“…Homeward bound, home, where my thoughts escaping, home, where my music’s playing, home, where my love lies waiting, silently for me…”

The sign should have said, “Welcome Home, Zirins – we missed your gas money here in New Jersey!!”

Amitai and his Old Town San Diego Drum!! It's delicious!

Which sister is taller - the 26 year old - or THE TEN YEAR OLD??? No matter - both are cuties!!

Simon and Garfunkel’s “Homeward Bound” is the only title for today’s last blog entry.  It was suggested earlier this summer – thanks for that!  So here we go – Day 45.  As I said to my mom, “We’ve run out of money in our wallets, and room to breathe in our pants – it is time to come home!”  More truthful words have never been said!

Answer to yesterday’s trivia question:  The bronze Statue of Freedom by Thomas Crawford is the crowning feature of the dome of the United States Capitol.  Today’s Trivia Question:  How many states have we traveled?  Answer:  later.

Tuesday morning, the first order of business was to get Rich’s cell phone back.  He took the bus to the subway to the Newseum, and then the subway back to the College Park station – where Mikaela and I drove to pick him up.  This was an annoying detour in our plans, but not nearly as annoying as Rich never retrieving his cell phone.  Why didn’t he just drive, you ask?  He didn’t want to fight the traffic, fight finding his way, and let’s not even mention parking….So we thought this was the easiest way.  While Rich was finding his phone, Mikaela and I packed up and cleaned up the trailer.  After picking up Rich, and finishing the clean up, we were able to pull out of College Park, Maryland around 11:30 or so.  It was somewhere around this point that Rich said, “Um, I had a horrible thought – I don’t think we can take the trailer and its propane tanks through the Ft. Mc Henry Tunnel”.  He was correct – but I DO WISH he had been correct 24 hours earlier!!  Our GPS ONLY wanted to go through the tunnel.  So my AAA map and AAA triptik would have to be our guide – at only a moment’s notice.   We got off I-95 in Baltimore, and tried find an alternate route northward.

Let me just say that signs in the USA are pretty bad.  This trip would NEVER have been possible without the GPS.  And so, when left to our own maps and intuitions, we were in trouble.  The detour on our maps took us through a less than perfect part of Baltimore.  The roads were in AWFUL condition – especially for pulling a trailer.  There were many people in the streets, and it was just hard to find your way down the block.  In addition, the maps labeled the streets differently than the City of Baltimore labeled the streets!  To add insult to injury, we had the closest call of the whole trip in that section of Maryland -  – I felt sure that we weren’t going to make it to New Jersey alive.  It did wonders for my blood pressure, let me tell you!  So, a very long 45 minutes later, we  had managed to direct ourselves back onto I-95, north of the tunnel.  Success!  We stopped at the famous “Maryland House” for some caffeine, sugar, and fattening junk to sustain us the rest of the way home.  It was hot, muggy, humid, hazy – all of  my favorite descriptions!!  The traffic the rest of the way home was manageable.  Before we knew it, we saw the “Welcome to New Jersey” sign on the Turnpike.  We also realized, at a gas stop, that it was the first time in 6 weeks that Rich didn’t have to pump his own gas!  Mikaela was so happy to be home.  Rich and I – ?? Not so much.  This was our dream trip.  I would be lying if I said that I was happy to see it end.

During the ride home, we heard the following Rolling Stone song 2 different times, and it made me think:

“You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you might find
You get what you need…”

So what did we want?  More time, more travels, more adventures, more money……

What did we need?  We needed to see our family, get ourselves organized, help our son move into a new apartment, talk to friends, etc…. – and so we pulled into Highland Park at 3:39 p.m.  My parents were waiting to welcome us home.  It was good to see them, and to recount the stories that weren’t POLITICALLY CORRECT for this blog  (there are a few)!  Then son Judah arrived, and we went out to dinner.  Nothing like hitting the ground running!  Back from a delicious dinner, and it was time for a condolence call to our friends.  By evening, we were just exhausted.  Unfortunately, I just couldn’t seem to fall asleep.  I guess the excitement and the “re-entry” (as friend  Sue coined the phrase!) will take awhile to adjust to.

Wednesday morning came all too soon – and we were in the car, again, on our way to visit daughter and son-in-law Rebekah and Avi, and grandson extraordinaire, Amitai.  That would make our total travels at 46 days, and 27 states.  The actual vacation was 45 days and 26 states, but, hey – what’s one more?!  And THAT’S the answer to my final trivia question above.

And so my blog, and our adventures, have come to an end.  The mail is piled up in my dining room, the laundry has to be done and put away, and our incredible house on wheels has to be emptied, and straightened.  It’s pretty much the same as it was before we ever left!!   We WILL be going away again before winter comes – we have made a promise to ourselves.  However, it will only be for a weekend or so – nothing much longer.   Reality starts now, and we have to get into the rat race, along with everyone else.     I somehow wish that the race weren’t as fast as it really is.

I wanted to say thank you to all those we saw and met along the way – to our family in Arizona and Georgia and California , to our friends in Wisconsin, Montana, New Mexico, and Maryland – and to those many people we met for the very first time, who helped to shape our experience.  We want to thank all our friends and family who supported our going, shared our journey, and showered us with love as they welcomed us back.  I really am honored by all those who read this blog – it means more to me than you will ever know.  Writing is a passion of mine, not a profession – and some of you never knew that.  I am glad you were able to find out through this daily journal.  Please, take a page from our experiences, and live your dreams.  If you wait until it is the right time, until you have the right money, until the children are the right age — you will NEVER go.   If you have any camping questions, feel free to ask – we will share what we have learned.  This country has so much beauty to offer, and so much history.  There is something for everyone.  Please – take a leap – and let us know what you find!!

With much love and gratitude,

Marla, Rich and Mikaela Zirin

Monday’s Washington pictures

Our first glimpse of the Capitol Building

Around the back - so beautiful and pristine

Our Supreme Court...Judah's future office??!!!

