The Slimdown Cometh!

After the nerve racking drive from Boston to Virginia, we quickly settled into our tight parking quarters in the beautiful BlueGreen Resort in Gordonsville, VA and looked on to our next east coast adventure, Washington D.C.

After the long drive down the east coast we arrived at the resort around 1:00am on Sunday morning. Waking up on Sunday we knew the clock was ticking. There was already plenty of talk around the looming government shut down. We were not sold on driving into D.C. on Sunday after getting in late the night before. We were really hoping to have a recovery day before heading into the Capital city. With news of the shut down coming on Monday night we knew we didn't have much time.

Both Katherine and I have been to D.C. before (at separate times) and we knew that there was more to do in D.C than could be squeezed into a day or two so we piled the kids into the truck and made our way into the city. Before heading out on Sunday I talked to a local that was parked next to me at the resort to get the inside track on commuting into the city. He suggested driving in on Sunday and taking the subway during the weekday to stay out of the crazy rush hour traffic that D.C. has to offer.

Taking his advice we drove in on Sunday and found a parking spot right outside of the Library of Congress. Since parking is mostly free in the capital on Sunday's this worked out pretty well for us. We spent the day touring a couple of the Smithsonian museums, the Air and Space and Natural Science museums. If you have the opportunity to visit the Capital I would certainly recommend visiting on the weekend when traffic and the general ebb and flow of the city is pretty slow. It made for a nice visit. After spending a good part of the day in the Capital we headed back to base camp for the night in Virginia.

Day two was a much different experience getting into the city. We drove from the resort in VA to a subway station just about 15 miles outside of the city where we took the Metro into the city. All of the kids except Sidney enjoyed the experience. Sidney was a nervous wreck and didn't like when the subway went under ground. I could almost see her hold her breath every time the subway went below ground.

The second day we had a tour of the capital building that Katherine had setup in advance with our congressman Sam Graves. The tour was great, but the best part was the tour guide was an intern on her 3rd day of the job! She was great and did a wonderful job, but we did get lost a time or two in the maze of tunnels that criss-cross underneath the city. While we were standing in the rotunda a group of Democrats came parading through which including Nancy Pelosi. They were giving a press conference on the status of the budget negotiations with the republicans and trying to prevent a government shut down. If you were watching the press conference you would have seen me pass in the background behind Nancy at the 25 second mark. I'm the guy in the red shirt. Here is a link to the video. http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/CRCo

Since our time was limited and the slimdown was imminent our final activity in the capital was a tour on the Big Bus, a double-decker open top bus. The kids loved it and it gave us the best bang for our buck to see as much of the city as we could in a very short period of time.

Our Spot at the BlueGreen Resort in Gordonsville, VA.

The kids striking a pose in front of the Capital.

The kids on the porch of the Wright brothers house at the Air and Space Museum.

The kids first Subway ride!

At the museum of Natural History.

Best way to get from point A to point B in the capital! A little scary when they are weaving in and out of traffic.

In the capital building with the tour guide. I'm not sure what she is pointing at, but the tip of her finger was just fascinating to me!

Yep, a photo bomb by yours truly!

Standing on top of the tomb that was built for George Washington.

Checking in with our Congressman Sam Graves.

In front of the Capital.

The open top Big Bus Tour we went on.

The house across the street from Ford's Theatre where Lincoln died.



The White House


"In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."
-Abraham Lincoln



God Bless,
Seth and Katherine

Mercury Rising

The next leg of the trip was by far the most challenging and stressful drive that I have made to date. We drove 600 miles from Massachusetts to Virginia down I-95. This stretch of interstate, by my calculation, is the most congested 600 miles in the entire country. We drove out of Cape Cod and through Providence RI, New Haven, CT, New York City, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., and finally arriving at our final destination in Virginia.

The congestion was tolerable for the most part, but New York City took this trip to a whole new level. I have no idea how other full time RV'rs do it, but I drove right through the Big Apple and over the George Washington Bridge with the 5th wheel and all. I'll admit, this had me a little nervous. As we approached the city and followed signs for the GW bridge everything was going well. There was a few hairy spots merging in traffic as we were nearing the bridge. Once we finally got on the bridge we felt a sigh of relief and figured we were in the clear and just needed to make it to I-95 south and hit the NJ Turnpike. Little did we know that the challenge (and stress) was just 1 mile down the road...

