Washington D. C. – Hub of the Nation

Arriving hear the Capitol

We got off to an early start to drive to the Washington Koa our next destination. We were planning to get to a McDonalds and use their Wi-Fi to secure hotels for the next Koa in Cape Hatteras. We didn't want to take a chance of not getting a reservation there since we wanted to reserve an air-conditioned cabin for three days. Driving out on highway 10 we noticed very little commercial eateries so we continued onto highway one as we crossed into Maryland munching on Fig Newtons and drinking Slimfast. Finally we came onto Highway 95 and it was more to our liking as our stomachs were growling. We found the yellow arches and zoomed in and parked our car.

I booted up Sammy at a secluded table while John got in line for breakfast. It didn't take long as we dove into pancakes, eggs, orange juice and coffee. I was on the Koa website and located the Cape Hatteras Koa which looked like Disneyland. We quickly got a cabin for the three days, paid with our credit card and ad our reservations ready. That was a relief and now we could drive leisurely to a little town called Millersville approximately an hour away from Washington D.C. We let the Garmin Girl again lead us the right direction as we drove off Highway 75 into wooded streets to finally reach our Koa Campsite.

Like most Koas the check in desk at the Washington Koa was situated in the country store where you could buy supplies that you needed. In the back was a spacious laundry area with several washers and large dryers. Around the back of the building were the bathrooms and showers next to the large outside pool. It was pretty much a cookie cut set up to most of the other Koas we had been to. This one also had a microwave in the country store. This would make my job of cooking much easier since we did not plan to go off campus to find a place to eat. The freezer department had lots of ready to eat meals that would just require heating and they also sold wine and fresh salads. So we were set. After setting up the campsite and taking a swim we went in to the little store and heated some lasagna, bought a cold salad wind and bread. We had a little picnic by our tent, setting a place for the yellow jackets that buzzed in when they smelled the food. We were in the mood for Jazz so we put on Bob James and Earl Klugh album One on One. It was perfect to settle us in as we talked about what we wanted to see at the Washington Mall. We had reserved a seat on the Koa bus that would take us and pick us up at the capital.

We boarded the bus to Washington D.C. at about nine in the morning. Every seat was taken with many of the campers so we were glad that we had put in our reservation early. About half of the people were foreigners from some part of Europe: Spain, Netherlands, France, and Italy. All around us we were surrounded by foreign tongues all speaking at once. Once the engine of the little bus started, the speech was overdubbed by the noise of the engine.

We rode on the little country roads until we got on highway 50. The road offered the most bumpy ride of all the roads we had traveled on our trip. Add to this the bus had a very poor suspension system so it was a bumpy forty-five minutes of driving. In my mind I singing, "The people on the bus go bump, bump, bump…." If any road needed infrastructure repair, this one should be number one on the list.

We were dropped off in front of the Capital building and the driver said that he would pick us up at exactly four because he would have to leave right away in order to pick up another group after he dropped us off at the campground. So if we were late, we would have to take a taxi. So we all looked at our watches to make sure we were synchronized. We thanked the driver and went up to the Capitol steps to take pictures. It was then that I found out my batteries in my camera were dead. After asking a Smithsonian Police where we could get batteries, we were told that the nearest place to buy batteries was the Native American Museum and pointed to the unusual building to the left of the left on Independence Avenue. So we began our walk towards the circular layered building that housed all the interesting things about Native Americans.

John posing at the Sculpture Garden

On our way we walked by the U. S. Botanical Gardens. It is one of the oldest botanical gardens in North America. It informs the public about the importance of plants to the well-being of humankind and the earth's ecosystems. It highlights the diversity of plants from around the world as well as their aesthetics, cultural, economic, therapeutic, and ecological importance. The main building was inspired by the Palace of Versailles near Paris and the glasshouses were patterned from the Cristal Place in London. In the glass dome there were tropical plants like the ones you would see in Florida or Hawaii. Walking inside was like being transported into a tropical wonderland with beautiful, unusual plants. There was a huge garden of great varieties of orchids. You could also find other tropical plants like ferns, plumerias, bougainvilleas, etc. I could have spent more time in there if I could have taken pictures, but I had to get some batteries first. So we left and walk by the rose gardens and fountains to make our way to the Native American Exhibition Hall.

When we walked into the foyer we saw the beautiful, large balsa boat that I knew came from Lake Titicaca in the Andes. I quickly went over to inspect it and saw how tightly the reed bundles needed to be held together in a tight fashion to enable the boat to float. I couldn't imagine how Thor Heyerdahl made the Kon-Tiki to cross the Pacific Ocean to prove that the Incas migrated to the Polynesian Islands. This voyage took place in 1947 and left from Peru and landed in Tuamotu Islands after four months and 4,300 miles across the Pacific Ocean. The Kon-Tiki was built with balsa logs and had a mast and sail attached to it, but it was constructed out of the same reeds in bundles connected by a string of reeds to be held together just like the one on display. The Incas used this boat to cross Lake Titicaca, the largest, highest lake in the world which could resemble and angry sea with high waves if a storm winds swept over the lake. I was lost in thought until John reminded me of our purpose for being there and said that the gift shop was on the second floor.

We found the gift shop with an abundance of Native American Jewelry, pottery, woven clothing, and other artifacts that we had seen in many of the gift shops in the southwest. These, of course were much more expensive but were of exquisite quality. I found the batteries I needed and bought them even if they were twice as much as those you could buy at Wall-mart. I slipped them into my camera and we were ready to go.

As we walked out on the hall we were directed by one of the curators of the exhibition that had been opened only a few days before. It was called, "Conversations with the Earth: Indigenous Voices on Climate Change." It provided a Native perspective on global climate change. That looked pretty interesting so we entered the dimly lit room with risers in a circle like Kiva and a large granite stone in the center encased by a circular panoramic screen eight feet above the ground. By using audio, video, and photographs the exhibition explained the environmental impact of pollution and global warming on the planet. The Native peoples have always seen themselves as the stewards of the Earth's well-being. This exhibition shares the feelings of Native cultures from the Arctic to the tip of South America. The multi-visual program was fascinating as the water seemed to be flowing over the rock and birds seem to be flying in the canopy. Adding the surround sound made you feel like you were actually right there in the natural setting. At the end of the program everyone stood up and clapped in appreciation of this unique demonstration of folklore and state of Mother Earth today.