The World Trade Center antenna fragment on display at the Newseum

Harold and Rich, Chloe and Mikaela

Mikaela out on the town in Annapolis!

“I’m just a bill. Yes, I’m only a bill. And I’m sitting here on Capitol Hill…”

Those who are reading this will instantly know the title song – if you are old enough to have been a fan of “Schoolhouse Rock”.  Yes, this song, by the same title, was written by Dave Frishberg, and was performed regularly in the 70’s in Schoolhouse Rock.  I used this as our title because today, for a little while, we were sittin’ on Capitol Hill.

Trivia question today is directly from Mikaela (although she doesn’t know the answer – she just thought it would make a good question!).  What is the statue on top of the Capitol Building dome?  Answer in our very last blog – tomorrow.

Trivia answer for yesterday’s question:  Rich says James Monroe was the first president to live in the building known as the White House.  Some of our friends gave different answers.   Rich further explains:  the building was originally known as the “Executive Mansion”.  However, in 1814, the British burned the building, almost destroying it.  When President Madison returned to Washington, he ordered the building be painted white, to cover the smoke damage.  Repairs and rennovations took several years, so it wasn’t until 1818 that the Mansion, now known as the “White House”, was occupied.  The president at that time, again, was James Monroe.  If you disagree, write your congressman!!

Monday morning we were ready for our last day of sight seeing and exploration.  The weather reports state that today will be the HOTTEST day of the YEAR in D.C.    Grand!!  We are taking that into consideration, and are planning our day accordingly.  At 9:35, we caught a bus at the entrance to our RV Park.  That bus took us to a Metro Station, where we caught a subway train headed toward D.C.  We arrived a short time later, and walked up 2 blocks, to Capitol Hill.  (For those who have never been there, it really is UP a hill!)  The heat was already tough to take.  We walked around the outside of the building, admiring the design, the artwork, the fountains, and the gardens.  My impressions of the building, upon reaching the top of the hill, focused around how immaculate and how bright these white buildings are.  I noticed, of course, the massive security – it is everywhere.  I feel safer with many protocols in place; and yet, a part of me wishes life were much simpler.  Although Rich has made several trips to D.C. with his school, I have not seen the Capitol Building since my trip with the “Junior Safety Patrol” participants in 6th grade  – in 1971!!!  My memories are a bit hazy!  (The cool thing is, due to Facebook, there might actually BE a few blog readers who were ON that trip with me!!)

We did not arrange a tour beforehand; we certainly could have, but just didn’t.  It gives us an excuse for a return trip, right?  After circling the Senate, we crossed the street and entered the Supreme Court.  It was, as well, a massive, immaculate structure, with gorgeous architecture, artwork, and fountains.  After walking through security, the public is allowed inside the main floor of the Courthouse.  It is beautiful and regal, with statues of Supreme Court Justices.  The actual courtroom can be seen only through a curtain; and it is impressive as well.  What did we like most of all?  It was a tie:  first, the air conditioning! and second, the bathrooms!!  I said yesterday that the dirtiest bathroom in the USA was in the park in Washington.  Well, the restrooms in the Supreme Court are beautiful!  So, if you are in need, head to the “hill”!!   Hey – maybe some day, our Judah will make it to the Supreme Court – and he will NEVER  have to worry about those dirty bathrooms!!  He starts law school next week, and hey – ya never know!!

We left the comfort of the air conditioning, and shlepped back down the hill, to the subway.  We took the train another 3 stops, and ended up 2 blocks away from our second attraction for the day, the Newseum.  Our plan to try and beat most of the heat by touring the museum was a very good move.  Bonnie, Alan and Hunter, our family from Florida, highly recommended a visit here.  This is a brand new museum which, as the name implies, focuses on “the news”.  It is brilliant.  It is also ridiculously expensive.  The entrance fee, WITH a discount, for 2 adults and a child is $47.00.  The good news – no other fees for anything in the museum.  We had packed our lunch, and went down to the cafeteria to eat it.  We had been told that no outside food was allowed.  Uh huh.  So, to make things “kosher”, we bought 3 sodas and 2 scoops of ice cream, and ate our homemade sandwiches.  No one said a word.  But, just so you know, the soda and ice cream set us back $15.00.  Ridiculous!  Moral of the story:  Eat a BIG breakfast before you go, and go early.

There are six floors to the Newseum, and many, many incredible exhibits.  The front page news items are shown, decade by decade.  There are numerous time lines of the past decades; there are endless television news feeds from the past 50 years.  You can find exhibits on just about anything and everything, and the presentations are fantastic.  We were there for 3 hours, and it was nowhere near enough time.

About two hours into our visit, we came upon the 9/11 exhibit.  It is heart wrenching, to say the least.  A portion of the antenna that was atop the Twin Towers sits on display.  That seemed to catch Mikaela’s attention.  Her eyes grew wide, and she was transfixed.  There were two separate films running that documented the events of that day; Mikaela sat down to watch, and would not move.   While they were appropriate for her, they were emotional and riveting as well.  After watching, she had a million questions.  We walked through the exhibits, all the while talking about that day.  Mikaela was almost 3 at the time of the attacks, and she doesn’t remember much.  Again, this was an incredible, powerful teaching moment.

As we were heading to the last floor, we came upon a cameraman and a reporter.  It appeared they were asking opinions of museum visitors regarding their viewing habits of international news.  Rich was interviewed!!  I admired the way he answered the questions effortlessly, while making eye contact with the camera.  I don’t think I could have sounded nearly so coherent!  They were developing a  PBS documentary.  We don’t know when, or if it will air, and we don’t know when or if Rich’s comments will be used.  But it was cool, to say the least!!

