Willliamsburg VA and Washingto DC

 May 22 - June 3 2026

We are starting the hard core history section of the trip. Colonial Williamsburg. In this area, there are three major colonial sites; Jamestown, Yorktown, and colonial Williamsburg. 

Jamestown was the first permanent settlement for English in America. It gives us the story of Pocahontas, not the Disney version but the version where a young woman is captured and held ransom and taken to England where she contracts some horrible disease and dies at 21. 

Anyways, the exhibits at Jamestown included a model of the original fort and some re-enactment characters. Interesting to see how they lived at the time. 

They also had replica ships or the period and I always love a sailboat!

Skipping ahead a century and a half or so, we went to Yorktown, The battle that pretty much sealed the Revolutionary War where General George W defeated Cornwallis and a large portion of the British Army.

The site is super cool. you drive on a path stopping at significant points on the way and hear about what happened and the significance. It was cool to walk the fortifications and see the terrain which is largely the same. When you hear the stories of the revolutionary war and what they were dealing with, it is really amazing that things worked out the way they did. I mean it was really the ultimate underdog story. And the fact that the people fighting for freedom knew that they would be killed if things went against them and they still decided to fight... mad respect for their courage and conviction.

Williamsburg was a bustling town in the revolutionary times and the town of the second University in America, William and Mary. Apparently, John Rockefeller was the one who started buying up the town to preserve as a historical park. There are many original buildings from the time period and you see lots of actors in costume wandering around. 

I did a Murder pub crawl, basically a few drinks and stories of murders that occurred in the area. There was a serial killer here who was never caught but they found the culprit with recent DNA evidence( Jan 2026 recent). Anyway, got to walk the town and hear about some old murders and whatnot. Pretty fun. unfortunately, I did not take any pictures so here is one of the roads there. So lush!

Next was the DC area. The RV park was in a place called Lothian which was between DC and Annapolis, MD. 

I went in to see the Air and Space museum, because duh. Always amazed at this museum. Saw the original Wright flyer as well as the moon lander. Such a great collection. Unfortunately, about half was closed including the WWII parts. I guess I got enough at the other museums cause i wasn't too bummed. Got to read a lot more of the exhibits cause i wasn't rushing to look at the cool fighters.

Mom and I met cousin Juliet and her partner Tim in Annapolis for lunch. They are both involved in the ALS community and had a function to go to so could only do the one lunch. I Had not seen Juliet since I was in Jr. high and they came to our house in the Valley. It was really nice to meet them and we had a great lunch on the waterfront. 

Mom and I went in to the mall again and went to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Wow. This is a powerful and sobering experience. You start in the 1400s and walk through the history of slavery and the black experience in America. The only positive I could take away, is that this country has been even more polarized than it is now and we eventually came out of it. Depressing that it took so long sometimes though. One hundred years from the end of the civil war to the civil rights movement. Hopefully we can be better now.

After that, we went to the Natural History Museum. Alway like seeing some skeletons of extinct critters. Once again, I was amazed at the quality of the exhibits. I could spend a month going to all the Smithsonian museums!

On Monday, We went on a sunset sail on the Chesapeake on the Schooner Woodwind. Such a great cruise. 25 knots of wind and that 75 foot schooner was heeled over and cruising along with only two sails up. It was a history cruise so there was an author that wrote a historical fiction novel explaining the history of the area during the Revolutionary times. I got to help jump the halyard and raise the main. 

A perfect sunset! Nancy said it was the best cruise she had ever done, and with 85 years behind her, I think that says something.

We spent a day at GW's crib, Mt Vernon. It is always hard to square the ideals they fought for with the fact that they bought and sold other people. He did come to believe slavery was wrong and freed all his slaves when he died, but still. 

Always find it interesting to see these vast mansions and all the stuff needed to keep them going. Also, had a very good museum going over George's adventures in the war, before and after as well. I really did not know that much about him besides the basics.

The last day before we left, we went in and saw the chaos of the white house construction and went to the spy museum. This was an unexpected treat. I had never heard of it but saw it on google maps cause it was near the metro entrance. 