After viewing more displays in the hall, we ventured out to go to the Air and Space Museum next door. This was a popular place as it was filled with visitors. It wasn't long before John and I got separated. I somehow got swept into a group that was following a speaker who was pretty entertaining. He was talking about the Race to Space. He first addressed the group and asked if there were any astronauts , engineers, or pilots in the group. A few people raised their hands and he said, I always want to know who my audience is when I pose questions." Pose questions he did to keep everyone on their toes. His first question was, "When was the first flight! Someone in the crowd said, "The Wright Brothers!" No, said the speaker, "Earlier than that". When no one ventured with an answer he said, "A Balloon, in 1743!" He went on to explain that the Montgolfier brothers demonstrated the flight of their balloon in front of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette at the French court in Paris. He placed a sheep, a rooster, and a duck in to the basket and let the balloon go. It went two miles and settled down with the occupants safely in the basket. After he told us this story he asked us if we wanted to see the balloon. We all looked around and couldn't see any resemblance of one, so he took us to a corner of the hall and pointed up and there it was hovering about 25 feet above in a corner. It was beautifully decorated in shades of reds and gold netting that covered the whole balloon.

Balloon in Flight

The speaker had us in the palm of his hand as we followed him back to the center of the hall. One little girl with red hair by the name of Mollie was the first to gather at the new sight. She had paper tablet with her and was writing things down. From appearances she was about ten years of age but to us she was ten going on twenty-five. For whenever the speaker asked about the actual first flight in space, she was the first to answer, "SPUTNIK!" He pointed up to a model of Sputnik. The speaker then looked down at Molly and said, "Who is known as the father of human space flight." You could tell he was trying to trick her. Molly responded without hesitation, " Konstantin Tsiokovsky!" "You are right, gimmy a high five!" and they slapped palms. Well, from then on it was the Molly show as she was able to respond faster than anyone as to who was the first person to orbit the Earth? Yuri Gagarin.

Sputnik

The speaker then went on to tell us about President Kennedy's challenge to beat the Russians to the moon by 1970. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration was founded in 1958 soon after the Russians launched Sputnik which hit us like a lightening bolt. He explained how the engineers had to scramble big time to meet the challenge. First they had to find a type of rocket that could take a capsule out of the Earth's atmosphere. He dug into his pocket and brought out his rocket model and showed us that his miniature "Mercury" rocket had to have three stages in order to escape the Earth's atmosphere. It first launched Alan Shepard into a sub orbital flight, then sent John Glenn into orbit three times around the earth. We walked over to Glenn's space craft Friendship 7. It was as small as a SMART CAR! Molly would probably fin in there just fine, but a full grown man like John Glenn stuck in this capsule in a full space suit and being launched by a rocket and going around the earth three times and coming back to tell about it. WoW Pretty amazing!

John Glenn

John Glenn's Capsul

The Soviets were sending three people in their Voskhod 1, but they couldn't wear space suits because it would be too bulky. When Alexei Leonov went out on a space-walk, he had to find a way to put on the suit in the tiny space and then once he got out, he couldn't get back in. It reminded me of my tent in its little bag, once it was out, it was very hard to get it back in compactly. In space there are a lot more concerns. He eventually got into the airlock. This was scary enough but he and his buddy had problems on their landing and were lost in dangerous woods before they were rescued.

NASA went on with the Gemini Program passing up the Russians as the Geminis were docking with each other in orbit. Meanwhile, the Russians were sending unmanned flights to the moon to see if they could land anything. The intensity of the completion caught up to both countries when they suffered fatalities. In preparing for a three man mission, Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee were killed by suffocation when their cabin caught fire while training for their flight the next month. The Soviets lost Vladmir Komarov when his parachute got tangled on landing. The speaker was telling us these gruesome stories as we walked to the site of the Moon Landing.

Molly walked next to our speaker almost running to keep up with him. She looked at him and said, "I know who the first American woman astronaut is." He looked down and asked, "Who?" She answered, "Sally Ride!" Well, he asked, "Who was the first woman astronaut?" And she answered without hesitation, "Valentina Tereshkova and there are 55 other women astronauts. Do you want me to tell you who they are?" "Not right now but give me a Low Five" and he lowered his hand and she gave him a pat as we gathered around the large replica of the Eagle landing site.

Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin

The Eagle

With the landing of Apollo 11 on the Moon, the U.S. succeeded in landing Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon fulfilling Kennedy's challenge by 1969. In Kennedy's words: "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving this goal: before this decade is out, landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth." The speaker showed us how the lunar module, The
Eagle, settled in the Sea of Tranquility. He showed how the astronauts climbed down the ladder which was not easy in the big, heavy weighted boots and limited visibility in large helmets. As Neil Armstrong stepped off the bottom rung he said, "That's one small step for Man, one giant leap for Mankind." The astronauts spent twenty-one hours on the moon. During that time they put up the American Flag as if claiming the moon for America the way the early explorers did dividing the world into their own colonies. They also tested their movement in the zero atmosphere of the moon's surface by walking slowly at first sensing their body mass and then hopping around like bunnies and singing hippy- ti hop songs once they got used to their movement. Finally, they collected rock and dust samples to bring back to earth. The speaker then explained how the module would propel itself back up to the orbiting command module piloted by Michael Collins. When the astronauts returned to Earth they brought some moon rocks. The speaker pointed to a tiny sample that we could touch. I followed Molly who got on her tip toes to reach her index finger and lovingly petted the flat sample. I too wanted to touch it. It felt like a smooth and polished stone after so many fingers had caressed it. As I turned holding my finger up, I saw John coming towards me. He had been all through the whole museum and now he was ready to venture out and go to the Smithsonian Castle. I followed him still admiring the finger that had touched an extraterrestrial object.

The Smithsonian Institution was created for the infusion and diffusion of knowledge. About ten million dollars was given to the United States by the British Scientist James Smithson in 1835 for this purpose. Nice guy especially since he never stepped foot on our soil. The institution has been a magnet for natural scientist as well as scientist in various other disciplines who work in the museums that have become research centers. It is the largest museum complex in the world with most of its nineteen museums, its zoo, and other research centers located in Washington D.C. Other museum sites are in New York, Virginia, and Panama. It is funded by the government of the United States through its endowment, contributions, and retail sales. The buildings in the complex have become historical and architectural landmarks.

As we neared the Smithsonian Castle, the first building built for its purpose as a museum, I kept thinking of the film, Night at the Museum: The Battle of the Smithsonian, in which everything comes to life
and a battle ensues. The Gothic Revival architecture stood out among the modern buildings all around which is why it is so widely recognized. It was built in 1855 and it housed all of the institutions operations galleries, lecture halls, laboratories and living quarters for the Secretary Joseph Henry and his family. In time with the great influx of collections, it out grew its size so that now the Castle is the main Welcome center to the Institute housing only a sample of the collections one can find at other sites.

We talked with the hostess and made our way around the Castle taking pictures of various interesting displays.

Memorabilia in the Castle:  Christy Yamaguchi's skates...

There was still so much to see and so little time! We decided to go across the street to the National Museum of American History. There we spent most of our time at the Star Spangle Banner Exhibition. The background for the war of 1812 against Brittan was caused by the British interference with American shipping. Having defeated Napoleon now the British decided to retake little defenseless, pesty America. They boldly sent British troupes from Bermuda. After overrunning the Americans at the Battle of Bladensburg they took over abandoned Washington D.C and burned the Capitol and the White House taking all the booty back to their ships. President Madison high tailed it to the woods. They were like the big bully picking on the little guy and taking away his ice cream cone.