The last exhibit of the day was entitled:  “I Witness:  A 4-D Time Travel Adventure”.  We were given 3-D glasses, and led into a theatre with a large screen.  As we were being seated, we heard several disclamers:  “Do not sit in the “Moving Seats” if you are pregnant, have neck or back problems, have motion-sickness, get sea sick”…. – Oh my G-d!!!  Other than the pregnant part, they were describing ME!!!!  The museum staff must have seen my face turn green, and reassured me that the warnings were exaggerated.  They were right – the 4th dimension was fun, not bothersome at all.  It was a great experience, and when things got a little TOO realistic (for me, anyway!) – I could just close my eyes!  I had some concerns that Mikaela would be too frightened.  I realized I had nothing to fear when, about 30 seconds in, she said, aloud, “This is SOO COOL!!”.  So, to sum it all up, the Newseum is a fabulous, almost never-ending experience.  To see just about everything, you would need to allow 4 to 5 hours, in my opinion.  And, also in my opinion, it is costly.  Worthwhile, yes, but costly just the same.

As the temperature soared to 101 degrees, we were comfortably inside the VERY air conditioned museum.  We walked out the door around 3:30.  It was still…putrid!  We hurried to the subway, caught the train, and ran to make our bus connection.  The best laid plans…. sometimes just don’t work.  We then spent a good 25 minutes sitting on the hot concrete,  just waiting.  Here was where the public transportation advantages stopped.  When the bus FINALLY arrived, and MANY people climbed aboard, we were ready to move.  It was then that we realized that the morning bus ride was an express bus.  The ride this morning was 7 minutes.  THIS bus, at 4:44, was NOT an  express.   I think the 7 minute ride took….FOREVER!  Oy!  Oh – and did I mention that, just about at this time, Rich realized that he did not have his cell phone???!!!  It turns out that, when the 4-D movie began, Rich took his cell phone out to switch it to vibrate.  The phone must not have been secured in his pocket, and, when we left the theater, it didn’t.  After a few frantic phone calls, we tracked the phone down, and the museum staff stored it in their safe.    We arrived at our trailer after 5:15, and had to change and get ready for a dinner date in Annapolis.  Tempers were a bit high, and patience was a bit…low.

Our dinner plans with Rich’s friend, Harold, were for 6, but we had to move them to 6:30 because of our Metro trip from hell.  We arrived at the restaurant in Annapolis at 6:25 (yes friends, I actually got Marla to arrive someplace on time).  Harold, his wife Laura, and 8 month old daughter Chloe  were just behind us.  It was really great to see them and have a chance to catch up.  I have seen Harold twice in the past 20 years – for each of his parents’ funerals.  That made this vacation meeting all the more fun.  We got to share some funny stories about our youth, learn about each others’ current family lives, and just laugh.  It was a pleasure to meet Laura, and Chloe was a joy to watch.  She sat, ate, smiled, and was a perfectly behaved baby for over 90 minutes.  And the dinner – yummo!  This trip has provided us with so many opportunities to catch up with, or get to know people from our past all over again.  We are truly blessed to have been able to have these opportunities.

We left Annapolis – which was MUCH closer than I thought it was – and headed back to College Park.  We got to see another natural “light show”  in the sky, and the raindrops arrived moments after we got inside the trailer.  The heat, humidity, rushing and exhaustion of the day caught up to me, and a class A migraine set in.  My headaches were so much improved in the western part of this country – where humidity is virtually non-existent.  That is something to seriously consider.  So I went to sleep – which is why you are reading this blog one day later than usual.  It was the headache, and the sadness as well, that took me out.  It is difficult to believe that our trip is over.  But let’s look on the bright side.  Perhaps this is not the end, but the beginning, really, to many more experiences with our trailer.  We do not expect to repeat a 6 week adventure any time soon, but future, shorter trips are exciting to ponder!  So where shall we go next time??

One more day to go,

Marla and Rich

Pics from the last few days

Peek a boo - Mikaela sees you!

Talia’s landlords

still friends - 33 years later

Bluff City, Tenn.

Endless Caverns Endless traverse

This one is called "Snow Drift"

stalagmites and stalactites everywhere

Our next vacation home

pretty view next to dirty bathroom

she's got the whole world in her hands

“Sail on, on a distant highway, I’ve got to keep on chasin’ a dream – I’ve gotta be on my way; wish there was something I could say…”

Rich came up with the song above – but I really like the lyrics.  The song is by Boston, and it’s entitled “Foreplay/Long Time”.  Hey, that’s the title – what do I know?  You KNOW how crazy those 80’s bands were!!!  Oh, wait, that song is probably from the 70’s.  Nevermind.

Answer to yesterday’s trivia question: stalactites grow from the ceiling down,  and stalagmites grow from the ground up.  Lots of our smart friends got that one right.  Good for all of you!

Trivia question for today:  Who was the first president to live in the building known as the White House?  Question from Mr. History Teacher.  Answer tomorrow.

At 9 a.m. this morning, we were up and ready to move.  Rich experienced another example of neighborly-ness among campers.  The RV next to ours was owned by an older couple.  They gave me some helpful information on Friday about campsites around the country, as they had much experience.  The husband, Roy, started talking to Rich.  By the end of the conversation, Rich had Roy’s  business card – and WE had a standing invitation to their HOUSE near Gettysburg, Pa!  I mean, they don’t know us from a hole in the wall – and ol’ Roy invited us to stay with them!  That was so nice.  A bit “meshugah”, as some of my “peeps” might say, but nice.  Roy, it appears, is a retired United States Air Force Colonel!  I guess that means that NO ONE messes around with Roy!  We wouldn’t think of it!  Those are, generally, the kind of people we have met this summer.  Just so generous and nice.  What a lovely statement about America.

