18 March 2023, Southern Camping Trip Day 72

 Home 

259 Commodore Drive

Vergennes, Vermont

Vermont Welcome Center, Route 4, Fairhaven, Vermont

Marc-  We decided to come home a day early since the forecast for tomorrow was a low of 21 degrees and a high of 29 degrees with wind gusting to 35 miles per hour with intermittent snow.  Today had a low of 40 degrees and a high of 52 degrees with party cloudy skies.  No problems coming home through the mountains of Pennsylvania and the mountains of New York.  I was surprised to see an operating ski area near Scranton, PA.  The Catskill mountains of New York had snow.  Vermont won for having the most  snow on the ground.  All roads were clear.  Even our driveway had been cleared (thanks to our wonderful neighbors).  

Clear driveway wow.

We will need to winterize the trailer for the upcoming cold spell.  Until then the heat will be on.

17 March 2023, Southern Camping Trip Day 71

Harrisburg East Campground

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

Happy Birthday Sue.

Marc-  Today was a 4-hour travel day in the rain traveling over the Blue Ridge mountains and through parts of four States:  Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania.  The roads were good except for the last hour when Sue was driving into Harrisburg (old narrow concrete roads with lots of expansion joints and lots of traffic.  One traffic sign stated: "Beware of aggressive drivers").  The campground is fine.  There is an Irish pub nearby that was crowded by 4 p.m.  No corned beef and cabbage for us today.  Tomorrow we plan to attend our second St. Patrick's Day Parade on this trip, in downtown Harrisburg.  

16 March 2023, Southern Camping Trip Day 70

Fredericksburg KOA campground

Fredericksburg, Virginia

The beginning of of a colorful day.

Marc-  We left early for the local Virginia Rail Express Station to spent the day in Washington, D.C.

The train trip was about two hours from Spotsylvania to Union Station beside the US Capitol.  The flowers are starting to bloom in Washington around the Mall and the various Smithsonian Museums we visited.  Sue and I managed to walk about 7.7 miles today.  We were not alone in the city as many students were also visiting.  We could not get into the Air and Space Museum since reservations were required and they were full for the day.

Double-decker seating.

Double-decker VRE commuter rail (about 1/2 the cost of taking Amtrak on the same route).

The train route is beside the Potomac River for 1/3 of the way.

Union train station hall.

Cherry trees near the US Capital.

Tulips on the Mall.

A new Native American Museum.

Beautiful magnolia.

National Gallery of Art.

Mall flowers.

View of the White House from the Washington Monument.

Smithsonian Castle.

Magnolias.

More Magnolias.

Nice garden eh?

Magnolia blooms.

Worlds Fair building.

Cocoa tree.

Forsythia and US Capitol dome.

View in front of the US Capitol.

Union train station.

15 March 2023, Southern Camping Trip Day 69

Fredericksburg KOA campground

Fredericksburg, Virginia

George Washington on his white horse in the snow during the winter of the revolution.

Marc- We spent this day visiting several historical places:  Fredericksburg, VA and some of its civil war battlefields, and Mount Vernon, home of George and Martha Washington.  The cold weather has reached us in the South with a frozen water supply this morning.  Luckily we switched to using our onboard fresh water system.  The cold does not seem to have affected the many flowers in bloom.

Fredericksburg daffodil.

Beautiful magnolia.

Many white blossoming trees in Fredericksburg.

Chatham Plantation now National Park Service Visitors Center.

View over to downtown Fredericksburg from the back side of Chatham mansion.  Site used for Union Army bombarding the town before moving South.  The Mansion was used as a military hospital and command center.

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Mount Vernon

View from the front of Mount Vernon out over the Potomac river.

Rear entry to Mount Vernon.  The front is under construction.

Faux stone blocks.  The house siding is actually pine boards painted with sand thrown on top when wet.

Washington's office and library.  Note the woodwork is all pine painted to look like a hardwood.

The fireplace mantle is actually stone.

Detail on the mantle.

One of the rooms for entertaining.

Family dining room.

One of 9 guest bedrooms.

Impressive bed.

Master bedroom.

Washington being sworn in as first President of the United States (At the museum at Mount Vernon).

14 March 2023, Southern Camping Trip Day 68

Fredericksburg KOA campground

Fredericksburg, Virginia

Japanese cherry trees are blooming in the Washington, D.C. area.

Marc-  Today was one of our longer travel days.  We left our South Carolina campsite at 08:00 and arrived at our Fredericksburg campsite at 15:45.  There were two complete closures of all Northbound lanes of Route 95 in Virginia necessitating two rather long detours.  Thankfully our google navigation app warned us and rerouted us.  The highlight of the trip was seeing a blooming magnolia tree at the North Carolina Rocky Mount rest area.  

We will stay in this campground until Friday and visit some of the historical sites.  After dinner we walked on one of the trails here finding a horse paddock and a Japanese cherry tree.  We are also getting ready for a low temperature of 27 degrees tonight....burr.

Magnolia in bloom with birds nest.

Campground cherry blossom.

13 March 2023, Southern Camping Trip Day 67

 Huntington Beach State Park

Murrells Inlet, South Carolina

A morning ritual.

Paying attention.

Marc-  This is our last day here in South Carolina.  We have really enjoyed walking the beaches and walking in Brookgreen Gardens across the street.  We returned once again to Brookgreen for our morning walk and really enjoyed all of the lush and colorful vegetation as well as the outstanding sculptures.  This afternoon we played miniature golf, then started getting ready for our move tomorrow.

Atamasco- lily.

Dogwood trees, palm trees and azaleas.

Wisteria moving in on an azalea.

Wild mustangs in bronze.

Serious eagle in bronze.

Cowboy and bucking bronco in bronze.

Mowgli and his friend Bagheera from Jungle Book.

Anhinga and her babies.

Horse and trainer in granite.