Zach's Summer RV Trip
This was the sunset while I was on the plane to Maryland
The city of Baltimore, MD from the sky
Ahhh, at last Zach has made it to DC and we can start our summer RV Trip. I am so excited! A few last-minute shopping, tweaks to RV and we are headed north to cooler weather.
On our list so far is;
Hershey, PA chocolate factory tour
Hershey, PA theme park
Buffalo, NY Niagara Falls
Heading out we arrived in Pennsylvania and headed to the first stop on our list.
Before arriving at the Hershey Park, we saw this, and I almost didn't get this picture.
We made it to the Hershey Park and Factory.
Hey, I made the cut! And of course Zach passed it no problem.
The history of the carrousel in Hershey Park.
Tom- I have never ridden a roller coaster and was very nervous to try, so we rode all but once roller coaster except one that broke down just as we get to it! Oh wow, fun, scary, exhilarating and terrifying all at the same time.
On the old wooden ones that rattled and swayed I consciously kept my jaw loose so what teeth I have left didn't rattle and crack…. Looping, tight turns, twist and bends, and one that reversed and ran backward through loops that you just did forward, WOW that's really different. One climbed very steep, very high, then dropped straight down, my stomach dropped.
So exhausting riding these roller coasters, but glad I shared this experience with my grandson! Life's very good!!!
I need to ask Zach what he meant after one ride, and he said "I'm done" but then he got on another ride? Mechanical guy like me thought it was time to leave.
Hey grandpa, it was an expression of how thrilling the ride was and how overwhelming the ride felt.
Oh, I get it now! Glad I wasn't the only one overwhelmed because I could hardly walk!
End of Day 1 were ready to sleep after a long day at Hershey Park.
We got us some coffee to start off the day
NIAGRA FALLS
The drive took much longer than expected but we finally arrive in late afternoon.
My God, what a sight, we are both pleased and enjoy at the same time somewhat disillusion from all of the hype we have heard. Not able to hear the thunderous roar which we expected of a powerful force leads to the disillusionment. We did not go to the bottom of the falls and perhaps that was our mistake to engage and feel the power that we expected. It is only now the next day as I write this does it occur to me what was missing from the experience. Even during the afternoon drive away from the falls it did not occur to me for we pulled on the internet and discussed the volume of water, height of each falls to try to generate the awe others had shown over such a natural wonder.
Now that I have identified why my senses were not overly awed, I shall return to change this experience. Hey that's a damn good reason for another road trip!
We even went to Goat Island and viewed the falls from a different perspective. Quite a nice experience to have different views, I really liked it.
There were two boats that went up to the Horseshoe falls. The boat from the US side was called Maid of The Mist while the Canadian one was called Hornblower.
Although we didn't go onto the Canadian side, we still got a few pictures of Canada from across the falls.
Walking to a great sunrise and awsome cereal breakfast (in Walmart parking lot of course, I have a feeling today will be a great day. Thank God for the internet, no plans at the moment but searching the internet as we go we can always find something to see or do.
It was so nice to wake early, watch the sunrise, leisurely breakfast before thinking about the next place to go.
Erie Canal, one odd the few original locks, restored by a local historical society, col Torres, only set up 3 years ago, following 20 years of negotiating with the NY turnpike.
5 Witts (Syracuse, NY), Zach had a great time. I took a nap. Good for both of us!
Lunch at PF Changs, thanks Mom, I finally used those gift card you sent, Zach loved it! Plenty left for dinner too.
OMG that food was sooo good, I would have to say that was the best Chinese I have ever had.
Fort Stanwix, Rome, NY, cool this it a reproduction of the original wooden fort from 1758 a National Monument with great rangers giving good tours.
I got some driving practice in, I practically drove everywhere. I was on the New York turnpike going 65mph and had semi-trucks passing me which I was nervous of at first because of the wind that would push the RV as they were passing. It took me a little bit of time, but I eventually got the hang of driving the RV. #firsttimedrivinganRV #firsttimedrivinginroadworkzone #firsttimedrivinginNewYork #firsttimedrivingonaninterstate #scaringthecrapoutofgrandpa
Walmart camping again, after a refill of water at a local car repair shop and we are finally chillin and after a good shower, catching up on this journal.