After leaving the RV park, we headed down the road, to the “Endless Caverns”.  A guided tour took us very far beneath ground, and into a colorful and awesome underground spectacle.  There were stalactites, stalagmites, “curtains” and “drapes”, “shields” and “reflecting pools” – and tons of other formations.  It was very beautiful.  Except for the bats.  Oh, did I mention the bats ? – because, in all the literature, THEY DIDN’T mention the bats!!  The cavern was steep, slippery, dark, uneven – all of my favorite land formations.  But I did fine – just me and my knee brace.  It was 55 degrees in the cavern.  I should have enjoyed the cold while I could – because, as the day progressed, we went from cool to hell.  It was a good experience for all.  For those considering this area as a vacation spot, I want to recommend the guided tour.  It was close to two hours long and very in depth, informative, and entertaining.  It was also very reasonably priced.  By 11:45, we were headed to Maryland.  This RV park was beautiful.  Unfortunately, the humidity and the bugs made it pretty uncomfortable.  Welcome back to the east coast, Zirins!

About 2 and a half hours later, we found ourselves in College Park, Maryland.  It was actually closer to 3 hours later, thanks to….east coast grid lock traffic.  Welcome home again!!!   We stopped to pick up a few last items in a grocery store, and while waiting on line, witnessed the East Coast at its finest.  The cashier, was SCREAMING at the customers waiting, because no one JUMPED to her line after the last customer finished.  She was yelling, muttering, mumbling, belittling, and possibly GROWLING at the customers WAITING PATIENTLY TO PAY.  Paying customers!!!!  Isn’t that what every business wants???  And she was killing them with nastiness!  Again – welcome back to the east coast, Zirins!

Our RV park is nice – right in the heart of College Park, 8 minutes from the train station, 3 minutes off the main highway – and DOUBLE the price of most of the places we stayed this summer.  Location, location, location!!  We probably could have done better, but we may have paid the same difference in gas to get into Washington.  This RV park is very crowded, so that usually means it’s good.  So far, they have offered mini golf, outdoor movies, pool and hot tub, cable and wifi -  so they are equipped.  I don’t even know if we will have time to enjoy the amenities, as our schedule is pretty packed.

We had a delicious bbq lunch, when we settled in.  My thought process was to eat a big lunch, and then, after sight-seeing, just eat a small dinner.  It sorta worked.  Our plan was to get into D.C. as fast as possible today, to catch as much as we could.  There was just one thing we didn’t count on.  THE HEAT.  I think it was in the mid 90’s today in the D.C. area – with 1,000 % humidity.  In all sincerity, the 110 degrees we experienced in Peoria, Az did NOT feel this awful.  I just could NOT deal with sightseeing in this yuck.  So we waited awhile for the sun to go down a bit, and the temperature as well.

We decided to try our luck at D.C. mass transit.  The RV park gave us pretty good directions, and we were rather successful navigating the stops.  The system in Washington worked better for us than Boston (last year), New York (everytime we go in!) and San Francisco (oy).  Within a half hour, we were walking on Pennsylvania Avenue.

We approached the White House from the back.  Today was Hunger Strike Day – again – and there were protestors demonstrating as we approached.  Many, MANY years ago – like before computers were even invented! – I remember seeing protestors at the gates of the White House.  However, those protestors were demonstrating IN FRONT of the White House.  I couldn’t figure out why these strikers were standing in the back.  They closed off Pennsylvania Avenue to car traffic behind the White House, so there was plenty of room to walk.  Rich says they closed the street off decades ago – I wouldn’t know one way or the other.  So we walked and talked about the White House, hoping to get a real good look as we headed around to the front.

To quote a line from the hysterical movie “Airplane” — I guess we picked the wrong weekend to see the front of the White House!!!  For some reason – and I do NOT know why – the Secret Service had the area in front of the White House barricaded.  We had to walk 200 yards across a grassy field, and peer in between fences and trees and barriers in order to just get a glimpse!  Did something happen recently to heighten security even more than EVER???  Please let us know.  All Mikaela wanted to see was the White House.  She would have had a better look watching a press conference on TV.  Ahh, security.

At that point, we decided (after a heated family discussion), to grab a snack and head towards the Lincoln Memorial/Vietnam Vet Memorial area.  It was now only about 90 degrees, and my SWEAT was SWEATING.  We all looked like glistening tourists (Rich says he doesn’t glisten!).   It wasn’t a pretty sight.  We headed down the mall, stopping to look at a duck pond, and to use the bathroom.  LADIES – AGAIN – WELCOME BACK TO THE EAST COAST!!!  YUCK-O!!!!  Washington D.C. wins the “Marla Potty Award” for GROSSEST bathroom of the summer!  An easy win by far!  I will spare you the details  – just use your imagination!

We continued walking – and walking – and walking.  We tried to explain some history to Mikaela.  I am emphasizing the word “tried”.  First, we had to differentiate two amazing historical events:  MLK’s “I Have A Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and Obama’s inauguration address on the steps of the Capitol Building.  Ten times.  We must have reviewed it ten times.  Okay -  she did overdose last week on Martin Luther King history, so I can understand some confusion.   And, it was crazy hot today, so maybe the heat was frying some sensory connectors.  Then, it was over to the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial.  Here was another history lesson for Mikaela.  I have been wearing a POW/MIA bracelet from the Vietnam War since January of 1973.  (Yes, Rich was 3 years old.  Now shut up.)  I wanted to show Mikaela the name of the man on my bracelet, and match that to his etching on the Memorial Wall.  She was moved, and wanted to hear more of the story.  Then, she wanted her own bracelet.  Rich and I nixed that request; I think she needs to understand more so it isn’t just another piece of jewelry.  In addition, when she asked, she said she wanted her own bracelet for the soldiers who were missing from the “Civil War”.  Oops, realizing she made a mistake, she quickly fixed her request – for a bracelet for the missing soldiers in the “French and Indian War”.  Rich almost wet himself.  I just shook my head.  We quickly moved on to something else.

At the Lincoln Memorial, Rich ran into….USY on Wheels Bus E – again!  But he only saw them for a second – they were on their way.  Mikaela WAS impressed with the Lincoln Memorial.  The sight of the Mall from the steps of the Lincoln is awesome, every time I visit.  It never gets old.  Today, the Washington Monument and its reflection were so clear and beautiful.  There were hundreds of people around, of all backgrounds and ages.  It was nice to see.