As we were approaching the beginning of the GW Bridge, right around the Washington Heights neighborhood, we started seeing signs for a truck route. Recognizing that we are not a tractor trailer, but drawing from previous experience, we decided long ago that we will follow all truck routes because they are often times intended to route truckers around narrow or low clearance sections of an interstate. We hesitated at first, going against the directions in our GPS, and followed the truck off of the interstate and into NYC! The last place in America we ever wanted to pull our 5th wheel!

Just to be clear, when we formulated this plan to traverse the country side in a 5th wheel we had visions of long leisurely drives through open interstate and beautiful mountain passes through states like MO, MT, SD, WY, ID, NE and the like. Driving through cities like Chicago, Cleveland, Providence, NYC, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. were not what we had dreamed of...but were very much part of the plan. So what happened next was completely out of our comfort zone.

We exited the interstate and drove directly into a bustling New York City neighborhood! As we took the exit ramp to follow the truck route we immediately recognized that our maneuverability had rapidly deteriorated. As we came to the end of the exit ramp we were nearly paralyzed with fear as we were quickly assessing our surroundings. For anyone who thought our trip around the country in a camper was a bad idea...the moment had come that I may have just proven you right!

We took our first right hand turn leading us directly into the Bronx neighborhood. In front of me was a double-parked delivery van blocking the only lane down the road. I quickly took note of the red light just a few hundred feet in front of me and made the snap decision to pull into the oncoming traffic before the light turned green which would open the flood gate of traffic heading my way which would trap me behind the delivery van. As I pulled into traffic the light turned green, but I had made it, I had already pulled into the oncoming traffic which caused them to yield to me, the 55ft 23k lb truck, heading their way. I was able to utilize the green light to my advantage and in one fluid motion went from the oncoming traffic into a right hand turn, cutting off about a half dozen pedestrians crossing the road. We're doing it...we thought.

500 feet in front of us my wife spots a bridge, 13.1 ft, my camper is 13.4 on a good day...this wasn't good. These next 500 feet were the most stressful 500 feet of my life. Every thought was passing through my head on how I was going to get myself out of this. Would I block traffic and need a police escort to back out of the city? Would I need to remove the wheels from the trailer and use a flatbed to tow it under the bridge? Do I say hell with the A/C units and barrel under the bridge? I only had questions, no answers. As we approached the low bridge to our right there was our guiding light, the on ramp to the interstate just before going under the low bridge.

We turned right and there was the light at the end of the tunnel, we did it! We navigated NYC in a 36ft fifth wheel camper!

We took the next exit for 95 south and we were on our way to New Jersey. Next stop Washington D.C.

Holy Crap!

The Tip of the arrow is where we exited the interstate just before crossing the GW Bridge.

"It's not stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it"
-Hans Selye

God Bless,

Seth and Katherine

A Bay State of Mind

Well here we are, we finally made it to Massachusetts after the long haul east. We didn't have as much time in MA as we had expected so sorry to all of our friends who we didn't get a chance to meet up with. Outside of plenty of family time we had a couple of noteworthy excursions to Martha's Vineyard and Plimoth Plantation (Yes, that is how they spell it, the town is spelled Plymouth)

The kids had a great time playing with cousins and going down to the beach to collect sea shells...lots of sea shells.

Our first weekend was spent on Martha's Vineyard were we crashed my sister-in-laws vacation with her husband and two kids. Thanks Nick and Missy! They spend a week each year on the island to unwind after a long summer catering to the many tourists that visit the cape. They generously invited us along for the weekend which we were happy to take them up on the invite.

Martha's Vineyard is one of the two major islands off of Cape Cod. The other is Nantucket. Both of these islands attract thousands of tourists each year to see and experience the history and tranquility of the islands. A little fun fact: These two islands were once the center of the Whaling industry. The story that inspired the writing of Moby Dick was based off the Essex, a whaling boat that sailed out of Nantucket in 1820.

