Heidi


A few weeks ago we decided to go on an expedition. We have been to the Virginia side of Great Falls National Park several times but had never been to the Maryland side before. So we took a day and drove up.

The weather was pretty nice; it wasn’t too hot or cold but was kind of windy. We walked down the path by the canal and by several locks. Eventually we veered off the path and down into the rocks by the river. The kids (we had Abby that day so there were three kids) had a lot of fun climbing and scrambling on the boulders.

Eventually we found Billy Goat Trail. It is almost 5 miles long, and can be quite tricky in places. Of course Mason loved it, but the girls did pretty good as well. Whitney had a pretty bad fall when she was heading down a slippery slope of rock, tripped and almost went facefirst into a rock but somehow she stopped herself.

We ate a little lunch while taking a break about halfway through the trail and made it back to the car, which was about 1 miles too far away, cause they kids were really dragging. Between the Billy Goat Trail and the other trails we went on it was a lot of walking even for me. Pictures follow the break.
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Me and Heidi decided to go on a cruise for an anniversary vacation. We had gone on a cruise before, and had a very good time, but the last time we cruised out of Orlando so had to drive all the way down there and all the way back. This time, we found a seven day cruise out of Baltimore for about the same price as the other cruise a couple years ago.

We started out on the first day, Sunday, in Baltimore and started heading south. Our first stop was in Orlando, but we wouldn’t be there until Wednesday morning. Full PostSo we spend the first two and a half days at sea. The water was pretty choppy at first, but it didn’t make either of us sick. We had a very good time all the way down. Our boat was the Carnival Pride, which is a very nice boat and we had a balcony, which we slept out on one night. The food was really good, and we each bought an all you can drink pop card. I figured out how many pops we needed to drink each day in order to break even so I drank at least that many each day.

We got to the beach in Orlando, which is very nice but would be a lot better if (more…)

Over the Columbus Day weekend, we celebrated the discovery of America by discovering a new camping spot, Belle Isle State Park, or “Bell Al” park as the natives would say. We set up our camp in good time. The kids both brought capes, so they each had assistance from capes. We went on several hikes. The paths at Belle Isle aren’t very difficult; they are mostly tractor roads. But they are quite deserted and scenic.

Sunday night a fellow camper gave a presentation on astronomy, and brought along a powerful telescope. We all got to see the moons of Jupiter and a galaxy that is the farthest object visible. Mason was hoping it was the Star Wars galaxy.

We also went out along the river bank and on the way back found a copperhead snake that had recently been run over. So, we did what Columbus would have done and ate it. Seriously, we ate roadkill. At least (more…)

This past weekend we got kind of bored and decided to do something fun. We had never been to the National Arboretum, so thought it would be interesting. I figured it would be good for a couple hours. Once we got there I was surprised by how cool it was. I was kind of worried that the kids would think it was just like a zoo, only a zoo where the animals didn’t move. And where they were actually plants. So not very cool. So the fish were a welcome diversion, but they loved the plants as well. We spent most of our time in the bonsai tree section, which really entertained the kids. But even beyond that, they liked the other sections as well. Overall it was a well spent afternoon and we definitely could have spend more than just a couple hours there. Lots of pictures after the break. (more…)

Heidi and Mason in North CarolinaHeidi and the kids went to North Carolina with one of her friends and her daughter. They were gone for about a week, and just spent the days at the beach at the outer banks and found little places to camp at night.

The nights were pretty hot, and bug infested, but they had a lot of fun during the day. Whitney just played all day in the waves and Mason had a lot of fun as well. They went to Kitty Hawk, and it was Shark Week at an aquarium so they went there and got to pet rays. They also saw a few lighthouses along the coast.

There are a bunch of pictures and a video after the break. (more…)

For my birthday this year we went camping at Bear Creek Lake State Park in Virginia. As usual, camping in Virginia is a lot different than camping in the West. It stays warm all day and all night, and the wind hardly blows at all.

This place was a lot of fun. We had never been there before so it was a new experience for us. The campground is a little busier than the ones we’ve been to before, probably because it has a nice beach. We got all set up the first night and had some good food and s’mores before going to sleep for the night.

The next day we took the “boat” out, which is a rubber raft with a hole in it that I patched with duct tape. So it has a working range of about an hour and a half before (more…)

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