We took a taxi back to the subway station.  The heat and distance were the two driving factors on that decision.  The subway ride on the way home was easy and without incident – the trains pretty clean and pretty quiet.  We arrived back in the park after 9 – and here we are.  It is hot and sticky – exactly how you would expect an August night to be in this part of the USA.  We are so thankful for air conditioning!

Tomorrow, early in the day, we are headed back to D.C. to visit the Capitol Building, and take in one museum.  We are meeting an old friend of Rich’s for dinner tomorrow night.  That will just about do it for our sight seeing trip at this point.  To be truthful, the heat is draining the energy out of me, out of Mikaela, and maybe even, possibly, out of Rich.  I’m not sure about that – Rich claims the heat never bothers him – but this time, it might just be affecting his….patience.  It’s probably because it’s not a dry heat……

Keep Kool,

Marla and Rich

“…Blue ridge mountains, Shenandoah river, life is old there, older than the trees…”

A picture from the beginning of the trip - we looked less tired then. We are: The Road Warriors!!

So, we made it to Virginia on Friday morning. And the title of this blog is from John Denver’s “Country Roads” hit (Not John Denver again!!! Anyone know a good hypnotist who can erase all memory of seventies pop from Marla’s brain?). It speaks of West Virginia in the song. Well, we were in the western part of the state of Virginia – so I guess that counts. And the answer to yesterday’s trivia question, that Rich found so boring, is as follows: the 4 mountain ranges in Virginia are the Allegheny, Appalachian, Shenandoah, and Blue Ridge. Readers, you have to know, that I ask before I enter my trivia question. If no one speaks up with something better – I go with my first instinct!

Here’s today’s trivia question: What is the difference between a stalactite and a stalagmite? Answer tomorrow night.

I must say, the last RV park in Bluff City, Tennessee, was really nice. Sometimes, when we are just staying the night, we really do regret leaving so soon. This was one of those times. Bluff City isn’t really THAT far from home – maybe we will come back to camp here in the future. Maybe some of you would like to join us!

So Friday morning, we headed out of Tennessee and into Virginia. During our ride, we had a VERY close call with a FedEx double tractor trailer – so close, in fact, that I called Fed Ex. We entered a complaint. Some of these truck drivers are so unbelievable. In this case, the truck was in the right lane, and was tailgating the tractor trailer in front of him. I guess 65 mph was too slow, so Fed Ex drove into our lane. The only problem was that WE WERE ALREADY THERE!!! In fact, we were passing him when he decided to crush us against the guardrail. Rich leaned on the horn, and hit the brakes, and he missed us by inches. He just kept coming, owning the road, never even looked our way. To make this move even worse, about 30 seconds later we did pass him and left him in the dust. Where the heck was he going? I’ll let you know if any action is taken. When we stopped shaking from that experience, we realized our destination was very close.

The current RV park where the Zirins are setting up home is called “Endless Caverns”. It is in New Market, Virginia. The park is old and beautiful, and attached to the…Endless Caverns. When we booked this trip, this sounded like a neat activity we could do as we near the end of our journey. Sunday morning, before we leave, we have a trip scheduled into the caverns. We will let you know how it goes!

Friday evening proved relaxing and very quiet – with a nice, friendly game of competitive Scrabble. When playing Scrabble with Rich, there is no other way but competitive (If it wasn’t a competition, then there wouldn’t be a winner)! Rich wrote that last comment, of course! He won, Mikaela came in second, and I lost. Here’s the reason that I lost: I spent MOST of the game with the following letters: I I O O U U D. What can you do with that – for almost EVERY turn? I promise you, neither Rich nor Mikaela had to worry about getting these vowels – they were all mine! I could have won, if we were playing in ‘WHALE LANGUAGE’! I handled my loss well – I went to sleep. To make Marla feel better, next time we will play in spanish!

On Saturday morning, I finally got out of bed at 9:30. I am usually the first one up on Saturdays. I love the quiet, love to eat and read before anyone else awakens. This morning, I took my breakfast, my ice coffee, and the book I purchased on the Little Rock Nine, and went outside. In RV parks, it’s all about eating. Those grills are going from early in the day to late in the evening, and families are gathering together from breakfast on. There were plenty of people up and about before I even woke up. This park is an “early to bed, early to rise” kinda place. It wasn’t noisy at all – but once outside, you see all the movement going on. Eventually, everyone woke up, and we spent a slow moving day eating, swimming, reading, talking, walking, sleeping, – and more eating. It was a nice, lazy day. I know I don’t have any sympathy from anyone – but I am really feeling tired. This was the most awesome trip of my life – but one of the most exhausting experiences as well. By the end of the day I finished the book on the Little Rock Nine. Excellent story.

This evening, Rich built a fire – what I believe will be our last. It has to be – we are out of wood and money! We made s’mores and enjoyed the fire. Rich keeps saying that he wants to have a backyard fire pit when we get home. That would be awesome – but on a regular week, from Monday to Friday, we don’t have time to STEP outside, much less sit around a fire. Nevertheless, the Zirin house may have a new tradition. We may light Sabbath candles on Friday nights, and light a campfire on Saturday nights!! Oh, boy, won’t the neighbors love that!

The only issue today, was the bug situation. Out west, we didn’t have this kind of bug problem. Little ants, maybe, but not these flying bugs. We have big bugs, little bugs, crawly bugs, flying bugs, gnats, flies, bees, mosquitos – it is very humid and woodsy here. They did seem to get much better after dark. We have a fly in the trailer that WILL NOT DIE – so I am just naming him Herman, and telling Mikaela he is our new pet. It’s almost like a dog! Dogs – all kinds of dogs – accompany families at these parks. That seems to be one of the most popular reasons to RV. It’s a great way to vacation, WITH the family pet. Every park that we have visited allows pets. There are rules to follow at every park, but pets are an integral part of the RV experience. And no, Rich, that does NOT mean we are getting a dog (Ahh, come on)!! The past six weeks have just been amazing. We have learned so much about campgrounds and facilities. We could write a book. Hey – I guess we almost have!

