Saturday, June 25, 2016

Maryland

We called Maryland home for 25 years before we moved to California, so we had a lot of friends and relatives to see there.
Let me start by apologizing to all the ones we DIDN'T get to see! Time just flew by, but we'll be back thru again in November and we'll try to catch up with you then.

We stayed at the Washington DC KOA, which is actually not in Washington DC but around the corner from where we used to live in Maryland. It's one of the few campgrounds in Maryland and the only one within reasonable distance of DC.

That being said it's EXPENSIVE at $70+ dollars a night, which makes it worth while to buy a KOA membership to get the 10% discount. It's not that nice of a campground either with few pull thru sites and the back in sites being very tight and not very level. I had to stop leveling when the back wheels started coming off the ground!

So if it's so expensive why did we stay there? Well we still have a rental house very close, our son lives nearby, our daughter was flying in from UK and we still have friends and neighbors nearby. So we took it on the chin and paid up. We'll have to camp at more Walmarts to bring us back to our $25 a night average camping cost target!

First people we dropped by to see where our old friends and neighbors Doug and Lyn and their son Daniel. Lyn's a Brit so we get along great and Doug is a sweetheart too. Dan provides the entertainment by rolling his eyes and passing comments about running an old peoples home, but is a great and a funny young man. A night out at the Irish Pub gave us time to catch up on the news.

Our son Fred and his wife Cori came over to visit and we had a night out at the Indian Restaurant to catch up on their news, our daughter Sally arrived with her friend Rita and her 3 kids so many tours of the RV were made. Jenna was fascinated by the bathroom and was really disappointed when her Mom wouldn't let her take a shower in it!

Barbara and Sally had a "Girls Day" going shopping followed by a day at the spa, enjoying massages and the things girls do. I headed for Dulles Airport and spent the day wandering around the Smithsonian Institute Air and Space Museum out there. Lots of cool airplanes but surprising packed tight for a new facility. I didn't think it was as well laid out as the US Air Force Museum in Dayton OH.


Enola Gay probably the most famous airplane in the world

The B26 "Flak Bait" flew 200 missions in WW2 now being restored for display


We all went up to Baltimore's Inner Harbor for lunch at the Cheese Cake Factory and a stroll around the harbor to see the Constitution. I must say that the Inner Harbor seemed pretty run down at one time but it was extremely clean and well maintained when we visited this time.


Baltimore's Inner Harbor

The Constitution one of the original 6 frigates that began the US Navy
Built in Baltimore

Dragon pedal boats

Eating lunch with Barbara, Sally and Cori while Fred and I hid from the camera!

While we were here we went out to lunch with old colleagues from work in Alexandria VA. My great friend and ex boss Mike Maloney and I caught up with family and work news while Ish, Chito, Harry, Jason and Guiseppi told me about their latest shipchecks in far away places or griped about the recent takeover of the company. I miss the travel sometimes but not the politics of working!

Our great friends from the motorcycle community Chapter J of the Goldwing Road Riders quickly claimed us back into the fold and we had dinner with them one evening, breakfast on Sunday. 
Dinner with Chapter J
Breakfast with J

We all met up for a Pig Roast with Chapter C on Saturday. The Pig Roast was superb and thank you Dave and Gloria Pumphrey for doing such a wonderful job and letting a whole slew of happy Goldwingers take over your house for the day. Chapter C as always throws a great party.  
Lots of Goldwings

A cool Goldwing Trike

Lunch with Chapter C at the Pig Roast

Jackie and Al came over for dinner one evening and they are planning on trying the "Full Time" lifestyle soon so we spent the whole evening talking travelling and RV'ing with them. It's kind of funny to be passing along all the stuff we've learned and just doesn't seem like we've been on the road for almost a year now.

Sally went off for a couple of days to meet up with High School, Girl Scout and College friends and for a night in Ocean City on the Atlantic Coast. Then suddenly she was leaving to go back to the UK and her 2 kids. 

After all the hectic rushing around and especially the horrendous traffic in the DC area we were glad to be on the road again! In case you missed it we ate and ate and ate the whole time we were there. The time in Canada coming up sounds like more of the same!!

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