You get an identity and learn some spycraft along the way. I got my disguise, which i guess consisted of a scarf and a stern look. Watch out 007. 

Looked for references to James Jesus Angleton, who was a bigwig in early CIA counter espionage and the person Matt Damon's character in The Good Shepherd was based on. Did not find any references but we were rushed out and did not get to see several sections cause of time. Favorite spy gadget, fake scrotum concealment. I'll let you imagine that one.

Off to Philadelphia next for more revolutionary sites...

Charleston SC and Manteo NC via Myrtle Beach

 May 15 - 22 2026

Rooftop Bar

I guess we are starting the Colonial History portion of the trip. Charleston South Carolina is a coastal town similar to Savannah in that it has a lot of very old houses in similar styles. We went to a nice rooftop restaurant for dinner before wandering the little downtown area. Beautiful day with a great view of the waterfront and the town. 

The big guns

We went to the Fort Sumter and Moultrie National Park. I was aware of Fort Sumter's role as the first battle of the civil war but had no idea about Fort Moultrie during the Revolutionary War. Apparently, It was a big deal and held out against the British Naval and Marine forces giving the Revolutionary Army an early win in 1776, even though it would fall later in 1780. 

15 stars and stripes on this flag.

I learned that the original plan for the flag was to add a star and a stripe for each new state. Luckily this was abandoned in favor of just adding stars. Could you imagine 50 stripes on the flag. It would look like a pinstripe suit!

The Beach

A cool tour of the fort and my first walk on an Atlantic beach. Did not go to the water but there were a lot of people doing beachy stuff. 

Beautiful grounds a the winery!

We only were there for a few nights and I was working mostly so did not really explore the city too much. Seemed nice though. We decided to just do an overnight to break up the driving at a Harvest Hosts at the Silver Coast Winery near Myrtle Beach. It was a very nice location on the grounds. They had a small amount of vines, mostly for decoration as their wine grapes were from north west North Carolina.

Tasting

They had a very reasonable tasing. $10 for four wines, and the bottle prices were mostly around $20. I am by no means a wine dude, but these were very good drinking wines. Harvest Hosts offer free overnights with the expectation that you will patronize the business. Easy peasey! I even bought one of the wines that I had never heard of a Red Calabash. apparently a local wine, that was particularly yummy.

Woodworking Demo.

The next day we continues to Manteo (pronounced Man EE O) North Carolina, otherwise known as Roanoke Island. Mom's good friend Georgia lived here at some point and they came through here on a trip a few years ago. It is a quaint little village with a super cute downtown and docks. We toured Roanoke, the site of the first English colony in the Americas, often referred to as the Lost Colony because all the inhabitants disappeared at some point when supplies from England were delayed for a few years. The most likely explanation is that they basically moved in with the native tribes although there is no definitive answer.

Elizabeth II

They had a replica of a time appropriate ship and re-creation of the village as well as re-enactments of skills from the time period. Was a basic lathe and a spokeshave bench which was pretty cool.

No ailerons, they actually warped the entire wing!

Also in the area was Kitty Hawk, where the Wright Brothers first achieved powered flight. Maybe the theme of the trip is Aviation and History. Anyway, as an aviation nerd, I was fascinated. We all know the basics of the story, bicycle makers blah blah, first flight blah blah... but the details were very interesting.

You can see the first three landing sites
clumped together and the last one way
off in the distance.

They realized that the equations for lift and drag that were accepted at the time were wrong. So they went about calculating the correct values and, through experimentation in a wind tunnel, which they built, calculated optimal wing shape. On the day they finally flew, they and hundreds of flights in a glider in which they mastered the art of controlled flight. The first flight was just 12 seconds but by the fourth, they were able to stay aloft and in control for almost a minute. Very inspiring.

Bodie Island Lighthouse

We also went to see an old lighthouse on the outer banks that was very lighthousey. A striped spire and a keepers house. The site was well maintained. I am always amazed at how structures like this were built without modern equipment. It did take them three tries, The first fell down, the second burned down, but this one, the third sayed up. The strongest lighthouse in the swamp. (Monty python ref)

I was finally able to dip my feet in the Atlantic for the first time. The water was cool but swimmable and very clear.