Then they sent warships to Baltimore to strike a final blow and because the British suspected many privateers that had been raiding British ships were hiding there. They unceasingly sent cannon balls and rockets for about twenty-hours at well fortified Ft. Henry under the command of Admiral George Armistead. The soldiers at the fort felt like sitting ducks but they managed to fire on a landing party and keep the British from taking the harbor. Meanwhile, the land invasion lead by Major General Robert Ross landed in North Point and was going to take Baltimore from the north. Unfortunately for the British, the Americans learned how to play dirty and found a way to get sharp-shooters to kill Ross leaving the command to a lesser colonel. The Americans set up 100 cannons and made ready for the advancing British army. Together with 10,000 troupes and cannon fire they, stopped the British advance and sent them fleeing to their ships. By dawn Admiral Armistead replaced the storm flag that had been flying during battle with huge 30 by 40 foot Stars and Stripes to show victory over the British. It was seen from across the harbor by Francis Scott Key a lawyer who was assigned to ask for the release of Dr. William Beanes, a prisoner of the British. Key was on a truce ship when he saw the flag and was inspired to write a poem that was put to a popular song of the day. It was sung at patriotic events and became more and more popular but it wasn't until 1931 that Star Spangled Banner was adopted as the National Anthem.

We walked into the exhibit following a steady crowd of people interested in finding out about the famous flag. After seeing pictures of the Battle of 1812 we were led to an area where we could see the remains of the actual flag displayed on a table. The flag was now 30 by 34 feet having been snipped as keepsakes through the years and natural deterioration of the fabric. The Navy needed a large flag and a smaller storm flag. In 1813 it commissioned Mary Peckersgill a 37 year-old-widow who made ship's colors and signal flags for the Navy and merchant ships . She and her 13 year old daughter, her two nieces 13 and 15 and an African American slave also 13 years of age set upon to work on the project. It took them almost two months to make the two flags. They assembled blue canton and the red and white stripes for the flag by putting together strips of loosely woven English wool buntings that were about 18 inches wide. The Stars were appliqued to one side and then the material was cut to reveal the star on the other side.

The flag remained in the Armistead family for ninety years until the Key's Anthem became popular and the public developed a sense of national heritage transforming the flag into a national treasure. When it was given to the conservatory to restore the flag, it first had to be carefully spread out and carefully hand vacuumed. A conservation team lying on a movable bridge worked on the surface above the flag. The lab maintained a constant temperature and humidity as this would affect the fragile wool. A linen support applied in 1914 had become weakened and soiled and had to be removed. After it had been cleaned the conservators sewed the flag to Stabiltex , a lightweight polyester to give it support and keep fragile parts in place. The display table was tilted ten degrees for better viewing by the audience. The display showed all the restorations that had taken place. In some cases the conservators had to clean out the dirt with cosmetic sponges so as not to harm the fragile wool. In other places people had resewed pieces that had been cut as keepsakes. The science of the restoration project was just as interesting as seeing the actual flag. As we left the hall, we felt we had a better understanding of American History by learning about the flag and the anthem. Little pieces of history seemed to be fitting together like a large puzzle made of time and space.

The Rotunda of the Museum of Natural History

We walked out into brilliant light and roasting heat and made our way quickly next door to the National Museum of Natural History. We lost our sense of time and even hunger did not stop us from feasting our curiosity in this place. The minute we walked into the marbled Rotunda and saw the huge elephant we were smitten. We walked into the dinosaur fossil room and marveled at the many skeletons that had been recovered and were on display. John had taken another path into the ancient seas and excitedly dragged me away from the fossil beds to see the ancient sea creatures. This was called the Cenozoic Era when life exist ed only in the seas.

The Mighty Grisly and John

Back out to the Rotunda we made our way to the mammal section and we were so delighted to see animals as if they were actually alive going about their lives hunting, relaxing, drinking, sleeping and some intent on watching us as their eyes followed us around the room. They seemed so real that they could almost spring out of their glass cages. Finally, we stumbled on to the Evolution of Man exhibit. 

John shakes hands with the missing link!

The Obelisk

The White House

Going to the bus near the Capitol

Although some people do not believe in evolution it is pretty hard not to see how convincing the display made it seem probable. We were fascinated in some of the interactive activities that made it fun participate in the program. One display had you stare at a camera and it would show your face and change it to see how it would look in the Neanderthal Era. It was pretty funny how the faces changed. We went about enjoying the displays and we could have spent a few more hours there, but we realized we needed to get back to the Capitol to catch our bus.

                                                                  

We did manage to see the White House but I so much wanted to walk all the way down to see the Lincoln Memorial. That would mean we might miss our bus and John would not think of it. So we walked quickly back as fast as we could go without running back to the Capitol where we saw our bus waiting. We still had about fifteen minutes and John had to find a bathroom so he ducked into the botanical gardens to find a restroom. I went into the National Gallery of Art and took some pictures of famous art. Soon we were back waiting in the bus. We were waiting for a family with two little kids and wondered if the bus driver was going to drive off at exactly 5 o'clock without them. We all checked out watches to see. Finally, the mother came running from around a corner, and said that the rest of her family was on its way. Soon Dad came carrying a sleeping child in his arms and pushing the stroller with the other child. They scrambled into the bus and as soon as they were seated the bus driver started the engine and we were off.

We got back to camp famished not having had lunch. Nibbling on fig newtons didn't seem to satisfy the grumbling I was hearing in my stomach. So upon arrival, we went right into the little store to see what we could buy for dinner and take back to our camp. We found a can of raviolis, pork and beans, and salad and a couple of apples. I thought I would use the microwave and heat up our meal before we left. So I gathered the cooking stuff in the corner and went to work.

While I was getting things ready, John was having a conversation with the young clerk. She was around a blond about 35 years of age who had lived in the area all her life, and was helping out the owner whom she knew from childhood. John was explaining about all the places we had been, and since we had finished our tour with the exhibition about evolution he was explaining what we saw there. She broke in and said she did not believe in evolution. She believed in the creation theory of the Bible. John then asked her if she would vote for Sarah Palin or Michelle Bachman. Her answer to this was no because in the Bible it says that only a man must rule the home and the wife must be subservient to the man. I almost dropped a plate of hot raviolis when I head this.

John pressed her and asked her if she would vote for President Obama in the next election. She gave an emphatic NO! She added that Obama was against the Christian churches and what they stood for. John asked for evidence of that and she said her pastor could explain it. John then asked her if she believed in the separation of church and state. She said our country was based on Christian principles and therefore there was no separation between church and state. John asked her if she had read the Constitution lately. She said it didn't matter because the Federal Government was too big and spending too much money.