There are two main transportation companies that are available to get to the islands, Hi-Line Cruises and the Steamship Authority. I worked for Hi-Line cruises the summer after graduating from University of Montana in 1998 just before joining State Street.

Our next excursion was to Plimouth Plantation. Plimoth Plantation is a great educational trip for the kids. They are able to walk through recreations of the early colonies and interact with characters that carry on the traditions of the early settlers and even speak in their original dialect. After touring the plantation we headed over to the Mayflower II which is a replica of the original Mayflower. The boat is docked in the Plymouth harbor and just a few miles away from Plimoth Plantation.

We took the Steamship Authority out of Woods Hole to Martha's Vineyard. This was taken on the bow of the ship with the Vineyard in the background.

This is the center of Oak Bluff's Camp Meeting Association which has the original Gingerbread Cottages that surround the camp meeting tabernacle.

Our view of Oak Bluff's harbor.

The Gay Head Lighthouse in the background.

On the beach at the Gay Head Cliffs on Martha's Vineyard.

Entering Plimoth Plantation.

The Mayflower II.

The kids re-enactment of the Pilgrims landing in Plymouth.



"The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea."
-Isak Dinesen


God Bless,
Seth and Katherine
 

The Travelers Artifact

Along any journey there are going to be little bumps in the road, figuratively and literally. Well somewhere along the way we hit a little bump in the road, literally, a little bump in the road. The bump knocked the kids bikes loose off of the rack that I have mounted on the back of the fifth wheel. I had the bikes secured with a couple ratcheting tie downs and a 22 ft. cable to lock them on for added security. At some point the ratchet tie downs came loose and the bikes popped off the back of the camper. Fortunately I had the cable locking the bikes to the back of the camper so they couldn't fly off into cars behind me.

When the bikes came loose it was around 9:00 pm so it was plenty dark outside. I noticed in my rear view mirror sparks flying around behind me like it was fourth of July. Recognizing that there may be an issue, but not wanting to alarm the family I calmly explained to my wife that we have some sparks coming off the back of the camper which must be the cable dragging on the ground, but I had my suspicions that it was much more than that due to the fireworks exploding behind me. I took the next exit and pulled into a truck stop. I wanted to get back and check out the damage without bringing it to the attention of the kids, but no such luck. As I pulled in a trucker walked up to my truck and in front of the whole family says, "Hey Boss, your bikes are dragging off of the back." Well, as you can imagine, that sent the kids into a frenzy!

I walked back to survey the damage and found quite a mess of the bikes. After about 20 minutes of sorting through the carnage and a few passing jokes from the truckers we made it back on the road.

For you viewing pleasure, here is a glimpse of what asphalt will do to a bike.

This is the a handle that was worn off of Helaina's bike.

No, we are not, ever.

After roughly 5 thousand miles and nearly 80 hours in the car together I think I finally got it..."you go talk to your friends talk to my friends talk to me." If you have a young Taylor Swift fan you know what I mean. This song has been on repeat, or sung by one of my three daughters countless times. I don't know who this song is about, but I'm guessing he is happy to be out of the drama that inspired this song.

My three little hummingbirds.

The Long way Round

So here we go...the 2,300 miles from Billings, Montana to my wife's hometown of Buzzards, MA. This was a trek that I was cautiously excited about. We headed out of Montana on Tuesday and spent two days in Rapid City before pulling out on a monster of a drive. From Rapid City we drove through Sioux Falls, SD and into Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and finally arriving at our destination of Buzzards Bay 48 hours later.

Generally speaking the trip was pretty smooth and stress free until we came to the dreaded traffic of Chicago. Up until Chicago we were able to enjoy some open interstates and relatively minor congestion. That all changed when we got to Chicago. The traffic was heavy as expected and our nerves were tested as we had to weave in and out of lanes to catch our exits.

I have to say I don't care what anyone says about Chicago drives, they love to honk and offer the international symbol for get of the road idiot. But all that aside I found that they had a tremendous amount of common sense recognizing that a three quarter ton truck hauling a 36ft 15 thousand pound camper will always have the right of way over a 4 door sedan. Thanks Chicago, I love you too!