My mom heard on the news that the Obamas are planning a trip out west, to some national parks. Rich is going to write to him, and alert him to our blog. He can keep up with the very latest tourist attractions. We’ll give him and Michelle our cell phone numbers – in case they have any questions. We are always willing to help our country, after all! Hey, we could do this EVERY summer. We could go check out the future vacation spots for the First Family. Not a bad gig. Something tells me, however, that they are NOT going to travel in an RV (They have Air Force One – Can you imagine RV One?). I just don’t see President Obama handling the sewer connection. Not Michelle either.

I wanted to mention some consumer satisfaction that I found yesterday. One of the common campground chains around is “KOA”. We purchased a KOA value card before we left, that provides discounts off parks and reward points earned for staying at a KOA park. We did really well with this card. The last KOA for the summer happened to be in North Little Rock. After paying, I saw that we were entitled to a $10.00 savings. The desk staff at the camp were supposed to notify me of that, and ask if I wanted to use that savings for that stay. No one said a word. I did not notice the reward points until after the office closed. In the morning, I went back to speak to them. They apologized for not taking action at check in, but would do nothing further for me. So, yesterday, I contacted the KOA headquarters. The staff was great – and gave us additional reward points on our card for our hardship. Those reward points will translate into a $25.00 discount, whenever we next stay at a KOA. And those points never expire. I was calm, kind, and truthful in the conversation. I also learned to ASK for some type of compensation for our poor service. I asked politely, but firmly. A refund of $10.00 would have been nice – but $25.00 off our next stay – and there WILL be stays in the future – was a bonus! I love customer satisfaction!!

We are about to embark on the last leg of our adventure. Tomorrow, we head out to the Baltimore/Washington area. This was the stop that Mikaela requested, back in the planning stages. I hope it is all that she wants it to be. I know she wants to go inside the White House, which is not going to happen on this trip. Maybe she will be satisfied with seeing the outside! We have some ideas planned, so hopefully she will like them. She seems to be exhausted as well. I can only hope that she got as much out of this summer as possible. We tried to make it the best trip ever. I do hope we succeeded.

Time for bed – I can’t stay up till 2 or 3 like I did a few weeks ago. After all, I AM getting closer and closer to that half century mark!! Talk to you tomorrow.

Marla and Rich

old and older pics

the beautiful Grand Ole' Opry

Our friend Sam....claustrophobic yet???

Central High School in Little Rock, from Monday

Monday at Little Rock Nine Museum

Monday at the Lorraine Motel

Lorraine Motel - MLK assassination sight

Tuesday at the Grand Ol'Opry

Baluga whale at the Atlanta Aquarium on Wednesday

a fish!!!!

Mikaela and Aunt Talia at the aquarium

can't Aunt Talia take that kid away for a little while?

“Maybe just like a friend of mine it hit me from behind – Yes I’m goin to carolina in my mind…”

Today’s song, by… James Taylor (of course) was chosen, not because we are staying in the Carolinas, but because we made a stop there to visit an old friend of mine (Rich).

But first, the answer to last night’s trivia question is … The Sea Otter!  It has the  most dense fur of any animal in the world -  over a million hairs per square inch.

Without any hesitation, today’s question is – “What are the names of  the four  mountain ranges that we will see tomorrow in Virginia (this is Marla’s question – I think it is lame).  Answer tomorrow, if I don’t fall into a coma from the boring question.  She just punched me.  I thought she was in the shower!!!

We woke up this morning and said goodbye to my sister, Talia.  We had a great visit and I wish it could have been longer.  Talia has a beautiful house and she was a great hostess.   She is also very artistic – and gave us a painting before we left.  It is beautiful – of a geisha girl – and it totally works with our living room.  Can’t wait to get it on the wall.   It was very emotional for us all when we said our goodbyes (with Chester, Booger, and Sammy – the 3 cats that allow my sister to live with them).  Then it was on the road.

About a week ago, it occurred to me that we were crossing western North Carolina.  A lifelong friend of mine, who I have known since we were 6, is a chiropractor there.  So, I called Rick H. and asked him if he was close to our route.  I was very happy to find out that we would get to see each other and meet the family.  I saw Rick at our 20th H.S. reunion, last summer, but other than that encounter, we haven’t been able to visit with each other and catch up.  And we never met each others’ families.

We met him and his family for lunch in Hendersonville, North Carolina – a pretty and historic old town.  It was a great visit (thanks again Rick and Donna for lunch).  Then we went back to his office – I thought he just wanted to show us around.  Before I knew what was happening, Marla and I were laying on tables getting massaged and then sitting in inversion chairs.  We followed that up on a roller machine.  Nice!   Free lunch and adjustments!!!  (disclaimer – anyone else visiting Rick H. as a chiropractor, you will most likely have to pay for these services — JEALOUS?)

It was a fun afternoon and I hope that we can have another visit with my old friend again soon.  This trip has been fantastic in the re-connecting department.  Friends in Wisconsin, Montana, Santa Fe, and North Carolina (and maybe Baltimore), and family connections in Arizona, California and Georgia.  After all, that’s what it’s all about!!

The adventure had to continue, so off we went to our next stop in Bluff City, Tennessee.  When we were planning this stop, it was strange to think of Tennessee cutting in between North Carolina and Virginia, but it does.  We drove I95 to Florida so many times in the past, that we couldn’t stand the thought of taking that route up the coast.  So, for a change, we chose to drive home up the western part of the east coast states.  It was a good decision.  Today was one of the first times that we were off a main highway.  We got to stop at some fruit stands for peaches (yum!) and blueberries.