I was concentrating on the numbers declining on the Microwave in hopes that they would hurry up and heat up our pork and beans before John got us thrown out of the place. It was obvious that he was enjoying the conversation after drinking a glass of wine on an empty stomach. He finally asked her if she was a member of the Tea Party.

"Absolutely," she said. And added, "And we are going to make some real changes, like get Obama out of office, reduce spending, and bring Christianity back where it belongs- in the White House!"

Just then the microwave sounded a PING! I quickly put our warm food on a tray and announced that everything was done and we were ready to leave. It was getting mighty hot in that little room and we needed fresh air fast! We said good-bye to the Tea Party girl who was still flushed and red in the face. We walked back to our camp thinking there are a lot of people with these unbending thoughts in their heads from the size of the Tea Party, and it was sure scary to say the least. That was our first one to one encounter with a member of the Tea Party. It left us with something to talk about over dinner!







    

Philadelphia - Where Freedom Rings!

Our time in Philadelphia

                                

I was deep in my dreams thinking of caissons and cannons being rolled on rough gravel.  It was a part of the dream where cannons and rifles fired and men lay dead all over the fields with buzzing insects all round. I slowly woke up and looked out the mesh window of our tend to see the buzzing, flying insects and large RV's slowly rolling on the pebbled road near our campsite.  Deep in the woods near Gettysburg, the sun had not made its way through the trees yet, so it was still early morning.  John was still snoring deep in his dreams, and  I didn't want to wake him.  I got up as quietly as I could and headed for the bathroom to shower up and get dressed.  When I returned, John was up, the tent was down, and he already started to put things in the car.

We left Gettysburg and headed east on highway 30 to Philadelphia.  The ride would be approximately a hundred miles through the Blue Ridge Mountains, so it would be slow going.  John used his low gears going down the steep hills, and often we saw runaway truck ramps where trucks could exit the road if they got out of control.  I can imagine what it must be like in the winter months when the road is icy.  Those runaway trails must be used a lot. 

Our next campsite was in a town called Coatsville near Downingtown west of Philadelphia. Again we had to consult the Garmin Girl to give us directions.  She lead us in and out of roads through the woods until finally she led us to a large, beautiful campground.  This campground was one of the best rated by the KOA review board, and it was huge.  The pool was large enough to warrant a life guard and there was also a state of the art activity room with a large dance floor only used on weekends.

We registered and were lead down to the lower level on a steep road to the tenting area by the Brandenwine River.  The campsite did not suit us because it did not have electricity, so we moved to the one away from the river where the electric boxes stood and settled in there.  The area was full of trees and on hot days this would be a perfect location.  Several campers were already fishing and some were kayaking on the river.  This was Thursday, and we were told that by the weekend, the place would be packed.

It was mid afternoon when we hit the pool for our swim workout.  There were some young teen-age girls that John befriended while I was finishing my swim.   Three were here with their grandparents who had brought them to Philadelphia to learn about American History.  They enjoyed throwing the football around, and we included the life guard in the game. She was the grand daughter of the owners.  They were all going to college in the fall and were looking forward to leaving home for the first time.  We asked the life guard where there might be a place to get some groceries as we needed to get some food to cook for the evening.  She referred us to her grandmother who was checking people in at the front desk.  After our swim we went in to talk to her, and she said the Deli-Mart was about few miles away on the way to a lake where we might be able to go windsurfing!  We were really excited then, since we had not gone windsurfing until we left Hood River.

We got Moby Dick ready and went to find the lake.  We consulted the map she give us and followed as best we could,  but we got lost.  So we went to the Deli-Mart to buy our groceries.  We decided to get Hogie sandwiches and soup.  While we were there, we asked a few patrons about the mysterious lake.  Yes, they knew of it but it was more than twenty-miles away and probably not suited for windsurfing unless there was a hurricane passing through.  Now, we felt we were led in a wild goose chase, so we decided to let the Garmin Girl bring us back to camp.

We returned to our camp and set out our table for our supper.  While we were getting things ready there was a lot of activity a few campsites away down by the river.  One fellow, an older man, started measuring the distance between the trees and mapping out the campsite.  The mapping out continued into four more campsites and he then proceeded to rope off with a very long rope all four campsites by wrapping the rope around the trees.  Soon there were two more groups that started setting down their tents while "Dad" made a big campfire with flames dancing about three feet.  We were now sitting down to eat and had our Reggae music going thinking this was going to be a nice mellow night. We were mistaken and we should have thought better when we saw that "Dad" hanging a large University of Wisconsin flag between two trees.

The group had grown larger as more cars came down the hill. They all got busy setting up their tents and they reminded me seemed me of  Hobbits.  Most were under 5'8" and spoke in high decibels as if they were yelling though they were talking right next to each other.  There was a problem with setting up one of the tents, and they yelled at each other and nothing got done.  Finally, "Dad" stepped in and showed them how the tent came together and they all saw at once and finished the set up without a peep. I wondered if this was the way the Hobbits acted in Wisconsin?



The next morning we could have had our revenge and blown our horn on the sleeping compound, but we didn't.  We just drove slowly up the hill took our showers and headed for the train station.  When we arrived there, the lot was full of early commuter cars and there were only a few spots clear at the end of the lot.  A young mother parked next to us with her two young sons.  We all got out and went to pay for our spots.  We walked up to the paying board which was a metal board with ring slots the size of a quarter below each number. It cost two dollars which was eight quarters.  We were lucky we had gotten a five dollar role of quarters for laundry.  Unfortunately, Janet, the mother with the two sons, did not have enough.  John gave her three more quarters and we were set.

Janet was going to Philadelphia with another mother and her three year old daughter.  They were planning on shopping and on to Freedom Park.  Just as we finished inserting our quarters, Janet's friend got dropped off by her husband, and they had a little reunion while we made our way up the green stair case to the other side of the platform.  Soon the train came and we got on the second from the last car.  We settled in and took our our apples and muffins, and water to eat for breakfast. Just as we were enjoying our crunching the back doors open and into our car comes Janet behind her two rambunctious boys and her friend with a baby girl and a stroller.  We looked up surprised to see them and they said, "Imagine that. We were too noisy for the "Quiet Car" so we have come here to make some noise!"

The train started moving and as it picked up speed.  The sound of the train covered all the other sounds so it was a good time to put on our IPODs and mellow out for the trip ahead. The train made many stops as it picked up more people on their way to Philadelphia.  A young man sat in front of us and he said he was on his way to work as a maintenance helper at a store in a Mall close to Philadelphia.  At another stop a lady came and sat in the chair opposite our isle.  John struck a conversation with her. She said she was  teaching a class in Business Administration at Drexel College.  She liked taking the train as it was only a ten minute walk from the Galleria where the train ended in the city.  John told her that we were in Philadelphia to see the Liberty Bell and other historical sights.  She recommended to first go to the visitor center and get a map and plan the day accordingly. We thanked her as the train stopped, and we all exited into a large Mall called the Galleria.

