August by the Numbers

In August I turned south from Maine and made my back through New England.  I visited New Hampshire, Vermont and New York again.  Saw old friends and family.  Made it to new heights.  For the most part I'm staying close to my budget.  I had some expected unexpected costs to fix the RV and updates but I see it as investing in my future.  I'm still enjoying the travel and time off.

August
Miles Driven:  2,186
Gallons of gas:  300
Cost of Gas:  $1,166
Camping Fees:  $370
RV repairs:  $473 (Awning repair, Generator fuel pump, Fuel regulator)
RV upgrades:  $941 (new rear springs)
Food:  $619 (groceries etc to restock new diet)  $315 (eating out with friends :-)
Peaks climbed:  3 (Mt Marcy, NY.  Mt. Mansfield,VT.  Mt Lafayette,NH)
New toys purchased:  0 (but September is my birthday)

Trip to Date ( May 21-Aug31)
Miles driven:  8,549
Gallons of gas:  1,166
Cost of gas:  $4,217
Camping fees:  $1,273

States
Overnighted:  20
Driven through: 24
Days worked:  0
Days missing work:  0

Williamsburg, VA

I am making my way west back to Missouri to meet up with my friends at their house/dome on Lake of the Ozarks. After leaving the Maryland coast I headed south and had to cross the Chesapeake Bay. Along the way there where signs for the Bridge-Tunnel. I didn't know what a Bridge-Tunnel was but kept going anyway. Well you don't get a choice of one or the other but it's both. It starts out as a bridge on the water. In a preview of what the Florida Keys bridges must be like, you are out in the bay and can not see land. Then in the middle with what appears to be a man made island the roadway drops below the water into a tunnel!  It wasn't my favorite place to be as the tunnel was narrow with oncoming traffic and trucks but made it through and back up on the bridge.  There was another tunnel before making it to the other side.  I'm guessing they put in the tunnels so the large ships and military vessels and get through without going under anything.  It was definitely the strangest road since the floating bridges in Seattle.

Land?

Along the way I stopped at a roadside restaurant that turned out to be an old McDonald's building converted into a crab house.  I got my fix with a Bay Seafood Cake.  Yum.

Next stop was Colonial Williamsburg.  It was interesting to walk around the old city.  It was free to go though the street and shops (but cost $40 for the day if you wanted to go into the old buildings).  

I was there late in the day and caught the evening parade with the Fife and Drum.  The guy on the horse was General Lafayette (as in the mountain I climbed in NH that was named after him).

Inspection of the troops.

Mens room circa 1776

LAWNS?

I did notice that there where lots of people driving around with lawn mowers in the back of their trucks.  While in Maine everyone had kayaks or canoes.  In Virginia there must be lots of grass to cut.

Miles driven:  193

Hours spent walking through history:  3

Music:  Fife and Drum

Assateague National Seashore

On a suggestion from a camper I met in at Lake George I made a trip here. It's a big sandbar barrier island on the coast of Maryland that has wild ponies roaming around. I had planned two days here but lost one due to a mechanical problem before I left New York. I made it here after the tail end of the tropical storm and rain in time to take a walk on the beach and catch the sunset. Evidence of the storm in that my parking spot was under 4 inches of water. (I moved to another site. ) There is always something regenerative being on the seashore and hearing the surf.

Music on my way out of New Jersey: Bruce Springsteen "Born to Run" (of course :-)

Music on my way off the island: Band of Horses (of course :-)

Miles: 235

9/11 Memorial

The first person I talked to waiting for the train into New York City was a retired nurse who worked for Blue Cross in One World Trade Center on the twentieth floor and was there on 9/11. Said she felt the tower move when the plane hit. Was in the stairway when the plane hit the other building. By the time she made it to the street there was debris falling everywhere. She started walking south towards Battery Park and saw the buildings fall. She hasn't been back since and had no wish too. It changed her and now says if she can survive that she's not afraid to die and can survive anything. She's a born and raised New Yorker and didn't take much before and now takes even less from anyone.

One of the first things I noticed on the subway was no two people looked the same. I only ended up in Brooklyn once.

Went to the 9/11 memorial site. The last time I was there around 2004 and it was a still a hole in the ground. Cleaned out. Parts of the sub floors exposed. Waiting for future plans.

The time before was October 2001. I was back in NY from Seattle for my 20th high school reunion. I stayed in the city a couple of nights and walked around ground zero. There was still dust everywhere and debris and a smoldering pile of wreckage where the towers used to stand. The smell of fires. Lower Manhattan was deserted around the site. Missing person posters everywhere. People going about their business as usual but New York was different. The view from the Empire State Building with the glow from the rescue lights and fires and smoke.

Growing up a 45 minute bus ride from the city we often had school field trips to visit the museums. In 1980 for my 11th grade physics class (only 5 of the 24 students in my grade took the class ) we went to the Twin Towers to do experiments. We were studying gravity and forces so brought scales with us and rode the elevators up and down a few times taking measurements testing the laws of physics. To my memories the towers where always there. The laws of Physics are still in force. Gravity wins.

9/11/2001 is one of those days everyone remembers what they where doing. I was on my way out the door to go downtown Seattle when someone called and said to turn the TV on. I watched the news and the second plane hitting. The caous and unknown events occurring. Live TV of what looked like people falling from the building. Disbelief.