And by the end of the night, we played cards and were listening to music.
We went to a nice Japanese Steakhouse for dinner.
When they seat you, they make you wipe your hands with a steamed hand towel.
The show they put on while they're cooking your food is very entertaining and the taste of the food is phenomenal.
When they seat you they make you wipe your hands with a steamed hand towel. I got Pom-ade which came with an umbrella which I decided to keep. Don't worry, my drink was non-alcoholic. The show they put on while they're cooking your food is very entertaining and the taste of the food is phenomenal.
This was at the beginning of the road to the restaurant. I just had to get a picture with it.
It's now Tuesday and I've been catching up on the journal while grandpa is back at work.
It's been a fun adventure seeing new things and I'm just chillin in the hotel.
Once I finish the blog I'm going to go swimming. The hotel has a nice indoor pool for me to chill in during the day when I have nothing to do and in the morning I usually get some exercise in using the fitness center they have here.
New Years Fireworks from Liberty State Park, New Jersey. So cool, was able to see the Manhattan Skyline and fireworks on each side of it!
We went to a “fancy” Italian restaurant which turned out to be a disaster. The food wasn’t as that good especially for how much we ended up spending for it and when grandpa payed for the food they charged the wrong amount on the cards.
Me and Tanya played some board games which I destroyed her at. #boardgamemaster The first game we played was called Labyrinth which you had to get to a specific object displayed on the cards using the constantly changing path. So, at first Tanya was in the lead, but I caught up to her and ran out of cards before she even realized it. Then we played this other game called Spy Alley which you were a spy and you had to collect the password, disguise, key, and code book for your country that you’re a spy for and land on the embassy in spy alley after collecting everything or you had to guess which spy they were to win, but if you guessed wrong then you lost.
We went and saw the 9/11 memorial, world trade center, and Empire State building.
aw this building by the world trade center.
We saw this from across the river. #PepsiisbetterthanCoke
The one thing grandpa didn’t want to see so me and Tanya saw it. Then we went to Bergdorf Goodman and looked at many kinds of overpriced perfume and cologne. As we looked around, it didn’t take much time to find one that I liked, but Tanya seemed like she liked most of them and couldn’t find a specific one that seemed like “the one”. And of course, we didn’t buy anything due to the price of everything.
We went to Brooklyn to get some traditional Russian foods and Tanya shared some of her traditions with us. We found a shop that had CD’s and Tanya got a CD of a Ukrainian singer. That night Tanya taught me a little bit of Russian and was having me identify if the object was either a he, she, it, or they. She tried to trick me many times, but I succeeded every time. #Russianismythirdlanguage
Grandpa had to work so on the way back to DC, Tanya and I stopped at a folk festival, and I got me a fox tail. It was just so soft and fluffy that I couldn’t resist to buy it. But since Tanya is a vegetarian when she saw it, she felt sorry for the fox.
We then stopped at Gettysburg to see a reenactment of the Battle of Gettysburg which turned out to be a big letdown. They had mostly infantry, there were only had 2 horses for cavalry. They shot cannons for 20 mins before the infantry marched, but even then, they didn’t even really do anything.
Me and Tanya went to the garden and picked some fresh vegetables.
Grandpa returned to DC for the weekend, and it is time to go car shopping. Hopefully Zach will get his first car?
Went to the Air force memorial to see the structure and statue. We saw the 9/11 memorial at the Pentagon to see the benches that were placed for the lives lost that day.
We went to the Air and Space Museum, and I went on all the simulators. One of them you controlled, and you were flying a plane and had to shoot enemy planes down. The capsule you were in actually rolled when you turned the plane and went upside down in the simulator.
Grandpa went back to work, and I stayed with Tanya for the week. She didn't want to go into the Holocaust Museum, so I went by myself. I took a class in school that studied the horrors of the holocaust, but the museum showed me the reality of it with all the photos and displays. They had a memorial room at the end and they had candles lit under the name of the concentration/death camps for those who were lost. #NeverForget
We also saw the Library of Congress.
I worked up an appetite waxing the RV so we went to this amazing steakhouse called the Mason Jar. The steak was so good that I had to try all the steaks on the menu, so we ended up going a total of 3 times.