We walked around the huge mall which was on a lower level than the street. We asked for directions and found Sixth Street where we would find the Independence Visitor Center.  It was situated in Independence National Historical Park and is run by the National Parks System. We entered the Visitor Center and noted that we were too late for the film presented by the center.  So we headed to the snack restaurant where we bought lunch.  While we were there, we called Lynda and told her that we had mailed the birthday presents for Berkeley and Jake back in Cleveland.  We mailed them to her brother Terry who would give the kids their presents when they came for the family reunion in a few weeks.

We then checked the map to make our plans.  We noticed that we had to have a ticket to tour the Independence Hall.  So we went and stood in line to get our tickets.  Then we left the Visitor's Center and went to see the Liberty Bell.  The line went all the way down past the park.  So I opened up my umbrella and we stood in line in the shade under the hot sun.  Eventually, we made it to the door and passed security and stood for a few minutes breathing deeply under the air conditioned room. We walked in and began reading all the exhibits.

I found out that William Penn was a pretty cool dude.  As the leader of the colony he told his people that they had to help him make the rules for the colony to live by,  and they could worship in what ever way they wanted.  The colonist felt that was great, and in time got the Assembly to obtain a Bell from England and write this inscription: "Proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof" from the Leviticus 25:10 in the Bible. The bell weighed 2,000 lb. and was made of 70% copper, 25% tin with small amounts of lead, zinc, arsenic, gold and silver. It was put in the State House and rang many times for public announcements even after it was repaired the crack made shortly after it arrived from London. Oddly, it cracked again in after 1846 and has never rung to this day.

The symbol of the Liberty Bell has been heralded by many groups to show the importance of freedom. In 1830 the abolitionist called it the "Liberty Bell"and it became the symbol for outlawing slavery.  In the late 1800s the Bell traveled around the country to expositions and fairs to heal divisions of the Civil War and to remind the people when they all fought for independence. In 1915 it made its trip back to Philadelphia where it has stayed.  It was proclaimed as a symbol after World War I in forming the League of Nations.  Again during the suffragette movement it was a symbol for the rights of women to vote.  During the 1960 it again made its mark during the peace walks of the civil rights movements. Finally, it is important to mention that the Liberty Bell was a symbol of South Africa's abolition of the Apartheid policies.

By now we got ready to take a closer look at the actual Bell. Everyone was taking turns getting in front of the Bell to have their picture taken so we did the same.  We took pictures of a family and they took one of us!

The Liberty Bell

                                                                

We walked out to the park in front of Independence Hall.  Our tickets said 1:15 and we had about half an hour to wait.  The park was lovely with trees all around and lots of benches to sit and wait.  Everyone
sat patiently waiting until the Park Ranger asked for the 1:15 group to line up.  She counted all of us in line and then led us into the lecture hall.  There half of us sat on one side and half on the other. I counted how many men and women there were and who would be the first to fall asleep.  The speaker traversed across the center telling the story of why the American Colonist were upset with King George III.

England's biggest concern was France.  They were in battles all over the world including the America. The colonies helped England fight the French and Indians and were beginning to be more empowered in defending themselves.  By defeating France, England got all of Canada. But as a result of this war England was running out of money and since it was spending extra money keeping a military force in the new world to defend the colonies against Indians, it felt that the colonies should have to pay for this service.  It proposed a bunch of taxes on the colonies to fill their coffers.  Also since the military was defending them from Indians, the colonies could house and feed them.  This would also save England a lot of money.  This infuriated the colonies even more.  The officers were not so bad, but the infantry were an uncouth bunch seeking out prostitutes and rum.  The Puritan society was totally against having them in their homes. The soldiers were supposed to protect the colonist from Indians in exchange for room and board. But the troupes were stationed in Boston and New York not in the frontier where the Indians posed most concern.

 England saw the colonies as a pain in the ass.  They felt that the colonist were there to support Mother England not to run off and do their own thing.  They proposed an act that the colonies only buy goods from England and sell to English mercantile ships.  They sent British officials to search homes for smuggled goods.  Royal custom collectors, inspectors and Naval patrols were sent to keep the colonies in line.  So the colonies retaliated by boycotting goods from England. The English merchants had a fit because they were losing lots of money, and put pressure on Parliament to rescind the laws and they did. But they put in place the Townshend Act to put a tax on paper, glass, paint, and tea. The colonist retaliated by dumping the tea in Boston Harbor. The British were outraged and wanted to shove the colonies into submission.  They closed Boston Harbor and took over the Massachusetts government.  At this point the colonies were not yet united.  It seemed it was mostly New England's problem. Then the British demanded Quartering soldiers anywhere in the colonies which affected all the colonies. Furthermore, they passes the Quebec Act that expanded the Quebec territory all the way down the western part of the colonies thus closing western expansion into the Appalachian Mountains.  Add to this the only settlers in this territory were to be Catholics!  This really upset the Protestant Puritans in New England. It was also learned that King George was using German mercenaries to fight against the colonies.  Implementing these acts and using mercenaries was the last in a long string of errors made by the British.  The colonist had their back to the wall and had no choice but to seek their independence from Mother England.  The Revolutionary War had already began at Lexington and Concord in April 1775 and now the colonist were ready to state their position to Parliament.

Assembly Hall where the Declaration of Independence was signed

                                                        

The lecture was over and we all got up and marched to the Assembly Room in Independence Hall to see where the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence.  I couldn't help but hear myself humming the theme of the play 1776.  It all came back when the speaker was retelling the tale of that hot May day when feisty John Adams was bringing up the resolution of Independence from England.  Not all people were convinced that they wanted to part with England and some hoped for a reconciliation.  They did not want to be seen as traitors.  Some said they hadn't seen anything written on the resolution.  So John Adams brought up who was going to write it. After several people flatly refused he put pressure on Thomas Jefferson who was a well educated scholar and said he would do it.  Jefferson graduated with honors from William and Mary College and had studied and was influenced by the readings of John Lock, Francis Bacon, and Isaac Newton. He wrote the initial draft of Declaration of Independence, then it was edited by congress.  The phrase to free all slaves was a point of great discussion since it would drastically change the economics of the colonies in the South with large plantations. The last to hold off however were the middle colonies, but as soon as Pennsylvania lent its support, the resolution passed unanimously.

The lecturer read parts of the Declaration especially the part that has inspired people's from all over the world who planned their independence since 1775:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Then he went and read the part with all the grievances the colonies had against the crown.  The whole lecture might have been boring to many of the kids who were in our group, but the speaker was so good and so animated that he drew everyone into the happenings.  He even stopped from time to time and asked questions of some of the adults which made us all stand up straighter in hopes that we would know the answer and not show that we were complete dumb-dumbs.  So it was a great honor to  actually be in the place where all these important events happened.

We then filed out and found ourselves in the park where we encountered a group of actors dressed in colonial clothes.  We decided to have our pictures taken with them.