Yum!

Not much else to report from this little portion of the trip. Had some more shrimp. I really like the gulf shrimp, they are very mild compared to the pacific shrimp we get at home and they generally peel easier. Anyway, we make a lovely shrimp and goat cheese salad.

Next is Williamsburg and then off to DC, so more American History coming up.

Gulf Coast AL to Savannah GA via Tallahassee FL

 May 6 - May 15 2026

Sunset is not over the ocean here.

A relatively short hop from New Orleans got us through Mississippi to Gulf Shores Alabama. Gulf Shores is, as the name suggests, on the Gulf of America Mexico.The sand was so white and fine it was like being in the Caribbean. After setting up at the RV park, we went to a little place on the water for some peel and eat shrimp. My Uncle Dave introduced me to peel and eat shrimp at his place in La Porte Indiana. he used to bring up loads of Shrimp from The gulf and do a big shrimp boil that was life changing. I Have had the same dish many times on the west coast and have never re-created that feeling of perfection that i first had at Uncle Dave's. I think I finally found the secret. Gulf Shrimp. These seemed like they would have been overcooked and rubbery by the way the thin shell peeled off but they were perfectly cooked. Just a hint of Old Bay seasoning. 

Dipping my toes.

After dinner, I went down to put my feet in the Gulf. I expected a bit warmer since I saw some kids playing in the water a few minutes earlier. Still comfortable enough. I kinda forget that kids will go into water at almost any temperature. 

The next two days were rainy so we did not get to go back to the beach. Bummer!

Houston TX, Lafayette, and New Orleans LA

 April 23 - May 6, 2026

The Canoga Park krewe!

This is a big one! almost two weeks. In Houston, my high school crew either lived there or flew in for the weekend. We try to get together every so often and hang out for a bit. THe last was in Las Vegas where Andrea lives and since Tom lives in Houston and I was passing through, We decided to check out this city. I rented an AirBnB for the weekend in Montrose which is the groovy area of Houston. 

While we waited for Andrea to arrive, Tom took me an Jeffery to a banh mi place in the Vietnamese area where he lives. It was several miles long. I don't think I have seen a bigger area outside of Santa Ana. The banh mi was good. After picking up Andrea and going to the condo, we had a nice dinner and went to Tom's regular bar where we played pool and had a few drinks. Then back to the condo where we stayed up way too late catching up.

The next day, we went to Meow Wolf. This was my third one and I really dig it. The Santa Fe one is still my favorite but this one is pretty cool. If you haven't heard of Meow Wolf, it is an immersive art experience where there is a story or a mystery that you can try to figure out, or just enjoy the visuals. 

You are supposed to explore the entire environment; pull books off shelves, look at notes on refrigerators, touch stuff and see what happens. I started trying to investigate the mystery but soon just went for the expe rience.

Cowboy Heaven bar inside Meow Wolf.

Auditory room where all the
stuff made sounds when you touched

San Antonio and Austin Texas

 April 13 - 23, 2006

The Alamo

It was a long, flat, shrubby drive from Marfa to San Antonio. West Texas is big and mostly the same. Brown is the overarching theme with scattered hillocks poking up through the plains like icebergs in the North Sea. (just being poetic as I have never seen icebergs in the North Sea or anywhere else for that matter)

Carlsbad Caverns NM and Marfa TX

April 8 - 13

This was pretty much the scenery 
for the entire drive.

We left Gila National Forest and had a 3 hour drive to Carlsbad Caverns. We actually left New Mexico and entered Texas for a while before getting back into New Mexico. 

A big lot but plenty of room.

There was a BLM campground about 6 miles from the Park entrance so we stayed there. No frills boondocking but it is free, so there's that. It was actually better than the paid campground that we saw near the park entrance where they were packed into a parking lot like sardines. The solar array was able to keep up with the power usage and we did not even come close to draining the fresh water or filling the grey or black water. 

