24 September 2022 Fort McHenry NM and NS

 Since we are on the northside of DC, it’s a short drive up to Baltimore. The day was beautiful, and with storms coming tomorrow, we wanted to take advantage of the beautiful day. We headed up I-95 to the exit just before you go into the tunnel under Baltimore Harbor and drove into Fort McHenry National Monument and National Shrine. We were lucky enough to arrive just in time for a Ranger led tours of rhte Fort outer battlements. The star shaped fort was built between 1798 and 1803 as a defense for Baltimore Harbor. Its claim to fame was during the war of 1812. Having sacked and burned Washington in August 1813, the British headed for Baltimore, the 3^rd largest US city at that time. The local militias and army units built extensive defensive works to protect the city from a land assault and sunk merchant ships at the harbor entrance to prevent the British Navy from sailing into the harbor. British troops landed north of the city on 12 September and marched to the city, after a brief battle with militia during which the British General was killed, but stopped short of the defensive works to await the naval assault. The British Navy positioned mortar and rocket ships just outside (2 miles) the effective range of Fort McHenry’s cannons. At dawn on 13 September, the British began their bombardment of Fort McHenry. Over the next 25 hours over 1,500 shells and rockets were fired at the fort, but less than 400 hit in or near the fort. The fort returned fire and even though at extreme range, still managed to hit the British ships several times. A British assault at midnight of the 13th by small boats was turned back by fire from the forts. In the morning, the British attack halted and the British forces withdrew (they later were used in the failed assault on New Orleans in 1815). The smoke and fog were so heavy neither side could see. The fort lowered the small American flag that had been flying through the night and raised a giant 30x42 foot American flag. Frances Scott Key spied that huge flag from which inspired his poem that became our national anthem (But not until 1931). That flag is now displayed in the Smithsonian. During the entire bombardment, only 4 colonial defenders were killed. During the civil war, the fort was used as a prison for southern sympathizers and Confederate troops. During WW1 it was used as a hospital for war wounded. It was made a National Park by congress in 1925 and then changed to a National Monument and National Shrine in 1939.

Entrance Sign

Fort McHenry

Entrance to Fort McHenry

Entrance to Fort McHenry

Parade Ground surrounded by barracks and offices

Looking into the Fort from one of the bastions

Outer Gun emplacements installed during Civil War

Outer Gun emplacements built during the Civil War

Powder Room (this room was actual hit by a British Shell in 1814 but miraculously did not explode)

Old Glory flying high!

23 September 2022 Mt. Jackson VA to College Park MD

 It’s a short drive to DC and the roads were in pretty good shape. We took I81 north to I66 east and I-495 around the north side. The traffic was pretty good until we got to 10 miles from our exit. That last 10 miles took over an hour. We are staying at the Cherry Hill RV Park ($81 per night with GSC) which is nestled between I-95 and I-495. It’s a convenient location for exploring Washington DC. The Metro is reasonably accessible (either drive to a station or take the county bus) and they have a shuttle bus that runs into town three days a week. This is a very large RV park but it is run very efficiently and everyone is very friendly. The neighborhoods outside the RV park are a bit away (Isolated by the freeways) and look a bit questionable but we have felt safe in our outings to the grocery stores and restaurants. 

21 September 2022 Shenandoah NP Part 2

 To complete our tour of Shenandoah NP we took US211 back to the center entrance to the NP and drove the Skyline Drive all the way to the southern terminus. So in all, we have driven all 105 miles of Skyline Drive through the park. We stopped at most of the pull outs to enjoy the views, but some had trees and foliage that have grown up and blocked the view. One stop was so we could see “The Old Man in the Mountain” formation. We also stopped at the Big Meadow Visitor Center toured the exhibits there. The park movie is currently not being shown. The park was created in the 1930s by using eminent domain to force people, who’s families had been on the land for generations, to sell the land to the state which then handed it over to the NPS. The park was pushed by industrialists’ who felt a national park would bring more business to their resorts and businesses. They convinced President Herbert Hoover by bringing him to the area for a fishing trip. He liked it so much that he bought 165 acres for his own home which became his summer White House. The CCC built the Skyline Drive, campgrounds, lodges and other park infrastructure during the depression and the park was opened in 1938. To build Skyline Drive, the CCC had to move the Appalachian Trail off the ridge top to make way for the road. 