Colonist is period costumes

                                              

We then checked our map and went to some of the remaining sights we wanted to see;  The Portrait Gallery, Franklin Court, The Supreme Court Chamber in Old City Hall, and the first Bank of the United State.  By that the time we were done, we walked all the way to Penn's Landing where we wanted to eat a light dinner before catching the train back to the campground.  It was very hot and we were happy to find the Hyatt Hotel right by the pier.  We were seated at a table overlooking the water and relaxed in the luxury of air conditioning.  After a relaxing dinner we caught a bus. The golly bus driver drove us to the Galleria and said "Seniors go for Free!"  Wow, did we look that old?  It had been a long day!  We where we were just in time to catch the five o'clock train back to our stop near the camp ground.  The clicking of the tracks sent us to our nap as we dreamed of being in the old colonies making candles and churning butter!

Irish Arrive in America -
Near Penn's Landing

                                                                            
                                              

GETTYSBURG - THE BATTLE THAT CHANGED THE WAR

Mary with Union Soldiers

We left Cleveland the next morning early since we would have a long way to drive to get to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  The weather was lovely and although we went on a toll road, the initial drive went smoothly.  We did start to see a great many trucks riding on the three lane road, and we felt like a small fish among the leviathans of the highway as we made our way east.  At times the toll road decreased into two lanes and since we were riding in the slow lane, we were constantly being passed by the huge monsters sucking at us as they barreled by.  John slowed even more when there was nothing but the railing on the right. He didn't want poor Moby Dick scratched on top of having to take on this awful toll road.  I could see beads of sweat forming on John's brow as he hunched over the steering wheel flinching each time a Peterbuilt pressed by.  The road sign said, "Keep Alert!" Well, that was an understatement!  He had taken a 5 Hour Energy Drink and hour ago and his eyes were as wide  as a deer's in the headlights.

We stayed on toll road 76 as we passed into Pennsylvania and now we saw even more trucks.  TRUCKS, TRUCKS, TRUCKS ... I could imagine him seeing these in his sleep tonight.  This was certainly truck alley.  We were literally engulfed in a sea of trucks all heading east.  As we neared Pittsburgh we saw a fewer number as they started to leave the toll road and for a time we got a breather and enjoyed sitting back in our seats.  I found another 5 Hour Energy Drink and gave it to John along with some fig newtons.  He was breathing easier no, and as we got to the next toll booth, he relaxed and ate a few more fig newtons.

To change the mood I went back to playing Mountain Music which was bit more relaxing than Rock and Roll.  We soon got off the turnpike and got on highway 30.  It was so pleasant to be off the toll road and on to this lovely two lane, tree lined road.  We were settling in listening to Mountain Music and eating fig newtons. Then we started to climb higher and higher and make quick turns going down into steep valleys.  John was alert again using the first and second gears going down the steep hills in order to save the breaks. We were navigating the Allegheny Mountains as if they were huge waves in a turbulent sea. Up and down, up and down the rest of the afternoon.  Finally we crossed the Appalachian Trail and came down into the town of Gettysburg.

We knew that the Koa where we had made plans to stay for two nights was near the town but we were not sure where.  So we texed the address in to the Garmin Girl and let her lead us to the sight.  We would have never made it without our GPS system as the roads in this area were not straight and sometimes changed names at the crossings.  We had to put all our trust in the system and we were too tired to search for a map.  Soon after some tricky switchbacks we saw the entrance of the Koa and we drove right in.

The Pool in front of the Koa store was full of kids mostly teen-agers.  We went in and found that our tent sight was near the cabins and close to the multi-use building and a short walk to the bathroom and showers and Pool.  We went in and set up our sight signed up for dinner and took our showers. That evening there was to be a film on Gettysburg and its part in the Civil War.  We were eager to see it as we planned to go to the Gettysburg National Park the next day. The DVD was set up in the Multi-use building and we had our dinners there while we watched the show.   The film explained about the conflict between the North and South and the arguments that preempted the war.  Then it went on to explain the deciding factors for the start of the war and the part the Gettysburg played in turning the tide of the war including the Gettysburg address given by Lincoln.  At the end we were pretty satisfied both in body and mind.  So we went to snuggle into our sleeping bags watching the lightning bugs float above our heads.

A Monument for the Cavalry

The next morning we got up and got ready to go on our expedition to Gettysburg National Park.  We rented a CD that went along with the signs all over the park and told you what happened at each sight.  We were excited because it was like a scavenger hunt.  The first place we were told to go was to the visitor center.  We entered and were ushered into an auditorium where the film about Gettysburg was to be shown.  It was produced by the History Channel and the sequence of events were in greater detail than the DVD we had seen the night before.

Napoleon  Cannon

Little Round Top

On the first day July 1863 the armies collide just west of Gettysburg. Confederates pushed the Union Army to a low hill called Cemetery Ridge.  On day two the Union soldiers hold off attacks on the left flank at Devil's Den and Little Round Top, Wheat Field and Peach Orchard, and on the right a full scale attack came at Culp's Hill an Cemetery Hill.  On the third day fighting continued on Culp's Hill and the Cavalry battles raged east and west. Lee attacked the middle of the Union army with Pickett's Charge.  The Confederates had to cross a mile of farm land.  12,000 men charged the Union soldiers as they were mowed down by artillery fire and cannons from above. Around 51,000 soldiers died in those three days.   The next day Lee's army retreats back to Virginia leaving the dead on the field for the residents of Gettysburg to bury. The Union army buried their own before they followed the Confederates toward the Potomac River. Four months later Abe Lincoln came to dedicate the cemetery where those that had fallen were buried.   In his address he emphasized that the country now will be forever one "of the people, for the people, by the people, shall not parish from the earth."

Looking down from Big Round Top

No one fell asleep through this presentation as the cannons were booming and there was yelling and gunfire everywhere.  When it was over there was a stillness in the hall and then everyone gave a resounding applause.  We all slowly got up and were ushered to another hall up stars.  We walked up to the Cyclorama Painting which was the whole three day battle painted in a circular wall.  Everyone stood and watched different parts of it as the story was told again with loud sound effects as if you were right in the middle of the war and should be flinching bullets with surround sound. The painting was full of detail of the war.  In one area was the medic tent where amputations took place.  That was the only way they could save a person's life. A pile of arms and legs was seen in all its gore next to the tent. The painting was done by the French artist, Paul Philippoteaux he painted in 1883.  It was lost and rediscovered and showed in different cities and finally a huge restoration project with many artists took place in 2008 and now its permanently displayed at the Visitor Center.