BLM campground sunset

Spent the first day working and then went to the bat amphitheater to watch the bats come out of the cave. No one told the bats though and they did not show. The ranger was not sure if the resident colony was back from their mexican vacation. Maybe they were turned back at the border. We did learn a lot about the bats that live there though and we saw an owl waiting on the ridge for a bat snack. He must have realized there was not going to be a meal and left before we did.

Lets Get This Party Started

Sierra Vista Arizona and Silver City New Mexico

April 3 - April 8, 2026

This year, I am travelling with My mom and her dog Pookie. I guess I should change the name of the blog but I am not going to. Sue will be meeting us at a few places along the way so that will be fun. It will be strange travelling without her but looking forward to spending time with my mom. The main goal of this trip is to not fall and break something.

Murray briefed Pookie before we left on the proper procedures and forms for all things travel. It is going to be difficult not having a full time Human Resources Professional along. And Pookie has already forgot everything Murray told her. Oh well, we will muddle through.

We left on the same date as last year, April 3. The first leg was a long one. We drove to Sierra Vista Arizona, an hour southeast of Tucson or about 500 miles. Calvin is completing his Army specialist training in intelligence. It was great to see him doing so well. I was a bit worried for a while but he is on a good path. Both kids launched (for the most part).

Nancy was alert as always on the ride out. There were serious winds for the first half of the drive but then it finally calmed down a bit. Arrived in Sierra Vista around 6:30 pretty exhausted. Had to re-learn driving the rig but it came back quickly. We found all the noises and rattling that happen and silenced as many as we could. The first leg is always a bit of a shakedown. 

The next day, I was able to go on base and pick up Calvin for the day. He just got off-base privileges so that worked out well. My mom's cousin Lillian (my second cousin) lives here and worked on base for a long time. She took us all to breakfast a nice local diner. Lillian knows all the comings and goings of everyone in the very large extended family. I was mostly lost as I do not know most of them but it was fun to hear about all the crazy relatives.

After breakfast, we went to Tombstone, you know, the OK corral thing. It was very touristy but kinda fun we saw a cheesy gunfight reenactment / show at the Oriental Saloon, Wyatt Earp's place. Mostly just walked around and took in the atmosphere. Sushi for dinner, I think Calvin had not had sushi for at least 5 months. A very nice place called Tanuki that Lillian recommended. Calvin had to be back on base at 9:30 which was good since I was a bit wore out. 

Next day, I picked up Calvin early and we went to Kartchner Caverns. It is one of the few living caves in the US. They do not allow any electronics and are very fastidious in preventing any damage to the cave so I do not have any pictures. It was very cool though. I have been in a few caves and this was one of the better ones. The glisten of the living formations juxtaposed with the dull dead formation was pretty interesting. After that, we chilled at the RV park while Nancy dropped some packages for Georgia, her friend that is a full timer and had a bunch of stuff sent to her house. Calvin and I decided to watch the 1990s  Tombstome with Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer. I cant believe i never saw this before. Calvin immediately fell asleep on the couch. It is the Nguyen in him. They can all sleep anywhere and all fall asleep in movies. he had to be back by 5:30 since it is a school night. they get up at 4:00, do PT, then school all day. Tough schedule! 

The next day was a travel day. Got out at 11:00 after working the morning. I am now half time so committed to two days a week and a few other mornings for meetings. Was only 160 miles to. Silver city and Gila National Forrest. Nancy drove Riganante for the first time. She did good for the most part but since it was my first time in the passenger seat, It looked like we were riding the right side of the lane (and a bit over at a few parts). No issues though and we made it to New Mexico by 3:30 and set up. 

It was raining pretty hard so I put up the awning. When I did, the new foot mount that I installed cracked!. I think I had one slider in the wrong position causing lateral stress. Anyway, that is what keeps the awning attached to the RV while we drive so i needed to fix it. Silver city is a very small town and i could not get a replacement, so I bought some JB weld and some metal pates and jury rigged the thing. I think it will last until we get to a bigger town with a RV parts store.

My beautiful jury rigged bracket.
The hose clamp is there in case it falls apart.
(which is quite likely)