So, after about 5 hours total in the car, we arrived at a very pretty RV park that sits on Boone Lake.    The view is magnificent and the campsite is immaculate.  The pool isn’t too bad either!  We ate a light dinner (still full from lunch) and just relaxed.  Mikaela really wanted to go to the pool and after seeing it, we decided that it looked really nice, so off to the pool we went.  It was in the pool that I discovered that when you have young children, pools are not relaxing places.  They are wet hell!!!  Dad, get in already!  Dad, play with me!  Dad, throw me!  Dad, watch me dive!  Dad, try not to have a stroke because I won’t shut up!!!!  And through it all, Marla sat with her feet in the water laughing at me!  She said that the water was too cold, but I know better.

Then it was time to shower and decompress.  Mikaela took a shower, then took the shower again because we explained that you are actually supposed to wash yourself in the shower.  Then, Marla and I sat outside under a beautiful sky with mild temperatures and just relaxed, while Mikaela decompressed with a few peaceful and educational episodes of….ROSEANNE!  Believe it or not, this is her new favorite show.  Last night she was up until almost 1 am, so we got her into bed tonight by 10 (in Mikaela’s world this means talk, turn, complain, stare out the window, and annoy your parents to the brink of violence until about 11). School bedtime is going to be just like the pool, except for the wet part!

What else?  Yankees beat the Red Sox (Marla made me say that), Facebook updated, emails checked, world peace restored, and I now sit here in complete denial that this unbelievable dream come true is winding down.  That is, unless of course we win the power ball by Monday!  Our dream is that we will publish this blog, and an RV company will make us their spokespeople.  We will, of course, have to travel the country, reviewing RV parks – in a class A, many hundreds of thousands of dollars costing motor home!   I KNOW it’s unrealistic – but don’t harsh my mellow!!!  (??)

This is my one stop on the soap box – For all of you who have thought about doing something like this and have had a million reasons why you can’t, forget all of them and just do it!  It will change the way you see the world.  It will change the way you see the country.  And, it will change the way you feel about America.  We didn’t know if we would even like this whole camping thing, and now, I can’t wait until the next weekend that we can load up and get away to see something else.  I encourage all of you to come and join us on future adventures, or just to relax for the weekend.

Off the soap box!

I wish that we could take all our friends and family out on the road with us.  Then we truly wouldn’t want the adventure to end.  But, we miss our family and friends – so home we come!

Tomorrow it is on to Virginia for a little rest on the seventh day.  We will post some old pics now – more to come next time.

Talk to you on Saturday night,

Rich and Marla

“Georgia, Georgia, the whole day through, just an old sweet song, keeps Georgia on my mind…”

Ah – Ray Charles’ song “Georgia On My Mind” comes to OUR mind today.  We are enjoying a relaxing break from the road, as we gather up enough steam for the final stretch.

Answer to yesterday’s trivia question:  Hermitage is the name of President Andrew Jackson’s home.  And no, we didn’t visit – not really any time.

Wednesday morning we awoke and had a leisurely start to our day.  Rich did take the car in to check on things after yesterday’s mountain descent fiasco….and what’s another $399.00 among friends??  For those of you keeping track – we are over a thousand smackeroos for car upkeep.  The back brakes and rotors were shot, said the man.  Fix ‘em, said Rich.  And then Rich handed the man plastic money – and everything was good.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – it could be worse.  And we will be paying it off for…years to come.  That’s acceptable to us.  The fact that we were able to have this experience – it was so worth the wait, and so worth the hard work both before AND after the trip.  We accept that without question.

We decided to make our Atlanta attraction be the Georgia Aquarium.  We haven’t done any aquariums so far this summer, and the one in  Georgia is known to be great.  We spent over 3 hours walking, taking pictures, and watching the fantastic sea life.  We watched sea otters, sharks, stingrays, baluga whales, anemones, and a thousand different varieties of fish.  There was a 3-D animated movie – very cute to see, complete with 3-D glasses, and water raining down on the audience at appropriate times during the film.  There was a special Titanic exhibit, which chronicles the Titanic and its demise through time lines, first hand quotes, and hundreds of items rescued and restored from the ship on the ocean floor.  The museum was very crowded today – must be a popular vacation stop for many.  We left late in the afternoon, and had a scrumptious dinner at “the Pita Hut” – another great find off the Internet.  Talia had done some exploring, and this was among the restaurants in the area.  It was a small, “shwarma, gyro, falafel” type place.  All four of us ordered something different – and all four of us were licking our lips – and our fingers!   Yum!  Everyone left feeling VERY full – and ready for a nap!  As I type this, Rich, Mikaela and Talia are playing “Guitar Hero”.  I will pass, thank you.  But they’re having a blast.  This has been an incredibly nice break in the action for us.  Talia’s home is comfortable and beautiful.  We’ve enjoyed our visit here.  Even Booger, Chester and Sammy were fun to visit (although I still can’t remember which one is which!)  Thanks again, Auntie Talia!  Oh – and she even has a working bathroom – make that TWO working bathrooms!

Trivia question for today – from the aquarium:  What animal has the densest coat of fur in the animal kingdom – up to a million hairs per square inch?  Answer tomorrow.

We hope you are enjoying a relaxing day.  We will post a bunch of pictures tomorrow night, so you can see what’s been happening the last few days.  Happy 26th birthday, Avi!  Talk to you all tomorrow.

Marla and Rich

“Pardon me boy, is that the Chattanooga Choo Choo?…”

The song above was made famous by the Andrew Sisters – WAYY before my time, so don’t ask me any questions – direct them to my mom, okay?

Answer to Rich’s trivia question:  In 1958, what happened in Central High School in Little Rock?  — Nothing.  Because of the problems that occurred in ‘57, the Governor CLOSED all public schools in protest of desegregation, and they remained closed for virtually the whole year.

For those of you that follow us closely, you may not have heard that we were planning to visit Chattanooga.  We weren’t!  It was an accident – but it provided a song for today’s blog.

We woke up in Nashville, and when we stepped outside, it was…HOT!!  Seriously hot – at about 9:30 a.m.  And, although I hate to admit this, the 110 degrees in Arizona did not feel nearly as dreadful as Nashville.  The difference must be the “dry heat”.  We joked about it – but I would take 110 in Arizona any day over ungodly hot and humid in Tennessee. 

