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| Trip Report [message #310639] |
Sun, 20 November 2016 09:41  |
jknezek
Messages: 1057
Registered: December 2007
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Well our trip to D.C. came to an end yesterday at about 3:30 CST, safely in our driveway. The 8.5 day, 1600 mile trip was our longest in both time and miles in our 9 years of GMC ownership. Overall it went well. An 11 hour run from Birmingham to Lexington VA last Friday where we got to visit my alma mater, watch them win a football game, and explore all the new construction, and have dinner with an old fraternity brother and his family. Not a hiccup on the ride up. Cool temps let me run up the lower Shenandoah valley hills more or less with the cruise on and the temp gauge holding steady. We stayed at Glen Maury Park, a town park, in Buena Vista, VA. About 8 miles from Lexington and very basic 30 amp service, dump station only, and bath house. For less than $30 a night it was perfect. Especially as we could run both space heaters as temps dropped into the 20s at night.
We left Lexington and proceeded 80 miles north to Luray Caverns. I can't pass up the old roadside attractions, and this is the fifth or sixth cave we stopped in over the years. Very commercial, but some truly amazing formations and a crystal clear mirror lake really set Luray apart. We stayed at Outlanders RV Park just a few miles away. As was mentioned in a previous post, coming across from I81 leads you up and over a good sized mountain for the Appalachians. We took it in second gear, the only time I needed that option the whole trip. Outlanders is very pretty. Just a field really, but level, gravel spots with amazing views of the surrounding mountains. 50 amp service, full hookups, and excellent bath houses kept us toasty warm as the temps dropped to the low 20s the night we stayed. It was about $45 per night, not bad for the area as the KOA a few miles away runs closer to $60.
The next morning we headed to Lake Fairfax State Park outside Washington D.C. On the 75 miles run we lost the throttle cable about 10 miles before Dulles Airport. This is proving to be an ongoing problem for me, as the cruise control (rostra unit) seems to push the regular cable into the retaining clip. Eventually the clip lets go, and the regular cable comes off the pin, leaving me coasting to the side. It's an easy repair, but I need to find a more permanent solution.
The park, which boasts a good looking water park for the summer months, was about 6 miles East of Dulles Airport and 12 miles West of The Mall. The campground isn't bad. Relatively flat, gravel sites with shade for the summer months on many. Only one loop is open in the winter, but they had both back-in and pull through sites. $45 a night isn't bad considering how close to D.C. you are. 50 amp service and the bath houses were nice, but largely unheated. I think they had the heat set to about 50 degrees just to keep pipes from freezing. Water was hot, but drying off and dressing was a chilly exercise. No water or sewer at the campsites, you have to drive around to the dump station even to fill your water tank. It wasn't my favorite campground, but location was everything.
That being said, we rented a car from Dulles Airport, easy pick up and drop off even with the coach as the delivery vehicle, and traffic around D.C. is horrendous. We were never more than 12 or 15 miles from anything, but never less than 45 minutes and usually closer to an hour to get anywhere. Lake Fairfax is not convenient to the Metro, though I know there is at least one campground on the Maryland side of D.C. that is. Unfortunately getting to the Maryland side would have made the trip hours longer both in and out!
The kids loved D.C. First day we walked The Mall from Jefferson's Monument, to FDR to MLK. I've always loved Jefferson's, but the FDR Monument is simply extraordinary. It is sprawling and wonderful, and as the monument farthest in a straight line from Washington, it probably doesn't get the visitors it deserves. The quotes are amazing and applicable to today's issues, just as they were 70 to 80 years ago. With 12 years of presidential speeches plus his fireside chats, they really did choose the best of the best. MLK's Monument is nice in its symbolism, but as the only non-president in the line (George Mason is just off The Mall), it seems a bit out of place. Still, a powerful reminder of a darker time in our history.
Day Two we pushed the kids hard. We spent the morning at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, then walked to Washington's Monument. The Park Service volunteers dressed up in period clothes tell excellent history lessons for your kids! You can no longer go up the Monument as I did so long ago as a child. But we walked down to the WWII Monument, my first time to see it. One of the best of the more modern monuments it truly tells a moving story. Well worth the visit just to see this remembrance. We then strolled down the reflecting pool, stopping at the Korean War Monument, then being awed by the Lincoln Memorial, before watching my dad touch long lost friends' names on the Vietnam Wall. After 6 miles, a long way for 5 year old and 7 year old legs, we headed back.
Day Three was the most moving day of the trip. My wife's maternal grandparents were laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. We spent the morning wandering the Cemetery. We watched the changing of the guard and the laying of two wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I saw something at the changing of the guard I've never seen in 3 or 4 trips before. The Sergeant actually sent the new guard back to fix a flaw during his inspection! It extended the ceremony by about 10 minutes. I have no idea what the flaw was, but since he was in the middle of examining the rifle probably was a fingerprint on the barrel! We visited many of the other important grave sites, from Audy Murphy to President Taft, and of course admired the Eternal Flame.
After lunch we returned for the burial. A moving service was held at Old Post Chapel on the local base, then we followed the remains to the burial wall. Taps and the 21 gun salute were as moving as always. The Marine Corps Commandant and a two star General from MARSOC, as well as the Marine Corps Sergeant Major (highest ranking enlisted man), were in attendance and the Commandant presented the flag to my wife's aunt. Crystal's grandfather was one of the last of the Marine Corps Raiders, the WWII special forces troops from the Pacific theater. He was very active in Marine Corps charities and events, even escorting home some recovered remains in the 80s. He served in both WWII and Korea as a Navy Corpsman attached to the Marines and wrote a book about his service.
In a Marine Special Forces tradition, my wife's mother was presented with a hand wrapped paddle symbolic of Jim's service and the Raiders' efforts in WWII. A current member of the recently re-constituted Raiders created the paddle specially for Jim's service. It was a beautiful tribute and wonderfully presented by an enlisted man in the presence of two of his highest superior officers. Not a dry eye in the house among family, friends, or the dozens of servicemen who honored Jim.
Day Four we visited the National Zoo. Well worth the visit if you've never seen Panda Bears, and the Amazonia Exhibit is fabulous. This was probably the kids favorite day, and it was good it came the day before we left as it was two long days home.
The first day we were making good progress until we stopped for gas about 60 miles north of the TN/VA state line. One of the lines to the vapor separator decided to disintegrate, spilling a couple gallons of recently purchased gas. Luckily the station was run by some good samaritans who gave me a lift to the local parts store to get a length of 3/8" gas line. 10 minutes after I got back we were on the road again, albeit with a strong gas smell from where some had soaked into the plywood while it had been spraying out. It dissipated over 12 hours, but I lost a lot of time pulling off the interstate when it got bad and checking to make sure I had no other leaks. I haven't found any, but did find some more hose that will need to be replaced.
We made Bristol TN that night and stayed in a nice privately owned urban campground name Shadracks. Really just a field with level gravel spots, not too far from the Speedway. I imagine they are quite busy on race weekends and have the electric set up so they can go from 50 amp to two 30 amp spots with ease. Bathrooms were nice. Water posts every other spot, but sewer at all. Again, about $40 per night.
Finally we hit the road again yesterday morning for the last stretch. The kids were getting cranky about two straight days on the road, but we made it home safe and sound.
Now we need to unload and prepare to reload for a trip to the Mouse House later this year.
Thanks,
Jeremy Knezek
1976 Glenbrook
Birmingham, AL
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