2015 Road Trip, Day 26: There's No Place Like Home

Today was the final leg of our trip.  We started our day in Winchester, VA and decided to squeeze in "just one more" field trip.  We thought we had gone "back in time" pretty far when we went to West Virginia's Adena Mounds on Day 3 but today we went really far back, all the way to the age of dinosaurs!

Dinosaur Land is a low-key walk-through dino park located in Winchester.  It's been around for over 50 years.  The little boys loved it.

 Damien brought along Mr. Dinosaur to see his friends.

 He carefully checked to see if the dinos matched Mr. Dinosaur.  This one has pointy teeth, and little arms, but no spikes on his back.

Is this Mr. Dinosaur's family?  Probably not.

This one is cute and little, but he doesn't have the right shape mouth.  Not Mr. Dinosaur's family.

Jude helped look.  He said he knew they were just statues, but he wasn't taking any chances.  He stood at the back so this one couldn't see him.

The triceratops is one of Jude's favorite dinosaurs, because there's a triceratops on Power Rangers Dino Thunder.  It's Damien's turn to be suspicious.

My, what big teeth you have...

 Plus little arms and spikes.  Mr. Dinosaur is a T. rex!!  Rawr!

I love watching the kids at different ages. While Celia and Damien were matching dinosaurs, Luke and Matthew were discussing hunting practices.

Damien was hysterical.  He looked at this praying mantis and said, "That guy's freaky!  Take my picture?" 

He thought this one was silly.  

After our tour of Dinosaur Land, we were homeward bound.  Five states to go.

One down (VA), four to go (WV, MD, DE, NJ).  Our route took us directly through Harper's Ferry National Historical Park.  Another bonus of having an Annual Parks Pass -- it got us "free" admission to the park so we could stop and have a picnic!

Tidying up...

...and back to the car.

We stopped at the restrooms before we left.  On the way, Damien decided if he did "shark fin" on his head, it looked like his shadow was wearing a party hat!

Homeward bound -- Daddy or bust!

Surprise! We had to go back into Virginia for a few miles to get to Maryland.  (The navigator didn't blow up the map.  Oops.)

Over the Potomac River.  If you floated down that way, you'd end up in Washington, DC; if you kept going, you'd wash up in George Washington's back yard.  Really.
 

Finally,  two down, three to go!  We're moving now.

I teased, "Look!  We're back on US 40!  We could just follow this home...or we could go on the freeway and go faster..."  The votes were unanimous -- go FAST!

Or...maybe not so fast.  Darn you, traffic!!  There was some grumbling that maybe we should have taken US 40.

Finally!  Just a little farther north to go!

There's a sign for a Wawa!!  If you've never been to a Wawa, I'm so sorry.  It's the best convenience store on the planet, with the best coffee ever.   It's based in the Philadelphia area, but goes as far south along I-95 as Petersburg, VA.  Luke decided as much as he liked Buc-ee's, he preferred Wawa because you could get in, grab food, and be out the door without suddenly finding yourself pet-sitting a stuffed beaver.  When we see Wawa signs, we know we're getting close to home.

Yes!  "One more state! One more state!" was the cry from the back seat!

Here we go!

And as we crossed the bridge, Luke had the camera all ready for a "Welcome to New Jersey!" sign.  We travel this bridge so often that we never noticed that there isn't one!!  I'm pretty sure when you get to both I-295 and the Turnpike there are signs, but not on our little Route 40. 

It's ok...we know how to get home from the bridge.  Getting close now!

Look what Jude sees!

Daddy's car in the driveway!  He's home and waiting for us!

After 26 days, 17 states, and 5,196 miles of America the Beautiful, these Eagles have finally landed. We've enjoyed seeing our friends and visiting all of the great places around the country, but for now, there's no place like home!


©2012- 2015 Adventures with Jude. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://adventureswithjude.com

2015 Road Trip, Day 25: Monticello

We went "back in time" to the colonial era and visited the home of one of Jude's favorite founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson. 

 This makes a home visit to two of his three favorite colonials. (We have already visited Mount Vernon, home to the great George Washington.)  I told him we could visit Benjamin Franklin's house, too.  At first he was excited, but then he asked, "Wait...How many hotels is that?"  It's only an hour away from home!  I'm thinking he's ready to go home, too.

We had a fantastic tour of the house.  One thing they offer is a "Children's Tour" - it's interactive, with roles for the children, props, and a slightly modified presentation so it's exciting and not "someplace else Mom dragged me." Damien got to be an "explorer" and hold a replica of the Lewis and Clark peace medal, while Jude got to be TJ himself!

Did you know that one of Jefferson's favorite colors was pink?  Even his bedspread was pink.  He didn't call it that, though.  He named it "Crimson Thunder."  Luke said, "It's salmon." (I don't have any pictures, though.  No pictures allowed in the house.)   For all of his public service, Jefferson was an intensely private person, who installed a dumbwaiter into his wine cellar, and a service turntable for food to be delivered without anyone needing to enter the room.  He had an incredible wine cellar, and the estate produced wine and beer as well.

Also under the main mansion was one of the finest colonial kitchens. Modeled after French kitchens, it had not just an open fire but an early "stove" for using with copper pans.

The gardens were beautiful.  Because it's summer, the orchards are in fruit, and all the flowers are blooming.

All of the plants are well labeled.  This one is called "Joseph's Coat."

I'm not sure the name of this plant...I was distracted by the butterflies.

There were also some gorgeous trees. 

There are two graveyards on the property.  One is the Jefferson family grave, still in use; the other is a graveyard that holds the remains of some of Jefferson's slaves.

The back of Monticello graces the "tails" side of the nickel.  The engraving on the coin doesn't do this neoclassical mansion justice.

We have one day left of our journey.  Topping tomorrow's agenda: see Daddy!


©2012- 2015 Adventures with Jude. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://adventureswithjude.com