After 2 months in NY we have started our next leg of our cross country journey. We left NY on October 23 and headed for Washington DC, and plan to spend a couple of days. We joined up with a two day tour of the capital area.   On the first day we went to the Capital Building, Smithsonian Air & Space Museum,
Martin Luther King, and President Roosevelt Memorials, and of course the White House from a distance, and the WW II Memorial.
Second day we visited the Mt . Vernon the estate of George & Martha Washington, (Impressive). Also the Vietnam Wall, Korean Wall and of course the Lincoln Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery. Also one great place to see. Two great days of touring DC and our guides were knowledgeable beyond imagine. And lots of pictures.

                                        George & Martha Washington burial site at Mt. Vernon

                                          Washington Monument

                                          You'll never guess what this is ???

                                          WWII Monument

                                                             Martin Luther King

                                               Jefferson Monument

                                                             President Teddy Roosevelt  

                                                       Arlington National Cemetery

                                                        Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

                                           We watched the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier. They change every hour, in the summer time every 30 minutes.   The tomb has been guarded every day 24 hours, 7 days a week since 1943, so  we were told. The soldiers that guard the tomb wear no rank on their uniform so that they will never out rank the unknown soldiers. There are 3 unknowns in the tomb, there were 4 but due to DNA technology, one was identified and at the request of the family was given his own burial site.

                                                                 The Rotunda Dome

                                  The Rotunda this is were all Presidents are viewed before laid to rest

           Capital Building one side is the House Chamber and the other side is the Senate Chambers

                            The Crypt, this was going to be the burial spot of George Washington
                             in the Capital Building

The bronze statue of President Ronnie Reagan

President Eisenhower

This is were Ab Lincolns desk was in the original  House Chambers

 
The original Spirit of St Louis

Amelia Earhart's plane

Vietnam Memorial Wall

President Lincoln Memorial

View from the Lincoln Memorial

Korean War Memorial

DC, truly a place to visit and you could spend a lot more than 2 days here.

So, we left Washington and headed south to Myrtle Beach SC to have a visit with Jane's sister Donna & husband Dickie. 2 days in Myrtle beach and off to West Palm Beach FL. to see Jane's sister Marion and their Family. 

Will be here till Wednesday November 6th, then off to Pensacola to see other family members Maureen & Augie for a couple of days. 

After Pensacola Jane and I will set sail for the trip back to Hemet, and arrive sometime around November 17th give or take.  We have had a really great trip, and got to see friends and family all along the way, and could spend much more time exploring this great country 

After Stone Mountain we set sail for Columbus Georgia home of FT Benning Army Camp only about 150 miles south of Atlanta GA.  Once we got their we found a real nice camp ground a few miles out of town.
We went to the National Infantry Museum, were we saw some of the best and most impressing displays of military history you could imagine. It would be hard to say which is the best , but the Medal of Honor display would be one that makes you feel very proud of this county and these men that received this honor. Its an all glass display of all the men that received the Medal of Honor, their picture, the year, and war in which they fought dating back to the civil war.

Also we visited the National Civil War Navel Museum. And of course the main reason to be their was to see Dorian, Jane's Grandson graduate from boot camp. The ceremony was very impressive as well from beginning to end. The day before the graduation is the turning blue ceremony.

 The Infantry Blue Cord is a United States Army decoration worn over the right shoulder of all qualified U.S. Army infantryman. It is a fourragere in light blue ("Infantry Blue") worn under the right shoulder and under the right epaulette of a U.S. Army infantryman's Class A dress green or dress blue uniform jacket or Class B shirt. The cord is composed of a series of alternating left and right half knots that are tied around a leader cord to form a "Solomon bar".

The Infantry Blue Cord is presented to all qualified infantryman in the U.S. Army at the end of their Initial Entry Training.

After the graduation on August 16 & 17 we pulled up stakes and set off for the final leg (1,000 miles) of our journeys destination, NY.

We spent the next 3 days on the road, with a quick stop in South Carolina to have dinner with Jane's nephew.

 It felt good that we had finally made it after about 7 weeks on the road.  We put on 6,004 miles, and used about 450 gal. of diesel fuel. We settled in at Korn's camp ground in Middletown NY.  Since we arrived here on August 20th and plan to be here until about October 22nd. We have made trips to Lockport NY, Buffalo NY and Niagara Falls, Albany NY, Wayland NY, and New York City, We saw friends or family in most of these places. Jane's son and daughter live in this area so we have spent a lot of time with them. The trip to the city was really fun, we took the train in and back home and really beats driving and trying to find a place to park once there. The trip takes about 80 minutes.

                                                Going thru the locks on the Erie Canal

                                           

                                       Pizza and beer after a hard day at the falls on the Canadian side

                                                                     It was really windy

                                 

                                        Maid of the Mist boat that takes you really close to the falls

                                                            Times Square area at noon

                                                             A stroll thru Central Park

                            We just happened to get tickets to a taping of David Letterman show, really fun

                                                      You see the craziest things in NY City

She wanted me to buy a pretzel