Along the way we had our first experience boondocking in a Walmart parking lot. I have to say, I loved it! There was something just so exhilarating about boondocking in a Walmart parking lot and being completely off the grid. One thing we learned pretty quickly though, we love the 24 hour super centers. They offer plenty of lighting and a 24 hour location to pick up breakfast, dinner or lunch while on the road. Our first night of boondocking was in Albert Lea Minnesota followed by Toledo, Ohio.

If you ever wondered who these people living in a Walmart parking lot are, now you know! It's your friendly neighborhood Wald's.

Boondocking in Toledo Ohio

On our way out after a great nights sleep.

Cheeseburger in Paradise

So in the midst of all my travels around the country with the family in the RV I am also doing plenty of traveling for work...yes I am still working for those of you who may be wondering. My amazing employer was willing to accommodate a flexible work arrangement that allowed me to follow my dreams and still work part time while on the road with the family. At times that requires me to hit the road to visit clients across the country.

Most of these trips are pretty ho hum and not a lot to write about, but not this time! I was just, recently sent to Hawaii for a client meeting. I was absolutely excited about going to Hawaii. I have traversed this country by vehicle six ways from Sunday but Hawaii was a trip that I had yet to make. What better opportunity to travel to Hawaii than on my companies dime for a client meeting. I flew into Hawaii on Friday and my flight out was on Monday. This basically allowed me just enough time to adjust to the 5 hour difference in the time zone.

With a Monday departure I had one full day without meetings to make the most of a trip to Hawaii. So I wanted to give a travelers guide to experience Hawaii if you ever have the misfortune of only one day in the tropical paradise.

First things first, transportation. There are a number of different options to tour the island, a tour bus, a taxi, or of course a rental car. I went with the latter. It was the cheapest and most flexible way to see as much as I could in a short amount of time.

I rented Mustang Convertible (it is all they had left available on short notice) which had a self guided tour through the available GPS system. I was able to hit just about everything on the island in about 8 hours and still finish with time to grab a Mai-Tai. Here was my trip in a snapshot.

I did the circle island tour and was able to see the following sights in a single day:
1. Pearl Harbor - A must see
2. Dole Plantation - Ummm...if you really like Pineapples go ahead and pull in...I mean, if you Really like pineapples!
3. Laniakea Turtle Beach - This was really neat. Just pull in for 30 minutes or so and check out all of the sea turtles hanging around.
4. Pali Lookout - A great view of the island from the top of the island
5. Diamond Head - A 1.5 mile hike up the local volcano. This was a neat hike and a great view of Waikiki Beach. They had lots of warning signs about drinking water and preventing dehydration. This out of shape dude did it in about 45 minutes without water, so don't panic.
6. Waikiki Beach - This is a beautiful beach which is worth some time hanging out on.

One funny story I wanted to include. So I'm eating lunch in Subway (yep that's right, nothing fancy for this guy). I'm sitting there enjoying the music they have piped into the joint. First a little Lady Gaga, then Garth Brooks and I'm thinking, wow they really have a diverse playlist. I leave Subway and they have the music playing outside as well. I don't mind, it's some pretty good tunes. I get to the cross walk and there it hits me... it's my IPOD in pocket playing music at full volume! There were about a dozen people eating in Subway with me and I get a kick out of thinking about how they felt about my music collection.

Anyway, here are some selfies (yep I just did that) of my trip to Hawaii.

Me at Waikiki Beach.

My Cheeseburger in Paradise at Jimmy Buffet's restaurant Cheeseburger in Paradise. It was OK. I'm a bigger fan of Five Guys.



Cruising in my Mustang with the Hawaii shirt. My taxi driver told me that only Tourists where Hawaii shirts...so of course I bought three. Stay tuned for Hawaiin shirt week!

Laniakea Turtel Beach

At Pali Lookout.

From the top of Diamond Head looking down onto Waikiki Beach and Downtown Honolulu.

Mei-Tai at the end of the day by the pool!