Now, what to see in Nashville?  We decided to go to take some pictures at the Grand Ole Opry.  Admittedly, we are not country music fans, but this is a national landmark.  The Grand Ole Opry is in a huge complex.  There is a large outlet mall, an aquarium, a museum, a riverboat dock, and probably a dozen other things that I didn’t notice.  The Opryhouse itself is beautiful and regal.  It stands on a spotless, spacious plaza, with flowerbeds, trees, benches and the like.  It is a very inviting spot to sit and listen to the country music being played.  The whole area felt, to me, very warm and comfortable – in just the way that country music is meant to make you feel.  I do believe, however, that the Opryhouse was not ALWAYS in the midst of this complex – mall, aquarium, restaurants,….   It wasn’t as I had pictured it at all.  In my mind, I saw it as a large concert hall, located in the middle of the block on some city street.  I wasn’t even close.  For those of you in New Jersey, let me try and set the scene.  Picture, if you will, Menlo Park Mall.  Now, paint the outside many different, beautiful colors, and hang some art along the buildings.  Then, take Jenkinson’s Aquarium, and  place it at the mall.  Now, take the PNC Bank Center (or, the Garden State Art Center, for anyone older than 10) and stick IT on the same property – and enclose it.  THAT’S where we were today.  Very pretty and enormous.  We took pics – and we were on our way.

We were making our way southeast, towards Atlanta.  Along highway 40, we saw numerous signs for “Ruby Falls” and “Lookout Mountain”.  Both these attractions, it turns out, were in/near Chattanooga.  We decided they sounded like a great place for our picnic lunch – and a mere 12 miles off the main road.  So we followed the signs.  Ruby Falls, it turns out, is an underground, INDOOR falls, that you can reach after an hour and 25 minute tour.  Sorry, that was NOT on our list of things to do today.  The signs – many, many signs – along the highway led us to believe that it was a sight along the highway.  Not really.  So, we went up to Lookout Mountain.  And when I say up, I MEAN UP.  Look Out Mountain is literally a mountain, up, up, UP a winding, steep road.  And we were pulling the trailer.  We got to the top, ate lunch, saw the view – pretty – and headed down. 

Sooo, is it a BAD thing when you smell burning rubber and metal — and the only thing that can be burning, is your car??  Driving down this steep, steep hill was a horrible experience for us – Rich could not get complete control of the brakes.  The car refused to come to a stop, even when he was practically STANDING UP on the brakes.  Now he knows how I felt, coming down the rock formations in the Badlands – my brakes weren’t working, either!  The car, pulling the trailer, on this ridiculous decline proved to be just too much for our brakes.  We finally did stop, avoiding injury to anyone or anything.  It was at that time, in ADDITION to the horrific burning smell, that I noticed the SMOKE.  There was smoke POURING out from all four corners of the car – all four tires.  Obviously, our brakes weren’t having a good time.  Thankfully, when we pulled off the road, and assessed the situation, it seemed that we were basically okay.  We gave the car a rest, tested the brakes, and all went well.  We were able to stop.  We drove the rest of the way – two hours and a little – without incident.  And before you suggest it – yes, Rich IS taking the brakes to be checked tomorrow.  I thought we handled things really well, all in all – especially after Mikaela said, “Okay, Ema, you can stop shaking now!”

Tennessee into Georgia was a very pretty drive, with much to see along the way.  That’s the main difference for us driving the east coast verses the west.  In the western part of the US, we drove for miles and miles – and saw NOTHING!  In the east, it is completely the opposite.  Although we saw beautiful, plush trees and parks and fields on our trip today, there was always civilization close by.  I found myself comforted by that fact.  The west was awesome – the scenery some of the most gorgeous I have ever seen in my life.  But when I returned to a roadway of signs, businesses, houses, gas stations, malls, etc — I felt a bit relieved.  When the road is my home, at least for a while – the more “life” that I see, the more secure I feel.  Being in a strange place, where I don’t know my way around, I prefer civilization and assistance to desolation. 

After experiencing Atlanta rush hour traffic (who the heck would want to fight that daily??), we arrived, tired and hungry, at Aunt Talia’s house.  Talia, Rich’s sister, lives in Lawrenceville, outside of Atlanta.  She has a beautiful home, with three cats.  Horray – playmates for Mikaela!  Rich parked our “house” in Talia’s driveway, we took the house tour, and went out to a delicious seafood dinner.  We returned home – and our friend Sam K.  was at Talia’s house!   Sam was in Atlanta, on business.  He had texted (is that a word?) us earlier in the day, asking us our whereabouts.  The blog had given Sam a heads up as to our travels today – and he said he’d try to see us.  He did well!  We told Sam that we didn’t know he missed us so much!  His answer:  “I wanted a mention in the blog!!”   So  funny!  So, Sam, here you are!  Sam caught us up on hometown happenings, and we tried to fill him in on our trip – but we blogged everything, so there wasn’t much to say!!  It was a very nice visit, and an unexpected surprise. 

So, we are sitting now, with Aunt Talia, and her three cats.  They are very particular, self reliant animals.  Two have come out of the closet; one stays in during visits from strangers.  Interesting.  I am sure Mikaela will become their friend in no time.  She is, thankfully, asleep right now, in Talia’s bed.  It’s not that there’s no place else to sleep – it’s that she loves to sleep with her aunt.  And sleeping with Mikaela is like sleeping with a tornado!  Well, Aunt Talia can catch up on sleep when we leave! 

Tomorrow, the plan is: the car mechanic in the morning, and Atlanta in the afternoon and evening.   We have never been to Atlanta, and we haven’t seen Talia in a few months, so we are really looking forward to the day. 

Oh, before I forget:  Trivia question for today:  What is the name of Andrew Jackson’s home, around Nashville, Tennessee?  Answer in tomorrow’s blog.

Greetings from Georgia,

Marla and Rich