Monument to the Soldiers

 We then were ushered into the museum where we walked around learning about the Civil War.   The first section talked about slavery and all the arguments surrounding the freedom of slaves and how that would change the economy of the South. It showed an auction for slaves and how much each one was worth. Then we saw how the soldiers lived in little tents and played dominoes as a past time. The generals lived in large tent and had a table and chair where they had their maps and made battle plans.  There was a quiz box of different bugle tunes each meaning getting up in the morning, call for food, going to bed, etc. Finally, there were samples of the woolen uniforms worn by the soldiers.  It was difficult to imagine how they were able to wear such hot clothing, carry all their gear, and rifle and walk miles and miles in humid hot weather. There must always be a better way to settle differences without such loss of life for so many young men.

Fish Hook

We couldn't believe that the morning had passed.  We went to the restaurant and had lunch before we planned to go on our "scavenger" hunt.  After lunch we walked back to our car and got out our CD.  We followed her directions that lead to the number 1 sign.  It was near the memorial for General Reynolds and continued to follow the sign each with a bit of commentary on the war.  Mary sites had a memorial for the men from each state that died in the battlefield.  We stopped where all the major battles took place around the Fish Hook.  Then we climbed up to Little Round Top and Big Round Top.  It was easy to see having high ground in a battle could be an advantage as we looked down at the Fish Hook from the top.  We then followed the tree lined lane to see the cannons.  The light blue ones were called Napoleons because they were the same as those use by the French Emperor.  We finally approached the high scaffold from which we could see Eisenhower's Ranch.  He planted a pine tree for every state and these boarders the lane that let to his home.  Eisenhower was a great student of the battle and came here often before retiring to Gettysburg.

By the time the shadows were getting longer, we were feeling a bit of fatigue.  We finished our CD and headed into town looking for Chinese Food.  We talked to our server and told him where we spent our day. He asked us if we had seen any ghosts.  We said no, and had to giggle. But he was serious.  He dared us to spend the night in a tent in the Peach Orchard.  He said that ghost had been seen wandering around at night.  Well, that sounded pretty spooky and we hoped none of them followed us home to our tent, the fire flies were spooky enough!

That night we went to bed thinking about all that we had seen, and we couldn't imagine how men could fight each other for a cause that was so important they were willing to give of their lives.  In some cases they might even have been brothers from the same family fighting on opposite side.  Finally, we drifted off to sleep only to be waked by a symphony of crickets.  We eventually had to put ear plugs in our ears to blot out the crickets only to dream of cannons booming in our dreams.

Ready, Aim, FIRE!

Cleaveland - The home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Chicago - A Veritable Playground

We were eager to get to Chicago where we planned to stay for two nights so we got up early and ate breakfast on the road.  Not long after leaving Madison, we encountered the toll roads we would have to drive to get into Chicago.  The first 100 miles was a good road, and I was able to do some computer work without getting bumped.  It seemed when we encountered a bump, I loose some of my writing or Sammy flips into another page.  If it becomes annoying, I turn my computer off and work on a cross word puzzle.  That only means that I have to spend time in the hotel to get caught up, and it is not hard to get behind on the blog.

We encountered two more toll roads and they were very bumpy and not well paved.  Also John insisted on riding on the slow lane which was the worst as the big trucks barreled in the center lane like hungry monsters.  I put the computer down and found some good music from the album, "On The Road."  Listening to and singing along to Miss American Pie we approached the last toll road station that sucked out our last six dollars in cash.  Add to driving the bad road with no money, it started to rain.  It was still hot and humid outside and the light rain actually was a welcome change to the hot weather we were having, so it wasn't all that bad.

We headed for O'Hare Airport where we got  a room for two nights at the Hilton.  We were able to get the room through the Frequent Flyer Miles program from John's Citi-Master Card so it didn't cost us a penny. We got to the airport and had to rive around twice before we got the proper entrance to the hotel.
John parked the car and went in to check on our room while I finished working on my blog.  It was noon and sometimes they won't let you check in until 2 in the afternoon. About half an hour later John came back with a bell man to take our luggage.  We were able to get a room on the fifth floor no problem but, he had to pay $45 for valet parking! He also mentioned that when he asked about the workout center, he would have to pay $20 per person per day...unless he joined the Hilton Awards Club which he could join for free!  Well, that was a no "brainer!"  We went up stairs and got settled in.

It was a lovely suite just, what you would expect from the Hilton.  We overlooked the four layer parking garage and looked down to see our car parked right below us on the street.  The valet said it would not fit in the parking garage because of our Rocket Box.  That was fine with us; we liked looking at our trusty Moby Dick sitting down there getting a rest after riding the toll roads.  We decided to lounge in our lovely room and then go down to do a workout.

The workout room was in the lower level off the main corridor where people are headed to the subway or the other direction where they are headed to the airport towing their suit cases.  We saw the workout room through the large window and it looked pretty impressive with several treadmills, elliptical machines and stationary bikes.  There were several Cybex machines for muscle toning and free weights.  Behind this room there was an indoor lap pool which looked inviting.  We went in and showed our killer Hilton Awards Club Card and went in to choose our aerobic equipment.  John stepped on the treadmill and I climbed on the elliptical machine.  We moved to our own IPOD music as we watched the people rushing to their destination.  "How can we dance when the world is turning?"  My song kept me instep with the rushing people, and it all seemed like a bazaar dream: me - going nowhere fast, and they- going fast to stand in line.

I went on the the Cybex machines, and my body was enjoying lifting weights in cadence as it used to do so long ago it seemed.  I knew I was going to be sore the next day, but what the heck, it felt good pumping iron again.  Then we headed for the locker room to change our clothes for our swim.  The swimming pool was about a 25 meter pool and we were the only ones there, which was great!  In fact the only other person in the workout room was a small young Japanese man who tried every type of aerobic equipment, jumping for about fifteen minutes on the treadmill, elliptical and bike.  We dove into the pool and swam our laps for about fifteen minutes when the Japanese dynamo waked in the door.  He dove in and did laps as fast as if he were being chased by a shark!  We called him a Kamikaze Swimmer.  We were still lapping along with our easy swim when he got out, shook himself like a dog, and headed out.  We climbed out got a fluffy towels from the attendant and went back to the locker room for a luxurious showers.

We went up to our room and looked out to see Moby Dick and found that it had started to rain again.  We were glad that we had put the cover over our bikes not only for theft protection but because of the weather.  We ordered room service and had a lovely dinner in our suite and settled in to watch a good movie.  In the middle of the night there was tremendous rain and thunder and lighting.  We felt glad that we had chosen to stay in a hotel instead of a tent.  We had been lucky this whole trip so far in that we got just a bit of rain in Deadwood and little else.  Now the storm was really showing its power as the room lit up as the lightning hit close to the hotel.  We snuggled in our "comfty" bed and went back to sleep.

The next morning we looked out and the rain had stopped, but the streets were still wet.  John opened the door and  picked up the U.S.A. Today newspaper outside the door and read about the ten best cycling cities in the U.S.  The one at the top of the list was Chicago!  We checked the forcast and found that it was going to be a lovely day.  So we had a light breakfast, got dressed in our biking outfits and went down to check on our bikes.  We had planned to put our bikes on the subway car and ride out to Navy Pier, but the valet told us that we would have to put our bikes on a bus and go the the next pick-up station because the subway was flooded from the heavy rain.  So the buses were added to take subway people to the next station.  We were instructed to put our bikes in the front of the bus. Lucky that we were the only ones with bikes as there were only spots for two bikes on the front rack.

