Facebook regarding an immersion experience of Van Gogh’s art work. It sounded like an interesting concept. And was being presented at several cities across the country. The local presentation was in Sarasota, Florida and we only had a few days to go before leaving to go back Up North. So, off we go and were able to work this in after a family visit in the area.