The Old Man in the Mountain formation

19 September 2022 Shenandoah NP

 We had planned to drive the southern section of Skyline Drive today, but there were heavy thunderstorms to the west headed our way and we did not want to be on the ridge top when they arrived. So we went to plan B and visited the Shenandoah Caverns ($31 per person) just up the road from the RV park. The guided tour took about 2 hours and went ¾ of a mile in and back out with a few sections where we did the duck walk. This cavern system has a lot of bacon formations and is very old. We enjoyed the tour and the cool temperatures. After the caverns, we decided to do a wine tasting as the worst of the storms were holding off. The first place we tried was closed even though the website said they would be open on Monday. Most of the other nearby wineries were also closed on Mondays. But we found one that was open and added Virginia to our list of wine tasting states (No 16). It turns out that Virginia has a large number of wineries and we picked up a map so we can try some others. We ended up at The Winery at Kindred Point. We did a sampling of their reds and one white. The wines are made only with Virginia grown grapes with roughly 40% estate grown. The wines were good but not good enough for us to buy any to take home. As we sat back to enjoy a glass of our favorites, the rain arrived  and soaked the area. Then it was home to the Wanderer to get Etta out for her walk. 

18 September 2022 Shenandoah NP

 We visited our third NP for the year. Shenandoah NP is long but narrow, mostly along the ridge top of the main spine of the Shenandoah Mountains. As we left the RV Park, we took a side trip to see the Meem’s Bottom Covered Bridge and drove the Behemoth through its narrow confines. We drove to the middle of Shenandoah NP where US211 crosses the Skyline Drive and took Skyline Drive north to the north end of the park. We stopped at many of the overlooks and enjoyed the views of the Shenandoah Mountains. It was fairly humid, so we could not see really far due to the haze. Leslie’s toe is not healing as fast as she wants it too, so we stuck to an auto tour for today. Near the northern end of the park, we stopped at the visitor center to collect our passport stamp and purchase a mug, hat and postcards.  After exiting the park, we took US11 down through the Shenandoah Valley and enjoyed the beautiful Virginia countryside down to US211 before heading back to the Wanderer. 

Meem's Bottom Covered Bridge

Shenandoah NP Entrance Sign

View from Skyline Drive

View from Skyline Drive

View from Skyline Drive

16 September 2022 Gettysburg PA to Mt. Jackson VA

 Our travels took us down US30 to I-81, through four states, to just outside Shenandoah National Park. We are staying at the Shenandoah Valley Campgrounds ($40 per night with GSC) near the historic town of Mount Jackson. We were surprised to find out that the Shenandoah Caverns were just down the road from the RV park. Leslie can’t wait to see them. We also plan to visit Shenandoah NP to drive the Blue Ridge parkway and maybe a waterfall hike or two if Leslie’s toe starts to feel better.  

Camp site in Shenandoah Valley Campground

15 September 2022 Hershey RV Show

 When we originally planned this portion of our itinerary, we did not know the giant Hershey RV Show was this week. Since we were little more than an hour from Hershey, and having an interest to see what the latest and greatest RV technologies are, we decided to make the drive back to Hershey. Leslie’s toe is still hurting pretty good, so we were not planning to walk the whole show. We mostly wanted to see the vendor areas to see the new gadgets and also to visit the New Horizons display to see what they were cooking up for new fivers. Just the walk in from the packed parking lots was longer than we expected. We toured the vender areas in the Giant Center arena finding a few things of interest and picking up some brochures. One thing we were interested in was the Fantasy RV tours since they do caravan tours to Alaska and RV tours in New Zealand/Australia. We then went out to the trailer displays, stopping to tour a few other venders just to see what we might like in a future fiver. We ended up at the New Horizons chalet and toured the Summit and Majestic fivers they had there. The both featured new formats with the kitchen in the back, a bar along the passenger slide out (instead of a table) and a wraparound sofa in the living room. Of course, they had modern materials and decor. The rear kitchen was interesting but is not accessible with the slide outs pulled in.  One featured a two-burner inductive stove and the other had a four-burner propane stove. There are times when we wish we could put three pots on our stove. We liked the new famers kitchen type sinks in both. The Majestic also had a residential type heat pump instead of the usual propane heaters and roof top air conditioners. David talked with Brian, one of the sales people (Drew is no longer in sales and Ken has not retired yet), about some of the latest changes and the ambassador program. We may be interested in becoming ambassadors since we give so many tours of our fiver to curious people. Brian said the one requirement is that you have to be “nice people”. I think we meet that requirement!

New Horizons Chalet

Summit

Inside the Summit looking toward the rear

In the Summits kitchen, the new sink design

In the Summit looking forward from the kitchen

In the Summit, the bedroom (a bit cramped for David)

In the Summit, the vanaty

looking at the Majestic

Looking toward the back of the Majestic

In the Majestic looking toward the front

In the Majestic, the bedroom with attached Bath and walk in closet

In the Majestic, walk in closet is cool but there is not much room for hanging cloths.

The heat pump in the Majestic.