We got off at the next station and stood in line next to a group of ladies with bright pink T-shirts that read, "L.I.N.D.A. Convention 2011" Bikes were only allowed on the last cab of the subway train and when the door opened we rushed in along side of several Lindas.  The train ride to downtown near the Navy Pier  was the last stop and it would take about 45 minutes.  We stood holding on to our bikes and had plenty of time to talk to the jolly group of Lindas around us.  We found that their organization was opened to anyone with the name sounding like LINDA.  We thought about our Lynda and wondered if she would like to be involved with this group.  We asked if they did triathlons or any other type of exercise event.  They just laughed at us and said the most exercise they plan for is walking from one sightseeing event to another and then to the nearest restaurant. From the looks of most of their hefty figures, I surmised they loved to eat at lots of restaurants. Mmmmm...somehow we didn't think that our Lynda would fit in with this group.

 

We also made friends with a couple that was going to visit the Naval Pier and they would be happy to let us tag along in getting there which was a bit of a walk from the train station.  Jason was a lawyer and his fiance, Susan were to be married in next year after she finished her senior year in college majoring in Public Relations.  Jason loved Chicago and pointed out buildings and interesting points of interest. As we walked he pointed out the Sears Tower, the Monadnock Building which was the tallest building now, the Marina City Building with its white circular design resembling fish scales and the Tribune Tower. It was like having our own tour guide. We walked between buildings very much like New York.  We came to the Tribune building that had 120 stones stuck to it from other sites and structures. Some samples are form Bunker Hill, the Parthenon, Taj Mahal and the Arizona Memorial.  We spent some time reading these as we headed toward Naval Pier.

 As we turned the corner a large group gathered around the statue of Marilyn Monroe standing over the subway railing as her skirt flies up.  Everyone including John wanted their picture under her skirt.  We had to be satisfied taking a picture from across the street as it was too complicated to cross with our bikes.

At the Naval Pier we said good-bye to our friends and got on out bikes and rode along the path that took us by the lake.  It went on forever as Lake Michigan is a big lake even as far as the city boundary.  We rode close to the water's edge and in some places over sand that had been brushed onto the trail.  At one point, we heard a  a huge cheer from a crowd.  So we  stopped to watch what was going on.  There was an arena with players wearing different color uniforms. They were playing dodgeball which was a game we used to play at recess in elementary school.  These focused players however, were adults.  The object of the game was to hit opposing team members.  If they were hit,  they would go to "Jail."  At this point the Jail for the green team was pretty full if Red Team members.  The Red team managed to hit the "strong man" in the center, and at that signal all the Red jailbirds went out of jail and returned to the game.  Then a bell rang and the team with the most players was declared the winner. You could see everyone having a great time in the game and people outside of the arena were enjoying it as well. We decided to go back from there and returned to the bike track and head back to the hotel.

We walked our bikes back to the train station trying to remember the  route.  At one point we saw all the Lindas on top of the open air sight seeing bus and we waved to them and they yelled back at us.  They were all together occupying the whole top part of the bus like pink flamingos in their magenta pink shirts.  We finally walked to the station having gone up stairs and through little alleys.  We got on the last car with our bikes and found seats to sit and still be able to hold on to our bikes. By the time we reached the end of the line, we were happy that the subway got clear of water so we wouldn't have to take the bus back to the hotel.  We disembarked right at the airport, rode to our car and put away our bikes.

 We headed up stairs exhausted and climbed into the shower. John got the phone that was ringing and it was my brother Larry whom we had been in touch with earlier hoping we could get together.  He said he and his wife, Katie with the two foster kids were heading to the train station and would be at the Navy Pier in about 45 minutes. They were coming from Joliet, south of Chicago.  John said great and that we would do the same and meet them at Forrest Gumps Restaurant at the entrance of the Pier.  We quickly got dressed and headed down to the subway station to make the trip back to the Pier.  We got to Chicago and phoned them and they were there waiting for us.  We almost ran the fifteen blocks to the Pier so we wouldn't be too late.

They spotted us as we approached the archer to the Pier and had a nice hug all talking at once trying to get caught up with all the news.  Katie had just gotten her master's degree and was teaching special ed. when she got laid off and was waiting to see other prospects.  This was the case with many districts laying teachers off as a means of cutting expenses.  We were happy that we were retired from teaching and spared all the problems that were going on.  We were let go back in 1980 when our districts in California were shrinking and districts faced proposition 13.  That's when we went into private business and found a way to make ends meet. Now Katie had to do the same as many teachers scramble to find jobs and make ends meet.

Since Larry had extra rooms in his house, he decided to help take care of two foster children from the same family.  Matt was thirteen and Makaya was almost 12.  They were quite enjoyable, and we all had a good time walking and talking as we toured the Pier.  We went by Margaritaville Restaurant where we had hoped to see our nephew who was the new manager of the new restaurant.  Apparently, Jimmy  Buffet had been there just that weekend for the big opening of the restaurant.  Afterwards he had invited Kevin and his family to attend his big gig.  So Kevin wasn't there.  The hostess, Amy, asked that we wait and she would set us up with a table.  Soon we were all sitting eating great burgers, nachos, and drinking Naked Margaritas and Beer.  When the dining was over, we wrote a note to Kevin and gave it to the waiter. The hostess thanked us for coming and told us the meal was on the house.  Thanks Amy!

We left the restaurant and went where all the rides and the Ferris Wheel stood all lit up in the evening sky. It stood 150 feet high modeled after the first Ferris Wheel built in 1893 for the World's Columbian Exposition.  It has 40 gondolas for a seven minute ride.  The kids wanted to go on the Ferris Wheel so Larry bought them tickets and John bought us some as well.  We stood in line forever and finally got into the little gondola with the kids.  Makaya was really scared of heights, but she did well and didn't even attempt to throw up.  We tried to name all the tall buildings in the skyline and enjoyed seeing all the boats in the harbor all lit up as well. By the time one revolution was over, we were done.  Just in time too as the fireworks were in view and got the crowd Oooing and Aweeing.

It was getting late, and we still had to go to the rail station. So we said our good-byes and headed to the rail station trying to find our way in the evening light. We knew that we were in the right path when we saw Marilyn and took another picture of her lovely sculpture all lit up.  Eventually, we arrived at the rail station and got in for the long ride next to people that closed up shops and restaurants heading for home.  It had been a wonderful day, and we were sad that we couldn't stay a whole week in this great city. For now though, we were happy to have seen great sights, rode the best bike trail in the U.S., and got a chance to connect with my brother, Larry.  A perfect visit!